Lenny Breau (for the connoisseurs of amazing guitarists)

[Grateful Dude]

Lenny Breau is my personal favorite guitarist, so I wanted to share a little info about him. By the age of 16, Lenny was playing Chet Atkins-style songs as good as Chet himself, and some would argue he played even better than Chet (this can be listened to on Lenny's album titled "Boy Wonder"). For those that are familiar with Chet and his reputation (Chet was named the guitarist of the millennium by Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine) will understand that this is very high praise. Lenny was unfortunately one of those people that struggled with drug addiction, and was found dead in a swimming pool at the age of 43 (a suspected murder, but the case remains unsolved).

Lenny never had much commercial success, and many of his recordings (both live and studio) were never released. Most of the his music that is available today is thanks to Randy Bachman (of The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive). Randy was a fan, and even learned to play finger-style by taking lessons from Lenny. Thanks to Randy, Lenny's music has stayed alive and lots of albums have been released. If I remember correctly, Randy was solely responsible for funding these efforts.

I could go on and on, but I'll let those interested further discover Lenny for themselves. He was an interesting and amazing guy, that much is for sure.

Here is some additional info:
Lenny Breau: The Forgotten Genius

 

[Grateful Dude]

One of my favorites of Lenny's, a cover of a classic Jerry Reed song


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZKUcGTmvos

 

[Grateful Dude]

There is a documentary about Lenny called "The Genius of Lenny Breau". Below are excerpts of the film with Chet Atkins

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq9QTickTzc

 

[member 1013]

Great thread

 

[Mix6APlix]

Does this thread have anything to do with Les Claypool?

No?

I'm out.

 

[Grateful Dude]

To me, one of the most amazing (and technically difficult to play) aspects of his playing was his use of artificial harmonics (also called harp harmonics). Lenny didn't invent this type of harmonics, but they were rarely used before him. He certainly popularized them, and took them to a level nobody had seen previously. Those that play guitar know exactly how hard these are to pull of, but Lenny would often play entire passages or solos of a song in artificial harmonics. Amazing stuff.

The audio is a little rough on these, but you'll get the point.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGCSgWqg0Fg&list=RD7Dp809Zi9lE&index=15



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExGWWzzmNNQ

 

[Grateful Dude]

Great thread

You sir, in my humble opinion, have great taste in music

 

[Grateful Dude]

Does this thread have anything to do with Les Claypool?

No?

I'm out.

I rated this as funny because I am assuming it is too early for you to be drunk.

 

[Grateful Dude]

For those that may be interested in exploring some of Lenny's music, I would recommend these albums to start: Boy Wonder, The Complete Living Room Tapes, and Cabin Fever

 

[Mix6APlix]

I rated this as funny because I am assuming it is too early for you to be drunk.

Too early?

 

[Grateful Dude]

Too early?

I suppose it is Friday...

 

[member 1013]

You sir, in my humble opinion, have great taste in music

I like the Eagles

 

[member 1013]

And i heard Hendrix was decent

 

[Ghost Bro]

My favorite underrated guitarist is Jason Becker, he was a beast, played in a band called Cacophony with Marty Friedmann (legend, played in Megadeth amongst others)..amazing soloing..sadly he got ALS at just 20years old... he compose to this day, but has lost complete movement of his extremeties (can't play guitar anymore). He is a legend


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lR1tt24mo4

 

[Grateful Dude]

My favorite underrated guitarist is Jason Becker, he was a beast, played in a band called Cacophony with Marty Friedmann (legend, played in Megadeth amongst others)..amazing soloing..sadly he got ALS at just 20years old... he compose to this day, but has lost complete movement of his extremeties (can't play guitar anymore). He is a legend


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lR1tt24mo4

I feel tired after listening to that

 

[Ghost Bro]

I feel tired after listening to that

again not the most appealing genre, but he's a beast of a guitarist. Legend amongst guitarists from the 90s

 

[Grateful Dude]

again not the most appealing genre, but he's a beast of a guitarist. Legend amongst guitarists from the 90s

I agree, maybe not the most appealing...but the guy was a beast for sure!

I didn't mean that I was tired because it was boring. I meant I was tired because it seems exhausting to play like that.

 

[Rambo John J]

my dad would appreciate this guy...sure he already knows him

pops is a beast on the guitar...lifelong songwriter/guitarist

finger dexterity on this guy is unreal, that harmonic technique is not even possible for most guitarists I would reckon

 

[Ghost Bro]

Am going down the Breau rabbit hole right now

 

[Ghost Bro]

my dad would appreciate this guy...sure he already knows him

pops is a beast on the guitar...lifelong songwriter/guitarist

finger dexterity on this guy is unreal, that harmonic technique is not even possible for most guitarists I would reckon

I cant do that shit faaaaam

 

[Grateful Dude]

@Ghost Bro your Jason Becker contribution above reminded me of another guitarist that lost his ability to play (very different style than Becker). Richard Crandell was a tremendous player, of the John Faney ilk. He was very talented, but developed a tremor disorder and had to give up guitar. He was able to learn to play the mbira (an African instrument), which allowed him to continue on as a musician.

Disabled Guitarist Finds New Sound In Mbira

Here is a sample of his guitar playing before he developed the tremor disorder:


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KbVR2cBjlpE

 

[Rambo John J]

I cant do that shit faaaaam

his pinky is shaped nicely for it and mine is straight broken/frozen(caught and twisted in a football face mask 20 years ago)

I can barely play all the chords properly because my pinky is like on a time delay and gimped to hell.

 

[Rambo John J]

My dad really digs the style and spaces in the music that
Mark Knopfler incorporates in to his style.

I just can't get enough of the Dire Straits-Dire Straits album....such a great piece of work...underrated album
knopfler is far from underrated though

 

[Hauler]

To me, one of the most amazing (and technically difficult to play) aspects of his playing was his use of artificial harmonics (also called harp harmonics). Lenny didn't invent this type of harmonics, but they were rarely used before him. He certainly popularized them, and took them to a level nobody had seen previously. Those that play guitar know exactly how hard these are to pull of, but Lenny would often play entire passages or solos of a song in artificial harmonics. Amazing stuff.

The audio is a little rough on these, but you'll get the point.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGCSgWqg0Fg&list=RD7Dp809Zi9lE&index=15



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExGWWzzmNNQ

LMAO @ hitting harmonics so effortlessly. Fucker.

 

[Grateful Dude]

finger dexterity on this guy is unreal, that harmonic technique is not even possible for most guitarists I would reckon

Totally agree. That harmonic technique is pretty damn tough to play. I've been playing for 16+ years and I can sometimes eek one out if I really try (and I mean a single one not a bunch, and it usually doesn't sound that good lol). The only guy I've ever known that could actually do it decently well had college degrees in classical guitar, and was later an instructor. And even he struggled with them. Lots of people can do it now, but Lenny popularized it and really explored and pushed the limits of it. I've never heard anyone do it better than Lenny.