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Roddis Franklin " Pete" Drake (October 8, 1932 – July 29, 1988) (1993). 9780851127262, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851127262 was a Nashville-based American record producer and pedal steel guitar player. Pete Drake Bio @ Augusta.com One of the most sought-after backup of the 1960s, Drake played on such chart-topper as Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden", Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors", Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man". Drake was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
In 1959, he moved to Nashville, joined the Nashville A-Team, and went on the road as a backup musician for Don Gibson, Marty Robbins, and others. In 1964 he had an international hit on Smash Records with his "talking steel guitar" playing on Bill Anderson's 1963 album Still.
The single "Forever" charted in March 1964 and reached No. 25 in the Billboard Hot 100, eventually sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The subsequent album with the same name reached No. 85 in the US. His innovative use of what would be called the talk box, later used by Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh, Roger Troutman and Jeff Beck, added novel effects to the pedal steel guitar. The album Pete Drake and His Talking Steel Guitar harkened back to the sounds of Alvino Rey and his wife Luise King, who first modulated a guitar tone with the signal from a throat microphone in 1939. The unique sound of the talk box with a steel guitar was new in the 1960s, and it made the sounds of vocalizing along with the strings of the steel guitar. According to an interview of Drake:Green, Douglas. "Pete Drake: everyone's favorite" - Steel Guitar Stories @ Calsharp.com
The equipment was only loud enough to be useful in the studio for recordings.
Drake played on Bob Dylan's three albums recorded in Nashville, including Nashville Skyline, and on Joan Baez's David's Album. He also worked with George Harrison on All Things Must Pass, and produced Ringo Starr on Beaucoups of Blues in 1970.Review: Shultz, Gary. Beaucoups Of Blues - June 9, 1999
Drake produced albums for many other musicians, and founded Stop Records and First Generation Records, Countryrecords.com. Recording country legends, Ernest Tubb, Jean Shepard, Jan Howard, Justin Tubb, Billy Walker, Ray Pillow, Ferlin Husky, Stonewall Jackson, The Wilburn Brothers, Lonzo & Oscar, Cal Smith, Charlie Louvin, Vic Willis Trio, George Hamilton IV.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame's Walkway of Stars in 1970 and the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame May 7, 1987 as a member of the "A" team Nashville Session players. On May 1, 2022, Drake was one of four inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame for the year 2021 along with Ray Charles, The Judds, and Eddie Bayers.
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