I Finally Got One

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 23 Jul 2018 6:31 am

Last night a friend came up to me after a song and told me that the emotion/soul/passion I put into that slow ballad literally moved him to tears. He was almost speechless while talking to me.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING 46 YEARS FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. THIS IS MY GOAL EVERY TIME I HIT THE STAGE. MOVE SOMEONE TO TEARS WITH YOUR PASSION.

I play steel today because of the work done on Together Again, Blue Jade, Look At Us. If those were the only songs to play I would play them all day every day. This is what moves me, rips my heart out. And now I AM NO LONGER ALONE, THANKS BUD, I NEEDED THAT.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 23 Jul 2018 7:09 am

Yes,Larry you're one of Them guys!!

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 23 Jul 2018 7:19 am

I have seen people cry when I play and I've only been at it for 1.5 years............oh, you meant in a good way?

Just messing around Larry, you can be proud.

Carl Williams · Post by **Carl Williams** » 23 Jul 2018 7:38 am

Do good—Get good Larry! A pedal steel (IMHO) adds a soulful quality to a band...your fine playing obviously touched this person who was kind enough to tell you. Thanks for sharing this positive experience...Carl

Darrell Criswell · Post by **Darrell Criswell** » 23 Jul 2018 7:53 am

I was at a Charley Pride concert and saw a man have to leave the show, I talked to his wife and she said he was reminded of his deceased wife by the song (can't remember which) and had to leave to compose himself.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 23 Jul 2018 9:31 pm

The last band I played in was doing a small community gig. As we went on stage the band leader ask me if I could play Faded Love to answer a request, I told him I would. I played it as my fiddling uncle and I had played it for years, Key of D.

This lady in the crowd started tearing up shortly after I kicked the song off. I was having mixed feeling about playing the song, As tears ran down her cheeks. When we finished our set, She came up and thanked me for playing Faded Love for her. I don't know where the song took her, In her memory. But it must have been something or someone very special to her. That touched me, When she thanked me.

George Kimery · Post by **George Kimery** » 24 Jul 2018 5:06 am

I was playing My Old Kentucky Home and noticed a guy crying. After the show, I mentioned it to him and told him he must be from Kentucky. He said "No, I'm a steel player". LOL

Dennis Lee · Post by **Dennis Lee** » 25 Jul 2018 7:59 am

This is why we play the pedal steel, Larry. We have the same feelings when we play, but we have to stop short of crying so we don't short out the guitar and electrocute ourselves!
Larry has taught me so much over the years that I have known him. He has imparted to me to be in love with the sound, and I am. Thank you, Larry!

Jay Dee Maness · Post by **Jay Dee Maness** » 25 Jul 2018 8:51 am

Me to

Len Ryder · Post by **Len Ryder** » 25 Jul 2018 9:06 am

When I was at the New Frontier in Waikiki during the Vietnam war a young soldier had just left the mainland and heading for Vietnam. He was sitting at our Guitar Bar not three feet from me. He kept me playing "Last Date" with tears running down his cheeks. He had obviously just left his loved one on the mainland. Gawwwwd, I'll never forgot that sadness.

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 25 Jul 2018 11:35 am

I was hired to record "The Jazz Legends", in the mid-80's. They included Milt Hinton, Bucky Pizzarelli, Herb Ellis, Buddy Tate, Flip Phillips, Kenny Davern, Ralph Sutton, and Gus Johnson.
After a show, we were sitting around and they began talking about the players who went to fight WWII and never returned. Sad.

Mike Beley · Post by **Mike Beley** » 25 Jul 2018 6:11 pm

I had a guy come up to me after a set on Saturday. He also said my playing moved him to tears.
I don't think he meant it the same way your guy did.
I better keep practicing.

All kidding aside...good for you man!
That's the gift. Worth developing, refining, and sharing with other people to hear and feel.

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 25 Jul 2018 6:18 pm

Key word. "moving".

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 25 Jul 2018 6:33 pm

I had a bass player tell me that my steel was giving him goose bumps, and he showed me his arm. I suspect what he was smoking on the break had something to do with it.

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 25 Jul 2018 6:36 pm

In Hawaii, they call goose bumps "chicken skin".

Terry Niendorf · Post by **Terry Niendorf** » 26 Jul 2018 6:59 am

I had the good fortune to work with an incredible Female singer. One night while she was singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water", I was suddenly moved to tears. Only happened once in many years of pickin.

Wesley Medlen · Post by **Wesley Medlen** » 27 Jul 2018 3:09 am

The cowboy church band I play in a few years back was playing Beyond the Sun Set. I was given a break on it when we finished the lady that was our band leader said I'm not fond of the steel but that almost brought me to tears. That humbled me Wes

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 29 Jul 2018 11:51 am

I usually bring a few folks to tears when I sing!
Jerry

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 29 Jul 2018 8:53 pm

Well, Larry I only met you once, at one of the wonderful steel jams in Portland... so much fun.... SO many great pedal steel guitarists!

But after hearing you play.... I think the news was years late getting to you... you're a really fine steel picker!

I live in a very small mountain community in N. Cal... and for the 6 years that I've been in my current band, we have gathered a real dedicated crowd of supporters...

Almost every night someone will come up and tell me how the emotional quality of the pedal steel has touched 'em…. better than the paycheck at the end of the night.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 30 Jul 2018 6:36 am

Larry it’s great to hear how you were able to touch someones heart that way.

A few years back that happened to me.... We played a song in church, only one song and I only played about a 12 bar ride.... Afterwards, the Pastors wife walked up to me with tears in her eyes, telling me that she has suffered from deep depression for years and that emotion hasn’t come out of her for that whole time, but that something in what I played drew it out of her... I was almost in tears myself after she told me that.

Terry Winter · Post by **Terry Winter** » 30 Jul 2018 7:39 am

Playing at a retirement home a couple of years ago I saw a gentleman sitting close to me in tears. After sharing a coffee he thanked me for the song and stated they were farmers and loved steel and the family didn't have any money to even think of music.....was only son had to take over the farm....didn't like farming. His wife up and left him one day...and many other negative things that happened to him but the song I played,don't remember what one" brought back good positive thoughts and memories....

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 30 Jul 2018 7:43 am

What we do, we do for them also. If you just play for yourself you are cheating the world of experiencing something great and awesome, the great sound of the pedal steel.

I wonder if stamp collectors feel the same way, or coffee mug collectors?

Thanks David, miss you.

Don R Brown · Post by **Don R Brown** » 30 Jul 2018 8:14 am

Steel players always bring joy.

Some of us when we play.

Some of us when we're done playing.

Greg Sander · Post by **Greg Sander** » 30 Jul 2018 9:27 am

Don R Brown wrote:Steel players always bring joy.

Some of us when we play.

Some of us when we're done playing.

Don - that makes a great signature.

Don R Brown · Post by **Don R Brown** » 30 Jul 2018 11:14 am

Greg Sander wrote:
Don - that makes a great signature.

Be my guest, Greg - I already have one and you're more than welcome to use that.

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