aLViN Lee ( & TeN YeaRS aFTeR) : “50.000 MiLeS BeNeaTH My BRaiN”

Graham Alvin Barnes a.k.a

Alvin LEE

(9 décembre 1944  – 6 mars 2013)

– “I just heard about Alvin Lee’s passing,” former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash tweeted Wednesday. “He was the 1st badass, super fast lead guitarist I remember hearing as a kid. legend. RIP.”

-Writing on his website, Queen’s Brian May called Lee a “legendary and influential guitarist and very nice bloke. His speed and dexterity, in the days when I would go as a student to the Marquee Club to see Ten Years After, was scary and exciting. He was daring enough to play and sing close to his limit every time.”

– Another musician, Roger Chapman, also paid tribute to Alvin, saying: “Alvin Lee. What a great natural guitar player. Frightened of nothing, just grabbed a guitar & rocked like f***. Met him in 1961 thereabouts, shared a stage in Nottingham with him & he was on it then. Playing songs, me being a bit snobbish, I never thought any other British muso knew except myself so I was instantly impressed & have been ever since. Always stayed pals even though we were separated by different roles & countries. He did a lot of really good stuff on my albums over the years… Lotsa love Alvin it was a pleasure knowing you.”

– Dans une interview accordée à Rolling Stone en 1975, Alvin Lee, revenant sur ces années incroyables où avec Ten Years After ils ne jouaient plus dans des salles mais dans des stades, dira : “Avant le festival, le public venait chercher le côté jam session, le swing, le blues. Après Woodstock, nos fans sont devenus bruyants, tout ce qu’ils voulaient, c’était “I’m Going Home”. J’ai été obligé de changer mon style de guitare. J’étais devenu un rocker malgré moi.” (Libération, 7 mars 2013)

– “The solo on the movie sounds pretty rough to me these days,” Lee told Guitar World this month. “But it had the energy, and that was what Ten Years After were all about at the time.”

– “Rest in Peace Alvin Lee,” blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd tweeted. “One of the greatest guitar players ever. We lost you too soon. Thanks for the music.”

   

PS : Le petit montage, mine de rien, c’est une trentaine d’heures de boulot. Pis du beau. Et réalisé dans des conditions pour le moins “inhospitalières”, une chambre d’hôpital. Mais ça, c’est parce qu'”IL” les valait bien. Pis aussi, tiens, rien que pour m’avoir fait découvrir tout un pan de la guitare jazz : Django Reinhardt, Tal Farlow, sans oublier Barney Kessel. Et encore, mais dans un autre genre  Merle Travis. Sans parler de l’ivresse provoquée par le 1er LP de Ten Years After, puis par “Stonenhenge”, et le sublime “Cricklewood Green” qui ont largement passé l’épreuve du temps. Oui, j’ai été fan d’Alvin, je le revendique fièrement.

Ouèche
Prof.

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