Lenny Breau Plays His Composition "I Remember Lone Pine'/ Interview with Buddy Spicher about Lenny.

Lenny Breau was living in Nashville in the spring of 1977 when he received word that his father, Hal Lone Pine'* (Harold John Breau) had died in Lewiston, Maine. Lenny was close to his father and devastated by news of his death. He sublimated some of his grief into writing a musical homage to Hal which he called 'I Remember Lone Pine'. Shortly after composing it, he arranged and recorded the song on a Direct to Disc album in a session led by his old friend, jazz/country fiddler Buddy Spicher on Buddy's album 'Yesterday and Today'.

Buddy Spicher met and became friends with Lenny in 1954 in Wheeling, West Virginia where Lenny's parents were stars on the WWVA Jamboree, a radio and live performance show second only to the Grand Ole Opry in the world of country music. Buddy was just beginning his music career at the time. He auditioned unsuccessfully for Hal Lone Pine's band that year but won a spot in country singer Dusty Owens' a year later. Over the next few decades he worked with the likes of Hank Snow, Willie Nelson and Ray Price, and was a first call Nashville studio musician between 1965 and 1980.

He and Lenny reconnected when Lenny moved to Nashville in 1976. They became close friends and played together many times on gigs and for pleasure at Buddy's home in Franklin, Tennessee. In May of 1977, Buddy was asked to do a Direct to Disc recording, a recording process in which music is recorded onto an acetate disc rather than tape. In this process, an entire side of an album has to be done in one take and editing is not possible. This tended to result in stiff performances by musicians concerned about making mistakes but the recordings had a superior sonic sound quality in comparison to regular recordings. Lenny and the musicians on the session for 'Yesterday and Today' recorded 'I Remember Lone Pine' in a single take with very little rehearsal. Lenny arranged and wrote the charts for the elegiac piece, which he played often in solo and group performances for a few years and then dropped from his repertoire.

The song's country waltz feel and simple melody recall the music that Lenny played in his father's band in his teens. The chord progression, however, has a jazz flavour and Lenny plays a beautiful jazzy solo on one of the choruses. The composition unites the two strongest musical influences on Lenny's playing and is a fitting tribute to his father, who was himself a profound influence on Lenny.

In the interview that follows the piece, Buddy Spicher talks about his relationship with Lenny and the music they made together.

*Hal used the professional name 'The Lone Pine Mountaineer' from the outset of his career ca. 1935 until 1952 when RCA, his label at the time, suggested he replace the moniker with Hal Lone Pine which they thought sounded more contemporary.

I Remember Lone Pine 00:10
Interview with Buddy Spicher 03:53


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