30-508: 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. Lee was born in Lingen , Herefordshire , but grew up in Blackheath , London ,
60-674: A "guitar hero", playing his Fender Telecaster at breakneck speed. 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
90-756: A bluegrass tribute album to the British Progressive Rock band the Moody Blues . Skaggs sang lead vocal on the song " You And Me ". In 2012, Skaggs collaborated with Barry Gibb on the song, "Soldier's Son" which was released on Music to My Ears . In 2015, Skaggs toured with Ry Cooder , Sharon White and other members of The Whites . In 2016, he produced the Grammy-winning album Love Remains for Lady Antebellum member Hillary Scott . In 2019, he collaborated with Steven Curtis Chapman for Chapman's album Deeper Roots: Where
120-666: A bluegrass version of "Old Enough" by the Raconteurs with Ashley Monroe and the Raconteurs . He played the mandolin on the track as well as sharing vocals with Jack White , Brendan Benson , and Ashley Monroe . In 2011, Skaggs, along with other musicians including the Irish band The Brock McGuire Band , released their album 'Green Grass Blue Grass", an exploration of the connection between Irish Traditional Music and American Bluegrass and Appalachian music . Also in 2011, Skaggs contributed to Moody Bluegrass TWO...Much Love ,
150-581: A few years, Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris 's Hot Band. He wrote the arrangements for Harris's 1980 bluegrass-roots album, Roses in the Snow . In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band. Skaggs launched his own career in 1980, achieving 12 No. 1 hits, 8 CMA awards, and 8 ACM awards. In 1982, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry ,
180-405: 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 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
210-682: 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,
240-400: 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
270-461: A member of a Romani family. His father was a musician, and Lee studied piano, taking up the instrument at age seven. 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 Czechoslovak Jolana Grazioso , the forerunner of the Futurama . Lee left school at
300-509: 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
330-730: A while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee." In 2017, Lee was honoured with the Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Americana Awards . 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
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#1732791551474360-566: Is known as "the guitar player's guitar player". Lee is also referred to as "Mr. Telecaster ". 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
390-498: 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 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
420-776: The Bluegrass Grows In 2019, Skaggs performed at the 6th Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Concert and Induction Ceremony. As of recent years, Skaggs continues performing at the historic Grand Ole Opry house in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2021 Skaggs was nominated for the SOTE award which was delayed by the Covid pandemic. Ricky Skaggs was previously married to Brenda Stanley and has two children, Andrew and Mandy, from that marriage. Skaggs has been married to Sharon White of The Whites since August 1981. They have two children;
450-819: 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 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. Lee has received many awards as
480-520: 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
510-575: The Kingpins. 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
540-645: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 974074014 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:59:11 GMT Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs , is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer . He primarily plays mandolin ; however, he also plays fiddle , guitar, mandocaster , and banjo . Skaggs
570-720: The Year and was determined by BMI to be the Most-Performed Song in 1997. In 1996, Skaggs went back to his bluegrass roots, and also experimented with new sounds. With his band, Kentucky Thunder , he is a perennial winner of Grammy Awards and International Bluegrass Music Association for best bluegrass album. In 2000, he shared the stage with Vermont-based jam band , Phish . On March 20, 2007, Skaggs released an album with rock musician Bruce Hornsby . In 2008, Skaggs released an album he recorded with The Whites on his Skaggs Family Records label. In 2008, Skaggs recorded
600-489: 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 . He was accompanying Richard Kneller, ( Dickie Pride ), in the Castle Pub, Tooting, the night Russ Conway saw him perform there, two weeks before taking Larry Parnes to see Pride. In addition to Buddy Holly, his early guitar influences included Cliff Gallup , Grady Martin ,
630-554: 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
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#1732791551474660-690: The gig was successful and he toured as Albert Lee & Hogan’s Heroes on a regular basis until 2015. The lineup 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
690-550: 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
720-479: The instrumental heavy " Highway 40 Blues ". Keeping with his instrumental heavy themes, he released " Country Boy " on the album of the same name. He also had Bill Monroe as a guest on this album. Exploring a role as producer, Skaggs produced Dolly Parton 's album White Limozeen , which started her comeback in country music. Skaggs also guested on other albums. In 1995, he sang with Vince Gill on " Go Rest High on That Mountain ", which later won CMA's Song of
750-556: 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
780-541: The photographs) and a 1950s Telecaster (and has versions of both with custom B-Benders ), a 1958 Stratocaster and a Martin 000-28 acoustic. 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 pickups. Albert Lee website Fingerstyle Too Many Requests If you report this error to
810-659: The two started playing together with Whitley's banjo playing brother, Dwight, on radio shows. By 1970, they had earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley , and Skaggs and Keith Whitley were thereafter invited to join Stanley's band, the Clinch Mountain Boys . Skaggs later joined The Country Gentlemen in Washington, DC, J. D. Crowe 's New South . In 1976, Skaggs formed progressive bluegrass band Boone Creek, including members Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas . For
840-607: The youngest musician ever to be inducted at that time. Guitarist and producer Chet Atkins credited Skaggs with "single-handedly" saving country music. Skaggs is considered one of the pioneers of the Neotraditional country sub-genre. In 1981, he debuted on Epic Records with the album Waitin for the Sun to Shine , which brought him to both the country and pop charts and produced two No. 1 hits. In 1982, he released Highways & Heartaches , his only platinum album, featuring
870-422: Was given a mandolin by his father, Hobert Skaggs. At age 6, he played mandolin and sang on stage with Bill Monroe . At age 7, he appeared on television's Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs . He also wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry at that time, but was told he was too young. In his mid-teens, Skaggs met a fellow teen guitarist, Keith Whitley , and
900-696: Was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016 and both the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018. On January 13, 2021, it was announced Skaggs had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump , alongside fellow country musician Toby Keith . Skaggs was born in Cordell, Kentucky . He started playing music at age 5 after he
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