Shawn Lane the ultimate guitar hero

Shawn Lane, as far as I'm concerned, is the ultimate guitar hero. My goal when I decided to write a series of columns on Memphis music and musicians was to educate the reader on the Memphis sound and the excellent musicians that created and maintain it. I thought if I could just reach one person with each article and give them a better understanding and appreciation of the Memphis sound it would be well worth my time.

With this article on Shawn Lane I have already reached that person and given him a better understanding of Shawn’s talent and what kind of person he was, that person is me. Sure, I knew a little before doing my research on Shawn, that he was a member of Black Oak Arkansas and that he played with the Dickinson Brothers and Paul Taylor in DDT. That is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Shawn’s talent is concerned.

A high school friend of mine and member of Black Oak Arkansas, Andy Tanas met Shawn when he was a teenager. Here’s Andy’s remembrance of Shawn Lane.

“I met Shawn when he was thirteen in May of 1976. Very sweet kid with this twisted sense of humor who adored his grandmother and God.

When he joined Black Oak Arkansas, he was 15 and although he knew he was a gifted prodigy, he never flaunted or showed anything other than a humble attitude eager to learn and grow.

Because he was fifteen, he had an overabundance of energy and it was hard to get him to calm down and work the stage evenly. Within a few months, he had developed a charismatic stage presence, but still a part of the band. Very easy to work with and had this remarkable ability to expand on parts while staying in the framework of the song. He was without a doubt, one of the greatest guitarists ever.

That was the thing that stood out to me about Shawn’s career, once he aced playing lead guitar in a rock band he was looking for his next challenge. Shawn played many styles in his career and mastered them all.

To understand just how talented Shawn was all you have to do is watch him play, there are hundreds of videos of Shawn on YouTube. Like the Target 10 year reunion with Shawn playing “All Along the Watchtower”. He went through many stages in his career from rock to blues to jazz and even to a heavy East Indian influence. As Andy Tanas said he just wanted to continue to grow and learn.

I also spoke with Pat Taylor, a great guitar player in his own right, about Shawn and he said “When Shawn played; I just wanted to sit down. He was one of the fastest guitar players I ever heard, but he could also play beautiful melodies.”

Pat wasn’t the only guitar player, who wanted to sit down when Shawn played, add “The Motor City Mad Man” Ted Nugent to that list. He once tried to trade licks with Shawn and the teenager blew him off the stage. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top literally fell off his chair when he heard Shawn play with the Willys. Gibbons later returned to Memphis and sat in with them.

Pat Taylor was right about Shawn playing so fast, in fact in 2003 Guitar Techniques Magazine called him "the fastest guitarist on the planet.” I saw one comment on YouTube that said “It doesn’t look like he is moving his hands.” Shawn was the fastest and many would say the best guitarist who ever lived and yet he did it so effortlessly, it was like you or me scratching an itch.

I spoke with one of his family members who told me “He loved playing fast! Sometimes when he picked up the guitar and was playing in the music room with just his family, he would play something so fast and incredibly hard and he would just stop abruptly and we would bust out laughing, on the other hand, the melody was a passion for him. He loved sweet melodies and beautiful harmonies and touching chord progressions, he was a great lover of classical and studied it for many years.”

In addition to being a great talent, Shawn was a kind and gentle soul. Everyone I talked to about Shawn remembered that about him. In the January 2004 Guitar World Magazine obituary by Alan Paul, Billy Gibbons was quoted as saying “Shawn will be missed as both a wonderfully gifted player and a gentle soul.

In his career he played with a multitude of excellent musicians including session work with Larry Raspberry, Mark Lindsay, Jimi Jamison, Joe Walsh, Sam and Dave, and Alex Chilton among others. He also played on a Ringo Starr solo album that was never released and was featured on Highwayman 2 with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

After the release of his Power of Ten album (which Warner Brothers Records gave him full artistic control of, unheard of for his first solo effort) he won the Best New Talent award from Guitar Player Magazine and came in second in the Best New Keyboard Player category in Keyboard Player Magazine.

He later teamed up with Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg for a series of highly acclaimed albums, which led to a collaboration with Indian percussionist/vocalist V. Selvaganesh on Good People In Times of Evil which demonstrates even more of Shawn’s versatility.

Of all his accomplishments which were many, he was the most proud of his family. When I asked a family member (who asked to remain anonymous) what they remembered the most about Shawn I was told “His laugh and his eyes. When he was tender he was very tender - and very loving. He loved his daughter and he loved his family very much and wanted us around him all the time. He hated fighting and wanted everyone to get along all the time. He wanted peace and security, now he has it.”

Shawn Lane was a talented guitar player; he was humble, gentle and gracious. If the measure of a great musician is the respect and admiration of not only his fans, but his peers as well, then Shawn Lane was not only great but he was the best at what he did.

Shawn Lane, as far as I'm concerned, is the ultimate guitar hero. My goal when I decided to write a series of columns on Memphis music and musicians was to educate the reader on the Memphis sound and the excellent musicians that created and maintain it. I thought if I [removed]// [removed] [removed] [removed] [removed][removed] [removed][removed] [removed]// [removed] could just reach one person with each article and give them a better understanding and appreciation of the Memphis sound it would be well worth my time.

With this article on Shawn Lane I have already reached that person and given him a better understanding of Shawn’s talent and what kind of person he was, that person is me. Sure, I knew a little before doing my research on Shawn, that he was a member of Black Oak Arkansas and that he played with the Dickinson Brothers and Paul Taylor in DDT. That is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Shawn’s talent is concerned.

A high school friend of mine and member of Black Oak Arkansas, Andy Tanas met Shawn when he was a teenager. Here’s Andy’s remembrance of Shawn Lane.

“I met Shawn when he was thirteen in May of 1976. Very sweet kid with this twisted sense of humor who adored his grandmother and God.

When he joined Black Oak Arkansas, he was 15 and although he knew he was a gifted prodigy, he never flaunted or showed anything other than a humble attitude eager to learn and grow.

Because he was fifteen, he had an overabundance of energy and it was hard to get him to calm down and work the stage evenly. Within a few months, he had developed a charismatic stage presence, but still a part of the band. Very easy to work with and had this remarkable ability to expand on parts while staying in the framework of the song. He was without a doubt, one of the greatest guitarists ever.”

That was the thing that stood out to me about Shawn’s career, once he aced playing lead guitar in a rock band he was looking for his next challenge. Shawn played many styles in his career and mastered them all.

To understand just how talented Shawn was all you have to do is watch him play, there are hundreds of videos of Shawn on YouTube. Like the Target 10 year reunion with Shawn playing “ All Along the Watchtower”. He went through many stages in his career from rock to blues to jazz and even to a heavy East Indian influence. As Andy Tanas said he just wanted to continue to grow and learn.

Shawn Lane

I also spoke with Pat Taylor, a great guitar player in his own right, about Shawn and he said “When Shawn played; I just wanted to sit down. He was one of the fastest guitar players I ever heard, but he could also play beautiful melodies.”

Pat wasn’t the only guitar player, who wanted to sit down when Shawn played, add “The Motor City Mad Man” Ted Nugent to that list. He once tried to trade licks with Shawn and the teenager blew him off the stage. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top literally fell off his chair when he heard Shawn play with the Willys. Gibbons later returned to Memphis and sat in with them.

Pat Taylor was right about Shawn playing so fast, in fact in 2003 Guitar Techniques Magazine called him "the fastest guitarist on the planet.” I saw one comment on YouTube that said “It doesn’t look like he is moving his hands.” Shawn was the fastest and many would say the best guitarist who ever lived and yet he did it so effortlessly, it was like you or me scratching an itch.

I spoke with one of his family members who told me “He loved playing fast! Sometimes when he picked up the guitar and was playing in the music room with just his family, he would play something so fast and incredibly hard and he would just stop abruptly and we would bust out laughing, on the other hand, the melody was a passion for him. He loved sweet melodies and beautiful harmonies and touching chord progressions, he was a great lover of classical and studied it for many years.”

In addition to being a great talent, Shawn was a kind and gentle soul. Everyone I talked to about Shawn remembered that about him. In the January 2004 Guitar World Magazine obituary by Alan Paul, Billy Gibbons was quoted as saying “Shawn will be missed as both a wonderfully gifted player and a gentle soul.

In his career he played with a multitude of excellent musicians including session work with Larry Raspberry, Mark Lindsay, Jimi Jamison, Joe Walsh, Sam and Dave, and Alex Chilton among others. He also played on a Ringo Starr solo album that was never released and was featured on Highwayman 2 with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.

After the release of his Power of Ten album (which Warner Brothers Records gave him full artistic control of, unheard of for his first solo effort) he won the Best New Talent award from Guitar Player Magazine and came in second in the Best New Keyboard Player category in Keyboard Player Magazine.

He later teamed up with Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg for a series of highly acclaimed albums, which led to a collaboration with Indian percussionist/vocalist V. Selvaganesh on Good People In Times of Evil which demonstrates even more of Shawn’s versatility.

Of all his accomplishments which were many, he was the most proud of his family. When I asked a family member (who asked to remain anonymous) what they remembered the most about Shawn I was told “His laugh and his eyes. When he was tender he was very tender - and very loving. He loved his daughter and he loved his family very much and wanted us around him all the time. He hated fighting and wanted everyone to get along all the time. He wanted peace and security, now he has it.”

Shawn Lane was a talented guitar player; he was humble, gentle and gracious. If the measure of a great musician is the respect and admiration of not only his fans, but his peers as well, then Shawn Lane was not only great but he was the best at what he did.