Songs Featuring Steel Guitar

There is a Youtube playlist embedded at the end of this article.

What do Sheryl Crow, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Judy Collins, Steely Dan and many other popular folk and rock stars have in common? All have used steel guitar in their music at one time or another. I never realized how ubiquitous this instrument was until I started listening to the nominations for this topic. It most decidedly is not just an instrument used for country music and Hawaiian music.

There were so many songs I liked from the 398 suggestions made by the Song Bar community that my longlist numbered 155 songs. Whittling that down took some judicious pruning. And there are a lot of great songs left on the cutting room floor, so to speak.

Of course, the steel guitar is a staple of country & western so you’ll find a good selection of country in the lists. The lyrics in one of the B-listers explains the appeal of the steel guitar to country aficionados. In The Steel Guitar Song, Kim Murray sings: “If lonely had a sound, I know what it would be. It’s the sound that the steel makes when they play a song for me.” Song Bar patron Noodsy describes the sound as “plaintive” while untergunther says it conveys “yearning.” I described it in one of my comments as “lush”.

But it is more than that. It is a staple of many blues artists, which is no surprise because the blues also often expresses a yearning, plaintive loneliness. Steel guitar and especially its sister the slide guitar can also offer a hard driving sound often found in rhythm and blues.

One thing worth noting is that the steel guitar, unlike rhythm guitar or bass guitar or drums, often provides more than just a background to sing over. In many songs, especially in country music, the steel guitar is actually another voice. It harmonizes with the singer and adds to the overall mood of the song in a way that no other instrument can quite capture.

For the A List, I tried to avoid the obvious and went for songs that showcased the versatility of the instrument and its variations, that stood out in some way. Some of the more obvious songs made their way into the B List. I was surprised at how many different countries these selections are from. So here is an annotated list with a short description.

• Going in the Right Direction
• Artist: Robert Randolph and the Family Band
• Steel Guitar Player: Robert Randolph

African-American Pentecostal churches refer to the steel guitar as “sacred steel” and Randolph learned to play guitar at his church. Discovered at a “sacred steel” convention, he went on to form his band and this song reflects his strong religious roots, but this ain’t gospel music, that’s for sure!

That should have whetted your appetite! So let’s move on to some virtuoso playing from two country artists - both women.

• Steel Guitar Rag
• Artist: Barbara Mandrell
• Steel Guitar Player: Barbara Mandrell

We think of Barbara Mandrell as a country singer, but she is also a superb musician. Mandrell was a talented musician at a young age, long before she achieved fame as a singer. She toured as a steel guitar player with George Jones, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline at the tender age of thirteen. Here she plays a steel guitar standard with flare.

• Speedin’ West
• Artist: Cindy Cashdollar
• Steel Guitar Player: Cindy Cashdollar

I had never heard of Ms. Cashdollar before but was blown away by her steel guitar chops. Fabulous! And you gotta love the name! Cashdollar, like Lucky Oceans, spent several years as the steel guitarist with Asleep at the Wheel. She has played with such notables as Bob Dylan, Leon Redbone, and Van Morrison.

• Emmylou
• Artist: First Aid Kit
• Steel Guitar Player: Mike Mogis

Sweden might seem like an odd place to find country music but sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg performing as First Aid Kit display the close connection that steel guitar has as a voice augmenting the singers. This song also shows that yearning, plaintive aspect of C&W. The steel is played by their engineer, mixer and producer Mike Mogis.

• Dire Wolf
• Artist: The Grateful Dead
• Steel Guitar Player: Jerry Garcia

The Grateful Dead, while known primarily as a rock band, were cross-over artists with a strong connection to American country and western music. Front man Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel guitar on this number. The lyric line “don’t murder me” is a reference to the Zodiac killer who was terrorizing San Francisco at the time. The title, Dire Wolf, is a speculative reference to The Hound of the Baskervilles. The dire wolf is an extinct, prehistoric, carnivorous dog.

From country we take a trip across the Pacific to that other land where steel guitars are particularly popular - Hawaii. In Hawaiian music, there is again a plaintive yearning to the sound, as well as a deep nostalgia. There is also a sensuous quality to Hawaiian steel guitar. Staples in the genre include songs like Lovely Hula Hands which evoke the gentle swaying of a hula dancer.

• Aloha Oe
• Artist: Ricky King
• Steel Guitar Player: Ricky King or maybe a session musician

If you thought it was unusual to find country singers in Sweden, how about Hawaiian songs played by a German by the name of Hans Lingenfelder. Who? That’s Ricky King’s birth name. Didn’t quite have the zing he wanted to become a pop star. King plays guitar and I don’t know if he double-tracked and played steel as well on this song. It could be a studio musician. Info on him is scarce. But Aloha Oe is an Hawaiian standard and wonderfully evocative of the islands.

• Pa’ahana
• Artists: Bob Brozman & Ledward Kaapana
• Steel Guitar Player: Bob Brozman

Bob Brozman was an ethnomusicologist from New York and played National resonator guitars from the 1920s and 1930s as well as acoustic steel guitar. Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian musician who plays a variety of instruments and is best known for playing slack-key guitar. The album this song is on describes the music as Hawaiian acoustic steel and slack key guitar duets.

A lot of duets were suggested. One of my favorites comes from Britain.

• Songs of the Nightlife
• Artists: Luke Vibert & B.J. Cole
• Steel Guitar Player: B.J. Cole

This is a mellow and melodic duet from British pedal steel guitar virtuoso B.J. Cole and electronic music wizard Luke Vibert. Cole was much in demand throughout his career as a session musician, having played with Elton John, Procul Harum, the Walker Brothers, Kiki Dee, Joan Armatrading and Cat Stevens, among others.

• Death Have Mercy
• Artist: Harry Manx
• Mohan Veena Player: Harry Manx

We’ve had music from the Hawaiian islands and from the heartland of America as well as performers from America, Sweden, Germany and Britain. So for a bit of a switch up, here’s a Canadian who plays the mohan veena, an Indian sister to the steel guitar. Manx studied for five years with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the inventor of the mohan veena (yes, he named it after himself - wouldn’t you?)

• Poem for Eva
• Artist: Bill Frisell
• Steel Guitar Player: Greg Leisz

Bill Frisell is a prolific American guitarist, composer and arranger. Poem for Eva is a mellow tune from his Good Dog, Happy Man album and features Greg Leisz on steel guitar. Leisz’s musical talents have graced the work of numerous artists including Eric Clapton, k.d. Lang, Sheryl Crow and Bruce Springsteen. He collaborated with Frisell on six albums.

• Alone and Forsaken
• Artist: Lucky Oceans (with Paul Kelly)
• Steel Guitar Player: Lucky Oceans

Lucky Oceans is an American steel guitarist formerly with Asleep at the Wheel. He has lived in Perth, Australia since 1980 where he continued his musical career. Here he collaborates with popular Australian troubadour Paul Kelly.

• Look Away
• Artist: Larkin Poe
• Steel Guitar Player: Megan Lovell

Larkin Poe are an American rock band fronted by sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell. Megan explained how to play lap steel in a video our Landlord included in his introduction to this topic. She sings as well as she plays - captivatingly. The sisters are distantly related to author Edgar Allan Poe and Larkin Poe is the name of their great-great-great grandfather.

• Shake Shake
• Artist: Gaby Jogeix
• Steel Guitar Player: Gaby Jogeix

We started with a good rockin’ number and we close with one as well. And we visit another country to do so. Gaby Jogeix is a Spanish artist who uses lap steel to perform his driving brand of rock. A rousing way to close out our set.

This column was originally published at the Song Bar. My B List and instrumental C Lists are there. Check it out for weekly topical playlists where you can suggest the songs. Check out my website The Marconium for over 750 topical playlists.