How Do You Determine Who Is The Steel Player In The Band?

Gene H. Brown · Post by **Gene H. Brown** » 10 Oct 2002 12:15 am

Does anyone know a correct way of determining who is the steel guitar player in a band, before you know who the steel player is? Could it be the road maps on his or her forehead, {Sorry Girls}, or the holes in the seat of their pants from all those years of sitting down behind a steel and giving thought to all those great licks that have come and gone. Or could it be the way he or she is always figiting with the right hand thumb, index finger and middle finger and any other finger they wear picks on, or the marks the picks leave on those fingers? It could also be the long sleeve shirts that have worn out the left hand cuff, that is if their outside neck is E9th and they have an inside neck, C6th , maybe. Lloyd Green got smart and did away with the inside neck and I'll bet it was because Dottie told him he was wearing out too many shirts, just Kidding Lloyd. Or maybe, its the black residue on the left palm of their hands from the strings. Just wondering if it shows well enough to know if a steel picker, is a steel picker. And wonder if it shows well enough to know he or she is a steel picker before you see him or her sit down behind the steel, is there any trademarks that set him or her apart from all other musicians, or for that matter from anyone else, like Doctors and Lawyers or Crane Operators? I know there is and if you are a steel picker, you know there is too, but would also like to know if there are certain ways to tell if a man or woman has played their instrument for bunches of years, like taste, tone, preciseness, professionalism , or just a certain look about a steel guitar player that comes across? I'm just curious to see what everyone comes up with, because, I believe a steel player does stand out from all the other musicians in the band, at least I have always thought so, maybe it's just the way I see them, and I'm kinda predjudice, cause I am one. I've seen Threads about everything I can think of and thought this would be a fun thing to see everyone's opinion and see what they come up with.
Thanks
Gene H. Brown

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!

[This message was edited by Gene H. Brown on 10 October 2002 at 01:22 AM.]

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 10 Oct 2002 3:40 am

....the thing I hear most from other musicians, is that steel players have a certain look of "arrogance" about them that is obvious when they walk in the door....but of course that wouldn't describe me! (That picture of me on my web-site just caught me at an unguarded moment!)

....I would speculate that if this trait does exist to some degree, it is because the steel player (next to the front man) usually seems to get more attention from the public than the other musicians.... www.genejones.com

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 10 Oct 2002 3:43 am

Well now,
If you play in YELLOWKNIFE, Yukon Territoy, 1983, YOU JUST MIGHT BE A RED NE......Opps,

You just MIGHT be a STEEL PLAYER.
Wow, Gene, Have ya got HOLES in your LEFT BOOT from years of PEDAL-PUNCHING? Thought so......

I played to ESKIMOS and OILMEN when we played YELLOWKNIFE in '83. We drove all the way from FREMONT, Nebraska, and the last 150-200 miles was a gravel road which we had to dodge Moose every once in a while. LOOONG DRIVE, I tell ya.

Quesney Gibbs · Post by **Quesney Gibbs** » 10 Oct 2002 4:17 am

Ron...here's a little correction. Yellowknife is in the N. W. T. and not in the Yukon. I played there in 89 at the Gold Range Hotel for two weeks. The place was jam packed with drunk Eskimos, gold miners, and hookers.

It got so wild one night I videotaped things for about 45 mins. What a place!

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 10 Oct 2002 7:56 am

"How Do You Determining Who Is The Steel Player In The Band?"

For me, it usually involves verbally punching out the B-Bender Tele man!

Hey, uh... Dude, that thing makes you sound like a total beginner guitar player, man.

I don't want to hear anything even resembling a steel lick coming out of your amp, got it?!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 10 Oct 2002 8:33 am

It's the guy who looks like he's in pain.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6), Roland Handsonic

Andy Zynda · Post by **Andy Zynda** » 10 Oct 2002 9:06 am

My Dad used to be a truck driver for a local business up here in Wisconsin called Glendenning. The old joke went:
Father and son are at the zoo, and the kid is asking about every animal they see at the zoo, but when they get to the baboon cage, the kid is suspiciously quiet. The Dad asks "don't you want to know what that is son?"
The son replies: "Oh that's a Glendenning truck driver. You can tell by the dumb look on his face and the callouses on his ass"

-andy-

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 10 Oct 2002 9:06 am

Bobby Lee, don't want to horn in on your post, but I might add if he's doing his own Loading In, he's the guy with the stooped shoulders and the highest Chiropractor bill.

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The spirit be with you!!

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 10 Oct 2002 10:29 am

Look for the old guy with the pot belly........(uh-oh)

Gene H. Brown · Post by **Gene H. Brown** » 10 Oct 2002 10:46 am

Good Answers Guys, keep em coming!!!!!!!And yes, Yellowknife is in the Northwest Territories, but its all about the same up here. Man , you ought to try and play an outside gig up here in October, it's about 6 degrees below zero right now and winter isn't even here yet, yuk.

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!

Terry Wendt · Post by **Terry Wendt** » 10 Oct 2002 11:11 am

Fred, I'll augment you on the shoulders to say, the steel player has those muscles developed (largely) between somewhere near the bottom of the neckline and the top of the shoulder line... (and has the chiropractor bill...) unless his name is Paul Franklin... he'd be the guy with the cartage companies following him around.

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TheEarlyDays.com

and appearing regularly...
Jimmy Crawford/Russ Hicks... and Buddy Emmons on Bass! aLotOfSpace.com

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 10 Oct 2002 12:54 pm

Oh, God,
I looked at the map, and you guys ARE RIGHT!!!
Then what and where DID we play in '83? I THOUGHT we played in Yellowknife...I guess I was TOO DRUNK to remember back then.
I'll have to get my photo album out and look for the steelplayer with the FUZZY RED EYES.
I am SO glad I do NOT drink anymore.
I DO remember the winter of '83...Diesel trucks had to add like a gallon of gas to 200 gallons of diesel fuel to keep it from frezzing. BUT, I heard that there was a drawback...the gas would burn the injector tips...(Damn if you do, Damn if ya don't)

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 10 Oct 2002 1:06 pm

Ron, maybe it was Red Deer. I played that western Canadian circuit back in 83/84.

Started over the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Surry, Can. I think it was Surry.

I, too, was spending way too much time at the bar back then.

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 10 Oct 2002 2:24 pm

Hey, Chip,
By any chance, was your agent Mr. Don Q. Davidson? He was our agent from '80-85.
That guy would send us to parts UNKNOWN, and sometimes, 13000 miles apart.(Like, close in Fremont, Neb. on Saturday night, and open in Hinsville, GA. the following Monday night.) He had pretty much of the bulk of Bands on the Circuit at that time. It is NOT what it used to be, though. Ah, The "Good Old Days".
We had the chance to play in Alaska too, but, we turned it down.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 10 Oct 2002 3:49 pm

Steel players are usually built like Dennis Weaver or Al Hirt!

They're usually the quietest, and least outgoing one in the group, and usually the first ones to show up. Also, they're the only one who wastes their entire break trying to tune up.

Next to the bassman, they have the biggest amp, and the most "toys". Due to their "preoccupation" with what they're doing, they're the last ones to notice a fight, or a pretty woman.

Gene H. Brown · Post by **Gene H. Brown** » 10 Oct 2002 5:20 pm

You're right on there Donny on all points!

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!

Mark Krutke · Post by **Mark Krutke** » 10 Oct 2002 5:56 pm

The guy (or girl) who's usually sitting all alone off to the side at his steel because of:

A) the look he gives to others in the band that says: "Don't bother me I'm trying to concentrate on my solo that's almost over with"

B) nobody wanting to be around him for fear of getting struck by a G# string breaking

C) not wanting to be close to him so they're not asked to help him carry that monstrous contraption out to his car

D) All of the above

Bill Myrick · Post by **Bill Myrick** » 10 Oct 2002 7:07 pm

If you're at The Grand Palace in Branson, he's the one the spotlight never once covers all night. Still 'turbed over that one !!

[This message was edited by Bill Myrick on 10 October 2002 at 08:09 PM.]

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 10 Oct 2002 7:14 pm

Bill Myrick, ain't it always been that way. You're the 'sideman'. Yeh, you bet
the "OUT-sideman". Darn lights get hot anyway they tell me. Never experienced it.

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The spirit be with you!!

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 11 Oct 2002 2:10 am

I just love it when a group of "Foxy" Ladys are either at the bar, or standing not too far from me, and they are Giggling, snickering, and laughing and pointing at me, DARING each other to go up and ask me what the hell I am playing....and then the most brave of the bunch will finally walk up, (Because she was DARED TO) and ask me some of the sillyist questions about my steel, and I really love it when she ask me WHY ARE YOUR LEGS FLOPPING AROUND UP AND DOWN, LEFT AND RIGHT? Back when I was on the road, I usally got to have a GOOD TIME with the one that was intrested in my steel.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 11 Oct 2002 9:32 am

Great post! Ron, were those one or two night gigs in Yellowknife and did you drive up and back from Nebraska for just those one or two nights?
Pete my boy......this is an entirely new look into the psyche of a steel player that I like and tho't I really knew. So quiet and shy on the outside.....like a minister's son.
Tony....easy on the "old, pot belly" stuff....you should never make fun of another man's deformities.....especially if'n he's a fellow steel player.
Donny...you're right on all counts except your last three words. I could spot 'em at 100 yerds, the minute they'd come thro' the door in a totally dark room right in the middle of Orange BLossom Special or some other upbeat little tune.
Most of the great, local steel men I've known have been ultra conservative in their choice of automobiles (Volvo's or '51 Ford station wagons) and women (some that can't
even recall what the original color of their hair is); not at all style conscious and who avoid fads; frequently lacking in the area of social skills (likely the result of shyness); avoiding the spotlight(possibly the result of something in their past); somewhat insecure unless ensconced behind a steel guitar in some dimly lit, smoke filled bar; non-drinkers, non-smokers, non-chewers, never touched drugs, and not into body piercing; likely to maintain a low profile when off stage; mostly one-woman kinda guys (unless two or three want to accompany him home the same night); have made a lifetime commitment to play steel guitar better than anyone else; is happy to have only one modestly equipped guitar (any brand will do even if it has two table knife handles for knee lever replacements) and a single, functional amp (complete with beer bottle rings and a slightly yellow, nicotine tinge); not at all concerned about the little things in life, like cabinet drop, blue thumb picks, or even crazy glue; loves to wear cowboy suits and Stetsons on stage. Has never had to attend an anger management program. Is always charming, witty and filled with meaningless facts and an ethusiastic teller of tall tales. Can't remember yesterday or the names of all his kids, but can play note for note single string runs dating from as far back as 1948 just like Sol Hoopi or Roy Smeck.
Basically, the kinda guy just about anyone would enjoy being with or would readily loan money to, like many here on the Forum.
This is merely a blend of factors I've noted while being a loyal fan of Eric West, Larry Behm, Pete Burak, Doug Jones, and numerous others and does not accurately describe any individual whether living or dead.

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 11 Oct 2002 10:07 am

What a post, Ray..
And as I look back, Hell, I can't remember if it was 1 WEEK, or 2 WEEKS.

Oh, I think I remember now, as my head comes out of this fog...we were there for 6 weeks, but, I can only remember about the first half week. All the rest of the time, I was in the motel room getting drunk and getting rubdowns from this BIG Eskimo woman....Damn, wasn't bad either

Gene H. Brown · Post by **Gene H. Brown** » 11 Oct 2002 10:31 am

Great Post Ray, and all the rest of you guys, those kinds of things were exactly what I was thinking of. You probably don't remember me Ray, but Doug Jones and Larry Behm do. I used to live and play in Portland for many years, tell em I said hello , Please.

Thanks for the post.
Gene H. Brown

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!

[This message was edited by Gene H. Brown on 11 October 2002 at 11:33 AM.]

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 11 Oct 2002 10:59 am

Geez, after reading the Oregonian's post I am looking forward to paying the damned chiropractor with glee. Now that's what I call salesmanship.

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The spirit be with you!!

Leroy Riggs · Post by **Leroy Riggs** » 11 Oct 2002 11:33 am

Watch their fingers. If they move more than one finger while absentmindedly fake-picking to the music on the jute box, that is the steel player.

Edited for spelling.[This message was edited by Leroy Riggs on 11 October 2002 at 12:36 PM.]