Pete Drake | |
---|---|
Birth name | Roddis Franklin Drake |
Also known as | Pete Drake |
Born |
Augusta, Georgia U.S.A. |
October 8, 1932
Died | July 29, 1988 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. |
(aged 55)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter, Actor, Producer |
Instruments | Pedal Steel Guitar |
Roddis Franklin "Pete" Drake (October 8, 1932 – July 29, 1988) was a major Nashville-based record producer and pedal steel guitar player.
One of the most sought-after backup musicians of the 1960s, Drake played on such hits as 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". (Drake's work on this last tune is debatable, in that some sources claim Sonny Garrish to be the steel guitar player on that record. However, most of the evidence points to Drake being the steel player on Wynette's huge hit.)
Drake was born in Augusta, Georgia, the son of a Pentecostal preacher, in 1932. In 1950 he drove to Nashville, heard Jerry Byrd on the Grand Ole Opry, and was inspired to buy a steel guitar. Later in the 1950s he organized the country music band Sons of the South in Atlanta, Georgia, which included future country stars like Jerry Reed, Doug Kershaw, Roger Miller, Jack Greene, and Joe South.