Sing California: Buddy Emmons in Los Angeles, 1968-1974

buddy

2015 marked the passing of pedal steel guitar legend Buddy Emmons, a man described by one contemporary as the “Picasso or Michelangelo” of his instrument. Over the span of his nearly seven-decade-long career Emmons logged innumerable sessions and released more than a dozen albums as a bandleader or solo artist. In addition, as a founding partner in the Sho-Bud and Emmons Guitar companies he designed and manufactured the instruments that he and many other top pedal steel guitarists played. But before he achieved icon status Emmons was a down-and-out session man who, like many Americans before and after him, left trouble at home and sought some kind of redemption in California.

Between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s Emmons established himself as one of Nashville’s most in-demand instrumentalists, backing artists such as George Jones, Ray Price, Faron Young, and Ernest Tubb in the studio and on the road. By the late 60s, however, the nightlife had begun to catch up with him. Drugs, alcohol, and debt had created a rift in Emmons’ marriage and were threatening to derail his career. No longer able to book steady work in Nashville, Emmons accepted a spur-of-the-moment offer to accompany Roger Miller on a tour of California. He would end up staying west for the next six years.

Emmons’ arrival in California fortuitously coincided with the emergence of the LA country-rock sound, as exemplified by such artists as The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Linda Rondstadt, and Poco. A defining feature of that sound was the lilt of Emmons’ pedal steel. Not long after settling in LA Emmons turned heads with a scene-stealing solo on Judy Collins’ “Someday Soon” (1968). Before long he was lending his talents to recordings by Rick Nelson, Nancy Sinatra, The Everly Brothers, John Phillips, Linda Rondstadt, and Gram Parsons, amongst others.

Emmons laid down some of his most moving and memorable recordings during his six-year sojourn in Southern California. His playing on these rock, folk, and soul sessions evoked longing, joy, regret, and resignation, oftentimes in the same solo. Or, to use the words of collaborator Jim Putle, Buddy’s steel guitar cried, sang, and laughed. The tracks compiled here capture the soul of a man in exile. They at once convey a desire for something lost and the hope of a fresh beginning in a place where anything seemed possible. | m dawson

Jim Pulte, “Cry, Sing & Laugh” (Out The Window, 1972)
Denny Doherty, “Still Can’t Hear The Music” (Watcha Gonna Do, 1970)
Don Everly, “Did It Rain” (Sunset Towers, 1974)
Arlo Guthrie, “Won’t Be Long” (Arlo Guthrie, 1974)
Linda Rondstadt, “I Ain’t Always Been Faithful” (Linda Rondstadt, 1971)
Paul Siebel, “Prayer Song” (Jackknife Gypsy, 1971)
Dewey Martin & Medecine Ball, “Right Now Train” (Dewey Martin & Medecine Ball, 1970)
Gram Parsons, “That’s All It Took” (GP, 1973)
Judy Collins, “Someday Soon” (Who Knows Where The Time Goes, 1968)
John Phillips, “Down The Beach” (John The Wolfking of LA, 1970)
John Sebastian, “Rainbows All Over Your Blues” (John B. Sebastian, 1970)
Ronee Blakley, “Dues” (Ronee Blakley, 1972)
Phil Everly, “La Divorce” (Star Spangled Springer, 1973)
Roger McGuinn, “Water Is Wide” (Roger McGuinn, 1973)
Denny Doherty, “Gathering The Words” (Watcha Gonna Do, 1970)
The Everly Brothers, “Christmas Eve Can Kill You” (Stories We Can Tell, 1972)
Brewer & Shipley, “It Did Me In” (ST11261, 1974)
Ray Charles, “Wichita Lineman” (Volcanic Action Of My Soul, 1971)

Related: All Roads Lead To Red: A Pedal Steel Mixtape / Tribute

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8 thoughts on “Sing California: Buddy Emmons in Los Angeles, 1968-1974

  1. I discovered Aquarium Drunkard some 2 years ago and have been hooked ever since. Thank you for this awesome New Years present…Buddy Emmons really defined how a pedal steel should sound long before country-rock evolved and when it did they made a perfect match. Please keep up the great work and all the cool mixtapes and diamonds in the rough that we would otherwise never find. Best to you and yours in 2016!

  2. Hellllll yes this looks amazing. Being from Nashville I’ve long loved Robert Altman’s “Nashville” & spinning Ronee Blakley’s “Dues” on the soundtrack. Now I get to discover more pedal steel bliss thanks to the drunkard. Happy New Year to the time lords & thank you AD. I want to work for ya’ll sometimes.

  3. I just feel I need to say that your whole mixtapes series blows my mind! Simply amazing. The mixes are blended perfectly, and there’s plenty of hidden gems in every list that I listen to over and over. Cheers

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