A Review by WIll Friedwald of Alvin Lee's Performance at The Iridium NYC - New York City Article

Just as there have been, for instance, great French and Brazilian jazz musicians and British rock bands, some of the greatest Country-and-Western musicians were born not only in Memphis, Nashville and Bakersville, California, but in London and Liverpool. (In fact, a current and highly recommended podcast, Dolly Parton’s America, features an interview with an Kenyan pop singer who specializes in African interpretations of Dolly Parton songs.)

Albert Lee is an outstanding country-and-western musician who happens to have been born in Herefordshire. I ask you, could any location on the globe possibly sound any more British than that? Well, at least his name sounds like it could be a blues musician - it’s actually easily confused with the late Delta blues giant Albert King. I recently got to see Mr. Lee demonstrate his craft at The Iridium in NYC.

Mr. Lee began his career working in British bands that were inspired by American templates, and then, at 31 in 1974, moved to the United States where he has been based ever since. In the intervening decades, he has collaborated extensively with his fellow British bluesmen, most notably Eric Clapton, but more famously worked with his early role models, the original American icons, most notably the Everly brothers, both together and separately. He was, from the beginning, a late 20th century guitar hero, with a remarkable proficiency in country music, blues, rockabilly, pop, and any other guitar-centric musical genre.

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These days Mr. Lee often opens his sets with the Fats Domino song, “I’m Ready,” in which the lyrics, “I’m ready, I’m willing, and I’m able / To rock and roll all night,” become a statement of purpose. There were plenty of uptempo hard rockers in the very full, concert-length set on Friday evening at The Iridium. But there also was the very lovely waltz “Evangelina,” a touching love song (“In the morning, she brings me water. / In the evening, she brings me wine”) that reminded me of Marty Robbins. (Maybe every love song involving a Mexican woman reminds me of Marty Robbins?) And there were story songs, like folk singer John Stewart’s “Runaway Train,” in which Mr. Lee employed his instrument to produce a locomotive-like rhythm and sound effect. He honored his long relationship with the Everlys with “No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile.” (It was Phil Everly who took him on his first trip to Disneyland, and he toured for years with Don Everly.) Adding a shuffle beat, he flew into Ray Charles’s “Leave My Woman Alone.” His rendering of the country classic “Just Because” (famously recorded by the Shelton Brothers in 1933) was also easy to love, and had the whole sold-out house wanting to get up and dance.

Mr. Lee’s guitar skills are well-documented; technically, he’s an astonishing player, being able to execute breathtaking runs without even taking a breath. In fact, he’s such a virtuoso that it often gets overlooked that he plays and sings with remarkable emotion as well - he’s one of those many British-invasion-era musicians who sings without any trace of an accent, yet, when he speaks, it’s pure London. And he’s also a wonderful pianist as well - who knew? Jimmy Webb’s lovely narrative song “Highwayman” is one of three numbers he essayed on the Steinway, and he makes it plain that he could have enjoyed an extensive career as a pianist and singer. (It’s heard, along with a lot of the music he played at the Iridium, on his 2007 concert album Live at the New Morning, with his band Hogan’s Heroes.) Albert Lee concluded the very satisfying two-hour show with an out-and-out rockabilly blues,“Tear it Up.” This, he had already done.

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