6103. Eddie Lang - Prelude (Rachmaninoff Op.3 No.2)

- February 28, 2024

From: Okeh – 40989; Year: 1928; Genre: Classical/Jazz

I noticed that recently I have chosen artists in the "E" category three times over the last four days either by accident of subconsciously, so I thought that I would just go ahead and pick one more "E."

Anyway, I saw I have to date only chosen two from the late-great guitar virtuoso Eddie Lang, so here's another one. This rendition of the standard by Sergei Rachmaninoff is quite amazing to hear; only he and his guitar are present on this recording, which was a real novelty at the time as the guitar was not really treated as a lead instrument to be spotlighted. Lang and a few others were the real pioneers of making guitar music a highlight of mainstream; basically everyone from Django Reinhardt all the way down to Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani along with the other great guitar virtuosos that dazzle and shred to this day can be traced back to Eddie Lang. He is definitely one of those amazing musicians who massively altered the direction of popular music that sadly died young; I wonder what music would be like if he had more time....

Hear Prelude (Rachmaninoff Op.3 No.2) on YouTube.

My song pick 1 year ago today: Jethro Tull - Reasons For Waiting

My song pick 2 years ago today: Earth, Wind & Fire - I've Had Enough

My song pick 3 years ago today: Ozzy Osbourne - Hellraiser

My song pick 4 years ago today: Yes - Wonderous Stories