Steel of a Deal

Jerry Byrd’s Steel Guitar Favorites packs a heap of American styles in one outstanding disc.

FOR ALMOST EIGHT years, I've wanted to write about Jerry Byrd's Steel Guitar Favorites. "What took so long," you ask? Well, it doesn't make the job easy if there are no informative liner notes and hardly a thing about it on the internet. Steel-guitar guru Joe Goldmark suggested a possible personnel lineup. The rest was pure detective work.

I sometimes wish I could write a column consisting only of the words "Check this out," because many of the records I love have a glaring void of information. That said, they need to be shared, and that includes Jerry Byrd's Steel Guitar Favorites.