Pedal Steel
Guitar Artist Lloyd Green
By David J. Stewart
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Lloyd Green (born 1937) is my favorite pedal steel guitar player and Jerry Byrd
(1920-2005) my
favorite lap steel player. I often thank God for the gift He has given to
these men. They are both tremendous personalities and
wonderful people. Of course, Jerry went home in 2005 at age 85. Thank God Lloyd is still with us and cherished by many. What
a cool guy!
*Here's a
recent video of Lloyd performing some of his best from July 12th of 2017
| Second Session. Check out “Venus
Moon” (second recording
| Tabs). And here's Lloyd
recently from May of 2019. I love
this man. Thank you Lloyd, you're the best!!!
Lloyd has incredibly recorded pedal steel and dobro on more than 30,000
songs from 10,000 recording sessions,
including all of Don Williams' and Charlie Pride's hits, and is still doing
eminent session work in his eighties. I sincerely pray for Lloyd and his family
regularly and am always inspired by Lloyd himself.
I read these awesome quotes today and thought of Lloyd...
-
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
-
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a
habit.
Lloyd plays with attitude, giving
his very best performance every time he sits behind his guitar. Both Jerry
Byrd and Lloyd Green define excellence on the steel guitar. I've spent many
years as an amateur steel guitarist striving to learn their techniques. I've
learned that what sounds difficult to play is simply great technique on
their part. It's not magic, no special equipment, just proper technique and
hard work. Jerry Byrd once said, “Talent is highly overrated. All the talent
in the world means nothing if you don't have desire.” I like what Eddie Van
Halen once said, “I've never practiced a day in my life!” In other words, he
always gave it his best while working at his guitar, even when not in front of a
crowd.
Here's a beautiful recent song
from October of 2017 by Lloyd, “In
The Garden,” which is precious.
Lloyd's playing is what I like to call “profoundly simple.” It's not
difficult once you understand what he is doing, but his techniques take a
lifetime to master. I love that because there's always a challenge. I've
learned not to try to play exactly like Lloyd or Jerry, because it is
frustrating and impossible; but rather, I try to learn techniques and ideas
from them that can be incorporated into my own playing. That is exciting and
something that anybody can do. I love what Lloyd said in an interview...
“I never quit thinking about the instrument; I never
quit trying to strive for new ideas. I felt like it was important to
keep forging ahead. If I stopped, there would be no reason to keep
continue playing. It’s an endless adventure playing the steel guitar;
you’re only limited by your imagination. As long as you got a good
brain, you can think and play anything on the instrument. It’s an
endless journey.” —Lloyd
Green, interview 2001, Steel Guitar Rag magazine
Lloyd once told me in a letter that a lot of
what the listener hears on his albums is an illusion to the ears. That is an
amazing concept perfectly demonstrated in Lloyd's awesome timing techniques,
that are unprecedented in the world of steel guitar. Lloyd has pioneered a
whole new style which is truly majestic. I've learned that Lloyd never just
plays something, he carefully articulates every movement he makes. It is
amazing how certain sounds are produced on the steel guitar. Lloyd has
perfected executing elaborate pieces of music that require impeccable timing
and bar slanting skills; but once the techniques are learned and one's
timing skills mastered, a whole new world of opportunities open up on the
steel guitar.
“The
reason tone is so important is because I think ultimately that’s what is
the emotional connection when you’re playing music to what people are
hearing. If they hear good tone, there is something that strikes a
resonant note in the soul. You can be playing the greatest stuff in the
world, but if it doesn’t have good tone, there’s something that’s not
making a connection. I think that’s what people really hear first.”
—Lloyd Green, interview 2001, Steel Guitar Rag
magazine
Whereas most steel players get “lucky” here and there while recording, Lloyd
never misses a beat (although I'm sure he would humbly disagree). I'm amazed
how Lloyd can go into a recording session and play a whole instrumental
album without error, especially REFLECTIONS and REVISITED (my
favorite albums). Incredibly, Lloyd had only 17 hours to record the entire
Reflections album while in Germany. On the REFLECTIONS album,
Lloyd said he used a Peavey Session 400 amplifier with a little
reverb and delay from the board. That's it! Lloyd has a good half-stop on his 2nd string, which is
important (I think) for every steel player to have. Lloyd makes extensive use
of the half-drop on string 2 (which is necessary to complete the chromatic
scale).
With Lloyd, less is always more. That is, he uses a simple guitar setup,
hardly no effects, and still uses his old Sho-Bud volume pedal and original
equipment. Most new players tend to think that buying more
equipment will make them sound better, but the opposite is usually true.
Nothing can replace hard work, desire and persistence. In Jerry Byrd's
autobiography, “It Was A Trip On Wings Of Music,” he quotes Lloyd Green as
saying, “Simplicity is the heart of elegance.” Yes, it sure is!
Lloyd's playing style changed drastically in the 12 years between
LLOYD'S
OF NASHVILLE (1980) and REFLECTIONS (1992). Here's
Lloyd's discography. I absolutely love Lloyd's new style and am so
grateful to God for his music. I thank God all the time for Lloyd Green and
Jerry Byrd, and for putting the desire in my heart to play such a beautiful
instrument. Music truly does make the world a better place. (continued at
bottom of page)
~by David J. Stewart, webservant
The following interview by Gib Sun took place in
November 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee and appeared in the Steel Guitar
Rag.
Lloyd, thank you so much for joining us in
the Steel Guitar Rag, and how are you doing tonight?
I know we talked about doing this for a long
time and I’m so grateful that we’ve finally had the opportunity to sit
down and get together on this.
What a great show, you, Tommy White, and
Johnny Cox put on tonight on the stage of the Bell Cove.
Gib, anytime I get the chance to play with Tommy White I’m always
going to take the opportunity and avail myself. To have Johnny Cox with
us was a special pleasure too.
This is the third time that I’ve seen you
and Tommy White together, and everytime has been incredible, not to
mention the video that you and Tommy did together. I’ve probably gone
through that video a dozen times. What a great night that was when you
and Tommy recorded that but no better than what you did tonight!
Thank you very much, Gib. The video was a great joy for me to do
with Tommy. Everytime I get to play with him is always a challenge, and
he’s so great.
When I grew up, the name Lloyd Green first
presented itself to me just after you did Gene Watson’s Farewell Party.
What a terrific song!
Well, thanks. That was about 1978 or 79 I think when that record
was big. That was one of those things that we did at the end of the
session. They needed one more song for a filler for the album, so nobody
got in our way. They just said, "Play it," and we did it in ten minutes
in one take. It was one of the great ones.
Hard to believe that you had no preparation.
That intro is just a classic.
The guys that were doing the session in those days, we were used
to doing 3 or 4 songs a session. We were working 3 or 4 sessions each
day, so it wasn’t really a challenge. It was something we did without
thinking about it. If there had been any new musicians on that session,
it would have been a lot different story. We were so used to working
together. All we needed was one time to hear the song, do our song chart
with the number system that we were using, and we were ready to cut it.
Sometimes in those situations you get an average record, but,
occasionally, a magical thing would happen. That’s the kind of record
you can not plan. You could never, ever sit down and outline a record
like that and make it work. It just has to be a spontaneous thing.
Great musicans, great singer.
Gene Watson is certainly one of my favorite 2 or 3 singers to ever
record with. Mel Street and he are my favorite.
Speaking of Mel Street, the set that Lloyd
Green, Johnny Cox and Tommy White did tonight began with Borrowed Angel.
What a shot of lightning went through that audience!
Borrowed Angel is a great one. That was the very first Mel Street
song we cut on the very first Mel Street session back in 1971. I knew
that guy was going to be a success. I wish he was still around. He would
have been a big county singer today in modern times. I think that
Borrowed Angel really exemplifies what the Nashville Sound was back in
the 60’s and 70’s. That goes right to the head of the class. That’s what
country music in Nashville meant during that era.
Born in Leaf, Mississippi. Whereabouts is
that?
Leaf, Mississippi is a little town about 15 miles out of Lucedale,
Mississippi. Lucedale, Mississippi is about 18 miles from the Alabama
state line where I grew up in Mobile. Lucedale is a small town of about
25,000 people. I think it is still about that. Leaf, Mississippi is just
a little road that goes through a small place. It’s not much.
Did you get any gospel roots back when you
were growing up?
My Mom and Daddy used to sing gospel music all the time at home.
They’d listen to the Grand Old Opry on the weekends on the little radio
they had in the early 1940’s. I remember hearing all these wonderful
gospel songs. My mother had 8 brothers and sisters, and they all sang.
In fact, two of her brothers recorded a gospel album which I have at
home. It’s a beautiful thing they cut in Mississippi in the 1960’s.
Were you playing on it?
No, I wasn’t playing on it. They didn’t know what I did. They knew
I lived in Nashville and recorded records. In fact, my uncle said he’d
make a deal with me. If I’d give them one of my instrumental records,
they’d give me one of their gospel records.
That’s a collectors item in their lifetime!
Perhaps. Perhaps.
Speaking of gospel groups, we play a lot of
the Happy Goodmans, and we hear a lot of Lloyd Green.
I did a lot of sessions with the Happy Goodman Family, including
the double album which we recorded live in Huntsville, Alabama sometime
in the late 70’s or 1980. I can’t tell you all that I recorded with
them, I don’t remember, but I did a lot of gospel sessions with many
people. They were among my favorites. Rusty Goodman, he was special.
Vestel Goodman was bigger than life. Bless her heart, I didn’t know if
she still remembers me. I probably haven’t seen Vestel in twenty years
or more. She was so wonderful. What a great singer!
Charley Pride. Live at Panther. When did
that happen?
Panther Hall album we did in July of 1968.
Is that about the time you were doing so
many sessions and got the tag, "Mr. Nashville?"
Well ,actually about that same period of time, it was about a year
or so before, I had an album on Chart Records called Mr. Nashville
Sound. I think that’s where this came from. It’s a misnomer really. I
was only a part of the Nashville Sound. Lots of people refer to me
sometimes as Mr. Nashville Sound, but that dates from that album title.
I don’t like to take too much credit because I was only one part of that
unit that created the Nashville Sound in that era. I was grateful to be
part of it.
Maybe, but I think most people who really
have music on the inside of them realize that steel guitar makes great
gospel music even better.
Oh, I think so, too. You know, gospel songs to me are the best
melodies to play on steel guitar. I think that’s one reason the Hank
William’s songs, even though most of them are not gospel lyrics, but if
you take the lyrics away, they’ve got all those wonderful gospel
melodies. That’s why they make such great instrumentals.
Is a country song really a country song
without a great steel player filling up the holes?
I don’t think so. Of course I’m bias, obviously. I think country
music and steel guitar are synonymous.
You’re more than bias, you’re absolutely
right. You’ve played with about everybody. Let me ask you about Charley
McCoy, Freddie Hart. Easy Lovin, you did that didn’t you?
Yea, we recorded that about 1970. Charley McCoy, me, Billy
Sanford, and Pig Robbins came up with that intro on the spur of the
moment. It’s another one of those quickie things.
How about Faron Young and Pete Drake? You
got any great memories of those fellows?
Certainty Faron, I did most of Faron Young’s stuff in the 60’s
through the mid 70’s when he was on Mercury Records. My good friend
Junior Brown thinks some of my best steel playing was on the Faron Young
records. Certainly the tone and the sound was top of the line. That was
about as good as my steel could sound, the way they were mixed on the
Faron Young records.
I can almost disagree with you. I’ve talked
with a lot of your friends preparing for this interview, and they think
you’re playing better now than you’ve ever played before. After hearing
you tonight and the video with Tommy White, it’s hard to deny.
That’s a great compliment. I never quit thinking about the
instrument; I never quit trying to strive for new ideas. I felt like it
was important to keep forging ahead. If I stopped, there would be no
reason to keep continue playing. It’s an endless adventure playing the
steel guitar;, you’re only limited by your imagination. As long as you
got a good brain, you can think and play anything on the instrument.
It’s an endless journey.
I think it was Billy Robinson that told me
that one of his favorite memories was eating lunch with you and Roger
Miller.
That was back in the 1950’s. I was struggling. Roger played fiddle
with us. I worked with Faron Young when I first came to Nashville when I
was nineteen. Billy Robinson was one of my heroes. He had quit playing
the steel at that time. He had become very successful as a graphic
artist. He was someone I really admired. He had enjoyed the music, but
he had decided he wanted a legitimate life-style. He became quite
successful with his own businesses, but came back to the steel guitar in
recent years. He was always a very interesting man I enjoyed being
around. I would go by his office to see him. Kinda cheered me up when
times were hard in the late 1950’s. I think by the time I started
college, actually I’d gotten myself together. I never was any problem
after that. When you mature, things change, too. By the time I started
doing sessions, I felt like I knew who I was, and I think that’s what we
all try to strive for-to learn who we are. Once you’re comfortable with
yourself, then you’re comfortable with other people. And I might tell
you, to be successful with sessions, you’ll never do it if you have
problems. It’s an atmosphere with a creative environment, and you’ve got
to deal with people on a level they’re comfortable, or otherwise they
don’t call you.
I bet your beautiful wife, Dot, got met up
with right around that time. Is that part of the settling down process?
Indeed, I met Dot within weeks after I came to Nashville when I
was nineteen. We were married six months after I got here. I’d planned
to go back to college at that time, but I never got back. But we’ve been
married a long, long time now. She’s been the anchor for me. She’s
really the stable one in the family. She’s still my sweetheart after
43-44 years.
You know what? It really shows. You guys are
peas in the pod.
She’s a great gal. She’s always been supportive, even in the hard
times. When we were struggling back in the 1950’s, early 1960’s, she
kept encouraging me to play music. She always believed in me. I think
without her support, I probably would never- I would have ended up
playing in a club somewhere. We left Nashville a couple of times and
came back a third time before I was ever able to break into recording
sessions.
Dot told me that at one time things got so
rough that you were actually selling shoes to pay the bills.
Indeed, I sold shoes for about 3-3½ years--lowest point in my
life, but it was a necessary passage of rites. I don’t regret it, but I
just didn’t want to starve to death playing on the road which was pretty
dismal back in the 1950’s.
The other thing she told me that really
touched my soul because you guys are a picture of long-term love, is the
most miserable time she’s ever had in her life when you were on the road
in the Vegas-Reno circuit for a full month. She said that’s the only
month you’ve ever been apart.
Well, it was the longest time we were ever separated. That’s when
I decided to quit playing the road. I came back from that trip; I was
with Ferlin Husky. We got back, my phone bill was almost as much as what
I had made for the entire month. So it was a wasted month, and I said,
"If I’m gonna not make any money, I’ll stay at home." That’s when I got
a job selling shoes about 1959 or 1960, I think.
Wow, let me just thank you and the Lord for
pulling you out of that because the world would have been short changed
some really great music. Hey, how about Don Williams? Any favorite
memories of your time with Don Williams?
Well, I did all the great era of the Don Williams records, played
steel guitar and Dobro on the records. That was the only artist I
recorded with where we actually conceived and worked for a long time to
come up with a sound for the man. We would go in and do demo sessions to
try achieve the sound that we would finally arrived at. Each time we
would record, he and the producer Garth Fundis and Alan Reynolds who
produced Garth Brooks, they would start chiseling away stuff that we
were doing and they would say, "We’ll take a little bit of this away and
take this away." One day we were down, I felt like to the last-if they
take one more note away the entire architecture of the music was going
to crumble, and that’s when they said, "That’s it; that’s the sound." So
that’s how we ended up with the Don Williams’s sound. But that was the
only artist I ever worked with where we actually created a sound over a
period of time for that became the standard for his music.
He really did have a signature sound. So
that’s how it came about?
The very first record we recorded was Amanda. That was the very
first record he had out. I don’t know how big a record that was. Later
Waylon Jennings cut it and had a big record. I played three Dobro parts
on this record, and it is still one of my favorites. He cut so many
great ones, great songs called You’re My Best Friend, Lord I Hope This
Day Is Good.
Tender, but manly songs weren’t they? I mean
it just made you feel good to listen to that stuff.
Yea, and his songs they were, they were not depressing things;,
they were very emotional and deep-felt, intelligent, thoughtful lyrics,
I think.
What are some of the Paycheck songs that you
did? Do you recall?
I did all the Paycheck stuff on Lil’ Darlin’ Records. That was the
early years. Everything for Motel Time Again, Jukebox Charlie, just
great stuff.
Ever work with George and Tammy?
I usually worked with them if Pete Drake was not available. He was
their first choice, and that’s why I wound up on one of the big songs of
Tammy’s, D-I-V-O-R-C-E, because Pete was unavailable that day. So I
lucked-out on one of her big records.
Speaking of the Dobro, I didn’t know you
played Dobro. I’m glad you mentioned that. I’ve only seen you with a
single neck-the E9 Nashville Sound neck. Have you ever played C6, or
have you just made such a terrific contribution with E9 that you stayed
with it?
No, I always played C6th until I invented the LDG, the padded
model that you see on all the guitar models now that all the companies
make. I think I invented that guitar in 1973. From 1964 when I started
doing session, until 1973, I played C6th. In fact, on some of my early
instrumental albums, I played quite a bit of C6th. I recorded 15
instrumental albums, so these things are somewhat obscure now, some of
the early ones. There’s a good bit of C6th on the first ones.
The thing that sets Lloyd Green apart to me
is your tone. It is just distinctive and clear. Have you got any
secrets?, You must, but can you explain any of those?
Tone is a very personal, subjective thing. I think tone is the
most intellectual part of playing music and the most difficult thing to
achieve. To me, it’s the bottom line. That’s the hardest part of playing
steel guitar is to play it with great tone. It’s a thoughtful thing that
you work on and try to explore. It took me a long time. I can hear the
evolution of my playing on recordings. Fortunately I’ve got that that I
can refer to. You’d be surprise how poor my tone sounded on a lot of the
1964 records. The originality was always there, but the tone was an
evolving thing. The more I listen to the playback, the more I realized
that if I wanted to be a really complete steel player, tone was
ultimately the pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow. So I strived for
that. It’s too complex to explain exactly how you get tone here, but it
involves lots of processes of thought. It’s really like an engineer. You
sit down and figure some of this stuff out; how to do it with the
guitar, with the picks, with the different parts of the guitar you play
on, the amount of pressure you apply with the bar itself; and obviously,
the kind of guitar you have, the kind of amplifier you have, and even
volume controls, cords, everything. I could draw you a list of maybe
fifty ingredients that go into getting tone. To me, it’s just simply the
most important part of playing. Without tone, it’s all irrelevant.
Certainly can tell that, because that sets
you apart along with John Hughey.
I want to elaborate a little bit on that. The reason tone is so
important is because I think ultimately that’s what is the emotional
connection when you’re playing music to what people are hearing. If they
hear good tone, there is something that strikes a resonant note in the
soul. You can be playing the greatest stuff in the world, but if it
doesn’t have good tone, there’s something that’s not making a
connection. I think that’s what people really hear first. I think they
hear tone; something that’s pleasant to their ear then they get tuned
into what you’re doing. It’s like tuning in a radio station. Suddenly,
they come across this station. That’s a very clear station, and the
sound is very pure, and it stops you for a moment.
That’s exactly what happened tonight, no
kidding, when you guys kicked-off Borrowed Angel. People levitated off
their seats, and it was the tone and the emotional attachment to that
song that does it.
Well, I think it did too. But more than that, that song, of course
is so synonymous with, as we were talking earlier, with Country Music
what it really meant in the 60’s and 70’s. It’s like one of the national
anthems of that era, but still it needs to be played with good tone.
I’ve heard people play it. You’ve got to play with expression. That’s
what makes it come alive and breath life into the song.
Thank you so much for taking this time and
giving us a little insight to the legend of Lloyd Green, one of the
truly great steel guitar players of all time. I think I’m talking to
Michael Jordan.
What a great compliment! I want to tell you what a joy it has
been. I know we talked about doing this for a long time, but I’m so
grateful that we finally had the opportunity to sit down and get
together. Lots of people listen to the music that you play on the show,
and I know it’s a great program, and I’m honored to be part of it today.
We certainly are too, and thanks again,
Lloyd, and keep up the good work. That’s all we can say, and thank you
so much.
Thank you, Gib Sun. END
I'm
an avid Lloyd Green fan and want to do what I can to help new steelers
learn quickly. These tabs are invaluable. If you'd like to learn Lloyd
Green's music style, then the most important thing to do is start
When
I have difficulty figuring out what Lloyd is playing, I follow the scale
patterns and it usually comes to me. Lloyd knows his guitar thoroughly.
Amazingly, the incredibly unique things that Lloyd plays are all played
within the confines of basic scales. The most intriguing thing to me about
Lloyd's uniquely individual and seemingly complex playing is that he truly
keeps it simple, following standard chord progressions. It's incredible!
It's HOW Lloyd plays everything that makes his music so unique! Most players have been playing
the exact same chords as Lloyd for years, but they've never learned and
developed new techniques to play those chords. As I studied Lloyd's playing,
I realized eventually that I had the right chords all along, but didn't know
the techniques or have the expertise. 
