Gordon Huntley

Gordon Huntley (1930- 7 March 1988) was a musician and steel guitar player. His early playing career was with the Hawaiian Serenaders in 1959 when he played a triple neck Fender lap steel guitar. He converted this to a pedal steel by adding an accelerator pedal from a tractor connected with bicycle brake cable.

About 1963 Huntley teamed up with Nigel Dennis (a Newbury solicitor) to manufacture Denley steel guitars (DENnis-huntLEY). The 1960s saw Huntley playing the "Country" circuit, especially the USAF bases, with bands such as George Brown's Alabama Hayriders, The Saddletramps, Dougie Dee and the Dee Men.

In 1969 Huntley played sessions on Iain Matthews' debut album Matthews' Southern Comfort, and then joined the Matthews Southern Comfort band. In1970 he played on the band's single Woodstock which reached No.1 in the UK record charts on 31 October and remained there for 3 weeks, finally to be toppled by Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix.

Huntley was highly respected as a session musician and his steel sound was subsequently heard on recordings by artists including Elton John, Rod Stewart, Clodagh Rodgers, Barbara Dickson, and on the soundtrack of Cliff Richard’s Take Me High.

In 1974 Huntley released his own album entitled Sleepwalk, The Romantic Sound of Gordon Huntley, with arrangements by Harry Robinson.

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