You'll have heard of Eric Clapton. He's a pretty useful guitarist. In the mid-sixties, graffiti appeared in London proclaiming "Clapton is God!". Of course it's always possible that the writer meant "good" and was running short on paint but whatever, the epithet stuck. There were a number of other hot axemen on the London scene at the time; notably the likes of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend and Peter Green. Plus there was some upstart from the USA who was about to make an impact, some bloke by the name of Hendrix. But among the less well-known pluckers to be seen on stage in various London pubs and clubs at the time, backing Chris Farlowe, was a lad from south London called Albert Lee.
Albert Lee: he may be grey but wouldn't you kill to look like that at 70?
Now, here's what Mr Clapton said about Albert: "he's the greatest guitarist in the world." Yup, there you have it - the word of "God" and there's a lot of people who'd agree. Albert has played with all sorts of big names over the years and is still going strong, even as he approaches his 70th birthday. He's probably playing somewhere near you soon for the price of a few drinks. Don't look this gift horse in the mouth: go.
I first became aware of him when I saw his name credited with lead guitar on "Sweet Little Lisa" on the 1979 Dave Edmunds album "Repeat when necessary". The playing is astonishing and quite unlike anything you normally heard (or hear) in the UK. That's because Albert went down the country music route, while his contemporaries stuck more to the blues genre and cleaned up (or in the case of Peter Green, bombed out). So while Page, Clapton, Townsend & co are playing to the baying thousands at football stadia, Albert is quietly doing the business with Emmylou Harris and the Everly Brothers (and later on, with "God" himself). In country rock circles, that's a pretty big gig but in the late '70s it didn't get you on the cover of the NME.
It just so happens that the recording of Sweet Little Lisa was featured in a TV documentary. If I can work the technology, I'll put in a link to the Youtube clip but otherwise, do a quick Google and you'll find it in a trice. Look out for Nick Lowe's classic "I can see you've read my pamphlet on playing the guitar" line at the end.
It just so happens that the recording of Sweet Little Lisa was featured in a TV documentary. If I can work the technology, I'll put in a link to the Youtube clip but otherwise, do a quick Google and you'll find it in a trice. Look out for Nick Lowe's classic "I can see you've read my pamphlet on playing the guitar" line at the end.
Here's the Youtube clip www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Rx-zaBjow
So that's how it comes to pass that you can see "the greatest guitarist in the world" for a few quid in your local community arts centre or similar (which in my case means the Astor theatre in Deal last Saturday.) Isn't that weird? He's a guitarist; it's not exactly a niche thing, not like being the world's greatest zither player or something. But there he is, almost close enough to touch, chatting to the audience, signing old album sleeves and generally being the most unassuming chap imaginable.
There's plenty of sayings such as "talent will out" and "cream rises to the top" but in rock music, there's a depressingly large number of exceptions which tend to disprove, rather than prove, the rule. I remember some years back seeing Eric Bell, the original guitarist in Thin Lizzy, playing with a band to a handful of people in a London pub, wearing clothes that a charity shop would reject. You could also meet up with him by answering his ad in Melody Maker offering guitar lessons. This was a bloke struggling to make ends meet but my God could he play guitar. But then you know that: if you've heard nothing else by him, you've heard the solo on Whiskey in the Jar. So why wasn't he on stage at Wembley, arriving by helicopter? Send your answers to Eric.
Unfortunately, in show business and probably many other forms of business, there's a fine line between stardom and obscurity, between mansions and maisonettes. The two main messages from this are: (1) life isn't fair and (2) you have a chance to see the greatest guitarist in the world - take it.
The world's greatest guitarist...and some chap known as "God"
