Buddy Emmons
| Buddy Emmons | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Buddy Gene Emmons |
| Born |
January 27, 1937 Mishawaka, Indiana, United States |
| Died | July 21, 2015 (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
| Genres | Country, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, guitar, dobro, bass guitar |
| Years active | 1952–2015 |
| Labels | Flying Fish, Mercury |
| Associated acts | Little Jimmy Dickens, Ray Price, Ernest Tubb, John Hartford, The Everly Brothers, many others |
Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1980. His primary genre was American country music, but he also performed bebop jazz, big band swing, and Western swing. He recorded with artists including Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, Ernest Tubb, John Hartford, Ray Price, Judy Collins, and Ray Charles.
Emmons made major innovative physical changes to the steel guitar, adding two additional strings and an additional pedal — changes which have been adopted as standard in the modern-day instrument.
Emmons was born in Mishawaka, Indiana. When he was 11 years old, his father bought him a 6-string lap steel guitar and arranged for lessons at the Hawaiian Conservatory of Music in South Bend, Indiana, which Buddy dutifully attended for about a year. Buddy then began figuring out on his own how to play the country music that he heard on the radio. Buddy has said that Jerry Byrd and Herb Remington were among his first major musical influences. By age 15, Buddy's playing had progressed considerably and his parents bought him a triple-neck Fender "Stringmaster" steel guitar, and he began performing with local bands in South Bend such as The Choctaw Cowboys. Bored with high school, he left at age 16 and moved with a childhood friend to Calumet City, Illinois, where he was soon hired by Stony Calhoun to play in his band. At 17, he moved to Detroit to play with Casey Clark. During his stint with Clark, Buddy purchased a Bigsby steel guitar with pedals similar to the pedal steel guitar that Bud Isaacs had used on the Webb Pierce hit song "Slowly". (The pedals on a pedal steel guitar allow the player to change the pitch of one or more strings while playing the instrument. A separate volume pedal is also used, compensating for the attack and decay of the strings for a smooth, constant or creative near-constant volume.)
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