Sneaky Pete Kleinow

Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow August 20 1934 - January 6 2007 Was An American Country-Rock Musician Songwriter And A Motion Picture Special Effects Artist.He Is Remembered As A Member Of The Band The Flying Burrito Brothers And As A Session Musician For Such Artists As Joan Baez Jackson Browne The Byrds Joe Cocker Rita Coolidge Eagles The Everly Brothers George Harrison Steve Miller Band Joni Mitchell The Rolling Stones Linda Ronstadt And Many Others. Kleinow Was Born In South Bend Indiana. Before His Musical Career He Originally Worked As A Special Effects Artist And Stop Motion Animator For Movies And Television Including The Gumby Outer Limits And Davey And Goliath Series As Well As Movies Such As 7 Faces Of Dr. Lao Starring Tony Randall And Barbara Eden And The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm. At Night Kleinow Would Frequently Sit In With Bakersfield Sound-Oriented Combos And Early Country-Rock Aggregations Playing The Pedal Steel Guitar. Through This Scene He Became Acquainted With Chris Hillman And Gram Parsons Of The Byrds Helping The Group To Replicate Their Newly Country-Oriented Sound Onstage With Banjoist Doug Dillard. After Leaving The Byrds In 1968 Parsons And Hillman Invited Kleinow To Join Their New Band The Flying Burrito Brothers. Subsequently Kleinow Left Behind His Career In Visual Effects And Spent The Next Thirteen Years As A Professional Musician. One Of The First Pedal Steel Players To Work In A Rock Context Kleinow Incorporated Liberal Use Of Electronic Innovations Like The Fuzzbox And Backwards Recording Techniques. As Such His Style Of Playing Was Immediately Influential Upon Second-Generation Players Such As Jerry Garcia Buddy Cage Of The New Riders Of The Purple Sage And Sessionman Al Perkins. Respected As The "Hendrix Of The Steel Guitar " Kleinow Was Rarely Short Of Session Work. Finding Session Work To Be More Lucrative He Left The Flying Burrito Brothers In 1971 And Played For An Eclectic Range Of Artists Including Joe Cocker Joe Cocker! 1969 Delaney Bonnie And Friends To Bonnie From Delaney 1970 And Little Feat Many Albums Including Sailin' Shoes 1972 . In 1972 Sneaky Teamed Up With Laramy Smith In The Group ARIZONA. Other Members Included Steve Ewards Spirit David Atwood America And Andrew Way Spencer Davis Group . He Also Added Steel Guitar To Records By Frank Zappa Waka/Jawaka 1972 The Bee Gees Life In A Tin Can 1973 John Lennon Mind Games 1973 Linda Ronstadt Heart Like A Wheel 1974 And Fleetwood Mac Heroes Are Hard To Find 1974 . In 1974 Kleinow Was Part Of A New Band Cold Steel And Then A Reconstituted Flying Burrito Brothers. His First Solo Album Sneaky Pete Was Released In 1978 And The Legend And The Legacy Followed In 1994. He Returned To Special Effects And Created The Dinosaurs For The Comic Film Caveman 1981 Starring Ringo Starr And Barbara Bach. Throughout The 1980s And 1990s Kleinow Created Special Effects For Movies Such As The Empire Strikes Back Gremlins The Right Stuff The Terminator And Terminator 2 While Continuing To Work Sporadically As A Professional Musician. In 1983 His Work On The Television Miniseries The Winds Of War Was Recognized With An Emmy Award For Special Visual Effects. In 2000 Kleinow Formed A Group Called Burrito Deluxe Also The Name Of A 1970 Flying Burrito Brothers Album With Garth Hudson Former Organist Of The Band Carlton Moody Of The Moody Brothers On Lead Vocals And Guitars Bassist Jeff "Stick" Davis Of Amazing Rhythm Aces And Drummer Rick Lonow. The Group Recorded Three Albums Georgia Peach The Whole Enchilada And 2007's Disciples Of The Truth Which Feature His Last Studio Recordings. Kleinow's Last Performance Was At A 2005 Gram Parsons Tribute Concert In Waycross Georgia The Home Town Of Gram Parsons. He Died At A Convalescent Home Near The Skilled Nursing Facility In Petaluma California Where He Had Been Living With Alzheimer's Disease Since 2006. Kleinow Was Survived By His Wife Three Sons And Two Daughters. read less