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Rating: You can invent useful things or not, but songs escape this consideration. After all, one can live their life without, for example, ever listening to I’m Going Home. It’s possible. However, if it happens to cross your path or, better, your ears, you’ll never forget it.
In detail, the mentioned Lee pairs with Alvin: Alvin Lee, an extraordinary character of an era that was shaping the figure that would find much success especially in the 80s. It's not hard to trace back to the type of myth that was referenced before: the guitar hero. In fact, to be truthful, when Alvin Lee, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and all the pioneers of such stature were in vogue, the guitar hero was not a well-known concept; guitarists were ‘fast or not’; essentially a euphemism for good or not. Obviously, speed doesn’t equate to talent, however, it’s no coincidence that talented individuals are all (also capable of being) fast.
Alvin Lee earned himself on the field the title of the fastest guitar in the West. Alright, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to say the fastest hand in the West. Why the hand? It’s not a minor or pedantic thing: the subtlety is well-spent and points to Alvin Lee’s left hand. Indeed, in some interviews with him, the most observant would have noticed the cryptic references the great Alvin made concerning his right hand, affirming that “…not all notes need to be picked…”; it goes without saying, therefore, that it was the left hand that ran, using the legato technique, along the neck of his Gibson. Clearly, for long-time guitar enthusiasts, this is no surprise; however, to shed some light, the remark is mandatory.
Like the great Formula 1 drivers, for these musicians, the instrument is essential, and in this case, it's called the Gibson S-335: or, for friends, the Big Red. This instrument was made in '59, and Alvin was particularly fond of it. Many of the additions to its surface were not precisely related to aesthetic solutions but served to cover, for example, small holes or areas damaged by modifications. Alvin customized the guitar by adding a Fender single coil, a new knob, and fine-tuning/string lock.
Alvin Lee is famous for having performed at Woodstock with his band Ten Years After, the song I’m Going Home: something as extraordinary as this had never been seen, and although Hendrix is The revolution in electric guitar, no one can deny the special talent of Lee. His story with the band stops at a certain point. Without Ten Years After, but with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Ron Wood, and George Harrison, he releases On the Road to Freedom in the 70s. Then, unexpectedly, he forms Alvin Lee & Company supporting his former Ten Years After bandmates. Not content and, perhaps ironically, in 1978 he founds Ten Years Later producing two albums Rocket Fuel and Ride On. In 2004, a dream comes true for him: he publishes Alvin in Tennessee, produced by Scotty Moore, guitarist of Elvis Presley. Alvin Lee had often declared that he picked up the guitar to emulate Scotty Moore himself.
In Great Britain and with Ten Years After, he ranked several times among the top 40 best-selling albums. Alone, he manages to record 14 albums: the last one being Still on the Road to Freedom in 2012. On March 6, 2013, following a surgical operation, ‘The fastest guitar in the West’ leaves the dusty trails of the distant earthly West in search of other spaces and other dreams.
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