Bennett Keith Schaeufele (March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010), better known by his stage name Ben Keith, was an American musician and record producer. Known primarily for his work as a pedal steel guitarist with

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, Keith was a fixture of the Nashville country music community in the 1950s and 1960s before working with numerous successful rock,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and pop artists as both a producer and versatile, multi-instrumentalist sideman for over four decades. Neil Young affectionately referred to him as "Long Grain" (a joking word play reference to a variety of Uncle Ben's Rice and to Ben's height). Keith was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014.

Biography

Born in Fort Riley, Kansas, Keith later relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky, before working as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Keith's first big recording in Nashville was playing on

Patsy Cline Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully Cross ...

's 1961 hit " I Fall to Pieces". Keith first worked with Neil Young in 1971 on Young's '' Harvest'' album. They were introduced by Elliot Mazer, the album's producer, who was looking for a session player in Nashville on short notice. They collaborated for nearly 40 years, during which time Keith played with Young on over a dozen albums and on numerous tours. Young co-produced Keith's 1994 album ''Seven Gates'', while Keith played the role of Grandpa Green in Young's movie ''Greendale'', a film accompaniment to Young's 2003 album of the same name. In addition to his work with Young, Keith worked with Terry Reid, Todd Rundgren, Lonnie Mack, The Band,

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Paul Butterfield,

J. J. Cale John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Neil Young, Mark Knopf ...

, Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Ian and Sylvia,

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

, Tompall Glaser, Anne Murray and Ringo Starr. He served as the producer of Jewel's debut album '' Pieces of You'', and also worked as a solo artist. He toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on their 2006 Freedom of Speech Tour. Keith died of a heart attack on July 26, 2010, while staying at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California.

Discography

*''To a Wild Rose'' (En Point, 1984) *''Seven Gates: A Christmas Album by Ben Keith and Friends'' (1994)

References

External links

In Memory of Ben Keith: 1937 – 2010Music Web Express 3000 interview with Ben Keith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Ben 1937 births 2010 deaths American rock guitarists American male guitarists Record producers from Kansas Record producers from Tennessee Pedal steel guitarists People from Fort Riley, Kansas Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Musicians from Bowling Green, Kentucky Crazy Horse (band) members American session musicians Country musicians from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky Rock musicians from Kentucky Guitarists from Kentucky Great Speckled Bird (band) members 20th-century American guitarists The Stray Gators members