Pete Drake (1932-1988) was one of the legends of Nashville, both as a steel guitar whiz and as a highly successful producer. He first hit Nashville in 1959 and soon found work playing on the road with Marty Robbins' band, and of course as a session player on countless recorded, big and small. He became known for his "talking steel" technique, where he combined his own voice and guitar through a talk-box device, an effect later used by rock musicians in the 'Sixties and 'Seventies. Drake soon found he also had a knack for making records as well as playing on them, and started his own label, Stop Records, which had some success on the charts, but largely served as a custom-pressing service for off-the-radar regional and amateur artists. In addition to backing big, A-list stars, Drake produced and played on zillions of sessions for innumerable little guys, and is one of those studio pros whose name shows up all over the place. Here's a quick look at his solo stuff...
Pete Drake "The Fabulous Steel Guitar Sound" (Starday Records, 1962) (LP)
Pete Drake "Country Steel Guitar" (Cumberland Records, 1963-?) (LP)
Pete Drake "Talking Steel And Singing Strings" (Smash Records, 1964) (LP)
Pete Drake "The Amazing And Incredible Pete Drake" (Starday Records, 1964) (LP)
Pete Drake "Talking Steel Guitar" (Smash Records, 1964) (LP)
Pete Drake "Forever" (Smash Records, 1964) (LP)
Dean Manuel & The Jim Reeves Blue Boys "The Late And Great Dean Manuel" (Starday Records, 1965)
Pete Drake gets a special second-billing on this album which was a posthumous homage to pianist Dean Manuel, who died in the same 1964 plane crash that killed superstar vocalist Jim Reeves.
Pete Drake "Pete Drake And His Talking Guitar" (Mountain Dew Records, 1966) (LP)
Pete Drake "Steel Away" (Canaan Records, 1968) (LP)
(Produced by Marvin Norcross & Chuck Seitz)
A mostly-instrumental gospel set featuring Mr. Drake's steel wizardry... Not sure who the other pickers were on this session, though there's some nice twangy Chet Atkins-style guitar (Jerry Reed, perhaps?) and the Music City vocal group known as The Four Guys provide backing, while Drake's talking guitar "sings" the lead. By the way, according to the liner notes, Pete Drake's dad was a minister himself, and Drake started his musical career playing in his father's church.
Pete Drake/Various Artists "The Pete Drake Show" (Stop Records, 1969) (LP)
(Produced by Jack R. Dittman, Pat Davis, & Tommy Hill)
Top-tier pedal steel player Pete Drake was both a go-to Nashville studio pro and an experienced session producer. In the late 'Sixties he was in charge of numerous sessions at Stop Records, a semi-indie powerhouse that cut custom singles and some full albums for starts and out-of-towners alike. Pete Drake released a string of his own albums as well, though this disc -- recorded live at a place called Frontier City, in Onsted, Michigan -- is one of Drake's more unusual "solo" albums, in that it seems to be a memento of a short-lived road-show band led by Drake himself. The musicians include several guys who worked with him in the studio such as D.J. Fontana, Johnny Gimble, Chuck Howard, Dale Sellers, as well as aspiring singer Billy Ray Reynolds, along with one track with gal singer, Crystal Gares. She's the real mystery here. Ms. Gares previously cut a Stop single in 1967 and probably did backup singing on other sessions, but as far as I can tell, this album and that single are the only two records she made under her own name, despite keeping such high-profile company. Also unfortunate is the fact that although the liner notes of Drake's album gave little shout-outs to all of the guys, absolutely nothing is said about her, so her life story is still a blank for now. Regardless, this is a nice snapshot of how some of Nashville's most talented pickers sounded when they let their hair down and played shows out in the real world, including the ever-nimble Mr. Drake.
Pete Drake "Pete Drake" (First Generation Records, 1996)
