Promise of the Real
Ben Keith died on July 26, 2010. That will not be a significant event to most people but this morning I was reminded of his death and it suddenly seemed significant to me. Ben Keith was a musician who played with various bands and other musicians, most notably Neil Young. Ben was mostly a studio musician, hired by people to sit in on their recordings and complement songs with his specialty which was pedal steel guitar. That’s the twangy sound heard mostly on country music.In 1970, Ben was recruited to play on the recording sessions that would become Neil Young’s album “Harvest.” Neil and Ben had never met before then and legend has it that they actually played several songs during rehearsals before they were even introduced. After those recording sessions, the two became good friends and Ben was a fixture in Neil’s bands and many of his subsequent recordings. Like his style or not, Ben’s playing added much of the unique sound to Neil Young’s music.
After Ben died, Neil said that he would never again be able to perform those songs that his friend was so much a part of. No other musician would be able to play the pedal steel guitar as Ben Keith did so in Neil’s mind, the songs should be retired. And he did just that until recently when he started performing with a different band called “Promise of the Real.” The musicians in that band are much younger than Neil Young and have inspired him with new energy and enthusiasm.
The new band has also inspired Neil to reach back in his vast catalog of music and perform many songs from his past including some of the ones that his friend Ben Keith played so prominently on. They are doing those songs differently though. Instead of using the pedal steel guitar they are playing those parts with two guitarists, one using a bow on his guitar and playing it almost like a violin or cello. With that technique, he gets a similar sound to Ben’s but different enough to make it his own.
This morning I was watching a video of one of those songs and the Ben Keith/Neil Young story came to me. How Neil lost his friend and could not bring himself to play the music they had made together. And how he found a new band with different skills and was once again able to give those songs new life. Love, loss, healing, discovery. Isn’t that what we do?
In loss, do we think we will ever be able to make the same music again? The love can not be replaced, we know that. But can it be rekindled? Are there different musicians to be discovered with their own specialties that bring us new awareness and happiness?
Of course I ask those questions already knowing the answers.
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