Shawn lane at 24.

[Monkey Man]

You can easily hear in the first clip that he was in the Powers of Ten era. One of my fave albums.

Love Shawn Lane; you'd have to be deaf not to appreciate his playing, surely?

 

[rck]

What a talent from Memphis. Fluid and of course lightening fast runs.

-where was the 1st video taken? It looks like maybe Tom Lee Park or near the Bluff in Memphis.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

He was on a totally different level than anyone else. Unreal and mindblowing.
I watch this and then look at guitars like what am I doing lol.

 

[psychodave]

I was never much of a Lane fan, but that first video clip was great. ?

 

[tonedog]

here is a young Eric Gales and Shawn jamming in Memphis in 1995.

 

[rck]

Two of Memphis’ finest, never seen that vid before, thanks for sharing.

It’s a shame we lost Shawn but glad Eric put his demons to rest as he struggled with them for far too long.

 

[LPMojoGL]

here is a young Eric Gales and Shawn jamming in Memphis in 1995.

I didn't know who Eric Gales was when I saw him live the first time. He floored me. There were some great guitarists on stage, like Lance Lopez and George Lynch, and EG just blew my mind.

 

[sivad]

I saw him around Memphis a few times in the 90's. He had such a command of the guitar as Ive not seen since by anyone. I asked him what his favorite solo was at the time and he said Holdsworth's (Devil take the Hindmost). He also played through some odd gear such as Marlboro amps, a Roland synth guitar, and three delay pedals. I was going to take a few lessons from him but it was about an hour's drive but now I wish I would have done it.

 

[ewill52]

heard this when I was young, my guitar teacher had a bootleg of a similar performance in Memphis, still get chills when he sings "Shawn Lane begins to howl!". Cheesey? Yes. Pure nostalgia? Yes. Freak-of-nature talent? Yes. He was a once-in-a-generation player.

 

[gibson5413]

I don't even care about the speed...the solo is just a great example of melody and phrasing. My favorite solo from Shawn!!

 

[Rdodson]

as opposed to index finger anchoring like most of us do at least conceptually, I think Shawn mentally anchored with his middle finger which allowed for his massive stretch (inspired no doubt by Holdsworth) to go both directions.

Could be wrong, I guess we'll never know

 

[Devin]

Raddest Shawn Lane was when he was like 400 pounds with tiny jazz glasses and hat. Imagine walking in to a smoky jazz club and seeing this absolute behemoth; no one in the club would even be half as cool

 

[CarlF]

One of my favorite Shawn Lane tunes. I watch this a few times a year for inspiration. Love the melody of this tune. I love when he gets rid of the cigarette and gets down to business. Channeling Jimi for a moment as well. His various ailments didn't stop him.

 

[mentoneman]

One of my favorite Shawn Lane tunes. I watch this a few times a year for inspiration. Love the melody of this tune. I love when he gets rid of the cigarette and gets down to business. Channeling Jimi for a moment as well. His various ailments didn't stop him.

amazing player. i like the watchtower clip because it shows even though he shredded faster than anyone, he respectfully nailed the soulful hendrix licks to a T.

those SL guitars are so shreddable, with that unique flat wide almost concave fretboard and ultra low action. i seem to remember him mentioning working with vigier to develop that neck to play with super low action, for his light legato touch, as his arthritis pain progressed.
i tried it at NAMM and bending was a bit tricky for me on that guitar as there was so little string edge to grab due to the slammed action.

 

[fearhk213]

amazing player. i like the watchtower clip because it shows even though he shredded faster than anyone, he respectfully nailed the soulful hendrix licks to a T.

those SL guitars are so shreddable, with that unique flat wide almost concave fretboard and ultra low action. i seem to remember him mentioning working with vigier to develop that neck to play with super low action, for his light legato touch, as his arthritis pain progressed.
i tried it at NAMM and bending was a bit tricky for me on that guitar as there was so little string edge to grab due to the slammed action.

I played one of those SL Vigiers once, and “almost concave” is a spot on description. It was so different feeling. I haven’t played anything quite like it before or since.

 

[Racerxrated]

That second video posted is from 1979 when 17 year old Shawn Lane was touring with Black Oak Arkansas. Gilbert was hugely influenced by Shawn Lane, he talked about him all the time when he was at GIT. I don't know if Eric Johnson or Yngwie were hip to Shawn Lane, but Lane's chops were freaking ridiculous in'79

He’s playing so freaking fast it almost sounds like a keyboard

 

[mentoneman]

i was at this after NAMM party and it was the only time i saw SL live. so glad i did, and his TONE was amazing with that guitar--one of those Valley Arts/Samick models??

holdsworth, gambale, lane, landau, guthrie, tommy emmanuel, vinnie colautia on drums.....players i've seen live who seem to enter this otherworldly zone. i'm not some cosmic transcendental hippy at all, but i've witnessed this phenomenon with those master level musicians on occasion, where it seems they are "channeling" this insanely elevated musical stream from somewhere in the universe, where their instrument is almost "in the way" and too crude a tool to truly express what they are hearing and trying to communicate.

 

[Racerxrated]

I don't even care about the speed...the solo is just a great example of melody and phrasing. My favorite solo from Shawn!!

He had it all...feel, speed, soulful vibrato....he may be the most gifted player ever.

 

[Monkey Man]

Could be, brother.

I've seen "tuition" footage of George Benson that had me wondering if anyone could possibly know the fretboard and chords as well as he does, so I'd put him right up there too. Speed, melody, chords / rhythm... he has it all too.

 

[mentoneman]

GB is nuts. he rises to the level around him
with carlos?:


with jodie fisher (master instructor/player from my old Cali neighborhood)?