Ben Keith

Musician · 1937–2010 · Fort Riley, Kansas

Ben Keith was a Nashville pedal steel guitarist who played the indelible steel on Patsy Cline's “I Fall to Pieces” before becoming Neil Young's closest musical collaborator and sometime producer across nearly four decades. A versatile multi-instrumentalist, he anchored Young's Stray Gators.

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  • Born Bennett Keith Schaeufele on March 6, 1937, in Fort Riley, Kansas, and raised in Kentucky; died July 26, 2010.
  • Played the signature pedal steel on Patsy Cline's 1961 hit “I Fall to Pieces.”
  • Began working with Neil Young on Harvest (1972), launching a collaboration of nearly forty years.
  • A founding member of the Stray Gators, Young's Harvest band.
  • Produced Jewel's debut album Pieces of You.
  • Inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014.

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