The Strange Story of the Steel Guitar, Country's Most Magical Instrument

Comments · 764

• CY

  @CyrusWaugh · 4 years ago (edited)

  What makes Grady so good is making videos not many would think of asking for and they’re so well researched and told

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• GO

  @GoDawgs18 · 4 years ago (edited)

  Don Helms deserves a mention. “Hey Good Lookin” is possibly the most iconic steel guitar line in country music history

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• CO

  @collierrocks · 4 years ago

  Jerry Garcia’s pedal steel intro to Nash’s Teach Your Children is one of the best opening licks in pop history.

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• ED

  @edgarvolkov8631 · 3 years ago (edited)

  I am from Ukraine. It was years ago in my teens when I heard a random song featuring steel guitar. It went deep and stroke the very bottom of my soul. Much later after doing a research I found it was country music. Forever fan of both the genre and the instrument. Keep her cryin'. It's beautiful

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• DR

  @dragonflySummer09 · 2 years ago

  Have to talk about Jerry Byrd, the first inductee into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, and who was known as the “master of touch and tone”…. He left Nashville when it appeared to him that Country Music was getting away from the sound he was using in the 1950s, and he moved to Hawaii, where he died about 15 years ago… my dad played steel in 1952 for Little Jimmy Dickens and became friends with Jerry Byrd…

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• BR

  @briandoerger883 · 4 years ago

  Wished the video would have gone twice as long, would love to see the in-depth clips of him playing!

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• IN

  @InvictusAeterna · 4 years ago

  Steel guitar has ALWAYS been my favorite instrument since I could remember, and it is what spoke to me most in my love for country music. I play lap steel, and my favorite thing to do is incorporate jazz in it as he showed the night life album. To me, country isn’t country without the steel

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• BA

  @baroqueguitarist5673 · 4 years ago

  I’m surprised Speedy West didn’t get a mention. I’ve been a huge fan of Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West my whole life. There playing never gets old.

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• IN

  @InventorZahran · 4 years ago

  &quot;When you hear twin fiddles and a <b>steel guitar,</b> you&apos;re listening to the sound of the American heart.&quot;<br><br>—George Strait, in &apos;Heartland&apos;

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• PA

  @pAWNproductionsDE · 4 years ago

  I&apos;m not a particularly big fan of country, but I&apos;ve always found this instrument fascinating, especially the pedal steel with all its complexities. I&apos;m glad videos like this exist, and I hope the instrument expands into more genres

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• AL

  @alanfbrookes9771 · 3 years ago

  As a longtime steel player myself, and an active member of the Steel Guitar Forum, I really enjoyed this video. &nbsp; &nbsp;No errors at all. &nbsp;The main thing that was missed out is why the pedals are there, to allow access to chords which couldn&apos;t be played with just a tone bar and open tuning, even with C6. &nbsp; I&apos;m surprised there was no mention of Jerry Byrd and Don Helms, but you can&apos;t get to everyone.

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• SI

  @simply2341 · 4 years ago

  I saw Reed with CWG in Columbus back in April. The crowd was so electric whenever he would do a solo. So much talent.

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