Obit: 'sneaky' Pete Kleinow, January 6

Subject: Obit: 'Sneaky' Pete Kleinow, January 6
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 08:17 PM

Guitarist 'Sneaky' Pete Kleinow dies

By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, a steel guitar prodigy who rose to fame as one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers, has died. He was 72.

Kleinow, who also worked in film as an award-winning animator and special effects artist, died Saturday at a Petaluma convalescent home near the skilled nursing facility where he had been living with Alzheimer's disease since last year, his daughter Anita Kleinow said.

During a musical career that spanned six decades, Kleinow helped define the country-rock genre in the late 1960s and 1970s by taking the instrument he had picked up as a teenager in South Bend, Ind., to California.

His prowess with the pedal steel guitar influenced a generation of rock-and-rollers, including the Eagles, the Steve Miller Band and Poco.

Besides co-founding the Burrito Brothers with the Byrds' Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons in 1968, he enjoyed a steady gig as a session musician, recording with such singer-songwriters as John Lennon, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell and bands as varied as the Bee Gees and Sly and the Family Stone.

Kleinow played and recorded regularly with Burrito Deluxe, a band he founded in 2000 following the rebirth of alt-country music and fronted until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His last recording with the group is scheduled to be released next month, said Brenda Cline, the band's manager.

Kleinow also won acclaim as an animator, special effects artist and director of commercials in television and film. His credits ranged from the original "Gumby" series - he wrote and performed the theme music as well as designed cartoons - and the relaunched "The Twilight Zone" to the movies "Under Siege," "Fearless" and "The Empire Strikes Back." He won an Emmy award in 1983 for his work on the miniseries, "The Winds of War."

Kleinow is survived by his wife of 54 years, Ernestine, his daughters Anita and Tammy, and three sons, Martin, Aaron and Cosmo.

Plans for a memorial service to be held in Joshua Tree later this month are pending.

Subject: RE: Obit: 'sneaky' Pete Kleinow, January 6
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 10 Jan 07 - 09:43 PM

Damn! Sneaky Pete's segue from "Take it Easy" into "Our Lady of the Well" on Jackson Browne's For Everyman album remains one of my favorite instrumental passages. He proved to a lot of non-country listeners that pedal steel was more than a country instrument.

Subject: RE: Obit: 'sneaky' Pete Kleinow, January 6
From: GLoux
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 08:13 AM

I've always admired his work, but I broke up laughing yesterday when I found out that he was responsible for the original Gumby theme. What a legacy he has left. May he rest in peace.

-Greg

Subject: RE: Obit: 'sneaky' Pete Kleinow, January 6
From: Bob Hitchcock
Date: 11 Jan 07 - 06:00 PM

I always admired his work with The Flying Burrito Brothers, a great band. He made sounds on the Pedal Steel unlike any other player, he will be missed.

Bob

Subject: Obit: Sneaky Pete Kleinow
From: DADGBE
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 10:45 PM

Before his musical career, Pete originally worked as a special effects artist and stop motion animator for movies and television, including the Gumby, and Outer Limits TV series, as well as classic cult movies such as 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. At night, he would frequently sit in with Bakersfield Sound-oriented combos and early country-rock aggregations playing the pedal steel guitar. Through this scene he became acquainted with Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons of the Byrds, helping the group to replicate their newly country oriented sound onstage with banjoist Doug Dillard. After leaving the Byrds in 1968, Parsons and Hillman invited him to join their new band, the Flying Burrito Brothers. Subsequently, he left behind his career in visual effects and spent the next thirteen years as a professional musician.

One of the first pedal steel players to work in a rock context, Kleinow incorporated liberal use of electronic innovations like the fuzzbox and backwards recording techniques. As such, his style of playing was immediately influential upon second-generation players such as Jerry Garcia, Buddy Cage of the New Riders of the Purple Sage and sessionman Al Perkins. Respected as the "Hendrix of the steel guitar," he was rarely short of session work. Finding session work to be more lucrative, he left the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1971 and played for an eclectic range of artists, including Joe Cocker (Joe Cocker!, 1969), Delaney, Bonnie and Friends (To Bonnie from Delaney, 1970) and Little Feat (many albums including Sailin' Shoes, 1972). He also added steel guitar to records by Frank Zappa (Waka/Jawaka, 1972), the Bee Gees (Life in a Tin Can, 1973), John Lennon (Mind Games, 1973) and Fleetwood Mac (Heroes Are Hard to Find, 1974).

In 1974 Pete was part of a new band, Cold Steel, and then a reconstituted Flying Burrito Brothers. His first solo album, Sneaky Pete, was released in 1978 and The Legend and the Legacy followed in 1994.

He returned to special effects and created the dinosaurs for the comic film Caveman (1981), starring Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Kleinow created special effects for movies such as The Empire Strikes Back, Gremlins, The Right Stuff, The Terminator, and Terminator 2, while continuing to work sporadically as a professional musician. In 1983, his work on the television miniseries The Winds of War was recognized with an Emmy Award for Special Visual Effects.

In 2000, he formed a group called Burrito Deluxe (also the name of a 1970 Flying Burrito Brothers' album) with Garth Hudson, former organist of The Band, Carlton Moody of the Moody Brothers on lead vocals and guitars, bassist Jeff "Stick" Davis of Amazing Rhythm Aces and drummer Rick Lonow. The group recorded two albums, Georgia Peach and 'The Whole Enchilada. His last performance was at a 2005 Gram Parsons' tribute concert. Kleinow was married and had three sons and two daughters.

He died at a convalescent home near the skilled nursing facility in Petaluma, California, where he had been living with Alzheimer's disease since 2006

Subject: RE: Obit: Sneaky Pete Kleinow
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 12:02 AM

Wow, he certainly did a lot; must've been a very talented man. Sorry to hear he had passed on. Thanks for the education.

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: Sneaky Pete Kleinow
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 16 Jan 07 - 07:21 AM

Also (I think) did some stuff on Joni Mitchell's early albums. Might be wrong, but I think he did (maybe 'This Flight Tonight'?, errrmmm, maybe).