The Quintessential Eddie Lang 1925 – 1932

by Sally-Ann Worsfold
(from the liner notes of The Quintessential Eddie Lang 1925 – 1932 on Timeless Records)

The guitar has become so firmly identified with every area of 20th century popular music – blues, jazz, country, rock – that many of its leading exponents, such as B.B. King, Django Reinhardt, Les Paul and Jimi Hendrix, are household names, familiar beyond the confines of their respective spheres.

Yet it is highly unlikely that the instrument would have evolved in the way it did without two major factors, both of which occurred in the mid 1920s: the introduction of the electrical recording process and the arrival in New York of the Philadelphia born guitarist, Eddie Lang. His trail blazing achievements were made possible by this technological breakthrough. Until that time the banjo was the emblem of popular music, principally because out of all musical instruments, its percussive twang was best equipped to cut through the murkiness of the acoustic horn recording process. Indeed, the most popular early recordings were banjo solos, usually transcribed from piano rags, and often interpreted by such virtuosi as Fred Van Eps and Harry Reser.

Before the introduction of microphone recording, the guitar was seldom heard outside the concert hall, or in less formal folk circles, such as flamenco or gipsy. As early as 1922, just prior to the new recording process, when the singer Nick Lucas, The Singing Troubadour, began his studio career (which lasted over four decades) he accompanied himself on guitar, although his style was rooted in the ragtime tradition of the banjoists. Between them, the new technology and Eddie Langcreated an entirely fresh role for the guitar, and in the process helped change the sound of popular music.

Born in 1902 and baptized Salvatore Massaro, – he took his adopted name from a childhood basketball playing hero - the son of an Italian immigrant fretted instrument maker, Eddie Lang was involved in music making all his tragically brief life, long before he turned professional, aged 16 in 1918, and right up to his death in March 1933, aged 30, which resulted from complications following a tonsilectomy.

In a relatively short timespan, Eddie Lang accomplished more than most could hope to do given several lifetimes. This especially applied to his recording career which spanned almost a decade, between 1924 and 1933. The guitarist's output was not merely prolific; its volume was matched by the consistency and scope of his work. Therefore, this compilation is not intended to be a "best of" type package, a description which could fit almost everything from the Lang canon. Instead, it is a representative cross section of his artistry in a diversity of settings. 

Along the way, there are some familiar performances, many of them milestones in jazz and popular music, capturing Lang in company of such distinguished names as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Lonnie Johnson, King Oliver, Bessie Smith and Jack Teagarden, as well as leading his own studio groups. The guitarist may be heard too enriching some recordings from such more or less forgotten names as those of bandleaders Roger Wolfe Kahn and Fred Rich, and the singers Noel Taylor and Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, in some extremely rare items. Besides some solos and duets, as a bonus, included are some rare alternative 'takes' of otherwise well known recordings, Wild Cat and Doin' Things, which feature Eddie Lang alongside his lifelong friend and musical associate, the violinist Joe Venuti. 

read more: http://www.redhotjazz.com/langarticle.html