Jason Becker could shred your face off. I write that in the past tense, because anyone who knows Jason’s story knows it to be synonymous with rock ‘n roll tragedy. (Entirely though no fault of his own: world’s greatest shredder at 19, contracted multiple schlerosis at age 20. There is no god, Motley Crue.)
As if to throw salt on that wound a little more we see a very young Jason Becker at age 16 shredding the tar out of Malmsteen’s Black Star at a high school talent show. Jason’s playing for no one here but himself; the auditorium is nearly empty. We could spend some time critiquing his playing, but we won’t be so judgmental. As Yngwie plays the song there are just way more notes, this blitzkrieg of shred that Becker takes down a notch and manages to play with more vibrato without the help of a scalloped fretboard (at least as I could tell). We resist making the comparison that this shows promise for a 16 year old but lacks technicallity, because as judged by the standards of the time it doesn’t. Salt –> wound accomplished.
One thing we can laugh at is Becker’s absurd fro. He’s looking way too Cedric Bixler for comfort.
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Tags: absurd white boy rock fro, black star, credric bixler, jason becker, yngwie malmsteen
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