Ruhe in Frieden, Sneaky. Er war für mich einer der ganz Großen an der Pedal Steel. Sein Spiel auf „The Gilded Palace Of Sin“ bleibt unvergesslich.
SundazedSNEAKY PETE KLEINOW DEAD AT AGE 72
Sneaky Pete Kleinow, a brilliant pedal steel guitarist who carved out a long career by adding his stringbending wizardry to recording sessions by such luminaries as the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Linda Ronstadt and Gram Parsons‘ original Flying Burrito Bros. died on Friday , Jan. 5 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Born in South Bend, Ind. in 1934, Pete Kleinow fell in love as a kid with his Mom’s 78 rpm record of Bing Crosby singing „Sweet Leilani“ and couldn’t get the sound of the Hawaiian steel guitar out of his head. „It made my eyes misty,“ he once said. When he heard legendary pedal steel man Jerry Byrd accompanying Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow on Grand Ol‘ Opry, Kleinow decided, at the age of 17, to buy an instrument and learn how to play it. After graduating from high school he spent 10 years working on a road maintenance crew in Michigan before moving to California and honing his musical skills at night.
Once in Los Angeles, Kleinow, now using the stage name of Sneaky Pete, found work in small country combos and developed his own way of playing one of the most complicated of stringed instruments. „I evolved a crazy approach to the instrument,“ he said. „It made me attempt to get a guitar sound or an organ sound by playing all the solos and all the fills. I was unconsciously learning the techniques of other instruments through the medium
of the steel guitar.“Word got around town that Sneaky Pete was the man to hire if you wanted that sweet country sound on record. He began to play frequently at North Hollywood’s Palomino Club, a spot that catered to a new breed of country artists.
Kleinow also began a successful parallel career in the television and moving picture industries that lasted until 1999, specializing in animation, rear-projection, stop-action and the creation of miniatures. His work has appeared in well-known television shows The Outer Limits, Land Of The Lost, The Twilight Zone and The Winds Of War, and he wrote the musical theme for animated kids‘ show Gumby. He’s also worked on feature films such as Gremlins, Terminator, Dune, It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World, 7 Faces Of Doctor Lao and
Return Of The Living Dead.Sneaky Pete was also a charter member of Gram Parsons‘ hot new band, the Flying Burrito Bros., formed by Parsons and Chris Hillman after they quit the Byrds in 1969, and he performed on their critically acclaimed debut album, The Gilded Palace Of Sin. Long after Parsons and Hillman had left the Burritos Bros., Sneaky kept the band name alive with the cream of Hollywood’s country music scene.
Former Byrd Gene Clark, who employed Sneaky Pete on his 1972 album, Roadmaster, penned the following tribute to Sneaky Pete Kleinow for his 1991 solo album, The Legend And The Legacy. Everything said then, applies today to
this musical giant whose career spanned more
than four decades.Sneaky Pete’s discography rambles like a grape vine. It would take pages to list all the credits that span his recording career. Pete has always rebounded with every blow that life can deal and now presents an album full of stirring performances. He’s one of the true pioneers of not only country-rock, but many other phases of modern music, as well. Sneaky Pete is to be enjoyed!