Steve Gibson

While there is more than one Gibson guitar, and more than one person named Steve Gibson playing them, one and only one Steve Gibson seems to have made all the records. The latter expression describes a tally of all the records featuring country session picker Steve Gibson, but anyone gazing upon this discography would be forgiven for thinking it is actually every record ever made. Putting aside that obvious exaggeration, what remains at hand is the aural residue of activity beginning in the mid-'70s with performers such as B.J. Thomas and Dave Loggins and continuing for decade after decade with a total theoretically based on the maximum number of jobs that could be fit into a six-day week, presuming Gibson took Sundays off.

A great deal of the material is country & western coming straight out of the Nashville sound. It would be fair to say that the Nashville sound is, indeed, Steve Gibson and other players of his of ilk. Whether he is tearing off twangy honky tonk licks on a Johnny Rodriguez side or providing a set of rhythmic stab marks on an acoustic box for Dolly Parton, this performer has proven remarkably adept at keeping up with commercial trends. Many of rock's most demanding maestros, including at least two Neils, Neil Diamond and Neil Young, have brought Gibson in on recording sessions. The most suitable word to describe the guitarist's aesthetic slant seems to be "available." He is there on a provocative early Guy Clark session, he is there for yet another set of England Dan & John Ford Coley singsong, He runs with Eddie Rabbit, wrinkles with George Strait and most likely agrees with the title of a Ray Stevens album that he of course plays on: I Never Made a Record I Didn't Like. There is only one person breaking this guitarist's lock on Steve Gibson guitar credits. The Steve Gibson who played with the R&B combo the Five Red Tops is a different fellow who was hauling his guitar case to gigs and sessions when the Nashville picker was still in grade school.