Just Steel

Joseph L. Monzo's description of Duane Allman's slide guitar reminds me that
many of you may be unaware of some of the excellent classic JI pedal steel
recordings. At the top of my list is Buddy Emmons' excellent "Emmons Guitar
Company". Buddy has switched to 12TET in recent years, but most players
agree that this late 60's release is the best pedal steel album ever made.

Another favorite is Jimmy Day's "Steel and Strings". The material is all
country ballads - perfect vehicles for Day's perfectly tuned JI triads.
Jimmy Day demonstrates his mastery by weaving those triads together with
emotionally charged slide transitions.

The fact that the pedal steel guitars on these classic albums are tuned in
just intonation is not advertised anywhere, but it's obvious to the ear. I
have little doubt that the pure intervals used on recordings like these
inspired many of today's players (like me) to take up the instrument.

Both of these are available on CD from Scotty's Music in St. Louis
http://www.iwc.com/scottys-music/ ). The Emmons CD is listed as "Black
Cover" (it's often referred to as "the black album"), and the Day CD also
includes his "Steel Guitar Golden Hits" LP.

-b0b-

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