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Wesley Webb West\u2014most commonly; Speedy West<\/strong>\u2014is the first known country musician to professionally use a pedal steel guitar. <\/p>\n Originating in Hawaii in 1885, the original steel guitar came from the hands of an 11-year-old Joseph Kekuku<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to a former student of Kekuku, C.S. DeLano<\/strong>, \u201c[Kekuku] was walking along a road in Honolulu \u2026 holding an old Spanish guitar, when he saw a rusty bolt on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cAs he picked it up, the bolt accidentally vibrated one of the strings and produced a new tone that was rather pleasing,\u201d says an article from 1932, per the Pacific String Museum<\/a> in Kailua, Hawaii.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter practicing for a time with the metal bolt, [Kekuku] experimented with the back of a pocket-knife, then with the back of a steel comb, and still later on with a highly-polished steel [bar] very similar to the sort that is used today.\u201d<\/p>\n Kekuku brought the steel guitar with him as he traveled the United States and Europe, permanently influencing the sound of the 20th century. <\/p>\n Around the 1930s, the steel guitar evolved from resembling a classic acoustic guitar; instead, \u201cthe hollow body was replaced by a flat slab of wood or metal and electrified with pickups,\u201d per Premier Guitar<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n By the end of the decade, pedals were introduced to the instrument as a way \u201cto alter various string pitches\u2014with or without moving the bar\u2014to smoothly transition from chord to chord.\u201d<\/p>\n Born on Jan. 25, 1924, Speedy West rapidly grew to become a staple in the country movement. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After moving out West and joining a swing band, he quickly gained popularity, playing \u201con more than 6,000 records for 177 different artists, both pop and country,\u201d per the New York Times<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n His custom pedal steel featured three necks and four pedals.<\/p>\n West recorded with numerous legendary musicians, such as Frank Sinatra<\/strong>, Bing Crosby<\/strong>, and Dinah Shore<\/strong>; playing on and producing Loretta Lynn\u2019s <\/strong>first album.<\/p>\n He and fellow musician Jimmy Bryant<\/strong> earned the nickname \u201cthe \u2018Flaming Guitarists,’\u201d according to American Songwriter<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe worked just like a glove together,\u201d West said of Bryant. \u201cWe really enjoyed each other\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n
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