ROCKinsights Members

Forgot Password

Not a Member? Sign up here!

Noteworthy Now

Pedal Steel Legend Passes

Ben Keith was said to have had a temperament as sweet as the sounds he could coax out of a pedal steel guitar.  The legendary picker died earlier this month, a quiet exit for a guy who had a profound presence on some great recordings, including the Neil Young masterpiece Harvest.  Young and Keith met for the first time in a Nashville recording studio in early 1971 when Neil was working on what would become one of the defining albums of his prolific career.  Keith, who said during an interview that he arrived in the studio unable to pick-out which of the musicians gathered there he was working for, had to have someone point-out Young and introduce the two.  He would go on to play with Neil over the next nearly 40 years, appearing on close to 20 Neil Young albums between sessions he also logged with The Band, Ringo Starr, Warren Zevon, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and many others.  Keith, who was 73, died at Neil Young's California ranch of a heart attack, according to film director Jonathan Demme.
ThrashersWheat.org CBC.ca