Lloyd Green
Encyclopedia
Lloyd Green is an American
steel guitar
ist. Green is most notable for his session work, having played on records with artists such as Johnny Cash
, Alan Jackson
, Lynn Anderson
, Don Williams
, Paul McCartney
, Charley Pride
and many others.
at the age of four, where he began to take music lessons.
At the age of seven he learned to play a Hawaiian string guitar and eventually learned how to play the steel guitar.
By the time he was ten, he was playing professionally in clubs a couple of nights a week with a rhythm guitarist.
Green graduated from high school in 1955, and went on to study psychology
at the University of Southern Mississippi. He left college at the age of nineteen and went to Nashville, Tennessee
to seek fame as a steel guitarist.
Over the years, Lloyd Green has become one of the most popular and respected pedal steel guitarist of all time, and arguably the best player of the E9th tuning on the pedal steel guitar.
road band in December 1956 and stayed for 18 months. He soon played steel guitar on his first session, George Jones' "Too Much Water Runs Under The Bridge".
After he could not afford to renew his union card, he moved back to Mobile, but eventually moved back to Nashville and became a shoe salesman. He told his story to one of his customers, widow of publisher Fred Rose
, and she renewed it for him.
The first successful session he played on was Warner Mack
's "The Bridge Washed Out" in 1965. For the next 15 years, Green averaged 400 sessions a year. The artists whose recordings he played on included Faron Young
, Freddie Hart
, the Byrds
', Charley Pride
, and Paul McCartney
. He turned down a U.S. tour with McCartney due to the fact that he didn't want to lose work in Nashville.
In the 1980s an ear infection forced Green to stop working, but he eventually returned to session work. He also plays live on occasion.
Lloyd Green was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1988.
He has performed with over 500 artists, has played on 115 number one hits, and over 100 top ten hits.
His LDG was used on between 5000 and 6000 sessions between 1973 and 1988. One notable song recorded with this steel was "Farewell Party" by Gene Watson
.
, Lynn Anderson
, Charley Pride
, George Jones
, Ferlin Husky
, Freddie Hart
, Jimmy Dean
, Dolly Parton
, Faron Young
, Johnny Paycheck
, Roy Acuff
, Bobby Bare
, Loretta Lynn
, Tammy Wynette
, Brenda Lee
, Don Williams
, Jerry Reed
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, Statler Brothers
, Jimmy Buffett
, Peter Paul and Mary, Marty Robbins
and Hank Williams, Jr.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
ist. Green is most notable for his session work, having played on records with artists such as Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
, Don Williams
Don Williams
Don Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
and many others.
Early life
Lloyd Green was born on October 4, 1937 in Leaf, Mississippi. He moved with his family to Mobile, AlabamaMobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
at the age of four, where he began to take music lessons.
At the age of seven he learned to play a Hawaiian string guitar and eventually learned how to play the steel guitar.
By the time he was ten, he was playing professionally in clubs a couple of nights a week with a rhythm guitarist.
Green graduated from high school in 1955, and went on to study psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at the University of Southern Mississippi. He left college at the age of nineteen and went to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to seek fame as a steel guitarist.
Over the years, Lloyd Green has become one of the most popular and respected pedal steel guitarist of all time, and arguably the best player of the E9th tuning on the pedal steel guitar.
Session work
Green's joined Faron Young'sFaron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
road band in December 1956 and stayed for 18 months. He soon played steel guitar on his first session, George Jones' "Too Much Water Runs Under The Bridge".
After he could not afford to renew his union card, he moved back to Mobile, but eventually moved back to Nashville and became a shoe salesman. He told his story to one of his customers, widow of publisher Fred Rose
Fred Rose (musician)
Fred Rose was an American Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive.-Biography:Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fred Rose started playing piano and singing as a small boy. In his teens, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in bars busking for tips, and finally vaudeville...
, and she renewed it for him.
The first successful session he played on was Warner Mack
Warner Mack
Warner MacPherson , known professionally as Warner Mack, is an American country music singer-songwriter. Mack had many hits on the country charts from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, some of which crossed over to the pop charts....
's "The Bridge Washed Out" in 1965. For the next 15 years, Green averaged 400 sessions a year. The artists whose recordings he played on included Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
, Freddie Hart
Freddie Hart (musician)
Frederick Segrest , known professionally as Freddie Hart, is an American country musician and songwriter best-known for his No. 1 hit "Easy Loving," which won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in 1971 and 1972....
, the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
', Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. He turned down a U.S. tour with McCartney due to the fact that he didn't want to lose work in Nashville.
In the 1980s an ear infection forced Green to stop working, but he eventually returned to session work. He also plays live on occasion.
Lloyd Green was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1988.
He has performed with over 500 artists, has played on 115 number one hits, and over 100 top ten hits.
Sho-Bud LDG Model
Lloyd Green designed the Sho-Bud LDG steel guitar. His first was delivered on May 9, 1973 at his home by David Jackson and Duane Marrs of Sho-Bud. It was the fourth and last Sho-Bud guitar that Lloyd played on sessions.His LDG was used on between 5000 and 6000 sessions between 1973 and 1988. One notable song recorded with this steel was "Farewell Party" by Gene Watson
Gene Watson
Gary Gene Watson is an American country singer. He is most famous for his 1975 hit "Love in the Hot Afternoon," his 1982 hit "Fourteen Carat Mind," and his signature song "Farewell Party." Watson's long career has notched six number ones, 23 top tens and over 75 charted singles.-Biography:Watson...
.
Sho-Bud Fingertip Double 10
Green played a Sho-Bud Fingertip Double 10 on many gold and platinum records for hundreds of major artists such as Ann Margaret, Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky honk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes...
, Freddie Hart
Freddie Hart (musician)
Frederick Segrest , known professionally as Freddie Hart, is an American country musician and songwriter best-known for his No. 1 hit "Easy Loving," which won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in 1971 and 1972....
, Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
, Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck was the legal name of Donald Eugene Lytle , a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It"...
, Roy Acuff
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
, Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
, Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
, Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, Don Williams
Don Williams
Don Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
, Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Statler Brothers
Statler Brothers
The Statler Brothers were an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen...
, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Peter Paul and Mary, Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
and Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr.
Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
.
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Hawaiian Enchantment (His Name Is Not Featured On The Cover) | — | Music Row |
| Big Steel Guitar | — | Time | |
| 1966 | Day For Decision | — | Little Darlin |
| 1967 | Hit Sounds | — | |
| 1968 | Mr. Nashville Sound | 37 | Chart |
| Cool Steel Man | — | ||
| 1969 | Green Country | — | Little Darlin |
| 1970 | Moody River | — | Chart |
| Music City Sound (with Pete Wade) | — | MGM | |
| 1971 | Lloyd Green and His Steel Guitar | — | Prize |
| 1973 | Shades of Steel | 21 | Monument |
| 1975 | Steel Rides | 47 | |
| Ten Shades of Green | — | Midland | |
| 1977 | Feelings | — | GRT |
| 1980 | Lloyd's of Nashville | — | Midland |
| 1992 | Reflections | — | Spark |
| 2003 | Revisited | — | LG |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1968 | "Mr. Nashville Sound" | — | — | Mr. Nashville Sound |
| 1969 | "Bar Hoppin'" | — | — | Cool Steel Man |
| "Robin" | — | — | Moody River | |
| "Tell Ya What" | — | — | ||
| 1970 | "Ride Ride Ride" | — | — | Mr. Nashville Sound |
| "My Happiness" (with Pete Wade) | — | — | Music City Sound | |
| "Release Me" (with Pete Wade) | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "Midnight Silence" | — | — | Lloyd Green and His Steel Guitar |
| "Sound Waves" | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "Morning Has Broken" | — | — | Shades of Steel |
| 1973 | "I Can See Clearly Now" | 36 | 98 | |
| "Here Comes the Sun" | 73 | — | ||
| "Dixie Drive-In" | — | — | ||
| 1974 | "Atlantis" | — | — | |
| "Seaside" | — | — | Steel Rides | |
| "Canadian Sunset" | — | — | ||
| 1975 | "Sally G" | — | — | |
| "I Can Help" | — | — | ||
| 1976 | "Darisa" | — | — | Ten Shades of Green |
| "You and Me" | 92 | — | Feelings | |
| 1977 | "Feelings" | — | — | |
| "Whistler" | — | — | single only | |
| 1979 | "Ricochet" | — | — | Lloyd's of Nashville |