So, Eric Clapton is in town this weekend playing before 18,000 people. His long time guitarist, Albert Lee, is packing the 100 person capacity Write-Off Room. Which one is the “gig to see”?
Well, here I am!
The guitarist’s guitarist, having played with not only Clapton, but The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris and The Crickets , to name a few (to which Lee joked “I can’t hold a steady job!”), Lee gave a two hour history of the heartbeat of his legendary modeled Musicman six stringer. .
Lee set the tone of the evening, with the team of David Chamberlain/b, Jason Smith/dr and Wayne Lee/ky setting down a swinging shuffle groove on “I’m Walking” , while popping the clutch and going into cruise on “Two Step Two”.
Not only is Lee’s playing unassailable, but his vocal style brings back the long forgotten art of harmony, with Smith and son Lee adding textures to tear in the beer pieces like “Wheels” and “No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile”.
His chiming guitar rings like a ringin’ a bell during “Evangelina” and the relentless “Runaway Train”, making you wonder if you’re in LA or at the Yuba City VFW for a Saturday night dance.
Smith’s enthusiastic sticks went triple timing two steps for under Lee’s fluid fingers on “Country Boy” and the boogie-ing “Luxury Liner” that had extra soloing choruses thrown out like red meat to a ravenous lion, while a slinky honky tonker like “Spellbound” assuaged the audience with blue tones, and “Leave My Woman Alone” put the R&B back into C&W.
Then, in the midst of it all, up jumps Peter Asher to add even more vocal harmony and style to a lovely take of “Well, All Right” and his own classic hit “A World Without Love”. Displaying the long lost art of humor, Asher asked everyone to sing along, but advised “If you’re old enough to remember it, you’ve probably forgotten it!”
Sitting at the piano, Lee performed a rivetingly personal read of “Highwayman” and haunting “ ‘Till I Gain Control”, but before closing, he slung back on his Tele and summed up the evening with the title of the closing tune, “Tear It Up”.
Tonight’s gig made everyone in attendance feel that if Clapton is going to give his best to the large crowd on Saturday, he might want to have his old friend join him on stage for a tune or two. WHEW!
Upcoming shows at the Write-Off Room include Teryn Re’s Big Band 09/25, Paulie Cerra 09/27, Bernie Dresel’s BBB 10/02, Mark Winkler 10/14 and Nutty 10/21