Steelin’ It: The Steel Guitar Story

Steel guitar refers to a method of playing on a guitar held horizontally, with the strings uppermost and the bass strings towards the player, and using a type of slide called a steel above the fingerboard rather than fretting the strings with the fingers. This may be done with any guitar, but is most common on instruments designed and produced for this style of playing.

The technique was invented and popularized in Hawaii, where this set opens with 25 examples of that island's foremost exponents of the instrument, famous and obscure, recorded from 1925 to 1952.

The other three discs of this 100 track set chronicle the use and development of lap steel guitar, resonator guitar, console/table steel guitar and pedal steel guitar in American Western Swing, mainstream Country and Rockabilly music from the mid 1930s to 1957, along the way showcasing all the main acts who made the instruments such an integral part of their sound.

Expertly compiled and annotated by Adam Komorowski.