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Ben Keith (longtime Neil Young collaborator) is dead.

landingonwaterlandingonwater Posts: 325
edited August 2010 in Other Music
This guy has been with Neil since Harvest. He's practically on every Neil Young record that wasn't done with Crazy Horse. What a musician and what a loss. That guy could play a pedal steel like no other. This has to be devastating for Neil, considering he lost his best friend L.A. Johnson earlier this year.

http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org ... -2010.html
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Electric_DeltaElectric_Delta Posts: 977
    Great American musician. I grew up listening to those pedal-steel licks on Harvest.
    Bristow, VA (5/13/10)
  • YetAnotherFiascoYetAnotherFiasco Posts: 158
    Sad news. I saw him perform on Hey Hey, My My, Love and Only Love, Powderfinger...and a lot of other great songs with Neil in Massachusetts in 2008. A Day in the Life, as well.
  • landingonwaterlandingonwater Posts: 325
    YetAnotherFiasco wrote:
    Sad news. I saw him perform on Hey Hey, My My, Love and Only Love, Powderfinger...and a lot of other great songs with Neil in Massachusetts in 2008. A Day in the Life, as well.

    I was at that show.
  • MysteryTrainMysteryTrain Singapore Posts: 1,189
    RIP Ben. Glad I got to see him last year at Hyde Park.
  • intodeepintodeep Posts: 7,240
    that is sad
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  • merkinballmerkinball Posts: 2,262
    Wow, that's terrible. Ben really shined on the last tour he was on with Neil, getting into the electric stuff that he normally wasn't known for playing with Neil on.
    "You're no help," he told the lime. This was unfair. It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could.

    http://www.last.fm/user/merkinball/
    spotify:user:merkinball
  • northern spiritnorthern spirit I'm not present, I'm a drug that makes you dream Posts: 191
    Thank You to Landingonwater for posting this.

    Thanks for posting this Mr.Merkinball. I was driving home when Q107 announced this earlier this afternoon. It apparently just came across their desk as well. We should all raise a toast to Gentle Ben. He was a great one. My own little tribute tonight will be to listen to the Tonight's The Night album. I also played the video on youtube of Neil Young doing a blistering version of Live to Ride. "He was a friend of Mine". Neil was in Winnipeg last night and tonight, and he made the sad announcement to the crowd.
    1993 08-18 Toronto ON CNE w/ Neil Young, Soundgarden
    1998 08-22 Barrie ON Molson Park
    2003 05-02 Buffalo NY HSBC, 06-28 Toronto ON Molson Amp.
    2004 10-02 Toledo OH Vote For Change w/ Neil Young
    2005 09-19 Toronto ON ACC, 09-13 Hamilton ON Copps, 09-11 Kitchener ON Memorial Gardens
    2006 05-10 Toronto ON ACC, 05-09 Toronto ON ACC
    2007 EV 09-11 Toronto ON Body of War TIFF Screening Isabel Bader Theatre - Grateful to have met Ed!!
    2008 EV 08-12 Toronto ON Massey Hall
    2009 08-21 Toronto ON Molson Amp.
    2010 05-10 Buffalo NY HSBC
    2011 09-15 Hamilton ON Copps, 09-11 Toronto ON ACC, 09-12 Toronto ON ACC,
    2011 EV 06-26 Detroit MI Fox Theatre
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  • red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    How very sad. Harvest is probably my fave Neil Young record, because it's what got me into him. A local station here used to do "classic rock cd at midnight" and play an album in it's entirety. There was alot written about this guy in the book, "shakey" so he was definitely an inspiration and important person in Neil's life.

    Wish I could have seen him play with Neil, I've only seen Neil solo on this last tour (which was amazing.). Got to meet Neil before the show too.
    PJ: 10/14/00 06/09/03 10/4/09 11/15/13 11/16/13 10/08/14
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  • goldrushgoldrush everybody knows this is nowhere Posts: 7,630
    Such sad news, Ben was by far one of the great slide players of all time. His playing was so natural and so beautiful. You can't teach how to play like that, it's just about feeling it. I was lucky enough to see him with Neil twice last year and his slide playing was such an integral part of the sound. It was cool to hear him rock out on Fuckin Up and Hey Hey, My My too.

    Are You Ready For The Country?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEUL9zFt6i4

    Heart of Gold (you don't see much of him but you can hear that awesome slide)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKgaDn3KNvg

    RIP Ben
    “Do not postpone happiness”
    (Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)

    “Put yer good money on the sunrise”
    (Tim Rogers)
  • bronco_bruinbronco_bruin Posts: 51
    I was front and Center at the Winnipeg Neil Young shows...he seemed pretty choked up and was teary eyed when he mentioned it before Old Man...I met Ben in 07 in Chicago and he seemed like a great guy...very friendly and willing to talk to the fans and sign autographs...
    Minneapolis 98,tampa 00, Fargo St Paul 03,Winnipeg Thunder Bay 05,Chicago Denver 06
  • goldrushgoldrush everybody knows this is nowhere Posts: 7,630
    There's a tribute to Ben on Neil's website:
    BEN KEITH
    On the full moon, the Thunder moon, the world lost one of the greatest musicians of all time. Ben was 73 years old the night he died on Broken Arrow Ranch in California, his happy home for the last years of his life. Ben played with Patsy Cline, Faron Young, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Ian Tyson and many other music greats. A great American, the quiet giant, he moved gently through the world, with kindness and grace.

    My wife Pegi was lucky to share his last performance a few weeks back in San Francisco, where Ben was playing in her band, supporting her and lending his spirit to her every word as she sang her songs for us.

    Of course, in Nashville Ben Keith is legendary, one of the last of the original country greats, the man behind the song. No one will ever fill his shoes. He has countless friends and admirers. They all miss him as much as I do. I will miss him every time I look to my side, remembering him, my brother and fellow traveler.

    Thankfully, Ben's masterful playing can be seen and heard in two Johnathon Demme pictures: "Heart of Gold" and "Trunk Show," as well as countless great recordings over the last 50 years. We are so fortunate to have these as memories and lasting documents of his greatness and grace. He started out on a homemade steel guitar he fashioned himself from a piece of wood and left over parts. He loved his music and his life and cherished his many friends and soul mates.

    He leaves behind his wonderful daughter Heidi, and his grandchildren who he loved so much, DJ, Rachel, James, Meredith, Aubrey, Fletcher and Caroline.

    May he rest in Peace.
    Neil Young
    “Do not postpone happiness”
    (Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)

    “Put yer good money on the sunrise”
    (Tim Rogers)
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