I was a little jealous when my brother told me he had tickets for the Albert Lee’s 70th birthday bash in London this coming march. But I’m no longer jealous – although I’d still like to go to that show – as I was lucky enough to attend the equivalent show at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills this week. A pretty great night with a lot of highlights and some things I’ll never forget – John Jorgenson trying and succeeding to keep up with Albert on Country Boy will live with me for a while. I’d expected a big presence of the Everly’s after the sad loss of Phil last week –Peter Asher and Albert dueting on Let It Be Me was chicken skin – but it was Buddy Holly who had the honor of the most featured artist – with a great versions of Well Alright – again with Peter Asher, Lawrence Juber and Albert’s Raining in my heart, and Albert’s lovely solo piano (don’t you just hate him) version of Learning The Game.
Here’s a run down of some of what you missed…
Rosie Flores kicking it on Long White Cadillac – with Albert of course and Clem Burke on drums, followed by Peter Asher who after his Buddy and Everly’s songs finished with World Without Love – Peter was great, with very funny stories especially one about why the Brits thought they understood American music better than the Yanks. In his mind the best example of this was when Little Richards Tutti Frutti was #1 in the UK over here you had Pat Boone’s version! He may have something there! The Wrecking Crew’s Don Peake was also on stage for this set – Albert mentioned he’d first met Don playing with the Everly’s (a job that Albert later had) in the early 60’s in London. After Peter we had another Brit – Denny Laine – do a great version of Go Now. He still sounds exactly the same – but this was really a standout for Albert’s solo. Great stuff.
Then more Jorgenson, this time with bandmates Hillman, Petersen, Maness et al and the full Desert Rose Band doing Love Reunited, He’s Back and I’m Blue, Summer Wind and an amazing version of The Price I Pay with Albert, John J and Jay Dee Maness going at it. Too cool.
Then Albert did some solo piano stuff – and brought out Fred Tackett for Jimmy Webb’s Highwayman. Then onto Emmylou and Rodney and a short greatest hits – Luxury Liner, Pancho and Lefty, Til I gain control again and Ain’t Living Long Like This – all sounding fresh and what a great band and what a pleasure to see them in a reasonably small space – the ubiquitous John Jorgenson was on bass this time, and Jim Cox on piano did a great Glen Harding impersonation. Actually he was terrific all night. Not surprisingly the quality of the musicians was insane. It took me three days to want to pick up a guitar again. And I'm not sure I've seen Emmylou have this much fun in years!
Then it quieted down for Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Scarlett Rivera doing San Francisco Bay and Don’t Think Twice. This gave us all a little bit of time to catch our breath. And we needed it as we then had Jack **** to contend with – doing their signature Hello, Hello song, a version of Devil In Disguise (a little cheeky I thought given who had just been on stage), a version of Buck’s Tiger By The Tail with Albert and finishing off with a power trio version of I’m Coming Home which wouldn’t have been out of place in Flint MI in 1972. Loved Pete Thomas’s suit too. Very understated. Then it slowed it right down with a very pretty version of Raining In My Heart from Lawrence Juber and Albert. Then it was, for me at least, the surprise of the night. While My Gujitar Gently Weeps with Albert, John J, Jerry Donahue and Lawrence Juber on guitars. This was really pretty amazing. With everyone taking turns and showing off their different styles - JD doing his nut string pulls, Juber on a Les Paul, Jorgenson taking off and throwing out notes and Albert doing what Albert does. Unbelievable stuff.
Then it was time for Albert’s birthday celebration – a cake with the audience joining in and onto a solo set with Albert doing Spellbound, a horn driven Gumbo and closing out with his anthem, a frantic Country Boy with Albert taking it home in style and asking everyone else to come along.
It was a long night – nearly 4 hours of amazing music and I didn’t get home until after 1AM – which I don’t do that often. Then again there’s not much I would go and see that I would stay up that late for anymore….this was definitely worth it!
I’m sure the London show will be just as amazing and his UK friends like Chas and Dave, Chris Farlowe, etc will be out in force but it is going to be hard to beat what we saw this week in Agoura. Now I’m waiting for the DVD!
Thanks to John Jorgenson for the photo - all my iPhone pics came out poorly so I took the liberty of borrowing one...
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Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943 in Lingen, Herefordshire, England) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also maintained a solo career and is a noted composer and musical director.
Lee grew up in Blackheath, London. His father was a musician, and Lee studied piano, taking up the instrument at age seven. During this time, he became a fan of Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis. He took up guitar in 1958 when his parents bought him a second-hand Höfner President which he later traded in for a Czechoslovakian Grazioso, the forerunner of the Futurama. Lee left school at the age of 16 to play full-time.
Lee was with a variety of bands from 1959 onwards, playing mostly R&B, country music and rock and roll. In addition to Buddy Holly, his early guitar influences included Cliff Gallup, Grady Martin, The Everly Brothers, Scotty Moore, James Burton and Jerry Reed. Lee first experienced commercial success as the lead guitarist with Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds. Lee says that he enjoyed playing the Stax-type material, but he really wanted to play country music. Consequently he left Farlowe and the Thunderbirds in 1968.
During his time playing with Heads Hands & Feet, Lee became a "guitar hero", playing his Fender Telecaster at breakneck speed. Heads Hands & Feet became a very popular live band in the UK, making appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and also in Europe, where they appeared on the German music programme Beat-Club.
International success
In 1971, Lee performed with Deep Purple's keyboard player Jon Lord on a live recording of Lord's Gemini Suite. That opus was a follow-up to Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Ritchie Blackmore had played the guitar at the first live performance of the Gemini Suite in September 1970, but declined the invitation to appear on the live studio version, which led to the involvement of Lee. Other performers were Yvonne Elliman, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Tony Ashton, and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the late Sir Malcolm Arnold.
Lee left for Los Angeles in 1974 and, through his friend bassist Rick Grech (of Blind Faith), joined The Crickets who also included Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison. The band cut three albums including A Long Way From Lubbock. Lee also received many offers of session work. In 1976, he was asked to join Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, replacing one of his heroes, James Burton, who was returning to perform with Elvis Presley. The Hot Band featured other musicians including Ricky Skaggs and Rodney Crowell. Starting in 1978, Lee worked for five years with Eric Clapton, playing and singing for a live concert recording at the Budokan in Japan.
Lee was responsible for The Everly Brothers 1983 reunion concert and was its musical director. He played regularly with the Everlys for over twenty years.
In 1987, Lee was invited by Gerry Hogan to headline at a steel guitar festival in Newbury, Berkshire. Lee was at first intimidated by the prospect of having to front a band, however, the gig was successful and he now tours with Hogan's Heroes on a regular basis. Hogan's Heroes are renowned for attracting celebrities to their gigs. Stars such as Eric Clapton, Tommy Emmanuel, Lonnie Donegan, Dave Edmunds, Marty Wilde, Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Don Everly, Emmylou Harris, Sonny Curtis and Rodney Crowell have all jammed with the band at one time or another.
In 2002, Lee appeared at the Concert for George. Also in 2002, Lee received a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for Foggy Mountain Breakdown from the CD Earl Scruggs and Friends. In September 2006 Lee took part in Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar—the first definitive theatrical journey through the guitar’s colourful and surprisingly controversial 3500-year history. Lee appeared at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival on 28 July and performed with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings at the Ahmet Ertegun tribute show at The O2 in London on 10 December. A new Albert Lee and Hogan's Heroes album entitled Like This was released in spring 2008 to coincide with their European tour. His duet with French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel is a Top 10 hit in Portugal, a minor hit in 5 other countries, and the album a Top 5 hit in France. Lee continues to work in the studio and tours on a regular basis with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He lives in Malibu, California.
Awards & Legacy
Lee has received many awards as a guitarist, winning five consecutive times Guitar Player magazine's "Best Country Guitarist". Lee is known within the music industry for his speed of playing and his technical virtuosity[6] and yet by the same token, one of the most melodic, playing slower passages approximating the sound of the pedal steel guitar with his Music Man and Telecaster guitars which are equipped with B-Benders.
He is known as "the guitar player's guitar player". Lee is also referred to as "Mr. Telecaster".[7] A long-time Telecaster player, Lee wrote a foreword to A.R. Duchossoir's book detailing the history of the instrument.
Albert Lee's song "Country Boy" helped to redefine country guitar for a whole generation of players, and was later to become a huge hit for multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs.
Despite positive press from Melody Maker and New Musical Express, Lee has never achieved any great commercial success in terms of record sales during his career, but more as a live performer, session player and sideman, perhaps due to his self-effacing stage presence. Lee has been described by his peers who include Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore, as a complete gentleman who does not know the meaning of the word ego.
After Gram Parsons's death, Emmylou Harris was told that she could only gain the backing of a major record label if she could assemble a really "Hot Band". Harris did just that, enlisting guitarist James Burton and pianist Glen Hardin,both of whom had played with Elvis Presley and Parsons. Harris ironically named the band "The Hot Band". When Burton left the band to return to Elvis Presley, Lee was his replacement. Harris said of him that Lee is "a brilliant guitar player. His sound is unmistakable—often emulated, never equaled. When Saint Peter asks me to chronicle my time down here on earth, I'll be able to say (with pride if that's allowed) that for a while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee."
Albert Lee owns more than 25 guitars, including Don Everly's Gibson J-200. The Gibson Guitar Corporation made one for Don Everly and the other for Phil. The guitars have an all black, high gloss lacquered finish, and are equipped with twin Everly Brothers white pickguards. The Everly Brothers manager Wesley Rose had wanted the guitar to be presented to the Country Music Hall of Fame, but Everly informed him that guitars like that should be played, not kept sitting in a glass case. Don Everly presented it to Lee, along with his Gibson Everly Brothers model.
Eric Clapton gave Lee the Gibson Les Paul Custom that he played while with Delaney and Bonnie. Lee also plays his signature Music Man (the guitar shown in the photographs) and a 1950s Telecaster (both with custom B-Benders), a 1958 Stratocaster and a Martin 000-28 acoustic.
