What were the pedal steelers usually paid by the top performers in the 60's?

[Gary Hoetker]

Per gig ? Salary? Bet it wasn't much. Who paid for the attire, lodging and meals? Thanks in advance.

[Lee Rider]

From what I hear about the same as today without figuring inflation. Many were in the union back then.

[Erv Niehaus]

Not enough, that's for sure!

[Bill McCloskey]

apparently not enough. John Hughey left Conway Twitty because there were no raises.

[Donny Hinson]

I can only speak for myself, and I was only a road player for about 7 or 8 months. The pay was $75 per show and we were "guaranteed" 3 shows per week...but occasionally that didn't happen. Still, I wasn't complaining and had lots of fun! (I had been told that was pretty good "sideman money" in 1967-1968!) Travel expenses were included, since we had a tour bus, as was one lunch or dinnertime meal a day. (Many times, we got free eats and drinks st the shows.) Two sets of fancy velvet and sequined band uniforms were provided, but everything else was on us. So occasionally, we were required to buy matching shirts, vests, and the like.

I had dropped out of college to for that opportunity; after all, it was my dream! But as things went downhill, and the harsh realities of my future got more evident, I quit the road gig and went back to finish college, got a decent day-job, got married, had kids, etc., etc.

[Dave Mudgett]

... The pay was $75 per show and we were "guaranteed" 3 shows per week...but occasionally that didn't happen. Still, I wasn't complaining and had lots of fun! (I had been told that was pretty good "sideman money" in 1967-1968!)

$75/gig @ 3gigs/week or $225/week, assuming 4 weeks of or 48 weeks/year would annualize to $10,800/year. Using the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator - https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm - $75 in 1967 dollars is equivalent to about $733 dollars in May 2025. Using the same assumptions, that would would come to roughly $2200/week or $105,000/year. I think that would be considered pretty decent pay today for anything but a high profile road gig. I know plenty of college-educated "professional" people these days that don't make more than that - some more, some less, but $100 grand/year is not chump change even now.

[Donny Hinson]

You're right, Dave, I was pretty impressed with the money and other possibilities. (The day-job I got after that short stint only paid about $100/wk..) The headliner, Ernie Cash, was fairly popular in my area back then, he was also the first artist I recorded with. I believe he booked for $1200-$1500 per show, maybe a little more on the "Fair" gigs, and the band changed a lot, as he sometimes used some local players on the road gigs. Most of our work was for the military, NCO and EM clubs. I also know that you could book a lot of popular Nashville stars for that money back then, but Ernie's fame was strictly regional, though he did quite a bit of recording, both locally and in Nashville. No big hits, though, so my anonymity was safe.

[Chris Templeton]

A story about getting paid: When I worked at Bobbe Seymore's Steel Guitar Nashville, Lloyd Green would come in.
I was about to leave for Cowboy Kurt's cowboys and Indians festival in Geneva backing up Margo Smith, The LeGarde Twins from Australia Randy Boone, who was a kid on the Virginian TV show. The Legardes organized it andI was excited to go and told Lloyd.
He said that "before I get on the plane, asked to be paid", which I did and before boarding I was given a check.
I don't remember the bass player's name, but the Twins had combs with their names on the for sale, and he called the tour, "The Box O' Combs Tour".

[Raybob Bowman]

Don't forget gasoline was 20 cents a gallon in the sixties.

[Lee Rider]

... The pay was $75 per show and we were "guaranteed" 3 shows per week...but occasionally that didn't happen. Still, I wasn't complaining and had lots of fun! (I had been told that was pretty good "sideman money" in 1967-1968!)

$75/gig @ 3gigs/week or $225/week, assuming 4 weeks of or 48 weeks/year would annualize to $10,800/year. Using the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator - https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm - $75 in 1967 dollars is equivalent to about $733 dollars in May 2025. Using the same assumptions, that would would come to roughly $2200/week or $105,000/year. I think that would be considered pretty decent pay today for anything but a high profile road gig. I know plenty of college-educated "professional" people these days that don't make more than that - some more, some less, but $100 grand/year is not chump change even now.

Conversely, getting paid $75 now is about the same as getting about $7 for the same gig in 1967. I guess there is no inflation for musicians....