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Topic: Sacred Steel.........What is a Sacred Steel?? |
Wally Taylor
From: Hardin, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 12 May 2008 6:05 pm
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Would someone please enlighten this relative new guy as to what the heck a sacred steel is??
Thanks,
Wally |
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Mike Poholsky
From: Kansas, USA
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Posted 12 May 2008 6:09 pm
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This should get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sacredstrings
Pretty cool stuff! _________________ Zumsteel 12 Universal
SGBB
ShoBud VP
'64 Fender Twin Reverb/Fox Rehab
Fender Steel King w/BW 1501-4
FX to Taste |
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Lee Baucum
From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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b0b
From: Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 12 May 2008 6:59 pm
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Sacred Steel is a style of playing steel that originated in African-American churches. It sounds more like blues than country. It can be played on any kind of steel guitar, but most often it is played on a specialized E7th tuning.
Most Sacred Steel players use a wah pedal instead of a volume pedal, to get a more "vocal" sound from the instrument. _________________ -𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Daniel Davis
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 12 May 2008 7:46 pm
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Those are some cool tunes!
Is Robert Randolph considered sacred steel?
His cover of Jesus is Just Alright is amazing. |
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David Doggett
From: Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 12 May 2008 8:48 pm
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Yes, Robert Randolph is one of the first Sacred Steelers to take the music outside the church. He plays in rock clubs and concerts, but it still has Gospel content. His mentor, Chuck Campbell also takes the music outside the church in his Gospel group The Campbell Brothers. RR and the Campbell Brothers have several very successful CDs out. |
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Curt Langston
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Posted 13 May 2008 4:09 am
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'Tis the most sacred of all the steels. |
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Ben Jones
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 13 May 2008 7:22 am
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pretty sure its a steel thats been blessed by a rabbi, no wait...thats a kosher steel?
Daniel, look for a local player by the name of Dan Tyack...get on his mailing list, find out when and where he is playin and go see him, he's amazing. Campbell brothers were in town not long ago also...I missed that one. |
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Jeff Evans
From: Cowtown and The Bill Cox Outfit
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Posted 13 May 2008 8:29 am
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Quote: |
What is a Sacred Steel?? |
All the ones in Seymour's store, apparently — priced to sell at just shy of the Shroud of Turin. |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Daniel Davis
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 13 May 2008 11:34 am
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Ben Jones wrote: |
Daniel, look for a local player by the name of Dan Tyack...get on his mailing list, find out when and where he is playin and go see him, he's amazing. Campbell brothers were in town not long ago also...I missed that one. |
Actually, I've been talking to Dan through e-mail for the last month or so.
He's the one that suggested I get a Stage One PSG.
Seems like a cool cat, he helped me out quite a bit.
I want to check him out some time. |
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Ben Jones
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 13 May 2008 11:46 am
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Daniel Davis wrote: |
Ben Jones wrote: |
Daniel, look for a local player by the name of Dan Tyack...get on his mailing list, find out when and where he is playin and go see him, he's amazing. Campbell brothers were in town not long ago also...I missed that one. |
Actually, I've been talking to Dan through e-mail for the last month or so.
He's the one that suggested I get a Stage One PSG.
Seems like a cool cat, he helped me out quite a bit.
I want to check him out some time. |
yup, nice guy. wait to you hear him play tho |
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Wally Taylor
From: Hardin, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 13 May 2008 3:25 pm
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Thanks guys, I think I am well educated on the sacred steel thing now. OK, not perzactly my cup of tea, but to each his own I guess. After all, music IS in the ear of the beholder.
Wally |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 13 May 2008 3:33 pm
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Where are you Del Ray Grace ? I expected you to jump right in on this one.
Check this out...
http://www.sacredstrings.com/
Great music. |
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Daniel Davis
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 13 May 2008 8:07 pm
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I checked out some Campbell Brothers today, damn can those guys play. Good stuff. |
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Stu Schulman
From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 13 May 2008 8:49 pm
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Check out Lonnie "Big Ben" Bennet while your looking for Sacred Steel players. _________________ Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Charles Davidson
From: Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 12:32 am
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Robert Randolph's roots was sacred steel,In my opinion the best thing he ever did was his first CD THE WORD.DYKBC. _________________ Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Mike Poholsky
From: Kansas, USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 6:06 am
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Calvin Cooke is one of my favs. That is one screamin' MSA! Love the PowerChords after the 3:00 mark. You might want to turn it UP some. LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U--W7Al8QIc _________________ Zumsteel 12 Universal
SGBB
ShoBud VP
'64 Fender Twin Reverb/Fox Rehab
Fender Steel King w/BW 1501-4
FX to Taste |
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Terry Wood
From: Lebanon, MO
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Posted 14 May 2008 7:55 am
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Hi Wally,
David played one about 3000 years ago, it was called a harp then.
Seriously, in my opinion, it is how the steel guitar is played in a worshipful and heartfelt matter for THE LORD. I don't think it is just for a certain specific group of individuals and say they play only sacred steel.
Doug Jernigan, Ron Elliot, Reece Anderson all have played Sacred Steel. I have recorded a couple of CDs that I feel are of the worshipful manner. They were recorded to glorify GOD.
Sorry if this offends anyone out there but this is how I feel about it.
By the way, my ancestors used to live in the Hardin KY area. I would like to visit it someday.
May GOD bless!
Terry Wood |
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Daniel Davis
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 8:10 am
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I believe that music itself is a very spiritual thing, and not to be confined to one particular religion or another.
Good music edifies the soul, and can be used in a number of spiritually uplifting and beneficial ways.
So if sacred steel is a way, a method, of certain players worshiping in a spiritual manner, then that is totally awesome. |
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b0b
From: Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 9:27 am
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With all due respect, Terry, I think that it's useful to categorize musical styles. The style played by The Campbell Brothers is very different from the style played by Ron Elliot. Both are Christian in their message but one has its roots in blues music and the other in country music.
The currently accepted names for these two different styles are "Sacred Steel" and "Country Gospel". This doesn't imply that Country Gospel isn't "sacred" or that Sacred Steel isn't "gospel". It's just a way of categorizing musical styles.
The sacred music that I learned from the Lutheran Hymnal is nothing like either of those styles. It is almost exclusively 4-part harmony lines. If I were to play it on a steel guitar, it would be misleading to call it "Sacred Steel" in my opinion. It's "Lutheran Hymnal" music - that's just what it is. _________________ -𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Jim Cohen
From: Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 14 May 2008 10:07 am
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Amen. |
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Mark van Allen
From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 11:42 am
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Another Amen to b0b's post- again with much respect, Terry, almost all of the gospel steel I've heard has been played with the same tone and execution as secular music by the same players, and while beautiful, is not stylistically far removed from those other tunes. The "Sacred Steel" tradition has been entirely worship music, and played in a distinctly different style than anything heard outside these African-American churches until very recently.
There is really a night-and-day difference in the tuning and approach the "Sacred Steelers" use, and it's very bluesy or rock inflected compared to almost any other praise music I've heard performed on pedal steel, and I think most deserving of separate categorization based on the history and uniqueness of the style.
Among the few groups touring outside the church, the Lee Boys will turn your head around if you get to hear them. Take note of the many tour dates and really try to see them if you can- uplifitng, driving, exciting, soul-stirring stuff!
http://www.leeboys.com/
My band played after the Lee Boys last week at a Georgia Festival, and they are a hard act to follow. Here's a shot of Roosevelt sitting in with us- the consumate musician, thoughtful, tasteful, and HOT! What a blast. |
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Daniel Davis
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 14 May 2008 11:55 am
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I'm kind of a newbie here, but, to me, sacred steel PS sounds more like traditional electric guitar in the tone, licks, and execution. |
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