Eddie Lang
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Born

  • October 25, 1902
  • Philadelphia, PA

Died

  • March 26, 1933
  • New York, NY

Real Name

  • Salvatore Massaro

Eddie Lang

Though he is not well-remembered today Eddie Lang played a pivotal role in the development of modern popular song. Considered the first guitar virtuoso he introduced the now common instrument to a wider audience and forever changed the way that people listened to music. Sadly, however, his career was cut short at an early age, and his legacy came to be overshadowed by those who succeeded him and benefited from his trailblazing work.

Born Salvatore Massaro, Lang was the son of an immigrant Italian craftsman of fretted instruments. He studied violin as a youth but later switched to guitar, turning professional in 1918, at age 16. In 1924 he left Philadelphia and headed to New York, where he soon joined the Mound City Blue Blowers. He made his first recording with them that same year. A very talented musician, Lang was quickly in demand as both an accompanist and a soloist. It was the beginning of the electric era, and he was in the perfect position to exploit its potential.

Jazz was in a state of flux during the mid-1920s. Not only was the focus of the genre beginning to change from that of the ensemble to that of the soloist, new technology in the studio meant rethinking traditional arrangements. Previously, the guitar had been mainly heard in the realm of classical and folk. The acoustic methods used in the early era of recording made the guitar unsuitable to popular music. Taking advantage of the new electric recording process, Lang proved that the guitar was capable of being taken seriously.

Lang's success was not all due to timing, however. He was also very versatile, easily able to tackle such genres as jazz, blues, and classical. Over the course of his career Lang performed with such diverse artists as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, Jack Teagarden, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Smith Ballew, Fred Rich, Noel Taylor, Red Nichols, Frankie Trumbauer, Jean Goldkette, Paul Whiteman, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, King Oliver, Hoagy Carmichael, Don Vorhees, Adrian Rollini, and J.C. Johnson. While working with Whiteman, Lang formed a strong friendship with singer Bing Crosby. When Crosby later went solo, he chose Lang as his permanent accompanist. Under the pseudonym of Blind Willie Dunn, Lang also occasionally teamed up with blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson. From 1926 he served as house guitarist at Okeh Records. His most famous association was with violinist Joe Venuti, with whom he recorded under many different titles.

In 1933 a botched operation unexpectedly ended Lang's life. He had gone in for a routine tonsillectomy and ended up suffering severe blood loss. Within a few years after his death his memory had almost been forgotten but his spirit lived on. Artists like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian picked up from where Lang left off and took the guitar to even greater heights. Lang's genius should not be downplayed, however. While Reinhardt and Christian had Lang's work on which to build, Lang invented the guitar's modern role from scratch. His vision and musical talent made it possible for the instrument to rise to the forefront of popular music.