every saturday afternoon in winnipeg we all jammed at the swinging gate across from the CN station on main. lenny, reg ballsillie the owner and bob erlendson on piano, gary peterson and reg kelln on drums dave shaw, jim pyper on bass, lenny and randy bachman on guitars, by the way randy b has a tape of lenny and jim pirie battling jazz guitars at Randomanor . I was there yogi stewart on fb s mom owned the place. I even met lenny in moose jaw i was on the road to sylvan lake to meet pj.
come on guys don t u know bach when u hear it. lenny used to play bach in our back studio where he taught, remember Guitarland. burrows and main, jim pirie and al tummon got matching Guild country guitars. we joined the union on the same sunday after his 16th birthday i think that was 1963 so he could play on cbc Saddle Songs. I played intro during his late arrival at the press club in vancouver with bobby stewart on drums. lenny came late looking terrible gave me a hug 2wks late dead.
i had never heard of this guy untill i dug up an old vinyl record i found in a box given to me for free, the record is titled "guitar sounds from lenny breau" produced in 1969. its gotta be one of the most chill records ive ever listened to, i am now a fan
Didn't look far enough back , but I'm sure it's been mentioned before, how much Gatton echoed Lenny. It's all just music and he just wanted to pull in as many different influences as possible. Describe your playing?! How do you describe stuff like this? If he said magical, he be pegged as arrogant but that's my word.
Just think what he could have done had he stayed off drugs. What a wasted talent...never achieved his full potential and should have taken swimming lessons too!
when will they release this footage in a dvd box set with leiner a=notes and pictures top quality...? it would make so much money hes has so many fans
when i was 13, my guitar teacher took me to see him and dave young at bourbon st. in toronto - the same week they recorded the album, different night tho - amazing to get to soak that in up close. Lenny was a genius and a musical giant, no question
oh my..the Tape also loved Lenny Breau so much as to tune-in itself according with what lenny was playin at 00:54 the slowing-up of the Tape creates an interval of 5th between teh F# lenny palyed and the same not lowered by a 5th by the Tape slowing-up (C#) and even more amazingly at 01:03 while lenny plays a G altered chord, the tape suddenldy speeds up of a little amount useful enough to raise the flat fifth of that chord by a semitone giving a nice pedal-steel effect ,!
I feel very fortunate to actually have the guitar Lenny is playing in this footage! It's a '61 Ramirez with cypress back and sides. I bought it from Gary Binsted's (old friend of Lenny's - read about it in "One Long Song") cousin after he sadly passed away last April.
this guy just blows my mind, i am a guitar freak, and i love lots of players, but lenny is just out of this world, people of the past had newer generation people expand on what they did, but no one has ever expanded from what lenny did, why? just can't be done, what a shame that he is gone
Does anyone know what Lenny is doing after the tremolo? It isn't rasgueado; it seems like it is some sort of arpegios from a specific scale using PIA?
Perfection. No one is better then Lenny, he represents the highest ideal that any musician can aspire to. These old video's of him playing are priceless.
this guy is simply untouchable, of all different styles of music, as time goes on, people improve and come up with new things to make the next generation better than one before, but to this day, people still can't do what lenny did, probably never will either
I'm a Lenny Breau fanatic, I'm in love with the guy, I started a therapy group for people like me...... Lenny was so hot...I'd be equally honoured if you joined the group and shared some of your personal feelings on Lenny for those who are equally warped and deranged.
What's all this about Lenny Breau and Randy Bachman? Isn't he the guy from Bachman Turner Overdrive the rock band? What does he have to do with Lenny Breau? Sorry I just found out about LB and love him and am trying to learn all I can about him.
I grew up in Winnipeg and Lenny was a close friend of mine from the time he came to town in 1956 or 1957. We were the same age and hung out all the time when Lenny wasn't on the road or hanging with his girlfriend who he married at 18. I guarantee you that Randy Bachman did not know Lenny except by reputation and never took guitar lessons from him. Their paths did cross much later professionally but Lenny had no relationship with RB except to say hello. RB is winnipeg's bullshit king.
If you want to believe RB's bs thats your choice but there are many of us who knew LB well at that time and know for a fact that RB did not take lessons from him. RB claims that he played with LB at his mom's house every afternoon. LB didn't live at this moms house when he was 16 nad 17. He lived 15 miles away in St. Vital until he married then moved to west WP. I could give you a 1000 other details. Believe what you want but RB has conned you and a lot of other people. Sorry.
I saw your posts on the Young Lenny Breau vid on YT. Are you DH from Higgins? I'm GG's the pianists brother. If it's you contact me. I'd love to catch up after all these years. By the way, Wayne is living on Vancouver Island and has a recording studio. He's semi retired.I saw him about a month ago and he's doing real well.
RB has lied about all kinds of things. In his bio he claimed that he c0- wrote all Trooper's hits. They sued him and he retracted that claim. He will say anything for self promotion.
I was interviewed for One Long Tune but my interview was not used. But go back and read it again and you'll see that the author never says anything about RB and LB being friends. That might tell you something...
I don't want to id myself but I was the best friend of someone very, very close to LB and knew him well from about a week after he came to Winnipeg in Dec 1956 to about 1966 and then lost touch. . I was interviewed for OLT but most of what I said was covered by others who were in the book. For a fact Randy B could not have taken lessons from LB for many reasons. He made up the story to promote Guitarchives.
No doubt that RB has helped raise LB's profile through Guitarchives. But there were more honest ways of doing it. RB just can't stand the idea of not being in spotlight himself.
@rolliegyrl2 OK ONCE AND FOR ALL LETS SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. LENNY S BEST FRIENDS IN WINNIPEG WERE RAY ST GERMAIN WHO BECAME HIS BROTHER IN LAW, REG KELLN HIS DRUMMER, BOB ERLENDSON THE BAND LEADER HE PLAYED FOR IN THE HOUSE BAND AT THE TOWN AND COUNTRY, JIM PIRIE FELLOW GUITARIST WITH DICK SIEBERT AND THE SONS OF THE SADDLE CBC TV SHOW, DAVE SHAW, BASSIST WITH THE LENNY BREAU TRIO REG ON DRUMS AND ME. WE WERE INDUCTED INTO THE UNION ON A SUNDAY AFTER HIS16TH BIRTHDAY, L W
Also, Lenny was much older than Bachman. Lenny was already married by the time Bachman was 15. Maybe Lenny gave Randy a few lessons, maybe not. Who cares? He gave lessons to people a whole lot better than Randy.
Man a simple internet search will show you that lenny was born in 41 and bachman in 43, so lenny was only 2 years older, he would have been 17 when bachman was 15, and bachman met lenny because he sought him out after listening to him on sunday night local winnipeg radio. No doubt that Randy learned some stuff from Lenny, listen to his stuff, compared to most of Randy's music that jazz influence comes out of left field.
Two years difference at that age is much older. Also, Lenny played with his parents 4:30 to 5:00 on weekdays not Sundays. But who cares? The miniscule amount of so-called "jazz" stuff that Bachman claims to have learned from Lenny could have been learned from any source like Lenny's records same as countless other guitarists did. A lot of Lenny's old friends in Winnipeg say Bachman is a bullshit artist. But who cares? There are countless people who play circles around Randy. He's lame.
lenny taught randy bachman how to play guitar...he gave him lessons for 2 years every day after school...both were young teens at the time,in the late 50's...lenny lived a couple houses down from randy growing up
I just finished reading an excellent biography on Lenny called One Long Tune. It said that Lenny dropped out of school at age 14. He was going to Walton High in Auburn at the time. He moved to Winnipeg with his family about two years later where he supposedly met Randy Bachman and showed him some things. Bachman was in school but Lenny wasn't. I've heard a lot of people say that Bachman is bsing and never knew Lenny at all but who knows? Or cares? Anyway, it's a great biography.
Randy lived in West Kildonan in Winnipeg. Lenny only lived in that neighbourhood for 4 months in early 1958 before moving to the St. Vital area of Winnipeg 15 miles from Kildonan. He and his family moved to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan in July 1959. Lenny never attended school in Winnipeg. He was on the road with his parents at least 4 days a week so could not have given Randy lessons everyday after school. These are indisputable facts stated by his family in the biography of Lenny, One Long Tune.
About twentyfive years ago oh so he was playing at Dantes in La and only he and the bass player showed up the drummer flaked, and I asked him if I could record him on a casset player and he didnt mind at all no one even missed the drummer. I remember hearing him play and having to try to hold back the tears, ill never forget that night.
Check the machine heads on the guitar. This is the Ramirez that he brought back from Spain after his gig in New York. It has violin type tuning pegs drilled straight through. On cold mornings in Winnipeg Lenny would stop halfway home at Guitarland at Burrows and Main 40 below. He would re warm his towel in his guitar case and then head home walking. Some mornings I would get up in the pad I shared with drumme Reg Kelln and find Lenny asleep on the carpet in the front room.
All Ramirez flamenco guitars had violin type pegs on them. Lenny bought this guitar in Edmonton in 1963 and never did go to Spain though he talked about it a lot. He sold his Ramirez in 1972. It was long gone by the time he was living in New York in 1977 and he never owned another Ramirez.
This Ramirez is still owned by the guy he sold it to in Toronto, a well known bass player.
kebbs You hit the nail on the head; thats hilarious. If I could count the times over the years camerman have filmed anything, and everything except the guitarists hands I'd be retired!!!; its remarkable; they couldn't all be wasted could they??? mastercollector
I grew up in Lewiston Maine watching his brother Denny play every weekend. Denny was my Idol. Denny used to tell me Lenny stories on Saturday Mornings at the local music shop where I took lessons and he taught.I was very young and he made me want to be a guitar player. I am forever in debt to Lenny and Denny. Watching this video made me cry. Thanks for putting this up! > Foggy
breaulenny Bourbon street is the best version of Visions. Other great cd's 69 Dontes, Chanc Meeting with Farlowe(Cherokee),&Complete Living Room tapes(Lennys radio).
some of the best on Living room, is Stella By starlight, Emily, and My Foolish heart, My Foolish heart is best on Bourbon St. Also love " I fall in love too easily, on boat of these albums.
Also love Cabin Fever.. No guitarplayer,,mussisian,,have touched my heart like Lenny Breau
clarinet player brad terry recorded living room tapes (in his living room) on a 1/4" revox. i did the transfer/remix from the revox analog to a digital DAT. (i'm the guy who turned the raw tapes into mixed individual tracks) this was sent to the Jazz Heritage Society who issued records 1 & 2. they never credited me properly, listed as assistant or nobody or something. i still cringe at the sound of DAT. it was all we had in the early analog to digital change-over. any mix complaints...
Lenny is kind of a mystery to me. He was probably best at what did. Famous guitar artists have openly noted that he was the best yet at some point he was living with his parents and scraping up change here and there, in his prime no less. So why does a man with great, popular artists taking note of him wind up broke.
Most people would say the drugs ruined his career and life.
I think that's the biggest reason, but I also think it's a coincidence of many unfortunate events... not least of which is the fact that in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s - the years of Lenny's career - jazz was extremely unpopular and unprofitable.
real art and artist are generally exploited by the big money machine known as capitalism. There isn't really anyplace for the authentic artist in the so called free world!
lenny was a great influence on me. his c ascading harmonics were one of the fundamental techniques i transfered in real notes to the 9string. michael coppola
Wow I've heard of you Mike, you played on wpkn once,you certainly got the Lenny technique down but more importantly you have you own thing on top of it.Best to you.
Chet Atkins and Lenny B have expanded my horizons. I used to be satisfied with Reggae and Heavy Metal. But now I need to go find a thumb pick and earn my way up to a sexy Gretsch. Wow. Some kill skills, here.
Same here..i spent years thinking all those 80's shredder guys were the s. They are like junk food, this stuff is like a real meal.
I even took a interest in hot country. Love it! Been watching/listening to scotty anderson(holy s!0 and danny gatton lately. feels like i have been wasting my time with the guitar all these years:(
Where I live my dad's neighbor was a member of Lenny's parents band Lenny played in it to when he got older.
But as for his sound and style, it's good... I hear it all the time at home 'cause my hubby can play his stuff! Ever in Northern Maine or N.B. you'll hear some that can... Not many though :)
lenny was caanadian he wa sborn in maine becuz he folks traveled ina band he grew up in Canada called himself canadian and was raised in winnipeg Canada
My teacher was great friends with him so I have tons of stories but here's my favorite: they were jamming one day and Lenny asks him if he had heard Chet's new album In Three Dimensions. Bobby says he had, Lenny then says that he's transcribed most of it but can't seem to figure out some of the parts. Then as he's showing him, he starts playing the bass lines with his nose! He managed to play a track which Chet had obviously overdubbed with three guitar tracks.
I think he WAS the greatest guitarist ever to live in every sense of the word, without a doubt. He copied a lot of Tal Farlow licks note for note and I think that sort of discredited him as a serious jazz player early on but I couldn't care less after hearing some of his own ideas.
o and btw its easy to sit in a room practicing sweeps and scales 24/7 a day and impress people but your just a wiener guitar isn't a competion lenny could play wtv he heard in his head on the spot and make it sound beautiful which is one of the highest points a musician can reach RIP lenny
Im tired of u ppl commenting on stuff u have no idea wtf ur talking bout musically lenny breau is light years ahead of malmsteem (technically and musically) hes mastered harmonics playing 2 parts at once etc hes done things nobody ever imagine could be done on a guitar
Thank you Geoschi for this wonderful footage. Too bad that sirmagoo111 cannot apreciate. This is the era that I remember Lenny the best...when he was appearing regularily on the C.B.C. every wednesday afternoon on Music Hop. He was the staff guitar player for Ray St. Germain. very cool memories of a fantastic guitar player...thank you
How can someone dare to compare Lenny Breau, a man who had the potential of becoming arguably the best guitarrist ever to live, with "Yawn"gie Malmsteen?! Also, There´s no way one could be related to the other. This is wrong, just wrong...
Well it was his first official recording then.... "The Hallmark Sessions" had been recorded several years prior (when Lenny was 19), but it was nothing more than a "demo tape" until it was released a few years ago as an official Lenny album...
Lenny was on several recordings before Guitar Sounds including No one in this World is Like Don Francks released in 1963. Guitar Sounds was his first as leader.
Anyone interested in Lenny should read Ron Robert's book One Long Tune. I was talking to Lenny's brother Denny the other day and we both agreed it's a fantastic book.
More than anyone else, Lenny really did have his own concept of how to play and improvise while playing solo guitar. His "feel" was also all his own and can not be pigeon-holed as Jazz, Country, or Classical. He was an amazing improvising solo guitarist who played with an original soul.
I hope to god therell never be another yngwiee, theres nothing special to his music, I can do exactly what he does just by transcribing a paginini solo into noteworthy and increasing the tempo to 300 bmp, ill belittle that hacks "achievements" all i want
'I can do exactly what he does just by transcribing a paginini solo into noteworthy and increasing the tempo to 300 bmp' No you can't, Yngwie pwns you.
'ill belittle that hacks "achievements" all i want ', belittle away, after all, what has yngwie 'achieved' anyway?? You could probably change the course of rock guitar if you wanted too, right?
Hey, hey now.... What Yngwie does is quite far removed from what Lenny did, but let's not belittle Yngwie's achievements, he's an incredible master in his own right, with a style of his own. Like Lenny, he inspired many to imitate him, but there'll never be another Yngwie just like there'll never be another Lenny...
Yngwie Malmsteen* is terribly overrated and is one of those guys who're all about technicality, with no attention paid to the actually aesthetic of it all. i.e. Does it SOUND GOOD?
agreed, I find guys like tal farlow and joe pass boring in comparison, they could do the gymnastics and effortless chord melody soloing but they dont really speak to me like lenny, he was all about musicality
But anybody who listens to Lenny just for his "guitar circus" is missing the point, I think.... There is a lot of depth in his music... I'd say a lot of soul.... "Paris", "My Foolish Heart", "I Love You"... even something as simple as "Five O'Clock Bells"... in the end, Lenny was about musical expression...
...and chord melody is very difficult to master; Lenny improvised in that complicated style, with advanced Bill-Evans-like harmonic ideas... nobody believed it would be possible when Lenny said he wanted to play like Bill; not only did he do it, but one could argue nobody has yet equalled this pinnacle of guitaristic achievement, and maybe never will.
Lenny has never been about technique (although if you can find be another guitarist who can styles and diverse as country, jazz, flamenco, and classical, with the same mastery as Lenny, you're welcome)...
all you guitar nerds ever mention is technique anyways, even though lennies is perfect its his musicality that sets him head and shoulders above all other guitarists
every saturday afternoon in winnipeg we all jammed at the swinging gate across from the CN station on main. lenny, reg ballsillie the owner and bob erlendson on piano, gary peterson and reg kelln on drums dave shaw, jim pyper on bass, lenny and randy bachman on guitars, by the way randy b has a tape of lenny and jim pirie battling jazz guitars at Randomanor . I was there yogi stewart on fb s mom owned the place. I even met lenny in moose jaw i was on the road to sylvan lake to meet pj.
baronor2 1 month ago
come on guys don t u know bach when u hear it. lenny used to play bach in our back studio where he taught, remember Guitarland. burrows and main, jim pirie and al tummon got matching Guild country guitars. we joined the union on the same sunday after his 16th birthday i think that was 1963 so he could play on cbc Saddle Songs. I played intro during his late arrival at the press club in vancouver with bobby stewart on drums. lenny came late looking terrible gave me a hug 2wks late dead.
baronor2 1 month ago
Does anybody know how the tune is called at 0:59 ???
boguitar87 1 month ago
@boguitar87
I don't think it's any particular song, but Lenny's improvisation... (-:
geosochi 1 month ago
i had never heard of this guy untill i dug up an old vinyl record i found in a box given to me for free, the record is titled "guitar sounds from lenny breau" produced in 1969. its gotta be one of the most chill records ive ever listened to, i am now a fan
xxXMusickXx 2 months ago
He's got that Sgt. Pepper era look....
taylorfusion 4 months ago
Didn't look far enough back , but I'm sure it's been mentioned before, how much Gatton echoed Lenny. It's all just music and he just wanted to pull in as many different influences as possible. Describe your playing?! How do you describe stuff like this? If he said magical, he be pegged as arrogant but that's my word.
pr10s 4 months ago
Just think what he could have done had he stayed off drugs. What a wasted talent...never achieved his full potential and should have taken swimming lessons too!
Terry1969ism 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
lenny looks suicidal
bennryan2 7 months ago
lenny looks suicdal
bennryan2 7 months ago
when will they release this footage in a dvd box set with leiner a=notes and pictures top quality...? it would make so much money hes has so many fans
closetome 7 months ago
i am a guitar freak, lenny was simply the best, i think its because he never became famous, he had time to practice and play, mindblowing talent,
vanhalen515084 7 months ago
when i was 13, my guitar teacher took me to see him and dave young at bourbon st. in toronto - the same week they recorded the album, different night tho - amazing to get to soak that in up close. Lenny was a genius and a musical giant, no question
jasminetomcat 7 months ago
oh my..the Tape also loved Lenny Breau so much as to tune-in itself according with what lenny was playin at 00:54 the slowing-up of the Tape creates an interval of 5th between teh F# lenny palyed and the same not lowered by a 5th by the Tape slowing-up (C#) and even more amazingly at 01:03 while lenny plays a G altered chord, the tape suddenldy speeds up of a little amount useful enough to raise the flat fifth of that chord by a semitone giving a nice pedal-steel effect ,!
awfulguitarplucker 7 months ago
where can i buy the full thing??
patfarlow 8 months ago
@patfarlow
i'm afraid to say it's not officially available anywhere yet... to the best of my knowledge
geosochi 8 months ago
I feel very fortunate to actually have the guitar Lenny is playing in this footage! It's a '61 Ramirez with cypress back and sides. I bought it from Gary Binsted's (old friend of Lenny's - read about it in "One Long Song") cousin after he sadly passed away last April.
jeangophile 11 months ago
this guy just blows my mind, i am a guitar freak, and i love lots of players, but lenny is just out of this world, people of the past had newer generation people expand on what they did, but no one has ever expanded from what lenny did, why? just can't be done, what a shame that he is gone
vanhalen515084 1 year ago
Lets interview one of the best guitarists in the world beside a major highway!
TheGreavette 1 year ago 5
Does anyone know what Lenny is doing after the tremolo? It isn't rasgueado; it seems like it is some sort of arpegios from a specific scale using PIA?
gunbir 1 year ago
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gunbir 1 year ago
Perfection. No one is better then Lenny, he represents the highest ideal that any musician can aspire to. These old video's of him playing are priceless.
JoJaDaRu 1 year ago 3
can you buy the whole thing anywhere?
skint0n0minted 1 year ago
what is Lenny playing before "my funny valentine"?
wintermutation 1 year ago
Also he lives in a culture that does not value music as a basic stample of life......like we do in New Orleans.Even Tal states "Little bell things"
AlFrisby 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Cause Jazz doesn't feed it's man..... This kid was OK.... but nothing to be compared with Victor van Kampen..... Remember that name....!
alzhammer1 1 year ago
@alzhammer1
i've seen some video of the guitarist you say. Sorry, he is a good guitarist but Lenny Breau is simply one of the greatest guitarist ever lived
ptose 1 year ago 3
@alzhammer1 Is this a joke?
zabingham 1 year ago
any chance you could upload more ofthis cant find it anywhere:(
evilscotsman1 1 year ago
for him to just whip out funny valentine like that... is incredible! and stop asking questions interviewer!! just let him play!
ehanbameh1 1 year ago
Lenny, how would describe your own music, on what terms?
2:17
Well if I had to say something fast, I have to say "It's just music!"
LOL!
LinkBulletBill 1 year ago
this guy is simply untouchable, of all different styles of music, as time goes on, people improve and come up with new things to make the next generation better than one before, but to this day, people still can't do what lenny did, probably never will either
vanhalen515084 1 year ago 2
I'm a Lenny Breau fanatic, I'm in love with the guy, I started a therapy group for people like me...... Lenny was so hot...I'd be equally honoured if you joined the group and shared some of your personal feelings on Lenny for those who are equally warped and deranged.
TheRealKurtJames 1 year ago
The tremelo at the beginning was flawless. Never heard anyone play it like that.
shadowknight132 1 year ago
@shadowknight132
Yeah yeah yeah... Hope you're joking, cuz I really dont want to explain but it is the audio of the tape...
LinkBulletBill 1 year ago
@LinkBulletBill
No wonder!
shadowknight132 1 year ago
@LinkBulletBill
Because I've seen another video with Lenny doing tremelo and did not sound like this.
shadowknight132 1 year ago
Thats not the only thing he liked to inject into his jazz playin. haha
jackvial 1 year ago
How do you do that .
MrMudclub 1 year ago
He looked a bit like Brandon Flowers at this point.
jon1156 1 year ago
the VA tech football player?
AgentZeroForTheWin 1 year ago
man what lousy cinematography, Lennys playing God itself and the camera man is filming the side of Lennys head!!
mcnowski 1 year ago
guitar from mount olymp!
azharkamal 2 years ago
I just found this guy & DAMN.. He is a master of the instrument, in his own respect. ^5 on the upload.
DiminishedJemStone 2 years ago
Does anyone know the name (if it has one) of that little tremolo picking piece he does before he goes into My Funny Valentine?
zep182 2 years ago
Just improv my friend, learn it by ear.. sounds difficult i know, but it's literally the only way. It's amazing we even have video recording.
canadianRadio 2 years ago
Taranta
AgentZeroForTheWin 1 year ago
i saw him at Ottawa's Le Hibou in 1970 and he was introduced as "Lenny Breau and his 40 magical fingers"
LightSnowOvernight 2 years ago 2
i've loved jazz for flecking years, but never knew of Lenny, really amazing, a true genius.
changed my guiar playing this guy has.
R.I.P Lenny
skint0n0minted 2 years ago
whenever i see a live clip of lenny i dont know what to pay attention to, his left hand or his right. they are both doing such amazing things.
cj1982 2 years ago 2
''kinda like breaking the rules''
dead on.
garrethdavis 2 years ago
Lenny was the best ever. I remember seeing him in clubs when I was a kid. Fantastic!
stevespelling 2 years ago
haha, check the joni mitchell poster in the background at 0:47 ! she can't have been that big in 1968 either
mark1800 2 years ago
she was
zu0832 2 years ago
the song he started with the classical tremolo then went into the A section, is "My Funny Valentine"
sydatesyd 2 years ago
Thanks. but I cannot find a similar guitar version?
acidcasual07 2 years ago
What was the song that he was rudly interuped.
acidcasual07 2 years ago
He was interrupted during "My Funny Valentine".. a popular tune for guitarists in those days.
ercolano77 2 years ago
@acidcasual07
Am I the only one that felt that interruption like being stopped during a sex act?
insaneguitarfreak 1 year ago
@insaneguitarfreak that moment at 2:09 is so inappropriate and so infuriating that it actually makes me laugh at loud !
surementpas 1 year ago
The best of the best!!!
lennybreaugod 2 years ago
What's all this about Lenny Breau and Randy Bachman? Isn't he the guy from Bachman Turner Overdrive the rock band? What does he have to do with Lenny Breau? Sorry I just found out about LB and love him and am trying to learn all I can about him.
uncleblah 2 years ago
Get the book "One long tune" Buy the album "the complete livingroom tapes" and hurry, it is sould outh on amazon.
And welcome.
breaulenny 2 years ago
Comment removed
zonkercousteau 2 years ago
I grew up in Winnipeg and Lenny was a close friend of mine from the time he came to town in 1956 or 1957. We were the same age and hung out all the time when Lenny wasn't on the road or hanging with his girlfriend who he married at 18. I guarantee you that Randy Bachman did not know Lenny except by reputation and never took guitar lessons from him. Their paths did cross much later professionally but Lenny had no relationship with RB except to say hello. RB is winnipeg's bullshit king.
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
I do not beleeve you,,sorry
breaulenny 2 years ago
If you want to believe RB's bs thats your choice but there are many of us who knew LB well at that time and know for a fact that RB did not take lessons from him. RB claims that he played with LB at his mom's house every afternoon. LB didn't live at this moms house when he was 16 nad 17. He lived 15 miles away in St. Vital until he married then moved to west WP. I could give you a 1000 other details. Believe what you want but RB has conned you and a lot of other people. Sorry.
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
I saw your posts on the Young Lenny Breau vid on YT. Are you DH from Higgins? I'm GG's the pianists brother. If it's you contact me. I'd love to catch up after all these years. By the way, Wayne is living on Vancouver Island and has a recording studio. He's semi retired.I saw him about a month ago and he's doing real well.
blindcommisioner 2 years ago
OMG! Is that you Greg? Where are you? Send me a pm here. Let's talk!
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
I do not remember wat it say in "one long tune"? but RB say thet he use to hang around with Lenny all night.
It is very strange thing to do,,lying like that,,hard to belive,,,
breaulenny 2 years ago
RB has lied about all kinds of things. In his bio he claimed that he c0- wrote all Trooper's hits. They sued him and he retracted that claim. He will say anything for self promotion.
I was interviewed for One Long Tune but my interview was not used. But go back and read it again and you'll see that the author never says anything about RB and LB being friends. That might tell you something...
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
I will read it again. Sorry that your interwev was not used. But can tell us abouth it, I sure would like to hear more aboth Lenny Breau.
breaulenny 2 years ago
I don't want to id myself but I was the best friend of someone very, very close to LB and knew him well from about a week after he came to Winnipeg in Dec 1956 to about 1966 and then lost touch. . I was interviewed for OLT but most of what I said was covered by others who were in the book. For a fact Randy B could not have taken lessons from LB for many reasons. He made up the story to promote Guitarchives.
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
Hard to beleve. Sounds far away. But I beleve you:o/
But anyway, RB did a very good thing, releesing some of Lenny´s albums on guitarchives
breaulenny 2 years ago
No doubt that RB has helped raise LB's profile through Guitarchives. But there were more honest ways of doing it. RB just can't stand the idea of not being in spotlight himself.
rolliegyrl2 2 years ago
@rolliegyrl2 OK ONCE AND FOR ALL LETS SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. LENNY S BEST FRIENDS IN WINNIPEG WERE RAY ST GERMAIN WHO BECAME HIS BROTHER IN LAW, REG KELLN HIS DRUMMER, BOB ERLENDSON THE BAND LEADER HE PLAYED FOR IN THE HOUSE BAND AT THE TOWN AND COUNTRY, JIM PIRIE FELLOW GUITARIST WITH DICK SIEBERT AND THE SONS OF THE SADDLE CBC TV SHOW, DAVE SHAW, BASSIST WITH THE LENNY BREAU TRIO REG ON DRUMS AND ME. WE WERE INDUCTED INTO THE UNION ON A SUNDAY AFTER HIS16TH BIRTHDAY, L W
baronor2 1 month ago
Also, Lenny was much older than Bachman. Lenny was already married by the time Bachman was 15. Maybe Lenny gave Randy a few lessons, maybe not. Who cares? He gave lessons to people a whole lot better than Randy.
Sundryandall 3 years ago 3
Man a simple internet search will show you that lenny was born in 41 and bachman in 43, so lenny was only 2 years older, he would have been 17 when bachman was 15, and bachman met lenny because he sought him out after listening to him on sunday night local winnipeg radio. No doubt that Randy learned some stuff from Lenny, listen to his stuff, compared to most of Randy's music that jazz influence comes out of left field.
litesnsirens 3 years ago
Two years difference at that age is much older. Also, Lenny played with his parents 4:30 to 5:00 on weekdays not Sundays. But who cares? The miniscule amount of so-called "jazz" stuff that Bachman claims to have learned from Lenny could have been learned from any source like Lenny's records same as countless other guitarists did. A lot of Lenny's old friends in Winnipeg say Bachman is a bullshit artist. But who cares? There are countless people who play circles around Randy. He's lame.
Sundryandall 3 years ago
awesome!
JesseGuitar07 3 years ago
lenny taught randy bachman how to play guitar...he gave him lessons for 2 years every day after school...both were young teens at the time,in the late 50's...lenny lived a couple houses down from randy growing up
hardrockin70s 3 years ago
What school did you go to. . . .r u shure you are talking about the right lenny. He grew up in auburn maine. his last year of school was in walton
gitteacher 3 years ago
I just finished reading an excellent biography on Lenny called One Long Tune. It said that Lenny dropped out of school at age 14. He was going to Walton High in Auburn at the time. He moved to Winnipeg with his family about two years later where he supposedly met Randy Bachman and showed him some things. Bachman was in school but Lenny wasn't. I've heard a lot of people say that Bachman is bsing and never knew Lenny at all but who knows? Or cares? Anyway, it's a great biography.
Sundryandall 3 years ago
Randy lived in West Kildonan in Winnipeg. Lenny only lived in that neighbourhood for 4 months in early 1958 before moving to the St. Vital area of Winnipeg 15 miles from Kildonan. He and his family moved to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan in July 1959. Lenny never attended school in Winnipeg. He was on the road with his parents at least 4 days a week so could not have given Randy lessons everyday after school. These are indisputable facts stated by his family in the biography of Lenny, One Long Tune.
Sundryandall 3 years ago
About twentyfive years ago oh so he was playing at Dantes in La and only he and the bass player showed up the drummer flaked, and I asked him if I could record him on a casset player and he didnt mind at all no one even missed the drummer. I remember hearing him play and having to try to hold back the tears, ill never forget that night.
benthemiester 3 years ago 2
Check the machine heads on the guitar. This is the Ramirez that he brought back from Spain after his gig in New York. It has violin type tuning pegs drilled straight through. On cold mornings in Winnipeg Lenny would stop halfway home at Guitarland at Burrows and Main 40 below. He would re warm his towel in his guitar case and then head home walking. Some mornings I would get up in the pad I shared with drumme Reg Kelln and find Lenny asleep on the carpet in the front room.
lee myles
baronor2 3 years ago 2
All Ramirez flamenco guitars had violin type pegs on them. Lenny bought this guitar in Edmonton in 1963 and never did go to Spain though he talked about it a lot. He sold his Ramirez in 1972. It was long gone by the time he was living in New York in 1977 and he never owned another Ramirez.
This Ramirez is still owned by the guy he sold it to in Toronto, a well known bass player.
Sundryandall 3 years ago
what is the name of the song he is playing around the one minute mark. i really dig that flamenco picking
GHub99 3 years ago
Genius when it comes to jazz guitar.
111oooo 3 years ago
Neither have I. Chet was a nice guy.
Orsino89 3 years ago
Ive never heard Chet say a bad word about anyone.
znotty 3 years ago
this what happens when u have django & chet atkins DNAS mixed up..
wisesatyr72 3 years ago 2
thnx..
helgaperez 3 years ago
does anyone knows how to strum in a flamengco type? is that a ryt speling of flamengco? corect me if im wrong..
helgaperez 3 years ago
It's spelled flamenco and the strum is called rasgueado. Put it into the search engine and you'll find examples.
bobbygoesbig 3 years ago 5
I think this guy is all about openmindeness and devotion!
linusjazz 3 years ago 11
Long live this man's genius.I mourn his passing often.
sextus 3 years ago 2
I love listening to Lenny Breau. He plays his guitar very beautifully :)
flowerlacie 3 years ago 3
that's right 70's camera work...zoom on his head....
kebbs 3 years ago
kebbs You hit the nail on the head; thats hilarious. If I could count the times over the years camerman have filmed anything, and everything except the guitarists hands I'd be retired!!!; its remarkable; they couldn't all be wasted could they??? mastercollector
MasterCollecter 3 years ago
classical/flamenco is the best training for any guitar style
TheShield04 3 years ago
why would someone do an interview putting the interviewee by a window overlooking a noisy highway?
guitaress1 4 years ago
Does anyone else notice that Lenny Breau & Norm McDonald have similar mannarisms, vocal inflections, and facial expressions? :)
ksmithdc 4 years ago
A true artist and legend. This is the real stuff!
sirena3morena 4 years ago 2
I grew up in Lewiston Maine watching his brother Denny play every weekend. Denny was my Idol. Denny used to tell me Lenny stories on Saturday Mornings at the local music shop where I took lessons and he taught.I was very young and he made me want to be a guitar player. I am forever in debt to Lenny and Denny. Watching this video made me cry. Thanks for putting this up! > Foggy
thedeadvictor 4 years ago
I didnt know he was canadian until i heard his accent
zappatone 4 years ago
Well I agree that the best vision is on now, But too me he have come longer in his musical jurney in "Live at Bourbon ST
breaulenny 4 years ago
breaulenny Bourbon street is the best version of Visions. Other great cd's 69 Dontes, Chanc Meeting with Farlowe(Cherokee),&Complete Living Room tapes(Lennys radio).
MasterCollecter 3 years ago
some of the best on Living room, is Stella By starlight, Emily, and My Foolish heart, My Foolish heart is best on Bourbon St. Also love " I fall in love too easily, on boat of these albums.
Also love Cabin Fever.. No guitarplayer,,mussisian,,have touched my heart like Lenny Breau
breaulenny 3 years ago
breaulenny and for versatility from Completre Living Room Tapes how about Lennys Radio???
MasterCollecter 3 years ago
Lenys Radio is wonderfull,, and so are so many others of Lennys performances.
I do not have 69 Dontes, because some say it has so bad sound qualety.
breaulenny 3 years ago
clarinet player brad terry recorded living room tapes (in his living room) on a 1/4" revox. i did the transfer/remix from the revox analog to a digital DAT. (i'm the guy who turned the raw tapes into mixed individual tracks) this was sent to the Jazz Heritage Society who issued records 1 & 2. they never credited me properly, listed as assistant or nobody or something. i still cringe at the sound of DAT. it was all we had in the early analog to digital change-over. any mix complaints...
Joeey 3 years ago
"I've heard this album. It's the best Lenny Breau ever recorded.
Chet Atkins"
Thanks Chet!
Joeey 3 years ago
this nine pound hammer..is a little bit heavy.. for my size.. honey for my size.... its a long way to harlem.. its a long way to heather...
Joeey 3 years ago 2
that's '...a long way to Harlan, it's a long way to Hazard'. As in Harlan county and Hazard city, both in Kentucky.
pekoe67 3 years ago
No Lenny Breau ...Now is way better
Visions and Pams Pad no comparison
YragQuillo 3 years ago
what counts is if their influence lasts..do players follow their lead.
646879 4 years ago
WOW
toratora5 4 years ago
Lenny is kind of a mystery to me. He was probably best at what did. Famous guitar artists have openly noted that he was the best yet at some point he was living with his parents and scraping up change here and there, in his prime no less. So why does a man with great, popular artists taking note of him wind up broke.
mbp7060 4 years ago
Most people would say the drugs ruined his career and life.
I think that's the biggest reason, but I also think it's a coincidence of many unfortunate events... not least of which is the fact that in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s - the years of Lenny's career - jazz was extremely unpopular and unprofitable.
geosochi 4 years ago 2
He was too far ahead of his time, very sensitive, had drug problem, bad luck with women, no promotional skills, etc ...
YragQuillo 4 years ago 2
real art and artist are generally exploited by the big money machine known as capitalism. There isn't really anyplace for the authentic artist in the so called free world!
31041955 4 years ago
lenny was a great influence on me. his c ascading harmonics were one of the fundamental techniques i transfered in real notes to the 9string. michael coppola
hydraman 4 years ago
Wow I've heard of you Mike, you played on wpkn once,you certainly got the Lenny technique down but more importantly you have you own thing on top of it.Best to you.
urheadonastick 3 years ago
its not how many records you sell God I hate that arguement.. I think Michael Jackson or meatloaf sold quite a few too..
jmcljazz 4 years ago
there are great geniuses in every genre of guitar, but lenny transcended genre.
omnidrone 4 years ago
Indeed! Well said.
geosochi 4 years ago
Chet Atkins and Lenny B have expanded my horizons. I used to be satisfied with Reggae and Heavy Metal. But now I need to go find a thumb pick and earn my way up to a sexy Gretsch. Wow. Some kill skills, here.
bongrocker 4 years ago
Same here..i spent years thinking all those 80's shredder guys were the s. They are like junk food, this stuff is like a real meal.
I even took a interest in hot country. Love it! Been watching/listening to scotty anderson(holy s!0 and danny gatton lately. feels like i have been wasting my time with the guitar all these years:(
jhinson411 4 years ago
Lenny was the rarest talent, a virtuoso who also played with more heart and soul than anyone ive ever heard.
autx 4 years ago
Where I live my dad's neighbor was a member of Lenny's parents band Lenny played in it to when he got older.
But as for his sound and style, it's good... I hear it all the time at home 'cause my hubby can play his stuff! Ever in Northern Maine or N.B. you'll hear some that can... Not many though :)
staylor207 4 years ago
lenny was caanadian he wa sborn in maine becuz he folks traveled ina band he grew up in Canada called himself canadian and was raised in winnipeg Canada
jmcljazz 4 years ago
great post man i've been looking for something like this
thanks
pickersparadise 4 years ago
For myself i find Velvet touch my favorite album..
kevinyoung00 4 years ago
Indeed, I think it's a big favorite with most Lenny fans. Recorded a short time after this documentary was made, I believe.
geosochi 4 years ago
Hahaha, he looks like the guy that started the church of Satan! Anton LeVey or something like that!
pavoloco 5 years ago
Anyone have the chords or tabs for Lenny's "Five O'Clock Bells"? I love that tune!
LudgerSylbaris 5 years ago
For "5 O'Clock Bells" see the book:
"Lenny Breau - Fingerstyle Jazz" from Mel Bay
10aaa 5 years ago
Thank you kindly!
LudgerSylbaris 4 years ago
To anyone trying to tanscribe this Lenny has tuned the low E to F# and the A string to B.
lindseyblair 5 years ago
He has a capo on the 2nd fret. If you look closely you can see it. It's a classical style capo.
coreybrouwer 4 years ago
My teacher was great friends with him so I have tons of stories but here's my favorite: they were jamming one day and Lenny asks him if he had heard Chet's new album In Three Dimensions. Bobby says he had, Lenny then says that he's transcribed most of it but can't seem to figure out some of the parts. Then as he's showing him, he starts playing the bass lines with his nose! He managed to play a track which Chet had obviously overdubbed with three guitar tracks.
joeldoucet 5 years ago
I heard the same thing from one of my instructors. Lenny's talent and work ethic sure humbles a person. To bad drugs took such hold of his life.
indagdnm 5 years ago
who was/is your teacher..jim
jmcljazz 4 years ago
I think he WAS the greatest guitarist ever to live in every sense of the word, without a doubt. He copied a lot of Tal Farlow licks note for note and I think that sort of discredited him as a serious jazz player early on but I couldn't care less after hearing some of his own ideas.
joeldoucet 5 years ago
I have some 8mm film of Lenny playing in a Maine club from sometime in the seventies. How do I get an 8mm film on You Tube?
carltonprogue 5 years ago
You should project it and film the projection with a digital camera.
YOUYOU47 4 years ago
o and btw its easy to sit in a room practicing sweeps and scales 24/7 a day and impress people but your just a wiener guitar isn't a competion lenny could play wtv he heard in his head on the spot and make it sound beautiful which is one of the highest points a musician can reach RIP lenny
7witch 5 years ago
Im tired of u ppl commenting on stuff u have no idea wtf ur talking bout musically lenny breau is light years ahead of malmsteem (technically and musically) hes mastered harmonics playing 2 parts at once etc hes done things nobody ever imagine could be done on a guitar
7witch 5 years ago
Cheers indeed...
FUCK the hacks ---> Bachman ect
English2Elvish 5 years ago
What a tragic story. Thankfully, we are able to enjoy Lenny's art through videos and recordings.
sprechstimme 5 years ago
incredible.
portersaurus 5 years ago
You're welcome.
geosochi 5 years ago
Thank you Geoschi for this wonderful footage. Too bad that sirmagoo111 cannot apreciate. This is the era that I remember Lenny the best...when he was appearing regularily on the C.B.C. every wednesday afternoon on Music Hop. He was the staff guitar player for Ray St. Germain. very cool memories of a fantastic guitar player...thank you
eightstring 5 years ago
unbelievable considering the time and where this guy came from. A real genius such a waste that he died so young
isi2isi 5 years ago
hahahhaa.... :D
geosochi 5 years ago
How can someone dare to compare Lenny Breau, a man who had the potential of becoming arguably the best guitarrist ever to live, with "Yawn"gie Malmsteen?! Also, There´s no way one could be related to the other. This is wrong, just wrong...
AdrianoInacio 5 years ago
Well it was his first official recording then.... "The Hallmark Sessions" had been recorded several years prior (when Lenny was 19), but it was nothing more than a "demo tape" until it was released a few years ago as an official Lenny album...
geosochi 5 years ago
This wasn't his first record. It was a little earlier than 68. Name escapes me but I'll dig it out if anyone is interested.
chetplayerwhoknows 5 years ago
Lenny was on several recordings before Guitar Sounds including No one in this World is Like Don Francks released in 1963. Guitar Sounds was his first as leader.
Anyone interested in Lenny should read Ron Robert's book One Long Tune. I was talking to Lenny's brother Denny the other day and we both agreed it's a fantastic book.
amosgarret 5 years ago
the only thing wrong with this video is that it ends...
jimmyp37 5 years ago
More than anyone else, Lenny really did have his own concept of how to play and improvise while playing solo guitar. His "feel" was also all his own and can not be pigeon-holed as Jazz, Country, or Classical. He was an amazing improvising solo guitarist who played with an original soul.
jason8string 5 years ago
Ill take the MUSICALITY of Lenny Breau over the ponderous, excessive, and self-indulgent "technical virtuosity" of Yingy any day
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
I must have misunderstood your previous comments, Sorry about that chief!
kennydorham65 5 years ago
oh yeah, rock guitars in great shape today, thank god for yngwiee and his eurotrash neoclassical repetitive bullshit
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
I hope to god therell never be another yngwiee, theres nothing special to his music, I can do exactly what he does just by transcribing a paginini solo into noteworthy and increasing the tempo to 300 bmp, ill belittle that hacks "achievements" all i want
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
'I can do exactly what he does just by transcribing a paginini solo into noteworthy and increasing the tempo to 300 bmp' No you can't, Yngwie pwns you.
'ill belittle that hacks "achievements" all i want ', belittle away, after all, what has yngwie 'achieved' anyway?? You could probably change the course of rock guitar if you wanted too, right?
gusmactavish 5 years ago
Hey, hey now.... What Yngwie does is quite far removed from what Lenny did, but let's not belittle Yngwie's achievements, he's an incredible master in his own right, with a style of his own. Like Lenny, he inspired many to imitate him, but there'll never be another Yngwie just like there'll never be another Lenny...
End of story!
geosochi 5 years ago
exactly, I cant imagine anyone other that a guitar geek enjoying malmsteems music, but anyone can listen to lennies music and enjoy it
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
Yngwie Malmsteen* is terribly overrated and is one of those guys who're all about technicality, with no attention paid to the actually aesthetic of it all. i.e. Does it SOUND GOOD?
Philfa 5 years ago
Incredible footage.
jdykerman 5 years ago
agreed, I find guys like tal farlow and joe pass boring in comparison, they could do the gymnastics and effortless chord melody soloing but they dont really speak to me like lenny, he was all about musicality
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
But anybody who listens to Lenny just for his "guitar circus" is missing the point, I think.... There is a lot of depth in his music... I'd say a lot of soul.... "Paris", "My Foolish Heart", "I Love You"... even something as simple as "Five O'Clock Bells"... in the end, Lenny was about musical expression...
geosochi 5 years ago
...and chord melody is very difficult to master; Lenny improvised in that complicated style, with advanced Bill-Evans-like harmonic ideas... nobody believed it would be possible when Lenny said he wanted to play like Bill; not only did he do it, but one could argue nobody has yet equalled this pinnacle of guitaristic achievement, and maybe never will.
geosochi 5 years ago
Lenny has never been about technique (although if you can find be another guitarist who can styles and diverse as country, jazz, flamenco, and classical, with the same mastery as Lenny, you're welcome)...
geosochi 5 years ago
all you guitar nerds ever mention is technique anyways, even though lennies is perfect its his musicality that sets him head and shoulders above all other guitarists
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
i posted that as a joke , if you genuinely think hes overrated you are a fucking moron
sirmgoo111 5 years ago
Oops, didn't scroll down before posting that last comment.
gake 5 years ago