A personal tribute
(Originally written in 2013 for ‘Sound Awesome’)
As a guitarist, and semi-professional musician since 1980, I’m just one of many people whose lives, and indeed careers, were influenced by Huw Lloyd-Langton, the guitarist most famously known for his time in the legendary, pioneering Space-Rock band; Hawkwind.
I’m not going to write a biographical article about Huw, who sadly passed a few weeks ago, aged 61; but a personal tribute to both the man and the musician, who I was fortunate enough to get to know during the 1980s.
Although i had heard Huw’s playing on the first Hawkwind album, the impact of his playing didn’t really hit home until i got into Hawkwind in a big way after seeing them live on the Choose Your Masques tour in 1982.
At this stage, I was 19 and had been listening to rock for about 5 years, and Hawkwind were one of many bands to explore. But that year, Hawkwind had become a firm favourite, and with the latest album ‘Choose Your Masques’, came a life changing guitar solo.
At that time, I was a bass player in a local rock band modelled after Hawkwind, but after hearing Huw’s solo on ‘Arrival In Utopia’, I was so blown away that i decided i wanted to play guitar, and it was Huw’s unique style that did it.
By that time, even at 19, I was already getting bored of most of the hard rock and heavy metal of the early 1980s. All the guitar players seemed to sound the same. Huw’s style seemed like a blast of fresh air compared to all the ‘widdly-widdly’, Van Halen influenced playing that was en-vogue at the time, with guitar solos full of the same, tired old metal clichés, with obligatory ‘tapping’, and whammy-bar antics.
Huw’s playing seemed to gracefully, soar over the top the music. Like a bird in-flight, you might say.
And although there was a sprinkling of classic rock licks; much of his playing sounded so different to what was around at the time. Unusual lines that I later learned were jazz-influenced. Scales, which I later learned were called ‘modes’, that added slightly different flavours to his playing. Circular, saxophonic sounding runs, executed at lightening speed with tremendous clarity and precision. His use of octaves was another of his trademarks that i learned, and gleefully adopted into my own playing.
In that same year, 1982, I briefly met Huw for the first time when Hawkwind played at the Donnington Rock Festival, and i was immediately impressed with his personable, and humble nature.
The following year, I was lucky enough to meet and spend some time chatting to Huw, and this became a regular occurence at Hawkwind, and Lloyd-Langton group gigs up until the end of the decade.
As a budding guitarist, I learned so much from him, not just on the technical side, but also about other players, including his own influences, and a little bit of guitar history along the way.
Ever modest, When i praised him regarding his octave playing, he simply said: “If you want to hear octaves played well, don’t listen to me, listen to Wes Montgomery!”
This particular discussion went on to cover more about Jazz, and Jazz Guitar. Something about which I knew nothing at the time. And Huw encouraged me to listen in particular to Django Reinhardt; A name which would be become as important to me as Huw Lloyd-Langton’s, at the beginning of the 1990s, and whose music and style eventually became the dominating force in my musical ambitions.
I last saw Huw in 1998, when we met up at Pizza Express where Jazz Guitarists Bireli Lagrene and Martin Taylor were playing a gig. Even though i had not seen Huw for over 8 years, I was tremendously pleased that he made the effort to come out to meet me. By then, I’d been ‘converted’ to playing Jazz guitar, and Huw was full of interest, encouragement, and questions as to how it was all going.
But beyond all the music, It is important to say something more about Huw Lloyd-Langton as the person he was, in so far as i got to know him.
Over an almost 10 year period; not once did he display anything but genuine warmth, kindness and friendship, on every single occasion that we crossed paths. He was my first big influence as a guitarist, and he was always full of support and encouragement from the outset. Modest as ever; Even though he knew I idolised him, there was never a trace of ego, and always encouraged me to listen to all kinds of other guitarists, and other kinds of music.
He was so very much appreciated, not only by me, but by so many others that I have personally witnessed; not only for his music, but for the person that he was, and the way that he dealt with the people he came into contact with.
I learned from Huw Lloyd-Langton about how life can benefit people on all sides, from simply being a decent bloke, and a nice person.
So Huw, wherever you are, on behalf of myself and many thousands of people, the world over…. Thanks for everything.
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