Jeff Lang - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

[bluesgrunt]

do you know how much he is pushin past the hurt, of the strumming pain, from playing like that with no pick, i've done it. you get blood blisters. all for the love of playing . you just get so into it you dont care and put the pain aside .

[sixstringedthing]

More Jeff Lang brilliance. Many thanks to the poster for this.

I really need to go see him live for the fifth or sixth time.

An impeccable player, who really "feels it", and a genuinely nice bloke too.

Also impressed with how far he's come musically, vocally and as a songwriter, since the early days.

[spudbeau]

Jeff Lang.s from Geelong in Victoria. I first saw him at a hotel in Horsham I reckon about 16 years ago. Playing blues and some wicked slide and tapping on a board. Saw him at the Corner Hotel in Richmond with Chris Wilson. Brilliant together. Check him out with Hatz Fitz

[ttocsify]

i'd not heard of this guy.incredible!

[plonker00765]

really unusual style but bloody enjoyable.

[AZRacer2000]

Wow! What a great song! Thanks for posting!

[jake6644]

I know how many freakin' amazing nuances this song has, harmonic bending, soloing, vocals etc etc etc but i really dig the little part just after 4:53 with that single deadening of the strings. so cool. jeff is arguably my biggest idol when it comes to music and he is so approachable and easy to get in touch with... it's fantastic!

[Scored51]

Awesome! But I hope someone in the last few years has corrected Jeff with the lyrics. It's "Beezers, Triumphs, and Nortons won't do" not "Nortons, Indians, and Greezers"... . The term "Beezer" is period slang for BSA motorcycles making all four bike references in the song British makes. Kinda makes sense for a songwriter born in London in the 1940's, eh?

[DaemonWulf]

@Scored51 actually, the lyrics were originally "now Nortons and Indians and Greaves' won't do, they don;t have a soul like a Vincent '52", Greaves (or Greeves) being another motorbike manufacturer at the time. They were also British. At some point (probably to better relate to an audience unfamiliar with older bikes) he began singin "Nortons and Beezers and Triumphs", but as a diehard Triumph man (with tattoo to show for it) I'm sticking with the original lyrics.

[alteredslinki]

Man I play without a pick almost always but to play that hard would destroy my fingers!!! Sweet action!

[sadvampire222]

he is one of the true great song writers - and this song my friends - is one of his best...

[GibsonHummingbird]

Huge RT fan here . Excellent version, nice guitar. The backing singer with head-dress lack a little passion though.

[YSBCITTAR]

Could this song get any cooler, Jeff rulz..

[Mickyfyn]

Feckin' great version fella!!

[senseihitokiri]

Feels like an exercise in guitar and less of an expression of the song. Jeff Lang is an incredible player, but I think he pulled the emotion right out of the song with this version. Just my opinion though. As this is my first introduction to him I can't make a stance on his entire body of work, just specifically this song. Well done on the harmonics bend though, didn't expect that at all lol.

[nickyboydevon]

Saw Jeff play last night in Topsha, Devon, UK - amazing!!!!!

[nickyboydevon]

saw Jeff play last night in Topsham, Devon, England .......amazing...... check out his website ....he plays all over the world ......best gig I've been to in years!

[blakemetal]

Seriously folks, I live in Tennessee and I've been lucky enough to see this guy four times. His lap steel is INSANE and he puts distortion with a P90 pickup on a brass body National copy,...un...be...lieveable.

[Mouldytone]

Thanks for your comments blakemetal. I live in Australia and haven`t seen him once!

I agree with your thoughts re lap steel. There are a lot of good lap steel players out there but I haven`t seen anyone better than Jeff.

[rjthmson110253]

@blakemetal I'm beginning to suspect there may be two Jeff Langs, both of whom play a pretty mean slide guitar

[blakemetal]

@rjthmson110253 Oh Yea?

[rjthmson110253]

@blakemetal Oh no. I was mistaken. It's the same JL

[oscarfish38]

@blakemetal yup i can agree with that.



[usmcpitboy]

He can play the hell out of that guitar! Wow.

[tottenhamjake]

A great song taken to new ground. Wonderful version Jeff.

[TheFunxtr]

Hey Jeff ... This version is INCREDIBLE! The energy is phenomenal! Good Job!

[mattywise]

Bending those harmonics is so rad.

[analyzingfunny]

pretty good

[conspiracyofsilence]

posted underthe influence (PUI)

[mlmcin05]

amazing instumenting aside, Jeff has a beautiful voice. it's clean and he enunciates excellently.

[conspiracyofsilence]

Jeff, jjJEFF, Woombye..everytime, man..everytime...man...check that Vincent and if the HATFITZ rocks it...man....you straight out are a freak of freaks ...peace

[rob1927blues]

Fucking Mint!!!!!!

[wankerj]

Jeff, come back to the Philly Folk Fest and blow our minds again.

[jaymar11]

Gotta be the best motorcycle song ever written. I dont mind either RT or JL playing it. It just sends shivers for me, as I used to date a red headed girl, who loved my bike.

Peace.

[jjk717]

Great guitar playing and I don't mind the tempo - I've actually seen RT play it faster than this himself! Not crazy about his voice though...

[dannyozzman]

Watched this clip a million times, never tire of this awesome version of such a great song. Go Jeff!

[maton1982]

spoke to Jeff about this song at a gig in Geelong and he said he doesn't play it live anymore cause it's one of Richard's most well known. but i think it's a pretty nice version

[RJcur]

@maton1982

He said the same thing in Jersey when my mrs asked him to play it.

[joeysheehan]

great cover of a great song!

[sandy2wheels]

Haven't seen Jeff play live in years - all back on the East Coast, first at Borders in Albany, NY, then at Falcon Ridge music festival, NY.

Fabulous!

[SpikeX21]

You can tell Jeff's completely taken this song apart to figure out how it works, then put it back together in his own way. Bit fast in places, though - Jeff does have a bad habit of that at times. He is a brilliant guitarist, though.

[six6to8eight]

@SpikeX21 Couldn't agree with you more. He really has made this cover his own. Definitely know what you mean about how he rushes things. It's hard to admit fault in a guitarist you truly idolize, but this is probably the only bad thing to say about Jeff (and even then, it's kinda just part of his style!). In my opinion, no one does acoustic guitar better. Tommy Emmanuel's a close second (or first? who can even say...), but it's so hard to compare them and hardly worth trying, Just my 2¢!

[tilly15773]

lovely moment at 3min 50 - lovely harmonic -

a bit of a wild version in oits way but its v interesting - yer man can play!

cheers for posting

[TheBuskingMan]

please.. does any1 know waht tuning this is in?

[Spungeur]

open D capo sur la 7e fret,

ou

open E capo sur la 5e fret.

[aidan106]

great musician :D

[NihonNick]

Great! I've been looking a live version of this since some person (who shall remain nameless.... for now) broke my Disturbed Folk Vol.2 CD. It's out of print, so I am annoyed, as you can imagine.

But this is just as good, perhaps better.....

Great stuff!

[vaughnstewart]

Just awesome. Jeff lang sings this better than anyone else. I think this is a live clip from thebasement in Australia.  They have other great clips - including one from steve poltz singing "you were meant for me".

[ultratoast]

This is a beautiful version. I love it. Lang is an incredible guitar player and he has a really distinctive voice.

[thebluesman2]

Nice version but you cant sing about a Great British motorbike in a ozzy accent

[thejunkyardbear]

the version i think did the original justice

[Alfietheok]

Nice guitar work - shame about the voice.

[jjpalomino]

I gotta say, I wasn't sold at first. The raping of the guitar seemed a bit extreme. But as his performance went on, he let more of his real talent out. Now I feel that this is the only cover version that shows the spirit of the original.

[mickenoss]

Got to admit the accent and 'raping of the guitar' did put me off at first, but from all the covers on youtube it's probably the best one.

Can see he loves the original and wants to do it justice, and he does.

[flabbysteve]

Why would the accent put you off? As for the guitar being "raped" . . . . .

[shattercones]

Dislocation Blues with the late Great Chris Whitley.Great album.

[kookofor96]

Now Langs and Kellys and McCourys won't do

cause they don't have the soul of Thompson's "52".

[auto4union]

Nice quote nate!This cover was much better than the other two.Maybe trying a bit hard though!Do you think any of these people have ever even seen a Vincent?Yanks are Harley freaks and they might get the concept of a bike that can go round corners!

[kookofor96]

Faster may be better when it comes to motorcycles; but its not necessarily so when it comes to guitar playing. I've only seen pictures of Vincents myself. Seems like most of the yanks on Harleys are geezers trying to relive their youth.

[VincentLightningMC]

Kookofor96...I still have my Black lightning..and of course my favorite song and artist is Richard Thompson.. I ama "yank" and despise Harleys and have always preferred British Bikes... You are right on about Doctors, Lawyers and such crowding the Hiways on Tricked out Harleys on the weekends.. we call em "Rubes" (rich urban bikers?...

[kookofor96]

Yeah, reminds me of the definition of "gilding the lily" - To make superfluous additions to what is already complete - That doesn't just go for trying to remake an already perfect song; it also goes for trying to relive youth by buying all the toys (or Harleys) one couldn't afford then.

[3degreesflip]

What a fantastic cover! Jeff Lang is a very accomplished guitar palyer - where have they been hiding him? I will have to check out more of his stuff.

[ArchDick]

Jeff Lang on a Churchill guitar..."my favourite aural colour scheme".