In 1990, Jason Becker was rapidly ascending the heights of guitar stardom. The 21-year-old had already released two Cacophony albums with co-guitarist Marty Friedman, as well as his acclaimed 1989 solo album, Perpetual Burn. Most notable of all, Jason had just completed the sessions for David Lee Roth’s A Little Ain’t Enough. Fans of groundbreaking guitar playing were anxiously anticipating Roth’s new album and upcoming tour – after all, Dave had previously performed alongside Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai. As Jason revealed near the end of our conversation, a tour with Dave was not to be. A few days earlier, Jason had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
In his autobiography Crazy From the Heat, Dave praised Jason as “the kindest, gentlest, most flexible, absorbing, want-to-learn spirit that I’ve ever worked with.” This parallels my observations of Jason. To help prepare me for our December 13, 1990, phone interview for Guitar Player magazine, Jason sent me an advance cassette of Dave Lee Roth’s A Little Ain’t Enough, with the request that I safeguard the music until its official release. During our interview, he spoke at length about the Roth sessions, Marty Friedman and Cacophony, his views on guitars and amps, his musical upbringing, songwriting, and more.
I want to thank Jason for giving me permission to air this podcast. We hope you enjoy our conversation.
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