I’m 79, a lifelong country music fan, and I’ve seen and heard hundreds of steel guitar players come and go. In my humble opinion, there never has been and never will be another Ralph Mooney. He was the best; there’s just nothing else to say.
40 yrs old, been raised on country from day 1. Started introducing a friend to country. I sent Waylon's 1974 Live in Texas album to him. When i started explaining it, i realized that Ralph Mooney and his steel guitar defined an entire era and genre of country music. Not every good country song is full of ralph's work, but all the best-good ones are.
Pete drake, Don helms, Ralph Mooney, Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Floyd Kramer, chet Atkins, all wonderful instrument players I highly suggest all of their work
To this day “Rainy Day Woman” makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, can’t just play it once...that man was in a league of his own..the best, hands down in my opinion..
Well Ralph, Another year has passed and this student of the pedal steel isn't any better than I was this time last year, but I will always admire your playing ability my friend. Everyone misses you alot.. :)
I work for baker brothers plumbing and got to work for his widow today in Kennedale tx. saw some awesome vintage guitars and old pics of ralph with all the great legends of country music. his wife wonda. was very nice to work for.
Cheyenne Rose, I’m a journalist and I did a feature story on Ralph once. He and his wife were both really nice folks and he let me bring a friend over a few weeks later to meet him. He also had a hand in writing several songs, including Crazy Arms.
Ralph Mooney played I threw away the rose on Merle Haggards recording,Above and beyond, rainy day Woman..... so many things we cant count what a driving force great picker thank You Ralph the bottle let me down...what could top that great playing?. We all learned from you Crazy Arms..you even wrote it, when we want to razzle dazzle we grab a Ralph Mooney lick THANK YOU RALPH!!! Rest in Peace........
Charles Gonterman With all the pedal steel guitar players he was unique one of a kind. Most were not different from each other. Some of the singers wanted it this way One new steel player was instructed to try to sound like the number one of that day. He was close real close but he never achieved what he was seeking. One young steel player was hired by the Ray Price band and he was just thrilled. In walks the Man and he doesn't even glance at the new steel player.
great player,worked with him once in washington dc.what a voyage .mid 70's i think.him and Sneaky Pete and David Lindley are my all time favorites,not that there aren't thousand more that are my favorites like Jr. Brown and Steve White.Something about steel on steel,and then ad pedals .....too nice
Ol Hoss said it best " the most immitated steel guitar player and the best one by far the great Ralph Mooney " - " show em the foot that made merle haggard a star Moon " -WJ
Such originality with such depth and above all such superb taste and flavor. Find very little of that in the fake music now. Make pop music popular again.
I agree with everything said about Ralph. He was my firend and my hero, and one of my greatest influences. These snippets however, are not ralph playing (except for the middle solo in Crazy Arms). They were all taken from my my (CD) te to Ralph called "Moonshine". You can google it if interested. There'll always only be one Mister Mon!
wow, amazing steel!. back in 60's Moon couldn't be touched. Too many hits with Waylon, recordings with Buck, and so many others. Good hearing this talent. "Above and Beyond", Bucks great Harlan Howard classic. Gosh, he was brilliant mosrite60
That's the foot that made Merle Haggard a star . Ralph was a major part of Waylons sound that great Bakersfield sound ol hoss was the best ever and so was the "Moon"
Ok I do not know of any steel player in the same level as Ralph. He had such a distinctive sound duplicated by none other. You just know who played steel when he was on the record, Buck, Merle, Waylon etc. R.I.P. They threw away the mold when he was born....
Thx dude for the comment. Lloyd Green is certainly one top 3 steelers around these days. The diff that I see between them is that Ralph was totally country. Whereas Lloyd plays alot of new country, swing and even jazz. At times I cannot distinct when Lloyd is playing on record. But The "Moon" well enuf said. Mike H is certainly an awesome player in his own right. All these are certainly mentors to the new players around. Pracise for 1000 hrs then maybe we'll reach their level.
Moon was to the pedal-n-slide what Earl was to the 5. @randywb7972: It takes dedication, soul and heartache... something that "today's country" are clueless to. We have to face the grim reality that "folk music" (which country was once referred to as) has been produced, packaged, fast tracked & marketed for the sake of making some A&R prick a fast buck. At least we have these classic recordings. P.S. Look one the bright side, these "New Stars" have a very short shelf life.
My uncle has Ralphs sunburst Fender 1000, and ralphs bar and pics that was used on numerous hit records. The fender is currently on display in the hall of fame in downtown Nashville.
My father Tony Zitnik rebuilt his original Fender 1000 with sunburst finish in his garage/shop in National City, CA about 30 years ago. I remember when he spoke to Leo Fender personally to obtain an original decal and talk about the guitar. The paint work was done by Mose Guitars. Is the guitar still on display? Would like to see.
Folks, just listen to the LP by Vince Gill /Paul Franklin called "Bakersfield" circa 2013. A lot of great songs and amazing pedal steel by Paul. In fact, some of his best work on "Fooling Around" one of Bucks song. mos60
I had the Pleasure of Booking Buck, Melre, and lots of others from the West Coast ~And also ahd the plesure of meetign SOO many great Musicians ~ Theere were and are so many great Steel Players Gee I can still recal the like of Speedy West , Weldon Myrick ~ Not to mention some of the top steel plyers like Mooney, Buddy Emmons,Curly Chalker, Jimmy Day, Loyed Green ~ Sooo Many that were and are to this day so great ~One of My Personal Favorites is Stil playiig Near Phoenix named Danny Sneed TC
I watched him play many times in Portland Ore. He played at club that I worked in for about 4 years. His was family band with brother Les and their wives. Great players. Also Wynn Stewart and Mooney played with our band for a weekend about late 1971. They were a treat. Those were days of six nights a week and the off night if you wanted it. And I loved since Mooney from the first time I heard him on Buck Owens on Above and Beyond and Fooin' Round, around 1959.
A true legend. One of the vital part of Waylon's sound. Among the best country music innovator .Are those tunes from a Mooney's instrumental album? What's the name of it? Thank You!
Brandon, The Mooney style stuff was played on a Fender 800. The rest was played on a Zumsteel into an Evans Preamp and direct into the board channel from there.
@mosrite60 The first song played in this is " tonight the bottle let me down " and the third is " there goes my everything " I'll try to figure out the rest I only listened to the first 4 samples
Mike, if you don't mind me asking.. what kind of setup (steel, amp, pre.. etc) were you using on these steel tracks? In particular the playing around :17.. that is probably the best tone I have ever heard.
All your comments about Moon are right on, and Moon would haved love to have read them. He was indeed a Monster player and innovator. Actually, ALL THE CLIPS on this post are from a tribute CD I did to honor Moon a couple of years ago, while he was yet alive and could appreciate being honored. MOON only played on the second half of the Crazy Arms clip. The CD can be viewed and purchased at the Mike Headrick website. There are 3 other CDs to be found there which feature Moon's playing.
Moon had a second album out, if you can find it: "Moon at Midnight, The Toppa Sessions." Mighty fine music on that one. Don't forget another artist he played for for years - Wynn Stewart. He played on a majority of Wynn's hit, but not all of them. Moon's playing with Stewart is some great stuff, on par with anything he ever did with the other singers mentioned.
This just doesn't sound like Ralph, at least not at the peak level I remember from his days in California. I guess time takes its toll even on the all time greatest steel player of all time. There's some really good ones tied for number 2 but Ralph is #1. Suggestion: hear some of his best work on a few Toppa Records cuts from the early 1960's which are on You Tube. Listen to Jack Tucker's "When The Shades Are Drawn" and "It's Gone Too Far", and Dick Miller's "World's Champion Fool". When Ralph takes charge it sounds like two guys playing. NOBODY, but nobody, can match Ralph Mooney for notes, pedal action, chords, rhythm, fills, driving beat, or " wall of sound" when desired.
![Ralph Mooney *Cloudy Days* [instrumental]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sDPDDR6zer8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Ralph Mooney *Cloudy Days* [instrumental]](/img/tr.png)
I’m 79, a lifelong country music fan, and I’ve seen and heard hundreds of steel guitar players come and go. In my humble opinion, there never has been and never will be another Ralph Mooney. He was the best; there’s just nothing else to say.
Agree with you and hear when he plays❤
If you're watching this you clearly know who the legend of the steel guitar is.
This is steel guitar at its very best - the way a steel should sound....we miss you, Moon
I have a "Ralph" pedal on my steel guitar as he so inspired my attempt's to play country music, thanks Ralph. I feel so lonesome now your gone!
40 yrs old, been raised on country from day 1. Started introducing a friend to country.
I sent Waylon's 1974 Live in Texas album to him. When i started explaining it, i realized that Ralph Mooney and his steel guitar defined an entire era and genre of country music.
Not every good country song is full of ralph's work, but all the best-good ones are.
Pete drake, Don helms, Ralph Mooney, Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Floyd Kramer, chet Atkins, all wonderful instrument players I highly suggest all of their work
Nothing but nothing beats a pedal steel and Moon was a master.
Nothing like Ralph's piercing steel with Waylon & Jesse in an outside show !!! Will always miss them...
Never realized how many great songs this guy had been behind. RIP my man
I agree with Matt Ralph Mooney is the best steel guitar player of all time RIP Mooney
Roland from Switzerland
“The most imitated steel guitar play and best one by far the great Ralph Mooney”
THE LEGEND that Spawned today’s scene, if you know about it…
He deserves a Mount Rushmore for Guitar Players in North America over the past years.
A legend and one of the greatest steel stylist of all times
He lives on in his awesome sounds!
To this day “Rainy Day Woman” makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, can’t just play it once...that man was in a league of his own..the best, hands down in my opinion..
The 1974 "waylon live in texas" version is my favorite
Mooney was the greatest! god bless........him and Waylon ......what a team!
R. I. P.
RALPH MOONEY
Wynn Stewart
Buck Owens 🇨🇱
Merle Haggard
Waylon 🎸🇨🇱 Jennings
maybe the best player of them all.... excellent medley ! nobody sounded like Ralph, he was totally unique.
Well Ralph, Another year has passed and this student of the pedal steel isn't any better than I was this time last year, but I will always admire your playing ability my friend. Everyone misses you alot.. :)
I work for baker brothers plumbing and got to work for his widow today in Kennedale tx. saw some awesome vintage guitars and old pics of ralph with all the great legends of country music. his wife wonda. was very nice to work for.
Nov 5 2015
I’m jealous.....That’s a fact.
James Hall J
My friend was his neighbor. Very nice man.
Cheyenne Rose, I’m a journalist and I did a feature story on Ralph once. He and his wife were both really nice folks and he let me bring a friend over a few weeks later to meet him. He also had a hand in writing several songs, including Crazy Arms.
Ralph Mooney played I threw away the rose on Merle Haggards recording,Above and beyond, rainy day Woman..... so many things we cant count what a driving force great picker thank You Ralph the bottle let me down...what could top that great playing?. We all learned from you Crazy Arms..you even wrote it, when we want to razzle dazzle we grab a Ralph Mooney lick THANK YOU RALPH!!! Rest in Peace........
Knew and loved Mr Ralph..❣
Superb, best steel guitar player ever for sure!!!
🇺🇸 Ralph mooney 🇺🇸
👍pedal Steel guitar 👍
Now this is music at its finest !!!🎉
This is the real country music sound. Some of the new artists could learn something here.
Charles Gonterman With all the pedal steel guitar players he was unique one of a kind. Most were not different from each other. Some of the singers wanted it this way One new steel player was instructed to try to sound like the number one of that day. He was close real close but he never achieved what he was seeking.
One young steel player was hired by the Ray Price band and he was just thrilled. In walks the Man and he doesn't even glance at the new steel player.
Moonie was the best and played steel for the one and only Waylon !
oh man, this is heaven
One of the best west coast steel player ever! 👏
Ralph Mooney the best pedal steel picker in my opinion
great player,worked with him once in washington dc.what a voyage .mid 70's i think.him and Sneaky Pete and David Lindley are my all time favorites,not that there aren't thousand more that are my favorites like Jr. Brown and Steve White.Something about steel on steel,and then ad pedals
.....too nice
He was the best. Rest in Peace, Moon.
I would rather have Ralph Mooney over any other pedal steel guitarist.
My all time favorite steel guitar player
Ol Hoss said it best " the most immitated steel guitar player and the best one by far the great Ralph Mooney " - " show em the foot that made merle haggard a star Moon " -WJ
Thanks for putting together this great collection of hits. Such lyrical playing.
Such originality with such depth and above all such superb taste and flavor. Find very little of that in the fake music now. Make pop music popular again.
The best C neck picker that ever sit at a Steel....Mooney you sure are missed here R.I.P. Ralph.
+dale mcintyre Curly Chalker was another one who could hit the heck out of C neck, too. I miss all these guys that made country sound like country.
Moon I miss you and know that youre playin your beautiful steel in heaven for our heavenly father
I agree with everything said about Ralph. He was my firend and my hero, and one of my greatest influences. These snippets however, are not ralph playing (except for the middle solo in Crazy Arms). They were all taken from my my (CD) te to Ralph called "Moonshine". You can google it if interested. There'll always only be one Mister Mon!
wow, amazing steel!. back in 60's Moon couldn't be touched. Too many hits with Waylon, recordings with Buck, and so many others. Good hearing this talent. "Above and Beyond", Bucks great Harlan Howard classic. Gosh, he was brilliant mosrite60
Moon was the best!
That's the foot that made Merle Haggard a star . Ralph was a major part of Waylons sound that great Bakersfield sound ol hoss was the best ever and so was the "Moon"
Ok I do not know of any steel player in the same level as Ralph. He had such a distinctive sound duplicated by none other. You just know who played steel when he was on the record, Buck, Merle, Waylon etc. R.I.P. They threw away the mold when he was born....
The goat
Nice medley stuff. Thank Jessi
My favorite steel guitar player
PURE Country Music !!!!
Pure Magic
One of the VERY BEST *)o(*
He knew how to make it cry.
I love to listen to the Moon his music is great it's amazing some of the melodies he came up with and a super nice guy too ( pick it moon)
Totally enjoy this thanks😊
What can I say .. my dreams came true ..
Love this guy😊
The king 👑 hasn’t been beat yet
I Love steel guitar❤🎵🎶💙Mooney
The Moon has a sound no one could recreate, just like Waylon's guitar had.
I like the Miller High Life sitting next to him.
Thx dude for the comment. Lloyd Green is certainly one top 3 steelers around these days. The diff that I see between them is that Ralph was totally country. Whereas Lloyd plays alot of new country, swing and even jazz. At times I cannot distinct when Lloyd is playing on record. But The "Moon" well enuf said. Mike H is certainly an awesome player in his own right. All these are certainly mentors to the new players around. Pracise for 1000 hrs then maybe we'll reach their level.
Moon was to the pedal-n-slide what Earl was to the 5.
@randywb7972: It takes dedication, soul and heartache... something that "today's country" are clueless to. We have to face the grim reality that "folk music" (which country was once referred to as) has been produced, packaged, fast tracked & marketed for the sake of making some A&R prick a fast buck.
At least we have these classic recordings.
P.S. Look one the bright side, these "New Stars" have a very short shelf life.
My uncle has Ralphs sunburst Fender 1000, and ralphs bar and pics that was used on numerous hit records. The fender is currently on display in the hall of fame in downtown Nashville.
My father Tony Zitnik rebuilt his original Fender 1000 with sunburst finish in his garage/shop in National City, CA about 30 years ago. I remember when he spoke to Leo Fender personally to obtain an original decal and talk about the guitar. The paint work was done by Mose Guitars.
Is the guitar still on display? Would like to see.
自分の最も好きなサウンンドを聞かせてくれます。自分も何十年とPedal Steelを弾いてきましたがこんなきれいな音はだせません。素晴らしいです。
RIP
one of the best in business
Thank you for uploading this. I'm just discovering Ralph, and this guy is god damn amazing!
Where in the fuck have you been fool??
Ahhh play it Moon
@brotherhamlet Thank you BrotherH for sharing this with me, its exellent music!
Above And Beyond
Folks, just listen to the LP by Vince Gill /Paul Franklin called "Bakersfield" circa 2013. A lot of great songs and amazing pedal steel by Paul. In fact, some of his best work on "Fooling Around" one of Bucks song. mos60
I had the Pleasure of Booking Buck, Melre, and lots of others from the West Coast ~And also ahd the plesure of meetign SOO many great Musicians ~ Theere were and are so many great Steel Players Gee I can still recal the like of Speedy West , Weldon Myrick ~ Not to mention some of the top steel plyers like Mooney, Buddy Emmons,Curly Chalker, Jimmy Day, Loyed Green ~ Sooo Many that were and are to this day so great ~One of My Personal Favorites is Stil playiig Near Phoenix named Danny Sneed TC
I watched him play many times in Portland
Ore. He played at club that I worked in for about 4 years. His was family band with brother Les and their wives. Great players. Also Wynn Stewart and Mooney played with our band for a weekend about late 1971. They were a treat. Those were days of six nights a week and the off night if you wanted it. And I loved since Mooney from the first time I heard him on Buck Owens on
Above and Beyond and Fooin' Round, around 1959.
Great!
Where is this sound in todays "country" music? I don't think todays music has any country to it.RIP Mooney
A true legend. One of the vital part of Waylon's sound. Among the best country music innovator .Are those tunes from a Mooney's instrumental album? What's the name of it? Thank You!
awesome !!
Brandon, The Mooney style stuff was played on a Fender 800. The rest was played on a Zumsteel into an Evans Preamp and direct into the board channel from there.
super jaime la country.serge
Pick it Moon !
@mosrite60
The first song played in this is " tonight the bottle let me down " and the third is " there goes my everything " I'll try to figure out the rest I only listened to the first 4 samples
the intro to 'whitey morgan and the 78's - if it ain't broke' sounds a lot like the intro to this
Love me some Whitey
Jack Mooney, RIP
un grand nom du steel guitar
can anyone out there name some of the tunes? Buck Owens for sure, Waylon and others. man what a performer.
Rainy day woman
What is the name of the last song on this video?
Miss you Mooney.. we know you are well with God.
+Mr BreakRAK Foolin', sung by, among others, Johnny Rodriguez.
Mike, if you don't mind me asking.. what kind of setup (steel, amp, pre.. etc) were you using on these steel tracks? In particular the playing around :17.. that is probably the best tone I have ever heard.
Are there full versions of these medleys?
All your comments about Moon are right on, and Moon would haved love to have read them. He was indeed a Monster player and innovator.
Actually, ALL THE CLIPS on this post are from a tribute CD I did to honor Moon a couple of years ago, while he was yet alive and could appreciate being honored. MOON only played on the second half of the Crazy Arms clip. The CD can be viewed and purchased at the Mike Headrick website. There are 3 other CDs to be found there which feature Moon's playing.
what's the name of the song that starts at 1:09 i found it
i is Buck Owens "Above and Beyond"
A-J Fokkert. I'll give you love.
Moon had a second album out, if you can find it: "Moon at Midnight, The Toppa Sessions." Mighty fine music on that one.
Don't forget another artist he played for for years - Wynn Stewart. He played on a majority of Wynn's hit, but not all of them. Moon's playing with Stewart is some great stuff, on par with anything he ever did with the other singers mentioned.
Does anyone know the name of the songs or on which albums they are? I would very much like to purchase those albums somwhere..
Are these recordings from a Mooney instrumental album? I'm liking it.
I'm my opinion he's the best,help straiten out Waylon jennings
“Take it away Moon”
Play it moon
Single space Evans High Voltage model (acquired from Hal Rugg).
Did Ralph play for Hank Sr?
This just doesn't sound like Ralph, at least not at the peak level I remember from his days in California. I guess time takes its toll even on the all time greatest steel player of all time. There's some really good ones tied for number 2 but Ralph is #1. Suggestion: hear some of his best work on a few Toppa Records cuts from the early 1960's which are on You Tube. Listen to Jack Tucker's "When The Shades Are Drawn" and "It's Gone Too Far", and Dick Miller's "World's Champion Fool". When Ralph takes charge it sounds like two guys playing. NOBODY, but nobody, can match Ralph Mooney for notes, pedal action, chords, rhythm, fills, driving beat, or " wall of sound" when desired.
Yes, and of course all of his work with Waylon Jennings. "Pick it Moon".
What is the title of the song 3 from this medley.
I'll give you love?
+peenut07 Yep.
No, it's "Above and Beyond".
What year did he marry Loretta Lynn?
Never.
If you like good steel pickin', find "davepedalsteel" on UA-cam...Dave Hartley...he's up there with the best...
Richard Peters
Dave hartley is great got a few of his cds