Do you know who Jason Becker is?

1poorplayer

1poorplayer

Power User
Hello fello fractal fanatics. After the death of the great Edward Van Halen , the Jason Becker family posted a video of him coming to their house to visit Jason. A friend sent me the link. I sent the YouTube link to another friend.
The person I sent it to replied “two of the greatest guitar players ever”. I thought , whaaaaaat? Who is this guy that’s disabled that Ed went to see. I only accepted the video as Ed visiting someone who had been dealt a sickness. I had no idea the guy he was visiting may very well be the greatest guitar player to ever play. ALS at age 20 took it away.
I don’t know where the heck I was , or how I missed it. Satriani has helped Jason , Steve Vai , John Mayer , and others. This was the first I’d ever heard of him.
He was diagnosed just days before meeting with David Lee Roth to celebrate the release of the new album that Jason recorded for Roth.
Many of you on the forum will think this is old news , and know about Jason. I didn’t , so I decided to post this. I bought his album and I bought his Kiesel Numbers guitar. Some of the money from the guitar goes towards Jason’s health care. It is a shredder. Great quality and FAST. Great guitar. It has encouraged me to work on my picking speed and sweep picking.
Look him up on YouTube. ED1D38A2-2C13-4A45-950E-031487C10AB0.jpg
 
DLR's A Little Ain't Enough is a great album full of great guitar, and Jason plays crazy good stuff on it. He really blossomed on that album, showcasing much more of a bluesy vibe. I'm confident he would have been a much bigger name in music had ALS not impacted him so severely.

Steve Hunter is also on that album and I believe he "coached" Jason on the blues...

His solo Shrapnel record Perpetual Burn predates it, and is much more "dated" sounding and way more "metal"... He was also half of the guitar power in Cacophony along with Marty Freidman.

He and family are from Richmond or El Cerrito CA (in the Bay Area).

His brother worked with my former drummer for a while and we were trying to setup a visit but sadly that never happened.

Jason's dad created a hardware/software system that allows Jason to communicate and compose using eye movements.
 
unix-guy said:
DLR's A Little Ain't Enough is a great album full of great guitar, and Jason plays crazy good stuff on it. He really blossomed on that album, showcasing much more of a bluesy vibe. I'm confident he would have been a much bigger name in music had ALS not impacted him so severely.

Steve Hunter is also on that album and I believe he "coached" Jason on the blues...

His solo Shrapnel record Perpetual Burn predates it, and is much more "dated" sounding and way more "metal"... He was also half of the guitar power in Cacophony along with Marty Freidman.

He and family are from Richmond or El Cerrito CA (in the Bay Area).

His brother worked with my former drummer for a while and we were trying to setup a visit but sadly that never happened.

Jason's dad created a hardware/software system that allows Jason to communicate and compose using eye movements.
Click to expand...

...My question is : Why didn’t David Lee Roth help this kid ? Why didn’t he make this horrible disease a spotlight for research and awareness ? Does anyone have any account of DLR helping Jason or ALS research or anything ? I hope so. I never heard of anything.
I posted this thread to spread the word. I was unaware of Jason or much about the disease , before the EVH video.
 
1poorplayer said:
...My question is : Why didn’t David Lee Roth help this kid ? Why didn’t he make this horrible disease a spotlight for research and awareness ? Does anyone have any account of DLR helping Jason or ALS research or anything ? I hope so. I never heard of anything.
I posted this thread to spread the word. I was unaware of Jason or much about the disease , before the EVH video.
Click to expand...
I really should watch this (Jason Becker's Not Dead Yet):

https://g.co/kgs/TjSYMN

I forgot about that... But was reminded because I was going to mention that he also has a good sense of humor about things. There have been a few Jason Becker's Not Dead Yet music events, I think.

Maybe there's some more information there?
 
As someone who grew up in the eighties, I was exposed to what I would say was the peak of “shredding”
Howe, Mcalpine, Moore, Chastain, Impelleteri, etc...Then came Cacophony (Becker/ Friedman) which was eye opening in the sense you had two very high ability players, which was pretty unusual at the time except for Gilbert and Bouillet.

Very Surprised he landed with DLR, seemed like an odd fit. If you’ve noticed DLR’s comments on Eddie over the years...then it should come as no shock that he isn’t coming to the aid of Jason or anyone not named Dave Roth.

Just my opinion of course...but It seems the only thing in Dave’s life is Dave.

Theres also a video out there of Nita Strauss visiting him recently.

Glad he’s still producing music despite his condition...Inspirational.
 
The fact that Jason Becker is still alive, composing and sharing his ideas with the world is incredible. I know about him more from his ALS fight and social media than I do for 80's shred (I didn't make it too far into that realm).
 
Being a Carvin player from back in the 70s, I remember when many of those players (Jason, Marty, Tony, Steve, Frank, etc) were playing Carvin guitars and/or amps, so I became aware of their music then. I was never into that style of playing, but I could sure appreciate and marvel at their abilities. It’s always tough to see a disease take away an artist’s ability to fully express themselves, no matter the instrument or style. I’m glad that, like Willie, he’s “still not dead!” More power to you, Jason!
 
When I discovered Cacophony as a teenager, i nearly lost my mind. I am not interested in the "shred", but what Jason did was just amazing.
 
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