On the second side there is the equivalent of rocks in bags of potatoes, however, a band who goes for a somewhat more contemporary feel, coming across like some kind of wedding band in the process. If this album consisted totally of pieces such as the wonderful "Medley" of steel guitar favorites or the work-up of "Orange Blossom Special" on which Emmons is endlessly inventive, then it would receive the highest rating.
With one, he established his abilities to play traditional country and Western swing material as if he was regaining the heavyweight championship each of his solos on these pieces is delivered with that type of combination of punches, and it is a good thing he hired a bona fide genius, guitarist Leon Rhodes, to play with him on these tracks since there are few other players who would be able to follow him up. Given the opportunity to do whatever he wanted on an album in a period when many listeners were waiting, their tongues hanging out, for the next bold innovation in country-flavored instrumental music, he convened two completely different groups to back him up. So he plans to add a tribute to his repertoire.Ĭullum says he won't play it as well as Buddy Emmons did, but nobody could.The versatility of Buddy Emmons would never be questioned. Still, Cullum idolized the man for how he innovated with both the instrument and the music. "I was like, we've got to do 'Once Upon A Time In The West,' because I think it's the only Buddy Emmons song I could tackle."Ĭullum says he regrets that he never actually met Emmons, even though he lived just across town. "We're doing a New York run," Cullum says. One of those whom Emmons indirectly taught to play is Spencer Cullum, who tours with Miranda Lambert and also has his own band, Steelism.
"He taught everybody to play, whether it was one-on-one or just by his being." "I loved him and I miss him, and I will continue to miss him every time I sit down to a guitar, just like all the other steel players," Elliott says. Ron Elliott, a fellow pedal pro, says he accepted that he'd never be as good as Emmons, his close friend for more than 50 years. He retired from music in 2007 when he lost his wife. "It's just rife with possible accidents left and right."Įmmons displayed his abilities on numerous recordings of his own, including an acclaimed jazz album from 1963, Steel Guitar Jazz. "It's like a Rubik's Cube of a musical instrument that's not unlike driving a stick-shift truck through landmines," he says. There are pedals, knee levers, sometimes two sets of strings. The pedal steel has humbled many a musician who took a seat at one expecting to make a sweet sound. "You're talking about the ability to play fiery, complex, single-note solos that just would leave you staggered when you heard them, coupled with really imaginative chordal work," Fishell says. Steve Fishell, who plays pedal steel for Emmylou Harris, calls Emmons a musical genius - even a savant. Though he might not be a household name, Emmons played on records for everyone from Ray Price to Ray Charles, and from George Strait to Judy Collins. Buddy Emmons as a member of Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours, circa 1962.Įlmer Williams/Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum/Getty ImagesĬountry music wouldn't sound like itself without the pedal-steel guitar, and the instrument sounds the way it does today because of Buddy Emmons, who died Wednesday in Nashville at 78.