Red Rhodes

Red Rhodes ranked among country music’s most adaptable steel guitarists. Orville J. Rhodes entered the world in East Alston, Illinois, where his mother introduced him to the dobro at age five. By fifteen he had moved to lap steel, constructing his own stand for the instrument. His debut paid engagement came with his stepfather, after which he relocated to Los Angeles in 1960 to pursue session opportunities. Within eight years he had become one of the West Coast’s busiest studio players, contributing to dates that included the Byrds. Throughout the late 1960s he and his own band held regular engagements at the Palomino club while also participating in multiple Michael Nesmith recording sessions; those collaborations occasionally placed him behind the steel for the Monkees. Rhodes stayed with Nesmith across both lineups of the group and maintained an active session schedule through the 1970s, appearing on recordings by James Taylor, John Phillips, the Carpenters, Carole King, Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers, and Seals & Crofts. He issued two solo collections, Red Rhodes’ Steel Guitar in 1979 and Fantastic Steel Guitar the following year. Rheumatoid arthritis curtailed his playing during the 1980s and early 1990s, prompting him to concentrate on his amplifier repair business and to make sporadic visits to the International Steel Guitar Festival. In 1995 he rejoined Nesmith for the album Tropical Campfires and accompanied him on tour. Soon after the tour concluded, Rhodes fell ill and died of interstitial lung fibrosis on August 20, 1995.