"Sneaky" Pete Kleinow(1934-2007)
Steel Guitarist for The Flying Burrito Brothers
I don't know why there was not national mourning about this. "Sneaky" Pete is most famous for his tenure in the amazing Flying Burrito Brothers. The group was founded in 1968 by Gram Parsons(The Byrds, International Submarine Band), Chris Hillman(of The Byrds), bassist Chris Ethridge(International Submarine Band) and an animator turned steel guitarist Pete Kleinow. The band's debut album, "The Gilded Palaces Of Sin", provided the blue print for every alt-country band that was to follow. Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Old 97's and many more would not exist without this record. After recording the third Burrito Brothers album in 1971, without Gram Parsons who had bailed to start a solo career in 1970, the band split up. "Sneaky" Pete than devoted himself to session work in which he worked with some of the most successful musical acts of the 70's including: Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, and many more. After a four year hiatus the Flying Burrito Brothers were reformed with Klienow as the only original member. This new line up of the band would record four more albums before splitting up in 1981.
Before becoming a professional musician Kleinow worked as a special effects artist and animator for programs like Gumby and Outer Limits. After the Burrito Brothers final break up Kleinow went back to work in special effects and stop motion animation. He worked on several big budget projects like: Terminator 1 and 2, Robocop 2, Empire Strikes Back and cult classic Army Of Darkness. He also won an Emmy for his work on the mini series, Winds Of War in 1983.
Kleinow finally lost his long battle with Alzheimer's disease at his home in California at the age of 73.
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