Ed Black took the pedal steel guitar and Dobro, traditionally country western instruments, into the world of rock music. Black wasn't the first to do this but he was one of the most memorable, having recorded the distinctive, screaming solo in Linda Ronstadt's Silver Threads and Golden Needles as an early example.

Black started out in Phoenix, AZ, around 1971 with an eclectic band called the Goose Creek Symphony. The group traveled to Los Angeles where they opened up for Linda Ronstadt at the Whiskey a Go Go and Ronstadt, along with her producer, John Boylan, convinced Black and drummer, Mickey McGee to join her band. In agreeing to their offer Black wound up playing on Ronstadt's albums, Don't Cry Now, Heart Like a Wheel, and Prisoner in Disguise, touring with her band in between releases as well.

Black left Ronstadt's band after 1975 and concentrated on his studio prowess, appearing on albums by Tracy Chapman, Gene Clark, Dwight Yoakam, and many other high-profile artists until 1990 when his health began to fail. In 1998 the music world was robbed of a very talented innovator in Ed Black, who passed away at barely 50 years old. ~ Tom Kealey, Rovi