Larry Lee

"For the football player of the same name see Larry Lee (football player)."

Larry Lee was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his work with Al Green and Jimi Hendrix.

Gypsy Sun and Rainbows

Lee was an old friend of Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox, they had all played together in various R&B acts, and in 1969 he joined Hendrix's new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows as rhythm guitarist, occasionally playing alternating lead. The newly formed band was hired to play the Woodstock Music Festival for which Hendrix had been previously booked to play as the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Lee had only been back from the Vietnam war for two weeks, was unemployed when Hendrix called him and had only joined Gypsy Sun and Rainbows a week before the Woodstock concert. At the concert Hendrix and Lee both wore white outfits and exotic headgear was much in evidence, Lee wore a distinctive green bandana that had long tassles hanging over his eyes, which at the time he thought was a statement of originality as he explains in the Woodstock DVD, whereas Bily Cox wore a multi coloured turban and Hendrix a bright pink bandana and large shining ear studs. Lee played a Gibson Les Paul guitar and sang his own composition 'Master Mind' as well as two Impressions numbers sung as a medley - 'Gypsy Woman' and 'Aware of Love', with Hendrix playing Curtis Mayfield style back up, he also took several solos and played some alternating lead ("weaving") with Hendrix (mostly edited from the official releases as is most of the percussion, which prevents the casual listener from appreciating the true sound of this group. [listen to complete (bootleg) recordings of the show] . After Woodstock these "hired guns" briefly continued to help Hendrix develop his new style, which included the first of his classic, new "message" songs, in which Hendrix attempted to communicate his complex philosophy towards the current Vietnam war and human relationships in general: Machine Gun, Message to Love and Izabella. This group then played at the Harlem, 'United Block' benefit and later performed at the small 'Salvation' club in Greenwich Village to a mixed reception. Lee, Velez and Sultan then went off to pursue their briefly interrupted careers, Sultan later played occasional sessions for Hendrix.

Al Green years

During the seventies, Lee acted as the band director and lead guitarist for Al Green's touring band. He appeared on the Johnny Carson Show 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 eighties through the nineties, he teamed with his friend, 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 lived in Memphis, TN and for the last several years played in a local rock/blues outfit named "Elmo & the Shades". He also joined in with Mike Strickland and the Usual Unusual Clowns at random intervals. He 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.

elective discography

*Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock (recorded 1969, released 1994)
*Jimi Hendrix First Rays of the New Rising Sun
*Jimi Hendrix South Saturn Delta (released 1997)
*The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box Set) (released 2000)
*Al Green "I'll Rise Again" (1983)

References