He is/was one of my pedal steel heros. invented the "West Coast Sound" on pedal steel. He was the drive behind the early Buck Owens sound, then played with Waylon Jennings until Waylon passed. He taught Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Norm Hamlett (Merle Haggard's steel player), J.D Mayness (Buck Owens & The Desert Rose Band) and Barbara Mandell. What a guy! I met him at the NAMM show in 1978 and asked him how he got that remarkable sound. He said, "I play through at Fender Twin Reverb. I turn all the knobs to 10 and control the volume with my volume pedal." WOW. I tried it, but I couldn't carry it off. btw. he was a really nice guy, too.
Not Hawaiian, but I'd bet a lot of you knew him
Posted - 03/26/2011 : 8:12:17 PM
