Larry Lee (musician)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Larry Lee" musician – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Lawrence H. "Larry" Lee, Jr. (March 7, 1943 – October 30, 2007) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee, best known for his work with Al Green and Jimi Hendrix.

Gypsy Sun and Rainbows

Lee was an old friend of

After Woodstock, Gypsy Sun and Rainbows then played at the Harlem "United Block" benefit and at the small "Salvation" club in Greenwich Village to a mixed reception.^{[citation needed]} Lee then left the band and returned to his hometown Memphis, later stating that Hendrix was under heavy pressure from his management to return to the three-piece format of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and he felt his departure would take some of the heat off Hendrix.^[1]

Al Green years

During the 1970s, Lee acted as the band director and lead guitarist for Al Green's touring band. He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and television specials around the world with Green. Lee also was a songwriter and wrote for Stax Records early recording artists, the Astors. "Judy", a song he wrote during his days playing with Hendrix in Nashville was covered by Al Green and the Spidells. Lee briefly traveled with blues great Albert King. He said King fired him because his playing overshadowed King's.

In the 1980s and 90s, Lee teamed with his friend, El Espada, Timothy Lee Matthews, and they collaborated on Matthews' CD Songs for the Greats. Matthews, co-writer of the classic blues song "Breaking Up Somebody's Home", called Lee the consummate sideman. Lee's distinctive complementary rhythm and lead style can be heard on nine of the eleven songs on Matthews' CD.

Larry Lee lived in Memphis, Tennessee and played in the regional rock/blues/R&B outfit Elmo and the Shades. Lee was a member of Elmo and the Shades for eight years. The band enjoyed much popularity during this time playing nightclubs, casinos, parties, and occasional blues festivals throughout Memphis and the Mid-South. Lee is featured on three cuts on the 2009 CD by Elmo and The Shades, Blue Memphis. They are "Same Old Dog", "I Get the Blues for Free", and the title cut "Blue Memphis". Lee took his leave from the group in August 2006 as his battle with cancer left him too weak to perform.

Lee also joined in with Mike Strickland and the Usual Unusual Clowns at random intervals.

Death

Larry Lee died in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 29, 2007, after a year battling stomach cancer, and was buried at 11 a.m. on November 6 in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. He left wife Carrie Lee, daughter April D. Lee and three sons - Lawrence H. Lee III, Robert A. Lee, and Thomas Lee. He was also survived by his mother, Lula Lee, and five grandchildren.

Selective discography

with Jimi Hendrix

• Nine to the Universe (1980)
• Woodstock (1994)
• Live at Woodstock (1999)

with Al Green

• I'll Rise Again (1983)

with Timothy Lee Matthews

• Songs For The Greats (1998) ft. on track 4 "What Did She Say"

with Elmo and the Shades

• Blue Memphis (2009)

References