Elvis Costello w John McFee on steel

[Bob Carlucci]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve5Gd7QCBiA..
Great old tune short and sweet.. Elvis has always loved country music, and I am sure loves pedal steel.. This is one of his first hits from the 70's....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve5Gd7QCBiA

[Joachim Kettner]

I can't listen to the song from here, but I just want to ad to this topic, that John McFee is all over "Almost Blue", EC's country covers album that was recorded in Nashville in the early Eighties.

[Charles Curtis]

Is this the same guy that did Honky Tonk Blues with Huey Lewis?

[Kevin Swan]

John McFee played in the Bay Area group Clover, with first Alex Call, then Huey Cregg the lead singer. They morphed into Huey Lewis and the News, but earlier, when Elvis Costello visited Mill Valley, CA, he kinda shanghaied McFee and the rest of Clover to London to record his first album, "My Aim is True." They were mostly uncredited, for contractual reasons or something, but I think McFee is playing the lead on "Alison." He's also on a fuzz-pedal pedal steel on "Waiting for the End of the World."

He really nails it on "Radio Sweetheart," which was recorded at the same time but wasn't released on that album but was on a later release. Really tasty steel work.

McFee also recorded with another ex-pat who lived in Marin County for a few years: Van Morrison.

[Mark van Allen]

John's on Tupelo Honey as well. Probably best known as a guitarist in the Doobie Brothers, he played absolutely spot on 6 string with Southern Pacific, one of my favorite country-Rock bands. That feller gets around.

[Joachim Kettner]

There's a steel on his right, I wonder if he also played it on this reunion gig with Elvis Costello?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17RrTNgYV4k

[Joachim Kettner]

Something more up to date. He played all the instruments on this song by Carlene Carter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HPOBA4Ows0

[Joachim Kettner]

Him again on a Tim Davis song, drummer of the Steve Miller Band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYjkgFrB_g

[John McClung]

One of the very first, if not THE first, songs I heard featuring pedal steel (life was never the same after that) was this solo by John McFee on Boz Scaggs' "Moments" album, circa 1971.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74nUpp38ajM

The other song was Buddy Emmons on "Someday Soon" by Judy Collins.

I think it was 1971 or 1972 when "Suite Steel" was released. What a mindblower!

Those were the good old days, and to figure out what this new instrument was all about, there was almost no way to dig up info, you just had to teach yourself and constantly ask around. That was half the fun, not knowing what you couldn't or shouldn't do!