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Topic: Pete Drake - Gone 30 years today. |
Rex Lindsey
From:
Ellisville, MS USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2018 9:22 am |
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Pete Drake passed away 30 years ago today. 7-29-1988.
For some reason, many "steel guitar enthusiast " did not care much for Pete's playing ???? While I Love to hear Lloyd Green and Buddy Emmons ---- I also enjoyed and still do --- enjoy Pete's playing.
I for one do miss him --- I never got to see him play live.
Wish I had. |
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Stan Paxton
From:
1/2 & 1/2 Florida and Tenn, USA (old Missouri boy gone South)
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Posted 29 Jul 2018 2:56 pm
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I too enjoyed Pete's playing, back in the day. Was good technically, and I liked to hear what he could do with a steel. Maybe some were a little put off as he tended to go toward "gimmicks", but in my opinion that was a talent, too. ... He was a good player. ...
_________________
Mullen Lacquer SD 10, 3 & 5; Mullen Mica S 10 1/2 pad, 3 & 5; BJS Bars; LTD400, Nashville 112, DD-3, RV-3, Hilton VP . -- Gold Tone PBS sq neck; Wechter Scheerhorn sq neck. -- "Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone." -anon.- |
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Gary Walker
From:
Morro Bay, CA
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Posted 29 Jul 2018 3:09 pm
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| When it came for session calls, he played on more hits on the charts at the time and than some old timers. There was nothing complicated about his style, it was simple and quite tasteful at time. He also was known for being able to reach in his pocket and flash some session greenbacks that would be the envy of many players of today. |
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Jeff Harbour
From:
Western Ohio, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2018 10:20 am
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Pete's playing is a fine example of the fact that when all is said and done, what matters most is how much the listener enjoys the sound coming from your amp. Ralph Mooney is another good example. Those guys didn't concern themselves with technical details... they just heard the song and gave it what it needed. As a result, they each have an unmistakable style.
I truly believe that developing an individual style is much more of an accomplishment than learning to mimic every hall-of-famer there ever was. |
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Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2018 11:33 am
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After a while as a Forum member, I noticed I'd seen virtually no discussion of Pete Drake, who probably was the first steel guitar player I ever heard of. (Credit his talking steel guitar and "I'm Sorry" crossing over to the Top 40 charts for that when I was 10-year-old rock 'n' roller.)
I posted a question about that and it came out that his simple and straightforward style were less in favor than the more complex stylings of Emmons, Chalker, Jernigan, Anderson et al. On the other hand, it also brought some positive reactions, which I was gratified to see.
All due respect to the high-degree-of-difficulty artists, but sometimes all music needs is just the right note or chord in the right place, and that to me is the hallmark of Pete Drake. Exquisite simplicity.
_________________
"Gopher, Everett?" |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 30 Jul 2018 12:51 pm
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| Pete made a huge impression on me - whenever I hear one of those classic tunes he played on I stop and listen. |
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Gary Hoetker
From:
California, USA
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Posted 1 Aug 2018 7:50 pm
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I think Pete could be the most versatile steeler of them all. I didn't say the best. Below is an example. I've never heard any one play this particular style and tone like he did on this recording by Skeeter Davis. It's kinda ethereal. How did he do it?
https://youtu.be/h_5RwrahGBY |
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Franklin
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 2:03 am
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This is what I know about Pete's focus as a player and musician.
Pete was very concerned with both technical (Gear) innovations and playing (Blocking, Bar and Volume Pedal) technique. He used every piece of gear available and felt it was very important to stay on top of the latest effects. Pete would use any gear and would play whatever sound he could create so he could best fit the song....Pete studied, intensely, the intricacies of technique while orchestrating a musical part to make the steel "melt" into the song.
As one of many players he hired to play on his productions in the 70's, Pete would have me punch in a part to replace a pick noise or lack of a good volume pedal move on a ballad. Listen to his volume pedal work. Playing slow beautiful ballads requires a deeper focus on playing technique....Too many in this generation of players think barely moving the volume pedal is a good thing, while Mooney, Drake, and the rest from that generation practiced and continuously mastered the volume pedal timing so they can make larger moves with it ( almost like a breathing effect compared to what some do today). The volume pedal is one of the main skills for the cry in all of those contributors from the 60's ballads. They were all true masters of the volume pedal and the pedal squeeze.
The players from the 60's were more entrenched in advancing technically than one might think.....
Listen to how simple Pete played behind a singer...now listen to how many complexities were mastered because he needed those technical skills to make those simple notes speak so smoothly, and emotionally. Every note comes from the heart....That is mastery of technique
Last edited by Franklin on 3 Aug 2018 1:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Ron Whitworth
From:
Yuma,Ariz.USA Yeah they say it's a DRY heat !!
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 6:55 am
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Thank You Paul for that informative look behind the scenes in Nashville from someone who was there.
That is really interesting that he studied things like that.
I know some steelers who feel he should not have been where he was in the industry because he was not as "fancy"
as some other steel players.
His style was simple in some ways & complicated in other ways as you said but he ALWAYS delivered what the song needed IMHO.
Thanks Again
Ron
_________________
"Tone is in the hands. Unless your wife will let you buy a new amp. Then it's definitely in that amp."
We need to turn the TWANG up a little
It's not what you play through, it's what you play through it.
They say that tone is all in the fingers...I say it is all in your head 
Some of the best pieces of life are the little pieces all added up..Ron
the value of friendship. Old friends shine like diamonds, you can always call them and - most important - you can't buy them. |
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Gary Hoetker
From:
California, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 11:39 am
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Pete Drake, if not the best, just might be the most versatile and unique of the greats. I've attached a video that perhaps demonstrates this. I've never heard anyone with the tone and melody like this one. It's ethereal. How did he do it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_5RwrahGBY |
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Jeff Harbour
From:
Western Ohio, USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2018 11:57 am
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| Jeff Harbour wrote: |
| Those guys didn't concern themselves with technical details... |
Please forgive the understatement I made above... What I should've said was that they didn't concern themselves with 'showing off'!
Thanks, Paul, for the insight. |
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Franklin
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Posted 3 Aug 2018 2:04 am
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On the Skeeter Davis clip Pete was using a fuzz box, an echoplex, and really working his volume pedal to fade in his notes removing the string attack which emulates the violin sound...Pete was the first one I ever heard create a violin sound from a steel guitar. Check out this short snippet from a instrumental called "Joggin'" He's using some chops on the low C string and playing cool rhythm behind the guitar melody on the C6th...As far as I know its the first use of a leslie on a steel guitar. When he produced Chalkers first LP he had Curly use it on "Wolverton Mountain"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upD913apPQI |
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Gary Hoetker
From:
California, USA
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Posted 3 Aug 2018 10:28 am
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Thank you Mr. Franklin (Paul) for clearing that up. I always learn something from your posts. Drake sure experimented a lot with different sounds and twists. He must have loved music immensely.
Thanks again and best. |
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Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Tiny Olson
From:
Mohawk River Valley, Upstate NY
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Posted 3 Aug 2018 2:26 pm
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One of my favorite LPs is "Hank Locklin Sings Eddie Arnold". It was cut in the mid-late 60s and Pete did all the steel work on the LP. I love the work Pete did on it.
It's all pure steel sounds and Pete's tone and playing are very cool. Super tasteful, innovative and up-front on all cuts. Pete played both necks on this LP. All the musicians sound awesome and Hank's singing is great as well. It's one of my all time favorites. I listened to it over and over 50 yrs back. I still play it often now. I recommend it highly if it can be found.
I had the great fortune of cutting three of Gene's LPs at Pete's studio, "Pete's Place" in the early 80s. Pete came in to visit several times. He was so friendly with a good sense of humor. Another plus was that his Staff Engineer was the legendary, Al Pachucki, an extremely knowing and cool guy with some fantastic, behind the scene stories..!! Pete's Sho-Bud, "Goldie" was set up over in the corner. I remember staring at it and gently laying my hands on the strings thinking about just how many hit records Pete had cut on that guitar... amazing..!!
Chris "Tiny" O. |
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David Zornes
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 16 Aug 2018 8:37 am Pete Drake $
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Friends, one of the most funniest stories I heard was when Pete walked into a music store and Buddy Emmons was playing a steel. Buddy was doing was some lightning fast steel licks. Pete walked over and looked over Buddy’s shoulder. Buddy asked Pete, “Pete, can you make yours sound like that.†Pete took out a wad of money out of his pocket and fanned them with a swooshing sound and asked Buddy, “Can you make yours sound like that?† |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 30 Aug 2018 7:51 pm
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The tone of Pete Drake is always what gets me. From Nashville Skyline to All Things Must Pass, the rich scooped-out beauty of his tone was purely and uniquely his own. I love it every time I hear it.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2018 4:55 pm
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Don't know if many knew that he played some road dates with Jim Reeves early on. they played my hometown ballpark.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro |
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