SPECIAL EVENT: Noted guitarist Laurence Juber to speak, play on Beebe campus

You may not recognize the name Laurence Juber, but you may recognize some of his work: "The most recent thing I played on, I'm on one of the tracks on Harry Styles' new album. There's a song that my daughter Ilsey co-wrote with him called 'Treat People With Kindness' that I play guitar on."

But the list goes back much farther: The soundtrack to the video game "Diablo III; The Pink Panther Theme, which earned him a Grammy; the album Back to the Egg from Paul McCartney & Wings; the theme from TV's Home Improvement; the movie soundtracks for Dirty Dancing, Good Will Hunting, Stand By Me, Pocahontas and many more. He is well-known among guitarists and has a legion of fans who regularly pick up one of his 27 albums to hear his revered finger-style arrangements.

He's about to release a new album, his fourth made up of Beatles tunes arranged for solo guitar titled The Fab 4th. ("You know, I started playing guitar in London in November of 1963, which was really kind of the first cresting wave of Beatlemania," Juber says.) His latest album, Downtown, is a collection of standards recorded in a five-hour stretch at Capitol Studios in Hollywood. And he's got a book under his belt, a photo memoir titled Guitar With Wings, published by Dalton Watson Fine Books.

Today at 12:30 p.m. in the Owen Center Theatre at Arkansas State University-Beebe, Juber will give a lecture titled "Guitarmania to Beatlemania," described as "an illustrated history of the guitar, its music and its impact on the Fab Four." Then at 7 p.m., Juber will demonstrate his guitar skills in a concert in the same arena. What will he play?

"I have my repertoire. Because I'm just about to release my fourth album of solo guitar arrangements of Beatles tunes, there's Beatles in there, there's some Who, some Jimi Hendrix, the Great American Songbook. There are original compositions and a stylistic range that goes from jazz to folk to rock 'n' roll, and with a little classical thrown in. I describe what I do as borderline everything because I'm not restricted to one stylistic area. But I'm an entertainer too, and the ultimate goal is to keep the audience entertained," Juber says.

Juber's resume includes a stint playing lead guitar with McCartney's Wings. He was invited to play with McCartney's band after the exit of Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and was already friends with Wings co-founder Denny Laine, who suggested he audition. He was hired and recorded the album Back to the Egg with the band. A world tour was in order and it was to begin in Tokyo.

It was Jan. 16, 1980, when the former Beatle and his band flew into Tokyo. Unfortunately, authorities found about a half-pound of marijuana in McCartney's luggage, he ended up pleading guilty to charges and spent 10 days in jail. (When asked if he or other band members were detained, Juber jokes, "It was just him. We'd already vacuumed out our pockets.") When McCartney was released and went back to London, he decided to disband Wings.

Juber was distraught but went right back to studio work. McCartney called the band back to rehearse new songs for his Tug of War album, then decided he didn't want to use the former Wings members.

There was no time to mope, so Juber moved to Los Angeles and found plenty of work as a session musician. He's been recording music and touring, lecturing and raising a family in the United States since 1981.

As for the lecture portion of his appearance at ASU-Beebe, Juber describes it as "edu-tainment, it's entertaining and educational." The lecture, he says, is perfect for music students, guitar enthusiasts or just anyone who loves good music.

"You learn stuff that people don't necessarily know about the instrument, showbiz history and some of the best of the people that were extremely influential that you've never heard of, stuff like that. I've learned a great deal and I like to communicate all of that as I go," he says.

Style on 02/18/2020