Ben Keith RIP

BEN KEITH, the Nashville-based pedal steel virtuoso best known for his wotk with Neil Young (see next two items) has died of a heart attack. He was 73. Filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who directed the concert films Neil Young Trunk Show (2010) and Heart of Gold (2006) told the L.A. Times’ Randy Lewis that Keith had been staying at Young's Northern California ranch working on new projects with his longtime collaborator. Demme called Keith "an elegant, beautiful dude, and obviously a genius. He could play every instrument. He was literally the bandleader on any of that stuff." Keith’s first claim to fame was playing on the 1961 Patsy Cline classic “I Fall to Pieces.” During his long career, he walso played with Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Ringo Starr and David Crosby.