Albert Lee

Born and raised in Britain, Albert Lee carved out a distinctive place in the music scene by serving as a leading R&B guitarist in the mid-1960s before emerging in the 1970s as one of the world's foremost rockabilly players while also proving highly capable in country music. He enjoys household-name status across England and ranks among the busiest session guitarists in Nashville and Los Angeles, yet beyond professional circles in the United States he registers as only vaguely familiar and is sometimes mistaken for his similarly named contemporary Alvin Lee, the ex-Ten Years After guitarist with whom he once shared a spot in Jerry Lee Lewis's band on the London Sessions album—though where Alvin stood as a Woodstock hero whose flashy approach recalled the extroverted British blues of Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, Albert more often works in the background, supporting the Everly Brothers or appearing alongside Eric Clapton.

Lee entered the world in Leominster, England, in 1943. Music first reached him through his father, a piano and accordion player. He began on piano at age seven and, more than five years into his keyboard training, encountered rock & roll, at which point Jerry Lee Lewis became his initial idol and introduced him to rockabilly. Within a few years he had moved to guitar, discovered Buddy Holly & the Crickets, studied their records intensively, advanced from acoustic to electric, and mastered lead parts from discs by Holly, Gene Vincent, Ricky Nelson, the Louvin Brothers, and the Everly Brothers—yet he regarded those sides equally as showcases for Tommy Alsup, Jimmy Bryant, Cliff Gallup, James Burton, Chet Atkins, and Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland. At sixteen he turned professional, joining manager Larry Parnes's roster and backing Dickie Pride among other Parnes acts. He next moved to the backing band of R&B singer Bob Xavier, then to Jackie Lynton's group, which yielded his first recorded appearance. Lee twice replaced Jimmy Page as lead guitarist—first in Mike Hurst's band, then in Neil Christian's group—before Ritchie Blackmore succeeded him in the latter when Lee joined Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds.

Four years with the Thunderbirds followed; the band earned a reputation in British circles as one of England's strongest R&B outfits, and Farlowe's singles, including a number-one hit, brought wider attention in 1966 and early 1967. Bored after that tenure, Lee left in 1968 and spent the next two years rotating through ensembles that supported visiting American country artists such as George Hamilton IV, Skeeter Davis, and Bobby Bare. He passed through Country Fever and Poet & the One Man Band before settling with Heads, Hands & Feet, a progressive country band viewed as England's counterpart to the Flying Burrito Brothers or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Public notice arrived with this group, which received favorable reviews and permitted Lee to explore instruments beyond guitar, though commercial success remained limited. After the band split following two years, Lee sustained himself as a session guitarist while participating in new recording projects then underway in England. Chess Records' unexpected success with The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions had sparked a series of similar "London Sessions" albums by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and others at Chess, plus a B.B. King set on ABC Records; Lee contributed to Jerry Lee Lewis's London Sessions, an experience that renewed his ties to American acts. One circle closed when he replaced Glen D. Hardin in the Crickets, touring with them and recording the Mercury album Long Way From Lubbock in Nashville. After two years with the band, Lee relocated to Los Angeles, where he connected with Phil and Don Everly, then working separately; he joined Don's band and recruited his former Heads, Hands & Feet colleagues for the Sunset Towers LP.

Lee next entered Joe Cocker's band, which led to a 1975 solo-album contract with A&M Records, Cocker's label. A period performing and recording with Emmylou Harris postponed completion of his own project until late 1978, when Home finally appeared, showcasing his guitar virtuosity and featuring Harris as a guest. Signed to Polydor as a solo artist, he nevertheless found session and collaborative offers multiplying rapidly; he performed with Jackson Browne, Bo Diddley, and Herbie Mann, among others. His most prominent role came with Eric Clapton on Just One Night and the ensuing tour. When the Everly Brothers reunited for a concert, live album, and video, Lee again served in the band. His solo career extended into the late 1980s with the MCA releases Speechless (1987) and Gagged but Not Bound (1988), both of which earned critical praise. He later joined Gerry Hogan's bluegrass ensemble Hogan's Heroes and toured and recorded with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Additional appearances included work with Eddie Van Halen and Steve Morse in the supergroup the Biff Baby All-Stars.

In his fifth decade as a professional musician, Lee belonged to a select circle of virtuosos' virtuosos, respected across three continents and realizing the kind of career most colleagues could only imagine at the outset. He continued recording in the twenty-first century, issuing the country/rockabilly album Heartbreak Hotel on Sugar Hill in 2003. That same year Castle Records released the retrospective compilation That's All Right, Mama. A second Sugar Hill album, Road Runner, followed in 2006.