BIOGRAPHY
Pete Drake (1932-1988) was a Nashville pedal steel guitarist and producer who became a fixture of the Nashville A-Team, playing on hits like 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." His pioneering "talking steel guitar," introduced on Bill Anderson's 1963 album Still, became an international hit on Smash Records in 1964 and later influenced the talk box used by Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh, Roger Troutman, and Jeff Beck. Drake's steel work carried country into rock, appearing on Dylan's John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, and Self Portrait, and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass; he also produced Ringo Starr's Beaucoups of Blues. He founded Stop Records and First Generation Records, was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Cash Box and the Country Music Association in 1964, and became the first steel guitar player inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame before his death in 1988.