"Sneaky Pete" Kleinow interview
August 20, 1934 - January 6, 2007
-First of all, let me ask you how you got the "Sneaky" nickname ?
The first band I was in, all the members thought it’d be cool to or that was the thing to do. We each got a nickname. At that time, there was a ‘shoot ‘em up’ guy named Sneaky Pete. I didn’t like it, but accepted the name.
- How did you get to pick the steel guitar ? Did you start out on that ?
Mr. Farber, a music teacher, was giving me free lessons. That was before I even knew what a steel guitar was. My grandmother rented a simple single neck for me. That’s where I met my wife, Ernesteen, who is still pretty and cute. They didn’t call it a steel guitar, they called it an electric slide guitar.
- You moved from Michigan to Los Angeles in 1963. As a steel guitar player, a conscious decision to go to LA rather than the more obvious Nashville ?
Actually, it was 1957. I didn’t know from country or Nashville. I was a kid from Indiana and Michigan. I thought California would be the place to make money playing music.
- Did you have a special goal in mind ?
I just wanted to play music and knew I would have to go to California to get work. It was sporadic at first, but I knew I couldn’t live in Michigan, play music, and make money. I had a wife, three kids, and my mother-in-law. I was offered a job in La Mesa, down by Escondido, to play in the house band and my little family could live right above the bar.
- You played the club circuit in LA. What songs did you perform ? Who did you play with ?
We played at the Palomino, Whiskey, Troubadour, Golden Bear, Topanga Canyon Corral. The songs were Bonie Maronie, To Love Somebody, Should ‘a Known Better.
(Pete did not answer to several questions on The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers which is why there's a rather drastic gap in the timeline here)
- Together with Bernie Leadon, you left after the 1971 FBB album and you went into session work big time. What were some of your most memorable sessions ?
When I worked with the Bee Gees at the Record Plant. They were great, very professional guys and took a lot of pride in their work. They just really impressed me all the way around.
- You revisited The Byrds for Byrdmaniax. How different was the situation there by then ?
Everything went much smoother and more deliberate. More focused.
- You played on John Lennon's Mind Games as well as on his production of Nilsson's Pussycats. How was that ? Were things really such a boozefest at those sessions ?
All I can say is that I really enjoyed working with John and Yoko. They were very kind and creative people.
- What's the story on Cold Steel ?
It was a fun band with a lot of wacky guys.
- In 1975 you were asked to join a revival of the FBB, with you and Ethridge firmly establishing a link to the original band...
I’m not sure that actually happened.
- Yet it was decided to abandon Sierra in favor of continuing the FBB and again after a spell as The Peace Seekers... Was that just because of the rather peculiar situation with the Beland/Guilbeau version of the FBB ?
It was a good move.
- For a long time the FBB turned out to become a vehicle for Beland and Guilbeau. When they went their own way, you grabbed the opportunity to claim the name. Did you feel a certain responsibility towards continuing the band's name ?
Well, of course, being the only original member left.
- Again people came & went, including a union with the Beland-Guilbeau version. How did you experience all that, the people coming & going ?
I just played the music and let them sort it out.
- Are there any plans of going through the FBB back catalog for a possible box set ? Anything left in the vault for an archive release ?
I’m not really sure at this time.
- You also made two albums under your own name. How do you look back on those ?
Not too bad, I think.
- Since the 60's you had a parallel career going as an effects man in the movie business for such movies as Terminator 1 and 2 and The Empire Strikes Back. With a resume like that, would you consider that your "first job" ?
I love doing both and could never put one over the other. It’s just who I am. A musician/stop-motion animator.
- Now you're in Burrito Deluxe. A continuation of the FBB ?
Burrito Deluxe is nothing like FBB except the name. BD is a more focused and experienced band.
- How did you get hooked up with Garth Hudson ?
Oh, Garth and I go way back. We’ve worked on many projects together.
- Also the other members have quite an impressive CV. How did they get recruited ?
We know how to pick ‘em!
- Although it's mostly "Burrito", Garth's presence brings a lot of The Band's "Americana" to the sound. Is that a direction you're looking to explore even further ?
We’re definitely willing to explore anything that’s good.
- And you're going on the road... Something you enjoy ?
Yes, I love it. We’ve been to Scotland and Ireland. Then we went to Switzerland and then back east. We’ll be doing a tour of the west coast in December, I believe.
- What else is in the future ?
I’ll need my crystal ball to answer that one!
Many of the questions remained unanswered and some of the answers took a totally different direction to what I expected. I found the whole situation rather frustrating and didn't quite know what to do. While mulling things over, this page wound up in a lost corner of the computer.Then on January 6, 2007 Pete died.
Now I have given up trying to "edit" the interview. Unanswered questions have been edited out, but other than that, this is the warts'n'all version of what I believe to be Pete's final interview.
RIP Pete.
