'The October (2011) issue of Vintage Guitar includes a piece on guitar legend Albert Lee by Dan Forte called, 'Albert Lee: The Gypsy Spirit of a Country-Guitar Hero'. The interview is loaded with gems from Lee, like this one about how he developed his guitar style, below.
After listing off Buddy Holly, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup and a few others, Lee says, 'Of course, I have to go back to James Burton. When I first heard him, I thought, 'How the hell is he doing this?' I had no idea people were using an unwound third. It wasn't until Eddie Cochran said, 'Oh yeah, buy tow first strings or a really light banjo string, put it on the top, put the first string where the second string should be, and so on, and throw away the bottom string.'
So after buying a Telecaster, Lee says, he 'put an unwound third on it, and from there on I was playing the other styles that I'd heard, and I was able to instantly capture that James Burton sound.'
The lengthy piece also includes the 'best of ' Lee's guitar collection, which features the 1953 Fender Telecaster that served as his trademark guitar for many years.'
'I always wanted a maple-neck Tele, and you couldn't find them in England,' he explains. 'So on my first trip to LA – this still goes on –these guitar dealers found out where the band was staying and showed up at the hotel with a couple of guitars in their trunk. This guy had a couple of Teles and I fell in love with this '53 he had. It didn't have any finish on it'.
The guitar is autographed by the Crickets, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jesse Ed Davis, Chet and James Burton, Eric Johnson, Jimmy Bryant and many more.
The article also mentions a Fender '59 Jazzmaster with a gold anodized pick guard, which was a gift from Joe Cocker.
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Another article worth reading:
Dan Forte also wrote this about Albert Lee which I think most fans would definately agree with Vintage Guitar March 1 2005
'Being an Albert Lee fan can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. Because, even though he’s invariably busy, touring behind somebody or playing on someone’s record, his jam-packed schedule doesn’t allow much time for him to pursue his own solo career. His self-titled 1982 album (produced by Rodney Crowell) is a classic, and his two all-instrumental projects for MCA (Speechless and Gagged But Not Bound, in 1986 and ’…
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And yet another interview - by Willie G. Moseley
Posted On: 16 May 2001 This interview originally appeared in VG's March and April '99 issues. I'm posting the link below as the interview is copyright protected.
"Albert Lee English Country Gentleman"
