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MYSTERIOUS: Albert lee - You Need To See This

“On a couple of gigs we had Eddie Van Halen playing with us. He said, ‘I can't play on that!’ I said, ‘Yes, you can!’” Albert Lee is the legendary British picker who found his home in country music – and made guitar heroes quake in their boots

The icon of rock and country guitar tells all: what it was like performing alongside Eric Clapton and George Harrison, how he inspired Jimmy Page and why he hates distortion

Guitar World

“He fired the whole band at the end of that tour, and I managed to survive”: Albert Lee on his time as Eric Clapton’s sideman

Lee was Clapton’s right-hand man for five years and was part of Slowhand’s legendary live album Just One Night, recorded in Tokyo

Guitar World

“If James Burton recorded that song one more time, it would not have sounded the same. They caught lightning in a bottle”: An all-star guitar panel choose their Telecaster Mount Rushmore – its greatest players, their greatest tracks

Pros pick their favorite Tele riffs and solos and decide who should be carved into that massive “Telecaster Mount Rushmore” that exists only in our deranged minds

Guitar World

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Albert Lee reveals the guitar technique Eddie Van Halen was reluctant to try: “He said, ‘I can’t play on that!’ I said, ‘Yes, you can – you can do all that tapping!’”

Lee looks back on his days in one of guitar’s all-time greatest secret supergroups

Guitar World

“Look at AC/DC. Whatever was popular, it didn’t matter. It’s like McDonald’s. ‘We make the Big Mac and we make fries and we don’t care about doing sushi’”: Zakk Wylde on musical identity, jailhouse rocking with Ozzy and the return of Black Label Society

The maestro of the pinched harmonic and pentatonic blitzkrieg sits in to talk Engines Of Demolition, Randy Rhoads' greatness, and the origin of his style

MusicRadar

“Legend has it that, while recording, Clarence said, ‘Hey, I need another finger to play this chord!’” Charlie Starr on the origins of the B-Bender – and how you can play those licks without one

No B-Bender, no problem, as the Blackberry Smoke frontman shows us 9 licks for that faux pedal-steel sound

Guitar World

“The last text I got from Oz said, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you. Thanks for everything’”: Zakk Wylde looks back on his closer-than-close relationship with Ozzy Osbourne, and their final moments together onstage

Wylde was the Black Sabbath icon's guitarist and friend for decades. He reflects on his instant connection with the Prince of Darkness, how their relationship evolved both on and offstage, and that emotional final show at Back to the Beginning

Guitar World

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“Iasked Eric, ‘Can I play them?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, ofcourse.’ So he went home and I had full licence to play his guitars”: Stephen Dale Petit on break-ups, cancer, Eric Clapton and why the original “blues hooligan” is no gun-for-hire

Grave illness and a broken heart have tested Stephen Dale Petit – but the bluesman tells us that completing his Clapton-bolstered masterpiece, Be The Love, is all that matters

Guitar World

“The last text I got from Oz said, ‘Zakky, sorry, it was like a madhouse back there. I didn’t see you. Thanks for everything’”: Zakk Wylde looks back on his closer-than-close relationship with Ozzy Osbourne, and their final moments together onstage

Guitar World

“It took me a few years to figure out that if you’re going to play Fender guitars, you play with Fender amps”: Ryan Hedgecock stuck to his own creative path, even when Lone Justice were torn apart

The country crossover pioneer’s desire to explore the “indigenous sound of LA” has never left him – and it’s bringing about a full-circle moment as he reactivates Parlor James and plans a hardcore cowpunk solo record

Guitar World

“He was opening for Bobby Darin and the audience were going, ‘We want Duane! We want Duane!’ Poor Bobby was backstage, almost in tears. From there on, Duane finished the show”: Albert Lee, Joe Bonamassa and Vince Gill on the life and legacy of Duane Eddy

He was the most successful instrumentalist of the rock age. We went along to last month’s all-star Nashville tribute show to learn first-hand about the Titan of Twang – from those who were inspired by him and those who were there

Guitar World

“Over the past three decades, his partnership with Martin has produced some of the most sought-after signature guitars in the company’s history”: Martin recreates Eric Clapton’s MTV Unplugged acoustic for limited edition anniversary run

These two versions of Slowhand's pre-war 1939 acoustic were announced on his 80th birthday and celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first signature Martin

MusicRadar

“From Paul Kossoff to Eric and then to John Lennon and George Harrison”: Albert Lee reveals the history of his ’58 Les Paul Custom

Gibson calls its replica the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom, but Clapton is only one of the stars to have owned and played this storied guitar

Guitar World

Tom Jones, 10cc and Gary Barlow among new additions to Hampton Court Palace Festival 2025

Sir Tom Jones, 10cc and Gary Barlow join previously confirmed headliners Chaka Khan, James, Rag‘n’Bone Man, Bananarama and Elbow.

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MusicRadar

“Your opportunity to own a piece of music history that is directly tied to two of the world’s foremost guitarists”: Gibson unveils Murphy Lab replica of Eric Clapton’s “Disraeli Gears” 1958 Les Paul Custom that he later gifted to Albert Lee

The Cream of the crop for collectors, this forensic reproduction ships with a second pickguard signed by Slowhand and Lee, a custom Duck Brothers case and a lot of mojo

Guitar World

“I said, ‘I used to have a Les Paul Custom and I sold it like an idiot.’ Eric said, ‘Oh, I have one of those at home somewhere…’” Gibson unveils the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom – a recreation of the Disraeli Gears LP that now belongs to Albert Lee

The Murphy Lab-aged LP faithfully recreates the original model, but Clapton has added a few personal modifications to the reissue

Guitar World

“We’d play at the Palomino under some weird name – we’d just show up, so nobody would know. By halfway through the set, the place was jam-packed”: Steve Lukather on his secret supergroup with Eddie Van Halen, Albert Lee and Steve Morse

In a recent chat with Rick Beato, Luke tells the story of his all-star jam band based around a group of Ernie Ball Music Man players

Guitar World

“When I joined, Ozzy told me I'd often hear people scream out Randy's name during a show”: Zakk Wylde discusses Ozzy Osbourne's hard-and-fast guitar rules, and the friendly shadows of Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee, in his first Guitar World interview

Not long into his dream gig, Wylde sat down with GW for a chat about his favorite guitarists of the era, and what Ozzy discouraged him from doing on the guitar

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Louder

"We weren’t fiddling around and wondering what to do, we were going to nail this sucker": Steve Howe names the best record he's ever made

Yes guitarist Steve Howe picks his records, artists and gigs of lasting significance

MusicRadar

“What you’re about to play should be influenced by what you just played”: 5 tips for better solos and cover versions by master guitarist Greg Koch

He says: “The main things I work on are vibrato, bends and phrasing”

Guitar World

"My first guitar was a beat-up flamenco-style acoustic that my grandmother had in her closet": Slash, Jimmy Page and more remember the guitars that set them on the path to six-string immortality

We dive into some of our classic interviews to rediscover the stories of how famous players got started - featuring Slash, Jimmy Page, Stone Gossard, Albert Lee and more

Guitar World

Build a whole new lickbag with our country-blues masterclass – featuring licks inspired by Dickey Betts, Albert Lee, and Brent Mason

Learn how you can mix major and minor pentatonics, and add extra notes to give your solos a wide open space to roam in, with this deep dive into country-blues guitar

Guitar World

“When I recorded with Jason Becker, he was still able to speak… he articulated exactly what he wanted, down to every pinch harmonic, vibrato and out-of-tune note”: Shrapnel veteran Michael Lee Firkins reflects on the final days of shred

The former Shrapnel star discusses bringing bluesgrass to shred, working with the great Jason Becker and his pivotal role in establishing the Yamaha Pacifica

Louder

Graham Gouldman announces new solo album I Have Notes to be released in July

10cc man Graham Gouldman enlists Brian May, Ringo Starr, Hank Marvin, Albert Lee and more for I Have Notes

Guitar World

5 ways to improve your major pentatonic licks

Inspired by the great Albert Lee, this lesson takes another pass at the major pentatonic and offers some practical approaches to make it shine in your playing

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