ALBERT LEE & JON DEREK
"Jon and I had a great friendship and I think the music speaks for itself." ALBERT LEE
ALBERT LEE, JON DEREK and DON EVERLY (1980)
"I was playing Stax-type stuff with Chris Farlowe, which I loved - but I really wanted to play Country." ALBERT LEE
Ever wondered where guitar legend Albert Lee's career in Country Music started out? Well... Shortly before Albert Lee left British rock band Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds in 1967 - it was Chas and Dave (Chas Hodges & Dave Peacock) who introduced Albert to Jon Derek's group 'The Flintlocks' which evolved into 'Jamie, Jon and Jerry'.
Albert says, "I had always loved Country Music from my early days but it was a revelation to discover Jamie, Jon and Jerry playing in Hammersmith, London. Here was Jon doing what I wanted to do."
Albert (Far Left) sitting in with Jamie, Jon and Jerry
Albert told Guitar Magazine in 1977, "While I was with Farlowe, I'd been jamming with Jon Derek. I used to go down to the Red Cow in Hammersmith. I got talking to Jon - Jon had gigs already lined up, a ready made circuit, so I thought I'd do that for a while. When I was with Chris Farlowe, I was getting about 30-40 pounds a week which was pretty liveable in '68, but we did alright with Jon."
With Albert now singing for the first time in his career too, he remembers though being frustrated by the audiences' expectations, "I used to sing Dang Me, the old Roger Miller song, and club owners used to come up to me and say, 'You've got to stop doing the jazz, this is a country club.' It was really frustrating." Albert told Jon Derek's son Mark in 2013, when being interviewed for a feature in Country Music People magazine, "Your dad had a better feel for those guys than I did. I wanted to make it a bit more Rock 'n' Roll and they just wanted Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash." Albert was also quoted to have said, "If you did something slightly away from the norm, you were a Rock 'n' Roll band - there was no compromise. We were trying to blend Rock 'n' Roll and Country, much as The Flying Burrito Brothers did a few months later."
Albert spent more and more time sitting in with Jamie, Jon and Jerry on gigs. Chas Hodges recalls, "Me and Dave spent many a good night over Hammersmith watching Albert Lee but we used to have to tell him to turn his guitar up - he played too quietly!"
Country Fever
When Jamie, Jon and Jerry split up in the early part of 1968, a temporary outfit 'The Jon Derek Group' was put together and featured the likes of Albert Lee, Gordon Huntley and Gerry Hogan. This was primarily to fulfil prior engagements and to carry out the backing for Irish songstress 'Clodagh Rodgers'. By the autumn of the same year, Albert approached Jon about forming a new Country Music band with a slightly more progressive edge to it. With Albert pinching the name from a recent Ricky Nelson album release - the renowned 'Country Fever' was born.
Jon Derek and Albert Lee in 1969
"Jon Derek was the driving force behind the band. He had the gigs and the contacts. We had a thing going with agent/promoter Lou Rodgers", says Albert. "We'd back all the American artists that would come over - that was a good experience really. It was nice to get the feel of them and just see what it was like to play with the Americans and see what they thought of us. They were surprised to find a band that was really into what they were doing."
Country Fever soon became the most sought after British Country Music group and tours with a string of well-established US artists promptly followed - Hank Locklin, Guy Mitchell, Jody Miller, Rose Maddox, Connie Smith, Don Gibson, Nat Stuckey, Bobby Bare, Chet Atkins, Skeeter Davis and George Hamilton IV to name but a few.
JON DEREK and ALBERT LEE (1969)
Newcastle City Hall - (The Hank Locklin Tour)
Jon Derek and Albert Lee (1980)
Although Albert left Country Fever in the early part of 1970, their friendship remained resolute. Their paths crossed on many occasions in the years which followed - notably at the Wembley Country Music Festivals such as, in 1977, when Jon was billed on the same show as Emmylou Harris and The Hot Band, which Albert was a member of. Then again at Wembley in 1980, when Albert was appearing with Don Everly and also, Emmylou. Photographer Graham Barker captured some iconic photos of Jon, Albert and Don backstage together. The same year, Albert did a studio session for Jon, which also featured Shakin Stevens' band.
DON EVERLY, ALBERT LEE and JON DEREK
Backstage at the 1980 Wembley Country Music Festival
On hearing of the passing of Jon Derek in 2011, Albert told Jon's son Mark, "As you know, we put together Country Fever in 1968 and had a great time backing many visiting US artists. That experience really encouraged me to get to the US as soon as I could. Jon and I had a great friendship and I think the music speaks for itself. His talent certainly stood out - he was the real deal."
GERRY HOGAN, ALBERT LEE and JON DEREK (1990)
Three members of Country Fever reunited
Mark Derek says, "Massive respect to Albert Lee - 'The guitar player's guitar player'... 'The one who got away'. Albert knew the only way he was going to achieve great things was to escape a then stagnant British country music scene for the bright lights of the US. I only wish my father had done the same thing!" Wembley Festival promoter Mervyn Conn's organisation wrote in 1991, '... through bands like Jamie, Jon and Jerry and various line-ups of Country Fever - Jon has always maintained a standard of music that has been a credit to British country music, and would probably have made him a major star, had he been promoted in the U.S.A. during this time.'
Albert Lee (Wembley 1988)
Mark says, "I've had the pleasure of meeting up with Albert on countless occasions over the years. Most notably was in 2012, when I interviewed him prior to his gig at The Corn Exchange in Bedford for a 5-page feature in Country Music People magazine. It was to coincide for his 70th birthday celebration. I also have wonderful memories of my mother and I spending time with him backstage at the 1988 Wembley Country Music Festival prior to his performance. I believe this was one of the very first times he appeared together with the band Hogan's Heroes.
Albert Lee is a true legend and deserves all the accolades he receives."
Thanks to; Country Music People, Record Collector, Guitar Magazine, Albert Lee - Country Boy (Biography), Chas & Dave - All About Us (Biography), Mervyn Conn Organisation, Graham Barker and Bengt Lindh
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