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Topic: Winnie Winston's Profile of a Steeler |
Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 23 May 2013 10:08 am |
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On one page of Winnie Winston's famous book on playing the steel guitar, he gives a brief profile of a typical steel guitar player and I can bet that it hits home to a lot of us.
I don't want anyone to violate any copyright laws, but I wonder if it would be possible for someone with a copy of his book to reprint that article here for us formites?
_________________
"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 23 May 2013 10:51 am
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| I think the piece you're speaking of was actually written by Tom Bradshaw. |
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)
From:
Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)
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Posted 23 May 2013 1:01 pm
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If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's called "Steel Appeal" and, yes, it sure describes a typical steel player very well! 
_________________
1986 Mullen D-10 with 8 & 7 (Dual Bill Lawrence 705 pickups each neck)
Two Peavey Nashville 400 Amps (with a Session 500 in reserve) - Yamaha SPX-90 II
Peavey ProFex II - Yamaha R-1000 Digital Reverb - Ross Time Machine Digital Delay - BBE Sonic Maximizer 422A
ProCo RAT R2DU Dual Distortion - Korg DT-1 Pro Tuner (Rack Mounted) - Furman PL-8 Power Bay
Goodrich Match-Bro by Buddy Emmons - BJS Steel Bar (Dunlop Finger Picks / Golden Gate Thumb Picks) |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 23 May 2013 1:11 pm
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| and we all know tom gladly gives everything selflessly to all of us, being the beautiful person he is! |
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Bob Hickish
From:
Port Ludlow, Washington, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 24 May 2013 6:22 am
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Brint
I’m sure you are correct - although - I think the article was in one of Tom’s publications = Steel Guitar magazine =
I may be wrong about where it appeared , but it was as good analogy for sure |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 24 May 2013 9:53 am
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http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=162782&sid=597cedaec9ea3a1eabb030c046b75bdd
First published in Guitar Player magazine - December 1971 - by Tom Bradshaw
"Pedal steel guitarists thirst for information about their instrument. Perhaps due to the lack of available information, they read anything they can get their hands on. They are outspoken, picky, pushy and opinionated as they glean through the infrequent tidbits of published material about steel and steel players.
They are the least exciting musicians on stage, sitting stone-faced and lost in thought, as they stare transfixed at their hands. Typically, they are seen as vacant personalities who play some weird Rube Goldberg contraption that few people recognize as a musical instrument until they hear it.
They become so involved in practicing that their stomachs knot up. They annoy other musicians by their eagerness to recover a lick that was accidentally played during a previous tune. And intermissions offer simply one more opportunity to experiment with a newly-found phrasing.
They think their mistakes are heard by everyone in the crowd which they imagine as full of other steel players who are anything but impressed by their playing. When they watch other bands, they hear nothing else but the steel guitarist, scrutinizing everything he does, and envying anything he does that they can't play.
They resent secretiveness in professionals who won't reveal their "licks" or pedal set-ups, but they themselves rarely have the time to show anyone else what they have spent hours to perfect. They are never satisfied with their own guitar, their equipment or their playing. When they hear a fine pedalist, they become frustrated with their own lack of ability, think of giving up completely, but find that in a few days they are appeasing their addiction to this instrument by trying to pick out that fleeting vamp that they heard the "cat" play.
They too often view themselves as inadequate and feel that another strategically placed pedal or knee lever will acheive that mysterious sound that has been constantly eluding them. They are intrigued by every other steel player's guitar, since these machines are usually custom jobs with special "goodies" here and there that, in a fashion, seem to be extensions of their own personalities. Their pedal steel is their "real" love, and they give it far more attention than they give their wives who will have to concede that they are No. 2..." |
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Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 24 May 2013 11:40 am
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Thanks Barry, I bet everyone enjoyed reading that!!
_________________
"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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