In 1964 Pete Drake had an international hit on Smash Records with his “talking steel guitar” playing on the album Forever. The resultant single, “Forever,” reached #22 in the Billboard Hot 100, eventually sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. His innovative use of what would be called the talk box, later used by Peter Frampton, Joe Walsh and Jeff Beck, added novel effects to the pedal steel guitar.

[via Nils Lassen]