Blah blah <fill in the blank> is to the lap steel what Mississippi John Hurt is to
fingerstyle guitar
What little I know about playing fingerstyle guitar I learned from listening to
Mississippi John Hurt's relatively simple, elegant work. Who should I be listening to
to hear lap steel lovingly stripped to the bare
essentials and well played.
Well, I'd say Jerry Byrd except he's about as far from Mississippi John Hurt's style
as you can get and still be an American.
Suggested listening for lap steel guitarists:
Jerry Byrd - the master of tone and touch, although maybe not the master of taste.
Some of his recordings are pretty heavy on the schmaltz.
David Lindley - is playing mostly acoustic Weissenborn guitars now. His lap steel
work with Jackson Browne defined the use of lap steel in rock. Any of his solo CDs
with Hani Naser or Wally Ingram on percussion gives you a good idea of what he's doing
now and what's possible (see http://www.davidlindley.com for ordering).
Jerry Douglas - although known more for his Dobro playing, he does some fine lap steel
work on his latest CD "Restless on the Farm"
Two excellent early examples of lap steel are Leon McAuliffe (with Bob Wills and His
Texas Playboys) and Don Helms (with Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys).
More information available on my web site.
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Brad's Page of Steel:
http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html
A web site devoted to acoustic and electric lap steel guitars
