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Topic: Am I a "steel snob" ? |
Mark Metdker
From:
North Central Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 4:33 am |
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Maybe I need counseling, or seek therapy, but lately, I do not want to listen to any music that does not have a steel in it. I am suddenly looking down my nose at music without steel. I think to myself, "why release a country song with no steel, that's stupid" Or I think, if there is not steel in the song, then it is not a legitimate country song. So, this means I hardly ever listen to the radio anymore. I have about worn out my old Johnny Bush cd's. I have told my wife to order me some new steel cd's for christmas. Hopefully that will do me for a while. So am I the only steel snob out here? Should I try to be more open minded about music? Is there a Steelers Anonymous?
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Roger Kelly
From:
Bristol,Tennessee
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 4:54 am
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Mark...welcome to the club. I have been feeling that way for years. Maybe things will change... before I lose my hearing.  |
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Carlos Polidura
From:
Puerto Rico
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 5:06 am
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yes....mark....
i agree with you. although a country song will be a country song, even if there is no steel guitar in it. but it just sounds more country or it makes it feel like coutry music.......when there is a steel guitar in it.
there is something so special about the steel guitar.
"in my opinion" |
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Matt Hutchinson
From:
London, UK
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 5:11 am
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I'm not sure I'd use the word snob, but it seems a shame to miss out on so much music simply because it doesn't have a certain instrument in it. As a musician I often find the most pleasure in hearing things from one genre of music and seing how they might work in another. I love steel guitar but I love music more - I'd rather hear a great song without steel than a mediocre one with.
That's just me though and I don't think there's any need to apply a negative word like snob to your musical tastes just because you've got a very definite preference. If that's what does it for you go ahead and enjoy it.
I think you can only be a snob if you consider other music to be of less value than that which you listen to. If you just prefer one thing over another all it means is you have your own tastes and that can't be a bad thing.[This message was edited by Matt Hutchinson on 12 November 2004 at 05:12 AM.] |
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Mark Metdker
From:
North Central Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 5:15 am
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| Yes Matt, I DO think a country song without steel is of less value than a song WITH steel in it. Thus, the "snob" reference. I told you, I need help! |
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Larry King
From:
Watts, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:06 am
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Marcus....to give your point even more credibility, a typical guitar band.. i.e. two guitars, bass and drums...will have one player trying to cop steel licks on a six string...why?? 'cause they realize the need for a steel sound. Otherwise, play three piece and have a fatter piece of the pie.
I'll take your position one step further..for what I like, want to hear, and associate with the "traditional" country format, I don't even care if it has a lead guitar. I love guitar but not at the expense of the fiddle...Ray Pennington said it best.." Give me a steel guitar, and two or three fiddles"....a swingin' rythm section of course. The last 'steel' jam I played, we had a drummer(?) who said, "I'm just gonna lay out until I figure out what you guys mean by swing".....it was a long night.[This message was edited by Larry King on 12 November 2004 at 06:07 AM.] |
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Rich Mounce
From:
Dunfermline, Il
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:08 am
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Heck I drive everyone crazy! No steel guitar no listen. As simple as that! When I was still playing on the road we would get done with a show and someone in the audience would want us to go to a local club - first question I had "Do they have a steel guitar?"...If not it sure aint country so why bother going! LOL..Just the way I have been for years so live with it or not..hehehe
Rich Mounce http://takeoff.to/steeljam |
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Mark Metdker
From:
North Central Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:11 am
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| Excellent point Larry. I witnessed that very thing numerous times this past summer. Our band played several gigs with Radney Foster and his band. If you listen to Radney's cd's you will hear steel all over it. But, in his travelling band he will have 2 lead guitar players. One of which is the great Mike McAdam who is a master of the slide guitar and copying steel guitar licks on his strat. I don't know why he doesn't just go ahead and hire a steel man instead of hiring guys to COPY steel licks on a guitar. Very frustrating. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:11 am
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| I certainly catch the tongue-in-cheek in your post, but will just say this in all seriousness (which is kinda rare for me): the most headway I've ever made as a steel player was by reinterpreting for the steel guitar songs that never had steel guitar in them in the first place. Some of my most popular tunes are songs like "Surfer Girl", "Tara's Theme", "Different Drum", "Nights in White Satin", not to mention lots of jazz repertoire, etc. So if I only listened to stuff that already had steel on it, I'd never think to reinterpret these great tunes and I'd probably end up more or less copying the guy who played on the record. Just my 2 cents, FWIW. |
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Mike Archer
From:
church hill tn
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:20 am
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AS ROGER KELLY SAID WELCOME TO THE CLUB
I WATCHED A LITTLE OF CMA S THE OTHER NIGHT WHAT A JOKE SOME OF IT WAS!!
I AGREE WITH ANOTHER FELLOW FORMITE WHO SAID
if it ant got steel it ant real!!
IMHO
MIKE A |
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Mark Metdker
From:
North Central Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:23 am
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| Yep that was me. We played a few tunes before Rodney came out. I think I was just playing my strat on that gig. |
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Charles Curtis
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:23 am
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| Not long ago, my wife and I went to Wolftrap to see Lyle Lovette. We were seated about 30 min prior to showtime and I could not see Buck Reid's red JCH on stage. I was getting upset so I went and made sure that Buck was there and going to perform or we were gone. While there are a few performers I like and do not have a psg (like the Beach Boys); when it's country, I want a psg in the group. |
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Ron Jones
From:
Lenoir City, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:33 am
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| I really think it is just the music itself. Before I got into steel I was hard core. Haggard, Jones, Price, etc. I gave up steel for about ten years and just dedicated myself to piano only. During this time I tried to be more open to other genres of music. I was actually saying to myself, "Hey, This stuff ain't that bad". Even started to like the new country. A little over a year ago I picked the steel back up and have been going down hill ever since. Found a local AM station that plays nothing but old traditional country and the more I hear the more I remmeber why I liked this type of music. It's just good simple pickin'. Just me I guess. Don't get me wrong I still like other music I'm just more particular about what I listen to. |
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Mark Metdker
From:
North Central Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:37 am
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Ron, you may have put it better than I intended in my original post. I still like other genres of music too. I can listen to blues and rock and just about everything else. BUT, when I listen to country, it has to have a steel in it now!  |
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Rick Garrett
From:
Tyler, Texas
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:46 am
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I agree with Jim on this one. I listen to alot of different types of music and I'm forever more hearing in my mind what any particular classic song would sound like on a pedal steel. Return to me is another great classic that would really be great on steel. I heard that on a commercial last night and I could literally hear the steel guitar in my head. So I guess you could say I'm trying to expand the steel guitar into area's that some would say it don't belong.
Rick |
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Ron Jones
From:
Lenoir City, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 6:58 am
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| Rick, I do the same thing. I just recorded Into the Mystic by Van Morrison And I can literally loop this song and close my eyes and listen to it for hours and I hear a thousand steel parts, even a steel instrumental, It haunts me for hours. I just think you are drawn to your roots. Traditional country just seems to have a sound all it's own.It was a time when the steel sounded like a steel, the guitar sounded like a guitar, and their sole person was to make the singer sound good. Not trying to be spokesman for traditional county music I just realized how much I missed it while I was away. Thanks guys. |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 9:26 am
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It's an obsessive-compulsive mild hysteria disorder manifested by manic periods of plucking away at a stringed mechancal instrument interspersed with depressive thoughts of how futile the current practice session seems to be going.
I personally suffer delusions of partial competence.
The cure is buying more Steel Guitar CD's. [This message was edited by Ray Minich on 12 November 2004 at 09:30 AM.] |
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Bob Hayes
From:
Church Hill,Tenn,USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 10:05 am
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Getting back to the cma awards.....It's begining to be the Rockin' country music awards!!!! I was happy to see The redneck woman herself get the Horizon...she is ..what she is......I like keith urban ...but..he IS still a rocker.....
Ladies & gentelmen...country music Has left the stage!!!!!! But still alive and well at the steel Jams/shows.... Pour me somthing tall and cool.....a hurican..before I go insane'' Where IS argaritaville?
Grouchy |
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Francis Chamberlain
From:
Franklin, KY, USA (deceased)
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 10:13 am
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To listen to so called country music without
steel is like eating food with no salt.[This message was edited by Francis Chamberlain on 12 November 2004 at 10:14 AM.] |
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Nic du Toit
From:
Milnerton, Cape, South Africa
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 10:48 am
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After spending many years playing all kinds of music that somebody else like (dances ste.), I got to the point where I also say "It aint Country if there's no steel". Some of the new country stuff are actually quite nice, but my attention soon starts to wander if don't hear a steel.
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1980 Emmons P/P
Peavey Session 500
NEW CD "Nightmare on Emmons Steel"
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Gregg Thacker
From:
Pasadena, Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 10:03 pm
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Hey Mark..How's it going for you? I must be a "snob" to when it come to country Music that does not have a steel in it. I listen to KXAS 96.3, The Ranch 95.3, and especially on Sunday afternoon I listen to 95.9 The Range at 1:00 PM for Mr. Labenski's (sp) Classic Country Show. I think there need to an a Steelers annonymous fo Steelers who have hangups such as us 
Gregg
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If it don't have a Steel, it ain't real!
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Herman Visser
From:
Rohnert Park, California, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 11:03 pm
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| I have to agree with Matt on this one,not to listen music because there is no steel, cant do that there is so much more then just steel guitar in a song( sure helps ) I do find myself turning off counrty music that dose not use a steel( Iam a steel snob in that way).But through the Forum and its members I am finding alot of realy great music steel wise.Today I bought a none country steel CD from b0b by Johan Jansen realy a great work and 6 Buddy Emmons CD for gifts(christmas Sounds)So if that makes me a steel snob SO be IT. |
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Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 12 Nov 2004 11:15 pm
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| I'd prefer to hear more steel in other musical genres besides country. |
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Jeff Lampert
From:
queens, new york city
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Posted 13 Nov 2004 6:37 am
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There's nothing wrong with just listening to music with steel, but I imagine if players like Emmons, Chalker, Jernigan, Franklin, etc. only listened to traditional country music with steels, then a huge part of their legacies would have been lost. Just a rhetorical question. How would it be possible to advance the cause of steel in all kinds of music if we all thought that way?
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[url=http://www.mightyfinemusic.com/jeff's_jazz.htm]Jeff's Jazz[/url]
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Wayne Morgan
From:
Rutledge, TN, USA
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Posted 13 Nov 2004 8:23 am
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Hi Mark, I have this "SnoB" disease, I am on high doses of medication for this,,,, Price, Haggard, Jones, Bush (Johnny),Emmons, Green, Hughey, Day, and now have become addicted to the medication, and Big and Rich is not the answer to my problems. I'm one of the old pHARTS living in the past and loving it.
Wayne |
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