'sneaky pete' kleinow

Sneaky Pete Kleinow died in January 2007.

 

15

frank zappa: waka/jawaka
   (1972, lp, usa, bizarre)

  barbara keith: barbara keith
    (1973, lp, usa, reprise) - feat. max bennett, lowell george, jim gordon, sneaky pete kleinow
 

howdy moon: howdy moon
    (1974, lp, spain, ariola) - feat.lowell george

howdy_moon_lp.jpg (18489 bytes)
     

 

 

born: aug 20, 1934 in south bend, in

 one of the unsung heroes of the country-rock movement, steel guitarist and songwriter sneaky pete kleinow was born august 20, 1934 in south bend, indiana. influenced by the music of jerry byrd, he took up the steel guitar at the age of 17, and after graduating high school, spent over a decade as a road maintenance worker for the michigan state highway department. in 1963, kleinow relocated to los angeles, where he became a regular performer on the city's club circuit; he also found work composing jingles, and even wrote the theme music for the children's series gumby. in addition, he began working in hollywood developing special effects for films.
in 1965, kleinow played on his first record, backing the ventures on their "blue star." while performing in an area club, he met gram parsons and chris hillman, who approached kleinow about joining the band they were organizing apart from their current venture, the folk-rock pioneers the byrds. kleinow agreed, and after a brief tenure as a byrds sideman he joined parsons and hillman in the flying burrito brothers; the band's 1969 debut, the gilded palace of sin, established the very blueprint for the country-rock genre.
kleinow remained with the burritos through april 1971, appearing on the 1970 lp burrito deluxe and its eponymously-titled follow-up. at the same time, he became a sought-after session musician who played on records by joe cocker, delaney & bonnie and little feat. after departing the burritos, he focused all of his energies on session work, appearing with john lennon, frank zappa, stevie wonder, jackson browne, linda ronstadt and the steve miller band. in 1974, kleinow briefly joined the band cold steel; the following year, he signed on with a reformed flying burrito brothers for the album flying again.
after two more burritos lps -- 1976's airborne and 1978's live in tokyo -- kleinow cut his first solo record, sneaky pete, in 1978. following one final burritos album, 1981's hearts on the line, he gradually withdrew from the music industry to focus on creating special effects; the films he worked on included the empire strikes back, the right stuff, gremlins, and both terminator features. nevertheless, he occasionally returned to music, performing with diverse artists like leonard cohen, medicine, and the golden palominos. in 1994, he released the solo effort the legend and the legacy, and led a new burritos line-up on a tour of europe. -- jason ankeny

 


discography:

(all credits for pedal steel guitar unless otherwise noted)

 

1974 sneaky pete kleinow- cold steel

1979 sneaky pete kleinow- sneaky pete

1994 sneaky pete kleinow- legend & the legacy

 

1968 dillard & clark- fantastic expedition of dillard & c

1969 blessing, lynn- sunset painter

1969 gross, henry- henry gross [abc]

1969 cocker, joe- joe cocker!

1969 flying burrito brothers- gilded palace of sin guitar

1969 dillard & clark- through the morning, through the ni

196  mother hen- mother hen

1970 bramlett, delaney- to bonnie from delaney

1970 hedge & donna- special circumstances

1970 potter-st. cloud- potter st. cloud

1970 flying burrito brothers- burrito deluxe 

1971 flying burrito brothers- flying burrito brothers

1971 byrds- byrdmaniax 

1971 cherokee- cherokee

1971 ellington, marc- rains / reins of change

1971 jones, booker t.- booker t & priscilla

1971 kooper, al- new york city (you're a woman)

1971 mcguire, barry- barry mcguire & the doctor

1971 seemon & marijke- son of america

1971 hill, barbara & chris e- l.a. getaway

1971 reddy, helen- helen reddy

1971 farina, richard and mim- mimi farina & ton jans

1971 joel, billy- cold spring harbor

1971 little feat- little feat 

1971 mitchell, joni- blue

1971 ronstadt, linda- linda ronstadt

1972 davis, spencer group- mousetrap

1972 keith, barbara- barbara keith [reprise]

1972 kelly, casey- casey kelly

1972 denny, sandy- sandy

1972 getz, jane- no ordinary child arranger

1972 keith, barbara- barbara keith [warner bros.]

1972 browne, jackson- jackson browne

1972 clark, gene- roadmaster

1972 coolidge, rita- lady's not for sale

1972 little feat- sailin' shoes

1972 frank zappa- waka/jawaka

1973 crazy horse- at crooked lake

1973 phillips, shawn- faces

1973 browne, severin- severin browne

1973 crowbar- crowbar

1973 dalton, kathy- amazing

1973 kaz, eric- cul de sac

1973 spheeris, jimmie- original tap dancing kid

1973 bee gees- life in a tin can

1973 browne, jackson- for everyman

1973 lennon, john- mind games

1973 little feat- dixie chicken

1973 miller, steve- joker

1973 ronstadt, linda- don't cry now

1973 ono, yoko- feeling the space

1974 brewer & shipley- brewer & shipley

1974 flying burrito brothers- close up the honky-tonks

1974 riperton, minnie- perfect angel

1974 cold steel- cold steel

1974 dinner, michael- great pretender

1974 flying burrito brothers- honky tonk heaven

1974 hagers- hagers [elektra] 

1974 melcher, terry- terry melcher

1974 phillips, shawn- bright white

1974 talbot, john michael- talbot brothers

1974 dillard, doug- douglas flint dillard

1974 howdy moon- howdy moon

1974 fleetwood mac- heroes are hard to find

1974 ronstadt, linda- heart like a wheel

1974 wonder, stevie- fulfillingness' first finale

1974 nilsson, harry- pussy cats

1975 flying burrito brothers- flying again

1975 okeefe, danny- so long harry truman

1975 hodge, bob "catfish"- sop opera's

1975 benton, barbi- something new

1975 dillard & clark- gene clark & doug dillard

1975 dollarhide, roger- righteous rock of roger dollarhide

1975 simon, carly- playing possum

1976 parsons, gram- sleepless nights

1976 cadd, brian- white on white

1976 flying burrito brothers- airborne

1976 flying burrito brothers- sleepless nights 

1976 sedaka, neil- steppin' out

1976 ronstadt, linda- greatest hits, vol. 1 

1976 starr, ringo- ringo's rotogravure 

1976 wonder, stevie- songs in the key of life

1977 phillips, shawn- spaced

1977 silverado- taking it all in stride

1977 soul, david- playing to an audience of one

1977 groce, larry- please take me back

1977 morse, peter john- on the shoreline

1977 newton-john, olivia- making a good thing better

1977 sierra- sierra

1977 cocker, joe- joe cocker's greatest hits

1977 cohen, leonard- death of a ladies' man

1978 flying burrito brothers- live from tokyo

1978 gale force- gale force

1978 millington- ladies on the stage

1979 parrish, paul- song for a young girl [picture disc)

1979 little feat- down on the farm

197  gibson, bob- bob gibson 

1980 jones, tom- rescue me

1980 lee, johnny- lookin' for love

1980 ltd- shine on

1981 battin, skip- navigator 

1981 flying burrito brothers- hearts on the line

1981 kalapana- alive

1982 stanley, james lee- eclipse

1984 battin, skip- don't go crazy

1985 rave ups- town & country guitar

1985 flying burrito brothers- cabin fever (artwork)

1986 golden palominos- blast of silence

1986 flying burrito brothers- live from europe (pedal steel, cover concept)

1986 denny, sandy- who knows where the time goes

1987 flying burrito brothers- dim lights, thick smoke & loud, lou

1988 best of shiloh- best of shiloh

1988 flying burrito brothers- farther along: best of

1988 cohen, leonard- i'm your man

1989 grapes of wrath- now & again

1989 denny, sandy- best of sandy denny [best of box]

1990 fox, george- with all my might

1990 classic country music, vol. 4

1990 byrds- byrds [box set]

1990 chapman, beth nielson- beth nielsen chapman

1990 flying burrito brothers- hollywood nights 1979-82

1991 binder, milo- milo binder

1991 byrds- 20 essential tracks from the boxed

1991 flying burrito brothers- close encounters to the west coast

1991 flying burrito brothers- from another time

1992 golden palominos- history (1986-1989)

1992 medicine- shot forth self living

1992 ono, yoko- walking on thin ice compilation 

1992 ono, yoko- ono box

1993 womack, bobby- midnight mover

1993 lemonheads- come on feel the lemonheads

1994 flying burrito brothers- eye of a hurricane

1995 gaines, rosie- closer than close 

1995 phil's harmonic orchest- sweet coralia

1995 olney, david- high, wide and lonesome

1995 flying burrito brothers- tribute to gram parsons

1996 mitchell, joni- hits

1996 ringer, jim- best of jim ringer: band of jesse j

199? flying burrito brothers- sin city 

1999 frank zappa- son of cheep thrills

     gibson, jon [gospel]- standing on the one

     hurley, arthur & gottli- sunlight shinin' 

     brooks, denny- denny brooks

     griffith, glenda- glenda griffith

     lieberman, lori- piece of time

     moore, daniel- daniel moore

     nolan, kenny- song between us

     parker, wayne- oklahoma twilight


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