''The Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau – Live!'' is a live album by Canadian jazz guitarist

Lenny Breau Leonard Harold Breau (August 5, 1941 – August 12, 1984) was an American-Canadian guitarist. He blended many styles of music, including jazz, country, classical, and flamenco. Inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, Breau used finger ...

that was released in 1969.Lenny Breau Remembered
by

Jim Ferguson James Edwin Ferguson (born December 23, 1948) is an American guitarist, composer, journalist, and educator. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Ferguson began his early music education playing the trombone at age 7, and then after eight years of study, swit ...

History

After Breau's major-label debut, '' Guitar Sounds from Lenny Breau'', was issued the previous year on RCA, producer

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

arranged for this live recording in Los Angeles, accompanied by fellow

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

ers

Ron Halldorson Ron Halldorson (born 1943) is a Canadian jazz musician, arranger, and producer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, best known for his work with guitarist Lenny Breau. Beginning his career as a country musician in the 1950s, Halldorson switched to jazz in the ...

and Reg Kelln. Carol Kaye was in the audience and stated in an interview: The tapes from the three-night engagement were taken back to Nashville where Atkins, Danny Davis and Ronnie Light prepared them for release.Forbes-Robert, Ron. (2006). ''One Long Tune: the life and music of Lenny Breau''. Denton, TX. University of North Texas Press. . Despite the enthusiasm for the live show, the album sold poorly and was barely mentioned in the music press at the time. Breau was later quoted as saying, "When I initially recorded, I didn't feel ready—I wanted to practice for another 10 years first." He also felt RCA did not sufficiently promote the release. It was 10 years before Breau released another solo album.

Reception

Music critic Paul Kohler of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

wrote "His ability to play chords, melody, and a bass line simultaneously has to be heard to be believed."

Track listing

Writing credits as shown on record label. #"Tuning Time" (Lenny Breau) – 1:49 #" No Greater Love" ( Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, John Digges,

Domenico Savino Domenico Savino (1882 – 1973) was an Italian conductor. Early life and education He was born into an artistic family in Taranto, Italy at the end of the 19th century, and migrated to the United States in the early years of the 20th century. ...

) – 6:37 #"The Claw" (

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...

) – 4:23 #"Indian Reflections for Ravi" (Breau) – 3:12 # "That's All" ( Merle Travis) – 5:42 #"Blues Theme" (Breau) – 1:01 #"

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" is a jazz song written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and which appears on his album '' Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club"''. The song is the title track of the album and became a surprise hit i ...

" ( Joe Zawinul) – 5:30 #"Spanjazz" (Breau) – 5:19 #"Bluesette" (Jean Thielmans) – 6:00 #" A Taste of Honey" (

Ric Marlow Eric "Ric" Marlow (born Sanford Phillip Schafler; December 21, 1925 – February 28, 2017) was an American songwriter and actor, best known for co-writing with Bobby Scott the song "A Taste of Honey" which won a Grammy in 1962. The song has bee ...

, Bobby Scott) – 4:43 #"Blues Theme No. 2" (Breau) – 2:40

Personnel

* Lenny Breau – 6-string and 12-string guitar * Ronnie Halldorson – bass * Reg Kelln – drums

Production notes

*Grover Helsley – engineer *Danny Davis – engineer *Ronnie Light – engineer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau - Live! Lenny Breau albums 1969 live albums RCA Records live albums Albums recorded at Shelly's Manne-Hole