je viens d'apprendre que suite a sa maladie, Sneaky Pete nous a quitté
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- ''Sneaky'' Pete Kleinow, a steel guitar prodigy
who rose to fame as one of the original members of the Flying Burrito
Brothers, has died. He was 72.
Kleinow, who also worked in film as an award-winning animator and
special effects artist, died Saturday at a Petaluma convalescent home
near the skilled nursing facility where he had been living with
Alzheimer's disease since last year, his daughter Anita Kleinow said.
During a musical career that spanned six decades, Kleinow helped
define the country-rock genre in the late 1960s and 1970s by taking the
instrument he had picked up as a teenager in South Bend, Ind., to
California.
His prowess with the pedal steel guitar influenced a generation of
rock-and-rollers, including the Eagles, the Steve Miller Band and Poco.
Besides co-founding the Burrito Brothers with the Byrds' Chris
Hillman and Gram Parsons in 1968, he enjoyed a steady gig as a session
musician, recording with such singer-songwriters as John Lennon,
Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell and bands as varied as
the Bee Gees and Sly and the Family Stone.
Kleinow played and recorded regularly with Burrito Deluxe, a band
he founded in 2000 following the rebirth of alt-country music and
fronted until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His last recording
with the group is scheduled to be released next month, said Brenda
Cline, the band's manager.
Kleinow also won acclaim as an animator, special effects artist and
director of commercials in television and film. His credits ranged from
the original ''Gumby'' series -- he wrote and performed the theme music
as well as designed cartoons -- and the relaunched ''The Twilight
Zone'' to the movies ''Under Siege,'' ''Fearless'' and ''The Empire
Strikes Back.'' He won an Emmy award in 1983 for his work on the
miniseries, ''The Winds of War.''
Kleinow is survived by his wife of 54 years, Ernestine, his daughters Anita and Tammy, and three sons, Martin, Aaron and Cosmo.
Plans for a memorial service to be held in Joshua Tree later this month are pending.