The future of the steel guitar

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

So much has been said here on the Forum of late, about the obvious demise of the steel guitar both on records and television shows. A lot of concern has been expressed about it and how this problem might be overcome.

There has been lot's of hand-clapping about R. Randolph, Garcia and other, lesser known talents, who are expanding the base for this beautiful instrument into other musical arenas; gospel; rock & roll; jazz, etc.

For those of us who learned to play steel on "a Hawaiian Steel Guitar"....and who played in such great bands as PeeWee King, Bob Wills, Spade Cooley, The Cumberland Valley Boys, The Texas Troubadors, etc., it has been quite hurtful, to witness the new crowd constantly down-grading the instrument, based on their own very limited knowledge of the instrument and its long and endearing history, by calling it a slide-guitar, screamer, rhythm & Blues guitar,and/or LAP STEEL guitar, or worse yet a "NON-PEDAL STEEL GUITAR".

For those of us who made a living playing the original models and grew with it thro' its transitional phase into an off-shoot option, known as pedal steel......we did in fact pave the way for those of you who have only recently started lessons or developing an interest in the instrument during the last five or ten years.
If your concern truly lies in the "future" of the steel guitar, then why not start out by calling it what it is: A Hawaiian Steel Guitar and it's younger brother/sister, the
Pedal Steel Guitar.
Let's stop this down-grading of a traditional instrument and its proud history by calling it what it's not. As Jerry Byrd has said in essance, "I don't play a non-pedal anything!" "I play a steel guitar; the rest of them are pedal steels".

Instead of re-writing history and renaming
the steel guitar, why not learn what you're talking about, and when referring to it, do so with respect and reverence, not only for the instrument itself but those early pioneers that made it the popular instrument that it is.

Another point: Jerry Byrd played "religious songs" but was NEVER referred to as a Gospel Steel Guitar Player.
He likewise played pop tunes with Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, Guy Mitchell and other artists from outside his original c/w circle of accomplishments. He was never called a "Pop Tune Steel Guitarist". Jerry also played "Hillbilly tunes" and even some
"Comical" tunes with Homer & Jethro and until lately, no one ever hung a fractionalized title on his playing or his guitar of choice.

I'm sure you're beginning to see where I'm going with this. A steel guitar is a steel guitar, whether you choose to hook up pedals to it or not. That's a personal choice so why not recognize it for what it is and stop with all of this renaming everything for the sake of having something to talk about? Just curious.

Oh yes, I play the Hawaiian steel guitar and also do some work, since 1956, on the pedal steel guitar. THANK YOU.

Orville Johnson · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

if you're so concerned about the name why do you call the instrument a steel guitar several times in your post, critcize any "fractionalized" name like "gospel" or "hillbilly" and then go on to say you play the "Hawaiian" steel guitar which is , by your own definition, a "fractional" adjective? much ado about nothing i'd say. it's a steel guitar, it's a guitar you play on your lap with a steel.
and rather than criticizing the "new crowd constantly down-grading the instrument, based on their own very limited knowledge of theinstrument and its long and endearing history", why not acknowledge and realize that there was a time when you, i, and most steel guitar players knew very little about the steel and had to learn about it's long history somehow, from someone. i'd suggest finding a young steel player and passing some of your knowledge on to him/her. that's the best thing to do if you're worried about the future of the HawaiianGospelHillbillyRockabillyPopR&BLap Non-pedal Steel Guitar.

Jesse Pearson · From: San Diego , CA

I'm with you fellas, count me in.

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

One is called the "Spanish Guitar", the other is called the "Hawaiian Guitar". That's simple enough for me.

George Rout · From: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Hey guys, some steel guitarists do it on their lap!!!!!!

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

You guys won't even want to hear MY opinion.

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

Dittos George,

carl

A Better Way

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Creller & Dixon........I'd like to hear it. No sense just sittin' here "smokin'" from the flame job I just got.
I must've hit a sore spot with somebody?

Orville Johnson · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

ray, i'm sorry if i seemed like i was "flaming" you. i didn't mean anything bad towards you but i guess i do have a short fuse on the that "new crowd downgrading the instrument" theme and the "respect and reverance for the instrument"thing.

my steel guitar and yours are planks of wood with wires on them and have no life or spirit to have reverance for until a human being plays them and imbues them with such. it's the person that deserves respect, not the musical appliance so i agree with with you that we should respect the players that have gone before us and blessed us with wonderful steel guitar music.

that's respecting the past. as for the future, that's going to be made up of the "new crowd" who come to the steel guitar and no matter how they get there or what they call it, i'd say OUR best strategy is to teach them what we know about it and not be lumping them into broad disdainful categories as i felt you did somewhat in your post.

i personally don't think the steel guitar is going to have any problem surviving. it's a fantastic instrument with many applications hardly explored as yet and there doesn't seem to me to be a shortage of preservationists who will see that the old styles are practiced. but we need to realize that new ways are going to come along and not be dismissive of them. it's a good thing.

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Ray, I can recommend a good burn cream if you're interested. I've tried them all.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Ray, by adding a descriptive before the words Steel Guitar,
I feel you are only denoting a particular usge in a particular case.

I don't feel it downgrades the instrument at all.
As with many words and phrases ;
time changes everything

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

A study of the history of language will reveal that rather than being a heavy, granite block idelibly carved, language is a fluid. Words and meanings often change over time to reflect the usage of the times. As long as a person with whom I'm trying to communicate understands my meaning I don't care whether you call it lap steel, non-pedal steel, Hawaiian steel, etc. Whether it's the best or ideal description or not the term that most people choose to use becomes the name of a given thing whether we wish it to remain as it was or not. Steel guitar will continue to thrive and survive. Every new generation will add their music to it.

Rainer Hackstaette · From: Bohmte, Germany

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet.

Billy "The Bard" S.
Stratford-on-Avon

Loni Specter · From: West Hills, CA, USA

just keep chanting this phrase over and over again. "It's a musical instrument, not a religion." ;-}

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Andy and Rainer, well said.
Hail good fellows well met!

Nicholas Dedring · From: Beacon, New York, USA

I'm just happy when people know what one looks like and sounds like. I don't see myself to be in a position to take offense... depending on who you ask I play the "steel pedal guitar" or the "slide guitar". The latter bothers me way more... it's referring to an actual style of playing, which is entirely different from what we do. THAT'S the one I'm bothered by...

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Ray, I certainly feel for your concern about appreciation for the historical players and instruments as "steel guitar" develops. But what we as players call it probably won't have much influence on it's overall perception. By that, I mean if I call it a "Hawaiian Guitar" today, I may be talking to someone who thinks I'm referring to the "slack key" styles that are far more prevalent on modern Hawaiian music recordings. As time goes on a larger and larger percentage of lap, pedal, and (forgive me!) non-pedal steel playing has nothing whatever to do with Hawaii anyway, and I would think that would just confuse a non-steeler. I can imagine this scenario: around 1916, just about all steel guitar played in the lap style was Hawaiian music- then as western swing and blues players adopted lap guitars, some of them probably balked at calling it "Hawaiian", and maybe prefered "lap steel" or "steel guitar"... as country and later bluegrass players explored Dobros (and Nationals and other resophonics), It seems they approved of being called "Dobro" players, to be differentiated from electric and acoustic Hawaiian stylists. Of course now they can't call themselves that without a frown from Gibson... As legs became more prevalent and multineck instruments became the norm for W. Swing and early country music, weren't the players more happy being called "steel guitarists" than "Hawaiian guitarists"? When Bigsby pedal guitars first showed up and guys were adding pedals to their Dual Pros and Customs, were those Fenders then "Pedal steel guitars"? I can understand the frustration of being referred to as a "non-pedal" guitar for an axe that feels every bit as valid as it's pedal-and-knee-lever enhanced cousin, but it does make sense as a shorthand to get the distinction across to people whose only exposure to steel guitar has been the more recent pedal models. (Unless of course they come to steel land by way of Bluegrass "Dobro", Ben Harper or David Lindley "Lap steel", or Spongebob Squarepants' "I don't know what that is but I like it"). Then there are the Paul Franklin "Telerat" licks, or the many country steelers doubling on standup Melobars, which both derive much more from rock "Slide guitar" styles than anything Hawaiian. Throw in the fact that steel is still an evolving instrument, and I don't know who can sort out all of the semantics. I think "steel guitar" is a good cover-all, since even the most un-initiated listeners commonly relate any of these styles/ guitar types to the sound of steel on strings. Regardless of what's "decided" here, I know I'll still be having the same conversations... "No it's not broken, this kind of steel guitar doesn't come with pedals"..."Well, you can call it a slide guitar, but it's really a Pedal Steel Guitar"... "Thanks for the compliment, but it's not a piano"... "Well, some people call the style Dobro, but this is actually a Beard resonator guitar, well never mind"...
Rather than get angry, I look at it as an opportunity to spread the word and talk "steel" a bit whenever it comes up.

------------------
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com

Bob Watson · From: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

Mark's musings on this subject make the most sense to me. I play pedal steel guitar, but when I tell people that, it seems that it confuses quite a few of them and they start to call it a steel pedal guitar, or a steel pedal, which I find annoying. Anymore I just call it a steel guitar, I call my Regal resonator guitar a dobro. I have been wanting to get into playing the Hawaiian Steel guitar and when I get one and get good enough to start gigging on it ( I borrowed one from the band leader on a bluegrass/old time country gig and had a blast ) I guess I will have to make the distinction by calling it an
Hawaiian steel guitar and my Sho-Bud a pedal steel guitar to the people that are hiring me. To the general public, as I stated earlier, I think steel guitar works just fine. Ray, I appreciate your knowledge of the history of Hawaiian steel guitar and the pedal steel guitar and I think that your posts are probably educating more people on the history of our instrument than you realize. Keep 'em coming!

[This message was edited by Bob Watson on 17 February 2004 at 02:52 PM.]

[This message was edited by Bob Watson on 17 February 2004 at 03:08 PM.]

Chris Walke · From: St Charles, IL

['just keep chanting this phrase over and over again. "It's a musical instrument, not a religion."]

Amen, uh, I mean, RIGHT ON, Loni!!

I know very few people who call their guitars 'spanish.' They just call them guitars, acoustic or electric.

Heck, someone had to modify a spanish guitar to make the first steel guitar, right? Who's lamenting that "sacrelidge??"

I feel that "Hawaiian" guitar implies a style or genre. I call it steel guitar. When someone asks if it's a pedal steel I tell them no, and point out that there are no pedals. For those that express an interest in the instrument, I usually give some of the other terms, including nonpedal, hawaiian, and lapsteel.

James Quackenbush · From: Pomona, New York, USA

Ray,
With all do respect , I do acknowledge your concern, however I do not really care much what the younger generation calls the instrument(s) we play, as long as they play them , and keep them alive as they should be !!...Music has never stood still ...It changes as the people do ...Jim

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The one that gets me is when people refer to my National as a "Dobro." Not that I have anything better to call it.

In my head: "Actually, it's a single cone biscuit bridge National steel guitar."

Out loud: "Yes, thank you, it is nice isn't it?"

We kind of speak a secret language, and shouldn't be surprised that people don't know what the hell we're talking about.

Them: "Oh? What instrument do you play?"

Me: "Steel guitar.. Actually pedal steel, and acoustic and electric steel guitar... No? Uhh... like, Hawaiian guitar and Dobro, and uhh... No, not actually Hawaiian music... You know, that whiny country sound? Yeah, that. Except not that."

-Travis

[This message was edited by Travis Bernhardt on 17 February 2004 at 11:18 PM.]

Nicholas Dedring · From: Beacon, New York, USA

Travis... you're reminding me of another gripe:

I was invited by a friend to "Come hear my friend's show. It's solo steel guitar and singing. You'll love it." I asked a few times to see that I had heard right... and was assured I had.

Well, long story short, it was a guy playing a national steel-bodied reso, fingerstyle on a round neck. It was good stuff, but it was not a steel player. So, whenever I hear "Steel Guitar" in normal speech, I have to ask and confirm that it's not a reso of some kind, or at least not one being played like a "normal" guitar

Jesse Pearson · From: San Diego , CA

I started out using the term Lap Steel because I studied Dewitt Scotts basic lap steel book first. But I rather like the term "Hawaiian Steel Guitar" sounds more interesting and exotic. The early country that I like so much sounds like Hawaiian steel playing on top of country to me, so that's what I've decided to call it for the rest of my life. And I like explaining that this is where pedal steel came from. You can call it anything as far as I'm concerned.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

I bought my first steel guitar in 1947 when it was still called a Hawaiian Guitar. The only instructions I ever had was a book with a picture of Gene Autrey and his wife Iona on the front cover. It outlined how to play "Aloha Oh" on six strings, with guitar chords displayed above the lyrics.

When I started playing, there was no "standard tuning", and steel players would not share what they did with anyone else....they even "detuned" strings on their guitar when they left the bandstand, rather than have anyone "steal" their tuning.

I have never had any help in learning to play, either by personal instruction, or by any other means....which may explain my limitations in playing today.

I envy the new players today who have so much written and other help from todays steel guitar players.

Maybe new players will evolve from the generous help that they receive from players today....I hope so!
www.genejones.com

Jackie Anderson · From: Scarborough, ME

If people are smiling and saying something like "wow, that [ ... ] sure sounds great!" I don't really mind what they call it. Of course, they have already shown their ignorance by admiring my playing, but again, who am I to complain?

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