Pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow (1934-2007) was one of the most ubiquitous and influential musicians of the hippie-era country-rock scene, and a prolific session player on countless rock, pop and country projects. Born in Indiana, Kleinow made his way out West in the early 1960s and worked in film and TV production before becoming a full-time musician. Like many country players, he worked constantly in the small country bars that dotted the Southern California landscape, as well as in the fabled nightclubs of LA's Sunset Strip, where he met Gram Parsons, The Byrds and other key members of the burgeoning longhair country scene. Kleinow was most famously a founding member of The Flying Burrito Brothers and was an on-again, off-again member for years to come, also collaborating on the myriad projects of his various Burrito buddies.
Discography - Albums
Sneaky Pete (Kleinow) "Cold Steel" (Ariola Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Daniel Moore)
A solo set, kind of. Cold Steel was officially the name of a working LA country-rock band, a Sneaky Pete side-project, though this disc had him billed as the main artist, and is considered a Sneaky Pete solo album. The group included Sneaky Pete on pedal steel, along with lead singer and drummer Greg Attaway, Michael A. Bowden (bass), Richard Bowden (guitar), Gib Guilbeau (fiddle) and David Lovelace on piano. The album opens with a song Kleinow wrote, "Wings That Make The Birds Fly," and is dominated by original material, mostly written by the various band members. Kleinow was on a break from the Burrito Brothers at the time, but soon returned to the fold, with this album as one of only a few albums he released under his own name.
Sneaky Pete (Kleinow) "Sneaky Pete" (Shiloh Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Dale Davis & Gene Humphrey)
Sneaky Pete Kleinow "The Legend And The Legacy" (Shiloh Records, 1994) (LP)
(Produced by Dale Davis, Pete Kleinow & Shannon O'Neil)
It took about twenty years, but Kleinow did make another solo album... and to be fair, he kept pretty busy during that interval. Judging from the overlapping studio personnel -- five different bassists, seven drummers, etc. -- I'd guess that these tracks were laid down over the course of many years. But there sure a bunch of high-powered musicians on here! Guitarist Albert Lee certainly popped out (I'm a big fan) though there are also a bunch of Sneaky Pete's longtime SoCal buddies, including Skip Battin, Gib Guilbeau, Greg Harris and doubtless others I'm not cool enough to recognize, as well as several LA studio-scene usual suspects, such as Toto's Lenny Castro, Jeff and Mike Porcaro and keyboardist Jai Winding and Danny Seiwell, of some band called Wings. Jinkies!
Sneaky Pete Kleinow "Meet Sneaky Pete" (BeauTown Records, 2001) (LP)
Sneaky Pete Kleinow "The Shiloh Records Anthology" (Sundazed Records, 2008) (LP)
A best-of set, drawing on his recordings for the Shiloh Records label...
Related Records
Various Artists "THE PEDAL STEEL GUITAR ALBUM" (Elektra Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Bruce Botnick, John Boylan, Allan Emig & John Haeny)
A superpicker summit-meeting with several of the preeminent steel players of the country-rock scene bubbling up at the peak of the hippie-rock era. The roster included SoCal scenesters Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Jay Dee Maness, Red Rhodes and ex-Buffalo Springfield-er Rusty Young, who had recently co-founded the soon-to-be influential country-rock supergroup Poco. This mostly-West Coast lineup was joined by steel guitar guru Buddy Emmons, who worked his way up through several high-profile country bands to become one of Nashville's go-to session musicians. The backing band was a mix of East Coast and West Coast talent, including folks like John Boylan (lead guitar and piano), John Guerin (drums), Joe Osborn (bass), Bob West (bass), Clarence White (lead guitar), and rhythm guitarists Jim Yester and Jo Ellen Yester.
The Flying Burrito Brothers "Gilded Palace Of Sin" (A&M Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Henry Lewy, Larry Marks & The Burritos)
The Flying Burrito Brothers "Burrito Deluxe" (A&M Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Dickson & Henry Lewy)
Flying Burrito Brothers "The Flying Burrito Bros" (A&M Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Dickson, Lillian Douma & Bob Hughes)
Flying Burrito Brothers "Flying Again" (Columbia Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Glen Kolotkin, Norbert Putnam & Glen Spreen)
Flying Burrito Brothers "Airborne" (Columbia Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by John Fischbach & The Flying Burrito Brothers)
A live album...
Pacific Steel Company "Pacific Steel Co." (Pacific Arts, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Al Perkins)
An all-instrumental summit session featuring five pedal steel playing giants of the West Coast country scene's royalty: Tom Brumley (who played with the Buck Owens band), Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers (and countless hippie-country recordings) along with Red Rhodes, Jay Dee Maness, and Al Perkins, all of whom played on countless sessions for a wide range of artists. Like many instrumental albums, this may appeal mainly to aficionados of the instrument in question, and this particular disc has a few rock-pop moments that may distract more country-oriented fans. Melodic/psychedelic rock and a hint of disco color these tunes, but it's solid picking all the way through -- a delight for fans of steel guitar. Although they billed themselves as a "band," each track is credited to individual soloists, and each seems to have brought his own separate backup players, although the best tracks feature combinations of more than one steel player at a time. These were the guys who provided much of the sweet soulful ooomph for the SoCal country-rock sound, and it's nice to hear them emerge into the spotlight for a while.
Links
Hick Music Index
