View source for Albert Lee

{{Short description|English musician (born 1943)}}
{{distinguish|Alvin Lee}}
{{other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Albert Lee
| image           = Albert Lee 2019 by Glenn Francis.jpg
| caption         = Lee in Los Angeles on 3 July 2019
| birth_name      = Albert Lee
| alias           = Mr. [[Telecaster]]
| birth_date      = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1943|12|21}}
| birth_place     = [[Lingen, Herefordshire|Lingen]], Herefordshire, England
| death_date      =
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Americana (music)|Americana]]|[[country rock]]|[[rockabilly]]|[[rock and roll]]|R&B}}
| occupation      = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter|musical director}}
| instrument      = Vocals, guitar, piano, [[mandolin]]
| years_active    = 1959–present
| label           = [[A&M Records|A&M]], Diamond Records, [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]], Heroic Records, [[Castle Records|Castle]], Magnum, [[Polydor]], [[Sugar Hill Records (bluegrass label)|Sugar Hill]]
| website         = [https://www.albertleeofficial.com]
}}

'''Albert William Lee''' (born 21 December 1943) 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.

==Early life==
Lee was born in [[Lingen, Herefordshire|Lingen]], [[Herefordshire]], but grew up in [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], London, a member of a [[Romanichal|Romani]] family.<ref>Derek Watts, ''Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee'', Jefferson, NC; McFarland & Co., pp.6–9.</ref>  His father was a musician, and Lee studied piano, taking up the instrument at age seven.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll |year=2001 |isbn=0-7432-0120-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneency00holl |last1=George-Warren |first1=Holly |last2=Romanowski |first2=Patricia |last3=Bashe |first3=Patricia Romanowski |last4=Pareles |first4=Jon }}</ref>

During this time, Lee 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 [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] [[Jolana_(guitar_brand)|Jolana]] ''Grazioso'', the forerunner of the ''Futurama''. Lee left school at the age of 16 to play full-time.

==Career==
===Early career===
Lee was with a variety of bands from 1959 onwards, playing mostly R&B, [[country music]] and [[rock and roll]]. He was accompanying Richard Kneller ([[Dickie Pride]]) in the Castle Pub in Tooting the night [[Russ Conway]] saw him perform there, two weeks before taking [[Larry Parnes]] to see Pride. 
His early guitar influences included, in addition to Buddy Holly, [[Cliff Gallup]], [[Grady Martin]], [[the Everly Brothers]], [[Scotty Moore]], [[James Burton]] and [[Jerry Reed]].<ref name="gp_interview"/> Lee first experienced commercial success as the lead guitarist with [[Chris Farlowe]] and the Thunderbirds. Lee says that he enjoyed playing the [[Stax Records|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.<ref name="LarkinCountry">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-726-6|pages=228/9}}</ref> Heads Hands & Feet became a 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]]''. In October 1969 [[Country Fever]], an RCA package, toured six countries in eleven days, starting at the Nashville Room with the London band the Kingpins.<ref>Derek Watts ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=DAdThNYQoMwC&q=kingpins Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee]'' page 90</ref>

===International success===
In 1971, Lee performed with [[Deep Purple]]'s keyboard player [[Jon Lord]] on the studio 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 guitar at the first live performance of the ''Gemini Suite'' in September 1970, but declined the invitation to appear on the 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 Sir [[Malcolm Arnold]].

Lee left for Los Angeles in 1974 and, through his friend bassist [[Ric Grech]] (of [[Blind Faith]]), did some session work on three albums with [[the Crickets]] who also at the time included [[Sonny Curtis]] and [[Jerry Allison]]. One of these releases is titled ''A Long Way From Lubbock''. Lee also received many other offers of session work. In 1976, he was asked to join [[Emmylou Harris]]'s [[Emmylou Harris#The Hot Band|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]], which included playing and singing for a live concert recording at the [[Nippon Budokan|Budokan]] in Japan.

Lee was responsible for [[the Everly Brothers]]' 1983 reunion concert and was its musical director.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~albertlee/biography/biography.html |title=Albert Lee – Biography |publisher=Homepage.eircom.net |date=21 December 1943 |access-date=30 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126212846/http://homepage.eircom.net/~albertlee/biography/biography.html |archive-date=26 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He played regularly with the Everlys for over twenty years.

[[File:Albert Lee, Vince Gill + hosts in Australia, February 1988.jpg|thumb|Lee (left) and Vince Gill (right) with tour promoters Ann and Andrew Pattison in Australia, February 1988]]

In 1987, Lee was invited by Gerry Hogan to headline at a [[steel guitar]] festival in [[Newbury, Berkshire|Newbury]], Berkshire. Lee was at first intimidated by the prospect of having to front a band; however, the gig was successful and he toured as Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes on a regular basis until 2015. The line-up of the band included British musicians Peter Baron on drums, Gerry Hogan on guitar and Brian Hodgson on bass. [[Pete Wingfield]] was the original keyboard player, before leaving to be replaced by Elio Pace and later Gavin Povey. 

They were renowned for attracting celebrities to their gigs. Stars such as [[Eric Clapton]], [[Tommy Emmanuel]], [[Lonnie Donegan]], [[Dave Edmunds]], [[Nick Lowe]], [[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 1988 Lee toured Australia along with [[Vince Gill]], then a comparative unknown, and has returned to tour the country on several subsequent occasions.

In the early 2000s Albert Lee toured with [[Bill Wyman]]'s Rhythm Kings. In 2002, Lee appeared at the [[Concert for George]] [Harrison]. 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'', a documentary about the history of the guitar. 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 (London)|The O2]] in London on 10 December. A new album entitled ''Like This'' was released in spring 2008 to coincide with their European tour. He lives in [[Malibu, California|Malibu]], California.

==Awards and legacy==
[[File:AlbertLee.jpg|thumb|left|Albert Lee performing in 2006 with one of his signature [[Music Man (company)|Music Man]] guitars.]]
Lee has received many awards as a guitarist, winning five consecutive times ''[[Guitar Player]]'' magazine's "Best Country Guitarist".<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Albert Lee Bio
| publisher = Riff Interactive
| date = 17 October 1999
| url = http://www.riffinteractive.com/htm/events/emp/albertlee
| access-date = 10 March 2009}}
</ref> Lee is known within the music industry for his speed of playing and his technical virtuosity<ref name="unsung">{{cite web|last=Gumbel |first=Andrew |url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/article878438.ece |title=Unsung heroes: session musicians are given their own Hall of Fame |work=The Independent |date=13 June 2006 |access-date=24 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410193426/http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/article878438.ece |archive-date=10 April 2007  }}</ref> 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 (company)|Music Man]] and Telecaster guitars which are equipped with [[B-Bender]]s.

He is known as "the guitar player's guitar player".<ref name="unsung"/> Lee is also referred to as "Mr. [[Telecaster]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.allexperts.com/e/a/al/Albert_Lee.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712193245/http://en.allexperts.com/e/a/al/Albert_Lee.htm|url-status=dead|title=AllExperts Questions & Answers|date=12 July 2012|archive-date=12 July 2012}}</ref> A long-time Telecaster player, Lee wrote a foreword to A.R. Duchossoir's book detailing the history of the instrument.

Lee's song "Country Boy" helped to redefine country guitar for a whole generation of players, and was later to become a 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]]' death, [[Emmylou Harris]] was told that she could gain the backing of a major record label only 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; she named the band "The Hot Band". When Burton left 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."<ref>{{cite web|last=Elder|first=Bruce|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/gig-reviews/albert-lee/2007/08/20/1187462126054.html |title=Albert Lee – Gig Reviews|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=20 August 2007 |access-date=24 October 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081208122330/http://www.smh.com.au/news/gig-reviews/albert-lee/2007/08/20/1187462126054.html| archive-date= 8 December 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

In 2017, Lee was honoured with the Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award at the [[Americana Music Honors & Awards#UK Americana Music Association Awards|UK Americana Awards]].

== Guitar collection ==
Albert Lee owns around 40 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 Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] ''Everly Brothers'' model.<ref name="gp_interview">{{cite journal
 |last         = Fishell
 |first        = Steve
 |author2      = Tom Wheeler
 |title        = Albert Lee: State of the Art Country-Rock Guitar
 |journal      = [[Guitar Player]]
 |date         = May 1981
 |url          = http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/albert-lee/jan-00/6016
 |access-date   = 10 March 2009
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071858/http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/albert-lee/jan-00/6016
 |archive-date = 28 September 2011
|url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>

Eric Clapton gave Lee the [[Gibson Les Paul]] Custom that he played while with [[Delaney, Bonnie & Friends|Delaney and Bonnie]]. Lee also plays his signature [[Music Man (company)|Music Man]] (the guitar shown in the photographs) and a 1950s Telecaster (and has versions of both with custom [[B-Bender]]s), a 1958 Stratocaster and a Martin 000-28 acoustic.<ref name="gp_interview"/>

Despite his being heavily associated with the Fender Telecaster, guitar manufacturer Ernie Ball Music Man makes a signature Albert Lee guitar, which unlike typical Telecasters is offered with three single-coil or two humbucker pick-ups.

==Band list==
*[[Chris Farlowe]] and the Thunderbirds
*Country Fever
*[[Green Bullfrog]]
*[[Heads Hands & Feet]]
*[[The Crickets]]
*[[Emmylou Harris]] and [[Emmylou Harris#The Hot Band|the Hot Band]]
*Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes 1987–2015
*[[Bill Wyman]]'s Rhythm Kings
*Biffbaby's All Stars, featuring: Albert Lee, [[Eddie Van Halen]], [[Steve Morse]] and [[Steve Lukather]]. In association with [[Ernie Ball]] products

==Discography==
===Albums===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Label
! Number
! Notes

|-
|1979||''Hiding''||[[A&M Records|A&M]]||SP 4750||
|-
|1982||''Albert Lee''||[[Polydor Records|Polydor]]||2383 640||
|-
|1986||''Speechless''||[[MCA Records|MCA]]||MCA-5693||
|-
|1987||''Gagged but Not Bound''||MCA Master Series||MCA-42063||
|-
|1991||''Black Claw/Country Fever''||Line||LICD 9.01057 O||
|-
|1994||''In Full Flight! Live at Montreaux''||Round Tower||RTMCD 60||with Hogan's Heroes
|-
|2002||''Tear It Up''||Heroic||HEROIC0001||with Hogan's Heroes
|-
|2003||''Heartbreak Hill''||[[Sugar Hill Records (bluegrass label)|Sugar Hill]]||SUG-CD-3977||
|-
|2003||''That's All Right Mama: The Country Fever & Black Claw Sessions''||[[Castle Communications|Castle]]||800||
|-
|2006||''Road Runner''||Sugar Hill||SUG-CD-4011||
|-
|2006||''In Between the Cracks''||Heroic||HEROIC0004||with Hogan's Heroes
|-
|2007||''Live at the New Morning''||Heroic||HEROIC0005||with Hogan's Heroes
|-
|2008||''Like This''||Heroic||HEROIC0006||with Hogan's Heroes
|-
|2012||''Tear It Up''||[[AIX Records|AIX]]||AIX 85054||Blu-ray HD audio/video
|-
|2014||''Highwayman''||Palm Bridge||0013964743173||
|-
|2019||''Gypsy Man – A Tribute To Buddy Holly''||Mann Brothers||0672975035488||
|-
|2024||''Lay It Down''||Palm Bridge||PBP327CD||
|}

===Featured appearances===
{{BLP unsourced section|date=January 2017}}
* Poet and the One Man Band – ''Poet and the One Man Band'' LP (1969)
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Heads, Hands & Feet'' LP (1971)
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Tracks'' LP (1972)
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Let's Get This Show on the Road!''
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Jack Daniels Rare Old No.7''
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Old Soldiers Never Die'' LP (1973)
* Heads Hands & Feet – ''Home From Home – The Missing Album'' LP (1995)
* [[Bo Diddley]] – ''The London Bo Diddley Sessions''
* [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] – ''The London Sessions''
* [[Eddie Harris]] – ''[[ E.H. in the U.K.]]'' (Atlantic, 1973)
*[[Herbie Mann]] – ''[[London Underground (album)|London Underground]]'' (Atlantic, 1973), ''[[Reggae (album)|Reggae]]'' (Atlantic, 1973), ''[[Reggae II]]'' (Atlantic, 1973 [1976])
* [[Emmylou Harris]] – ''[[Luxury Liner (album)|Luxury Liner]]'', ''[[Blue Kentucky Girl (Emmylou Harris album)|Blue Kentucky Girl]]'', ''[[Roses in the Snow]]'', ''[[Evangeline (Emmylou Harris album)|Evangeline]]'', ''[[The Ballad of Sally Rose]]'' (Guitars, Mandolin)
* [[Eric Clapton]] – ''[[Just One Night (Eric Clapton album)|Just One Night]]'', ''[[Another Ticket]]'', ''[[Money and Cigarettes]]''
* [[John Prine]] – ''The Missing Years'' (Guitar, Mandolin, Piano)
* [[Rosanne Cash]] – ''[[Seven Year Ache]]''
* [[Jon Lord]] – ''[[Gemini Suite]]''
* [[Earl Scruggs]] – ''Earl Scruggs and Friends''
* [[Ricky Skaggs]] – ''Don't Cheat in Our Hometown & Kentucky Thunder''
* [[Paul Kennerley]] – ''[[The Legend of Jesse James]]'' (Guitars, Vocals, Mandolin)
* [[The Crickets]] – ''Long Way From Lubbock'', ''The Crickets and Their Buddies''
* [[Joe Cocker]] – ''Stingray''
* [[Nicolette Larson]] – ''The Very Best of Nicolette Larson''
* [[Rodney Crowell]] – ''The Essential Rodney Crowell''
* [[Dolly Parton]] – ''White Limozeen''
* The Return Of [[Spinal Tap (band)|Spinal Tap]] – DVD (As himself, playing on "Break Like The Wind")
* [[John 5 (guitarist)|John 5]] – ''Death Valley''
* [[Carlene Carter]] – ''I Fell in Love''
* [[Foster and Lloyd]] – ''Version of the Truth''
* [[Nanci Griffith]] – ''I Knew Love''
* [[Hugh Moffatt (singer)|Hugh Moffatt]] – ''Dance Me Outside''
* [[Shakin' Stevens]] – ''Hot Dog''
* [[Everly Brothers]] – ''Reunion Concert'' LP (Guitars, Piano, Musical Director) (1983)
* [[Everly Brothers]] – ''EB '84'' LP (Guitars) (1984)
* [[Everly Brothers]] – ''Born Yesterday'' LP (Guitars) (1986)
* [[Everly Brothers]] – ''Some Hearts'' LP (Guitars) (1988)
* [[Don Everly]] – ''Sunset Towers''
* [[The Refreshments (Swedish band)|The Refreshments]] – Cover of Chuck Berry's "[[Let It Rock (Chuck Berry song)|Let It Rock]]"
* [[Dave Edmunds]] – "Sweet Little Lisa"
* [[Marcel Dadi]] – ''Nashville Rendez-vous''
* [[Bert Jansch]] – ''Heartbreak''
* [[Jerry Scheff]] – ''Fire Down Below''
* [[Brad Paisley]] – ''Play''
* [[Jackson Browne]] – ''Under the Falling Sky, A Child in These Hills''
* [[Jean-Pierre Danel]] – "Tulsa Time"
* [[Arlen Roth]] -''Toolin' Around'' (1993), ''Telemasters'' (2019)
* Maestro Alex Gregory – ''Bach on Steroids'' (2009)
* Maestro Alex Gregory – ''Another Millennium'' (2010)
* [[Steve Morse]] -''The Introduction (lead guitar in "General Lee") and Stand Up (vocals and guitar in "Rockin' guitars")''
* The [[Geoff Everett]] Band – ''The Quick and the Dead'' (2012)
* Maestro Alex Gregory – ''Holy Grail of 7 strings'' (2013)
* Various Artists – ''Guitar Heroes: Making History'' (2015), featuring James Burton, Amos Garrett, Albert Lee & David Wilcox
* Jericho Summer – ''Night Train'' (2015), featuring Richard Fortus, Marco Mendoza

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* ''The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music''. Guinness Publishing. {{ISBN|0-85112-726-6}}
* Watts, Derek, (2008). ''Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3658-3}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* 
[https://www.albertleeofficial.com/   Albert Lee website]

*[http://www.albertleeandhogansheroes.com Albert Lee and Hogan's Heroes  website]
*[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/albert-lee Albert Lee Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Library]] 11 July 2014
*[https://www.discogs.com/artist/257414-Albert-Lee Page with photo of Albert Lee playing an electric mandolin, at Discogs.]
{{Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Albert}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Leominster]]
[[Category:Musicians from Herefordshire]]
[[Category:English rock guitarists]]
[[Category:English male guitarists]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:English session musicians]]
[[Category:English Romani people]]
[[Category:Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings members]]
[[Category:British mandolinists]]
[[Category:Romani guitarists]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Royal Borough of Greenwich]]
[[Category:People from Blackheath, London]]