The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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PETE DRAKE & HIS
TALKING STEEL GUITAR
“Forever”
(Buddy Killen)
Smash 1867
No. 25 April 25, 1964
.
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Pete was born Roddis Franklin Drake October 8, 1932 in Atlanta, Georga. All through his school days,
Pete never gave much of a thought to taking up on an instrument. Someone showed him the workings
of a steel guitar in 1951 and, bam, his whole world changed. Within a year Drake formed his own band,
the Sons of the South, and quickly became known as the hotest steel man in the area. In 1959, after
years of playing booze bars and dance halls, he moved to Nashville and after a short whlle of gigging in
the Don Gibson and George Hamilton IV bands he was established as one of the top session men in the
business.
As a session man Pete recorded with, to name but a few, Joan Baez, Teresa Brewer, George Jones, Roger
Miller, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, and Kenny Rogers. Pete performed on George Harrison’s All Things
Must Pass album and between 1968 and 1970 appeared on three Bob Dylan long plays.
As a producer he worked with Boxcar Willie, Melba Montgomery, B.J. Thomas, Ernest Tubb and Slim
Whitman. In 1970, Pete brought Ringo Starr to Nashville to record his Beaucoups of Blues album. In
so doing Ringo became the first Beatie to record in the U.S.
“Forever”–the renderer of One-Hit status for the LITTLE DIPPERS–was one of Pete’s first solo record
releases. While he would never approach that public popularity again, Pete continued through the
years to sporactically issued disks on such labels as Canaan, Cumberland, Hillside, Starday and Stop.
He received a Grammy and a Dove Award for production of B.J. Thomas’ Amazing Grace lp, won various
accolades from Billboard, Cashbox and Record World and in 1970 was honored in the Walkway of the
Stars at the Country Hall of Fame. He also received the Master Award from the Nashville Entertainment
Association and in 1987 was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.