One of the most respected pedal steel guitar players of all time died Wednesday in Nashville.
Buddy Emmons may not be a household name, but he played on records for everyone from Ray Price to Ray Charles and George Straight to Judy Collins.
Emmons mastered one of modern music’s more complicated instruments. Country music wouldn’t sound like itself without the pedal steel. And the instrument sounds the way it does today because of Emmons.
[For a sample,
watch this clip from his time playing with Ray Price.]
Steve Fishell, who plays for Emmylou Harris and produced an
Emmons tribute album, calls Emmons a “musical genius,” even “a savant.”
“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. “And it all just seemed effortless.”
The pedal steel has humbled many a musician who took a seat expecting to make a sweet sound. There are pedals, knee levers, sometimes two sets of strings. Fishell calls it a “Rubik’s Cube of a musical instrument.”
“It’s just rife with possible accidents left and right,” he says.
Emmons made the instrument a bit more complicated. He patented a new design, splitting one of the pedals into two and added a pair of strings to expand the tuning.
During a rare appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014, Emmons described how he’d get everything working in sync: by practicing in the dark.
“My senses were a little keener. It allowed me to hear what I was doing in a different way. It allowed me to feel what I was doing in a different way,” he said. “I just liked the feeling of what went on in my head while the lights were out.”
Emmons displayed his abilities on numerous recordings of his own, including an
acclaimed jazz album from 1963. He toured and recorded music until retiring in 2007 when he lost his wife, Peggy.
Ron Elliott, a close friend and fellow pedal pro, says he accepted that he’d never be as good as Emmons.
“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 said. “He taught everybody to play, whether it was one-on-one or just by his being.”
After hearing the news of Emmons’ death, Spencer Cullum started Youtube-ing old videos, breaking down Emmons’ technique.
“His left hand vibrato, it’s just pouring emotion. It’s so vocal,” Cullum said while watching
an instrumental jazz rendition of ‘Once Upon A Time In The West.’
Cullum tours with Miranda Lambert. He also has his own band,
Steelism.
The U.K.-born up-and-comer regrets that he never actually met Emmons, even though he lived just across town. He was known as a recluse.
Still, Cullum idolized the man for how he innovated both the instrument and the music, and he plans to honor Emmons at the next string of shows.
“We’re doing a New York run. 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.”
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