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Points: 31 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Pedal Steel Guitar in prog
    Posted: February 13 2016 at 13:08
An instrument one does not readily associate with prog, yet  B.J. Cole  - a very important session man (along with his namesake Jerry Cole) - appears on many a prog/fusion lp (Parsons,Uriah Heep,Gilmour,Procol Harum, to name a few.

As something like "Going For The One" attests, you would not think so, but pedal steel goes well with prog.



Today, for the first time, I listened to Cole's first solo lp, "The New Hovering Dog" ('77??). I heard that his solo lps are not at all country but more experimental. And so is the case - only one (short) hillbilly-boogie-type track on this wonderful lp. Unique-sounding lp not far from prog  with unusual, distinctive  vocals, Mike Giles on drums, Tristram Fry on percussion,Monkman on harpsichord,Danny Thompson on string bass,etc. Cole does vocals,synth,dobro cheng & steel guitar. Recommended. Not that its easy to find.


So then, some examples of steel guitar in prog or fusion....
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Points: 470 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2016 at 23:40

I just looked up The New Hovering Dog on Amazon, and surprisingly it’s readily available on CD.


His work on Pete Sinfield’s “Still” is also noteworthy, especially on Will It Be You, which is admittedly country-flavored, albeit with other atypical instrumentation, such as sax and “Woolworth’s organ.”
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Points: 1802 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2016 at 00:44
How about Sneaky Pete Kleinow on Zappa's "It Just Might Be A One Shot Deal"
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Points: 19942 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2016 at 07:55
Steve Howe does go a bit crazy on it sometimes, but "To Be Over" is brilliant.
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Points: 4591 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2016 at 13:56
I've played pedal steel off and on for about 20 years and Steve Howe's use of the instrument is very interesting and frequently misidentified.  Live, he's always played And You and I and Going for the One on steel guitar, not pedal steel.  The easy way to visually tell the difference is if there are no metal rods connecting the body of the instrument to the floor (where the pedals live) then that's not a pedal steel...as illustrated in the Yessongs version of And You And I... 


 To Be Over is a different story as that's definitely the Sho Bud double neck pedal steel (which I believe he purchased in Nashville during the Fragile tour) and is a brilliant use of the instrument - but hey, he is Steve Howe so would we expect any less!  In fact, the only Yes tours I'm aware of that he even brought his Sho Bud rather than his Fender double neck steel were the Tales and Relayer tours.  I can't be sure but since there is no video of Yes playing The Ancient on the Tales tour, I can only guess that the wild slide solo near the beginning is actually pedal steel and that's why he brought it for the tour...otherwise, the much lighter and easier to maintain Fender steel would have sufficed.  It honestly doesn't sound like pedal steel to me, but that's the only reason bringing it would make sense.

Anyway, check out the "Yes Live at the QPR Part 4 To Be Over" below...just before the 4 minute mark, he's playing the Sho Bud pedal steel and you can see the right 2 bars of the 3 pedal bars moving which shows he's using the pedals.  It also indicates he's pushing 2 pedals at once with 1 foot which is a common pedal steel technique.  Cool.  Another thing is the way he customized his Sho Bud for comfort.  On the Tales tour, the Sho Bud was played in the traditional sitting position.  For the Relayer tour, he's raised it up off the floor so he can play it while standing.



Pedal steel has a very unique sound in that you can bend the pitch of certain strings while others remain static (which combined with a volume pedal swell gives that famous country music weeping effect).  The pedals are attached to different strings and mechanically raise or lower the tones of those strings by 1/2 to 1 step depending on what pedal or combination of pedals you push, while the other strings are unaffected.  The accepted standard tuning of the pedal steel vs the steel are also very different; but, if you want, you can play a pedal steel like a steel (alter the tuning and just ignore the pedals) but you can't play a steel like a pedal steel Wink

Anyway, Howe's "To Be Over" is a pedal steel masterpiece for playing outside the box, but for the traditional pedal steel sound in prog Sneaky Pete's solo in "It Just Might be a One Shot Deal" is a winner.  For those that consider the Grateful Dead prog related, Jerry's pedal steel solos in Dire Wolf, High Time, Candyman and The Wheel  and a guy named John McFee who played the solo on Pride of Cucamonga are all must listens.
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Points: 23098 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2016 at 14:08
Great post Dennis
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Points: 4591 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2016 at 16:44
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

Great post Dennis

Thanks Dave, Steve Howe discussions always get me excited about the opportunity to teach people the difference between steel and pedal steel Wink
Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987
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