Graham Francis Lee (born 11 December 1953) is an Australian musician and record producer, best known as the

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

player of the 1980s band

The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...

, where he was nicknamed 'Evil Graham Lee'.Australian Rock Database entries: * Graham Lee: * Lawson Square Infirmary 1984: * Paul Kelly Band 1984–1985, 1994: * Love Gone Wrong 1984–1985 * The Triffids 1985–1989: * Dave Graney and The White Buffalos 1990: * Crown of Thorns 1991: * The Blackeyed Susans 1992–1993: * David McComb 1994: He was born and grew up in

Kenilworth, Queensland Kenilworth is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kenilworth had a population of 604 people. Geography Kenilworth is in the heart of the M ...

, and graduated as a Primary School Teacher in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Lee left Brisbane in 1980 and went travelling around Asia and Europe for three years. He moved back to Australia in 1983 and settled in Sydney where he met

. They'd heard his dobro work on

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is an Australian folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of to ...

's first album which contained the legendary track, "

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile and gruesome, and criticises its glorification. This is exemplified in the song by the ac ...

", and invited him to guest on a demo they were recording at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

– a recording subsequently released as '' Lawson Square Infirmary''. The Triffids then returned to London but Lee stayed in Sydney and took up the pedal steel guitar. Work was scarce for everybody but occasionally something good came up – one session was for a young Melbourne singer songwriter called Paul Kelly who was making a record called '

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

'. He also played on the

John Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

singles ''Forget / The End of the Affair'' (

Waterfront Records Waterfront Records was an Australian independent record label based in Sydney, that released recordings by Australian bands during the 1980s and 1990s. History Waterfront records was started in 1982 by Steven Stavrakis who, at the time, was a ...

, Sept 1984) and ''Miracle (In Marrickville) / Two People'' (

, March 1985). When The Triffids returned to Sydney early in 1985, they asked Lee to join them full-time. Before the year was out the band moved back to London and this time Lee went too. For nearly five years they enjoyed success in Europe and released a number of records which are recognised as Australian classics – ''

Born Sandy Devotional ''Born Sandy Devotional'' is the second studio album by the Triffids, released in March 1986. The album was recorded at Mark Angelo Studios in London in August 1985 with Gil Norton co-producing with the band, and mixed at Amazon Studios in Liv ...

'', '' The Black Swan'' and '' Calenture''. However, life in London, the constant touring, and the incomprehensible nature of the record business eventually wore the band down and at the end of 1989 they decided to move back to Australia for a break, which became permanent and the band dissolved. In 1990 Lee moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and took a room upstairs at the Standard Hotel, in Fitzroy the pub owned by Steve Miller (

The Moodists The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, ...

), his old tour manager. Miller, in partnership with Dave Walsh (the brother of Chris Miller, the bass player for

the Moodists The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, ...

) establishing an independent record label, W.Minc Records (Walsh Miller Incorporated) in 1994. During the first few years, after the break-up of

, Lee was happy to book the bands at the pub and stay focused on music. He produced three of the first four W.Minc records and worked as a session player or a hired hand in various bands, including John Kennedy,

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

, Blackeyed Susans, The Paradise Vendors, Truckasaurus (with Lisa Miller),

David Chesworth David Chesworth (born 1958, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom) is an Australian-based interdisciplinary artist, composer and sound designer. Known for his conceptual, and at times, minimalism, minimalist music, he has worked solo, in post-punk group ...

Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarin ...

, GB3, and

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

. It wasn't until he was back in Europe, on tour with

David McComb David Richard McComb (17 February 19622 February 1999) was an Australian musician. He was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids (1976–89) and The Blackeyed Susans (1989–93). He also had a solo career incl ...

's solo outfit, The Red Ponies, that he decided he really wanted to get involved with W.Minc. In 1996 he officially joined the W.Minc Records as the label manager and since then he and Miller have guided the label together. Lee also currently runs an official website for The Triffids and in June 2006 (in conjunction with the re-issue of ''

'') joined the other members of

to play three live performances, two concerts in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and one in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands.

References

External links

The Triffid's official website

Evil Graham Lee's pedal steel website

Evil Graham Lee's guitar forum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Graham Australian guitarists The KLF Musicians from Melbourne 1953 births Living people Pedal steel guitarists The Triffids members The Blackeyed Susans members