Pete Drake
Successful with Forever on single and LP
Own record company:
1st generation
Pete Drake (born October 8, 1932 in Augusta , Georgia as Roddis Franklin Drake , † July 29, 1988 in Nashville , Tennessee ) was an American guitarist and music producer .
biography
Beginnings
Drake grew up as the son of a Pentecostal priest in Atlanta . With his brothers he formed the singing group The Drake Brothers, which performed in the churches of the Atlanta area. In the early 1950s he met the steel guitarist Jerry Byrd and was fascinated by his instrument. He built his own steel guitar and taught himself to play the guitar. The steel guitar later accompanied him throughout his entire artistic career.
In 1954 Drake founded his own band, the Sons of The South, in which successful country singers later joined with Jack Greene , Roger Miller and Jerry Reed . Drake played the guitar and with his melodic style quickly became one of the best young instrumentalists in Atlanta. In order to develop as a studio musician , Drake moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1959, where there were several recording studios. During an appearance in the Grand Ole Opry , the country singer Roy Drusky became aware of Drake's game and hired him for the production of his title Anymore . Anymore was a hit, as was Before This Day Ends by George Hamilton IV , in which Drake also starred. After that, Drake was a sought-after studio musician who, after a few years, managed up to fifteen productions a week. In 1987 he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame for his musical achievements.
Singer and studio musician
From 1961 Drake began to record his own records. His first long-playing record, The Fabulous Steel Guitar Sounds , was made in November 1961 at the Nashville Starday Sound Studio. By 1969 he recorded thirteen albums, of which Forever achieved the greatest success in 1964 with number 85 in the Top 200. The song Forever had previously appeared on a single and reached number 25 on the Hot 100 of the US music magazine Billbord . Drake had released his first singles with the record company Starday, later he had record deals with Smash Records and Stop. In 1969 he recorded his last records.
During this time he had continued to work as a studio musician and had also met Elvis Presley in 1966 . On his album How Great Thou Art Drake worked as a guitarist as well as on the soundtracks to the Presley films Double Trouble , Clambake and Speedway . He was also involved in the soundtracks for Bob Dylan's hit albums John Wesley Harding , Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait . He also worked as a guitarist with country greats such as Bobby Bare , Marty Robbins and Charley Pride . In 1970 Drake met George Harrison in Great Britain and worked on his album All Things Must Pass . That same year he was inducted into the Walkway of Stars of the Country Music Hall of Fame .
producer
In 1970 Drake's career as a producer also began. His first success was with Ringo Starr's album Beaucoups of Blues . The long-playing record produced in the Nashville Music City Recorders reached number 65 in the Billboard Top 200 and number 35 in the country charts. The 1974 album No Charge , produced in Pete's Place Studio with Melba Montgomery , also entered the country charts at number 14. Drake-produced stars also include Jimmy Bryant , Ernest Tubb , Bobby Vinton and Otis Williams . The productions with BJ Thomas , whose album New Looks reached number 13 in the country charts, were also successful .
In 1977 Drake founded the 1st Generation record company with his longtime assistant Rose Trimble, for which he also acted as a producer. He produced his first records with the country singer Ernest Tubb, whom he was able to poach from the large record company MCA . Tubb's long-playing record The Legend and the Legacy reached number ten in the 1979 country charts. Other country stars such as Stonewall Jackson , Cal Smith and Billy Walker later joined 1st Generation.
Death and honors
In 1985, Drake's health deteriorated. He suffered from a smoker's lung from years of smoking. He could only work in his house in Brentwood, Tennessee , where he had set up a recording studio. He died on July 29, 1988 at the age of 55. Posthumously, he was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990 , the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2010 .
US discography
Vinyl long-playing records
| title | Label | published | Top 200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fabulous Steel Guitar Sounds of Pete Drake | Starday 180 | 11/1961 | |
| Country steel guitar | Cumberland 69503 | 6/1963 | |
| Forever - Pete Drake & His Talking Steel Guitar | Smash 67053 | 5/1964 | 85. |
| Talking Steel Guitar / Pete Drake | Smash 67060 | 5/1964 | |
| Talking Steel Guitar & Singing Strings - Pete Drake | Smash 67064 | 1/1965 | |
| Golden Country Hits | Cumberland 69516 | 1965 | |
| The Amazing and Incredible Pete Drake | Starday 319 | 1965 | |
| The Hits I Played On | Ambassador 98061 | 1966 | |
| The Greatest Steel Guitar in the World | Hilltop 6052 | 1967 | |
| The Fabulous Sounds of Those Nashville Cats | Starday 399 | 1967 | |
| Steel Away | Canaan 4640 | 1968 | |
| The Greatest Steel Guitar in the World | Hilltop 6052 | 1968 | |
| The Pete Drake Show | Stop 10011 | 1969 |
Vinlyl singles
| From page | Catalog no. | published |
|---|---|---|
| Starday | ||
| Spook / Pleading | 575 | 1/1962 |
| Invitation to the Blues / Rick-A-Shay | 706 | 2/1965 |
| Y'all Come / My Abilene | 751 | 12/1965 |
| smash | ||
| Forever / Sleep Walk | 1867 | 1/1964 |
| Forever / Midnight in Amarilla | 1888 | 4/1964 |
| I'm Sorry / I'm Just a Guitar | 1910 | 7/1964 |
| Are You Sincere / I'm Walkin ' | 1935 | 11/1964 |
| Dream / Am I That Easy to Forget | 1978 | 3/1965 |
| I'm a Fool to Care / Mystic Dream | 2046 | 6/1966 |
| stop | ||
| Joggin '/ Mama's Talking Guitar | 222 | 10/1968 |
| Lay Lady Lay / For Pete's Sake | 349 | 10/1969 |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Drake, Pete |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Drake, Roddis Franklin (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American guitarist and music producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 8, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Augusta , Georgia |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 1988 |
| Place of death | Nashville , Tennessee |