Eddie Lang

Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro; October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American musician who is credited as the father of jazz guitar. During the 1920s, he gave the guitar a prominence it previously lacked as a solo instrument, as part of a band or orchestra, and as accompaniment for vocalists. He recorded duets with guitarists Lonnie Johnson and Carl Kress and jazz violinist Joe Venuti, and played rhythm guitar in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and was the favoured accompanist of Bing Crosby.

Biography

The son of an Italian American instrument maker, Lang was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up as friends with violinist Joe Venuti. He started playing the violin, his first instrument, when he was seven. He performed on violin in 1917 and became a member of a trio. In 1920, he dropped the violin for banjo and worked with Charlie Kerr, then Bert Estlow, Vic D'Ippolito, and Billy Lustig's Scranton Siren Orchestra. A few years later, he traded the banjo for guitar when he became a member of Red McKenzie's Mound City Blue Blowers. In 1924, he recorded one of the first guitar solos on "Deep 2nd Street Blues". Assured that the operation was routine, Lang entered Park West Hospital in Manhattan, but he never awoke from the surgery. He died at the age of thirty in 1933. The cause of his death is uncertain.

George Harrison once cited Lang as one of his favourite guitarists.

Lang played Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitars. and the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame (2010).

On October 23, 2016, Philadelphia's Mural Arts organization dedicated the mural Eddie Lang: The Father of Jazz Guitar, by artist Jared Bader. The mural stands by Lang's childhood home and the James Campbell School that stood at 8th and Fitzwater where Lang learned to play. The mural was championed by area guitarist Richard Barnes, who started "Eddie Lang Day in Philadelphia" in 2010, an annual charity event.

Compositions Lang's compositions, based on the Red Hot Jazz database, include "Wild Cat" with Joe Venuti, "Perfect" with Frank Signorelli, "April Kisses", "Sunshine", "Melody Man's Dream", "Goin' Places", "Black and Blue Bottom", "Bull Frog Moan", "Rainbow Dreams", "Feelin' My Way", "Eddie's Twister", "Really Blue", "Penn Beach Blues", "Wild Dog", "Pretty Trix", "A Mug of Ale", "Apple Blossoms", "Beating the Dog", "To To Blues", "Running Ragged", "Kicking the Cat", "Cheese and Crackers", "Doin' Things", "Blue Guitars", "Guitar Blues" with Lonnie Johnson, "Hot Fingers", "Have to Change Keys to Play These Blues", "A Handful of Riffs", "Blue Room", "Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp", "Two-Tone Stomp". "Midnight Call Blues", "Four String Joe", "Goin' Home", and "Pickin' My Way" with Carl Kress.

Discography Albums Stringing the Blues with Joe Venuti (CBS, 1962) Jazz Guitar Virtuoso (Yazoo, 1977) A Handful of Riffs (ASV/Living Era, 1989) Pioneers of Jazz Guitar 1927–1938 (Yazoo, 1992) Blue Guitars, Vols. 1 & 2 with Lonnie Johnson (BGO, 1997) The Quintessential Eddie Lang (Timeless, 1998) The New York Sessions 1926–1935 with Joe Venuti (JSP, 2003) The Classic Columbia and Okeh Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang (Mosaic, 2002) 1927–1932 (Chronological Classics, 2004)

Singles

Song Musicians Recording date Label Stringin' the Blues Joe Venuti November 8, 1926 Hurricane Red Nichols and His Five Pennies January 12, 1927 Wild Cat Joe Venuti January 24, 1927 Okeh Sunshine Joe Venuti January 24, 1927 Okeh Singin' the Blues Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer February 4, 1927 Okeh April Kisses b/w Eddie's Twister April 1, 1927 Okeh Doin' Things Joe Venuti May 4, 1927 Goin' Places Joe Venuti May 4, 1927 For No Reason at All in C Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer May 13, 1927 Okeh, Columbia, Parlophone Beating the Dog Joe Venuti, Adrian Rollini June 28, 1927 Okeh Wringin' an' Twistin' Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer September 17, 1927 OKeh Perfect Frank Signorelli October 21, 1927 Okeh Four String Joe Joe Venuti's Blue Four November 15, 1927 Guitar Blues Lonnie Johnson May 7, 1929 Okeh Knockin' a Jug Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden March 5, 1929 Kitchen Man Bessie Smith May 8, 1929 A Bench in the Park Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra March 21, 1930 Georgia on My Mind Hoagy Carmichael, Bix Beiderbecke September 15, 1930 Victor Pickin' My Way Carl Kress January 15, 1932 Brunswick Feelin' My Way Carl Kress January 17, 1932 Brunswick Please Bing Crosby September 16, 1932 Jigsaw Puzzle Blues Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang's Blue Five February 28, 1933