ITP V.011: METAL AT THE MOVIES: PART 16: NOT DEAD YET: The Story of Jason Becker

Again, we're back with METAL AT THE MOVIES: Part 16: NOT DEAD YET: THE STORY OF JASON BECKER.
Guitar shredder JASON BECKER has suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease. With great courage, BECKER is still shredding thanks to computer program technology.
Everyone knows who EDDIE VAN HALEN (VAN HALEN) is. When vocalist David Lee Roth
split with VAN HALEN and went solo, THE DAVID LEE ROTH band employed a monopoly of great, virtuoso shredding guitarists, including STEVE VIA. JASON BECKER replaced STEVE VIA for DAVID LEE ROTH's band, and proved to the world his awesome talent.
Despite suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, JASON BECKER is still shredding and this is JASON's story.
FROM THE JASON BECKER STORY:
NOT DEAD YET: The Story of Jason Becker’ is a new feature-length documentary film about the legendary guitar hero, Jason Becker; a guitarist and musical prodigy who, at just 19 and on the brink of stardom, was diagnosed with ALS, a rare terminal illness, and given just 3-5 years to live. Twenty years later, and without the ability to move or speak, he continues to compose music, note by note, with his eyes.

Jason's music is recorded by some of the world's greatest guitarists & musicians and his songs are an inspiration to millions of people around the world including a new generation of guitar players.

THE FILM
The film will feature interviews with Jason, his family and friends, and many of the amazing musicians he’s worked with over the years and will tell the whole untold story. There will be plenty of great Jason Becker performance footage from his shred guitar years with Cacophony through to his solo work, as well as tons of unseen footage and unreleased music from the Becker archives.

HOW YOU CAN HELP & WHAT YOU GET
You can help by making a financial pledge of any size towards the film's budget. You can make a donation on behalf of yourself, your company or your band. In exchange for your generous contributions, we are offering some rare Jason Becker memorabilia as well as advance copies of the Limited Edition DVD and Blu-Ray, Limited Edition Jason Becker Movie T-Shirts, Film Posters, Jason Becker CDs, and credits in the film.

We understand that times are tough for some people but even $5 will be an enormous help in making the dream of telling Jason's story to the world a reality. Look at the list below for more information.

WHY WE NEED THE FUNDING
All funds raised will go toward the production of the film which began in November 2010 and will continue throughout 2011. This includes travel and accommodation for our small film crew, camera & lighting equipment rental, camera stock and insurance, rights clearances for news broadcasts, archival footage and music as well as for post-production, animation work, sound mixing, titles and language translation.

DONATIONS LIST & PERKS
________________________________________________________________________________

$5 = BEGINNER
What You Get:
- A very special thank you on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________


$15 = INTERMEDIATE PLAYER
What You Get:
- 15% off the price of the DVD when it's released
- A special thank you with your name or band listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________


$25 = AXE GRINDER
What You Get:
- 25% off the price of the DVD when it's released
- A special thank you with your name or band listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________

$50 = SHREDDER
What You Get:
- 1 Advance copy of the DVD before it's available to the general public
- A special thank you with your name or band listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________

$100 = PRODIGY
What You Get:
- 1 LIMITED EDITION DVD w/ Jason’s signature, sleeve artwork and Bonus Material (once the film is completed - est 2012)
- Listed as a "Contributing Funder" in the film’s credits and your name or band
listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________

$250 = VIRTUOSO
What You Get:
- 1 LIMITED EDITION DVD w/ Jason’s signature and Bonus Material (once the film is completed - est 2012)
- 1 LIMITED EDITION Jason Becker Film Crew T-Shirt
- Listed as a "Contributing Funder" in the film’s credits and your name or band
listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________

$500 = GUITAR LEGEND
What You Get:
- Everything a "VIRTUOSO" gets +
- 1 copy of 'Collection', Jason's most recent CD, with Jason's siganture and thumbprint
- Listed as a "Contributing Funder" in the film’s credits and your name or band
listed on the Official website
________________________________________________________________________________

$1,000 = GUITAR GOD!
What You Get:
- Everything a "GUITAR LEGEND" gets! +
- An ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Film Credit
________________________________________________________________________________
ABOUT JASON BECKER:
Raised in the Bay Area, Jason was taught how to play by his father, a visual artist and classical guitarist who had trained under a student of Andrés Segovia. At age five, Jason received his first guitar and began learning Bob Dylan songs. (Both Dylan and classical music were already the youngster’s favorites.) By nine he was playing Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Roy Buchanan as well. His mastery of “Further On Up the Road” was so impressive for a 13-year-old that Jason’s parents found the money to buy him a black-and-white Fender Stratocaster, just like Clapton’s. As a freshman in high school, when Jason heard Van Halen’s debut album, he was so blown away that he spent hours every day trying to decipher Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo, “Eruption,” as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan’s song “Lenny” – both of which inspired him to begin writing his own pieces.

In 1986, at the age of 16, Jason sent performance tapes of himself to Mike Varney, the head of the guitar-oriented Shrapnel Records label. Varney in turn introduced him to Marty Friedman, whom Jason calls “the greatest and most original guitarist I had ever heard. He became my biggest musical influence. He taught me harmonies and counterpoint lines to his songs.” They formed the band

Cacophony, and over the next several years recorded the albums, 'Speed Metal Symphony' and 'Go Off!'. Jason also began a solo career with his classic, Perpetual Burn.

On Mother’s Day 1989, Jason was awakened in the middle of the night by “a huge painful cramp in my left calf muscle. The next day it was still tight and also feeling lazy, like after you’ve done a strenuous work out and your muscles just feel tired. I spent the next few months trying to get rid of that feeling by doing lots of stretches and jogging, and playing catch with the football whenever I could. But when I would play live shows, I’d get wiped out and hot. The lights, energy, and my jumping around almost made me nauseous.”

It was directly after he returned from a solo tour in Japan that Jason learned Varney had recommended him to David Lee Roth’s drummer, Gregg Bissonette, who had called looking for candidates to replace Steve Vai. When Jason flew down for the audition, he was already limping, but didn’t think anything about it. His left hand was also getting weak, and the muscle between his thumb and index finger was visibly shrinking.

Jason has been the subject of numerous honors over the years. Among them, ABC News named him a “Person of the Week.” Lion Music produced two tribute CDs – called “Warmth in the Wilderness” – which featured various musicians performing Jason’s songs and pieces inspired by him. His music has been performed by the Diablo Ballet and at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and there have been several major benefits to help relieve the on-going financial burden of his disease.

In his autobiography, 'Crazy from the Heat', David Lee Roth wrote: "Trying to hire genius is like designing art by committee—damn near impossible. But I came so close you could feel the heat coming off of it, with a fellow named Jason Becker… His parents had been like Haight-Ashbury hippies. So instead of growing up listening to Ed Van Halen records and duplicating that, he had grown up listening to all the old classics I had, as per his parents—Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills and Nash. What a wealth of references in his playing... He had such a full, substantial, articulate sound, played through the simplest equipment—one amp head, one set of speakers, a foot pedal or two, all of it Dennis-the-Menaced together with spit and chicken wire. That kid could move air, man. And [he was] the kindest, gentlest, most flexible, absorbing, want-to-learn spirit that I’ve ever really worked with."

Style

Considered a virtuoso guitarist and one of the top players of his time, Jason Becker studied the works of violinist Niccolò Paganini and was a playing partner with Marty Friedman. He later arranged Paganini's 5th Caprice, performing it during an instructional guitar video. Jason's compositions often include high-speed scalar and arpeggio passages, both of which are trademarks of his 'shred' style of guitar playing.

Often incorporating advanced techniques such as sweep picking, alternate picking, artificial harmonic accenting, and tapping; He was among the leaders of the field during the technical 'shred' guitar and Neo-Classical Metal movement of the mid to late eighties and is still respected and honored by his musician peers today. He demonstrated the arpeggio sequence during a clinic at the Atlanta Institute of Music. A video of this performance first appeared on his Hot Licks guitar instructional video.

Jason started out playing alongside Marty Friedman in the Mike Varney produced-duo, Cacophony. Jason and Marty toured together with Cacophony in Japan and across the United States. In 1989 Jason left to pursue a solo career, having released his first solo album 'Perpetual Burn' in 1988, and has since released 'Perspective' and 'Collection', as well as two albums of demos, 'The Raspberry Jams' and 'The Blackberry Jams'.


Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

At the age of 20, he joined David Lee Roth's band, replacing Steve Vai, who went on to join Whitesnake. While recording the 'A Little Ain't Enough' album in 1989, and preparing for the subsequent tour, Jason began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" on his left leg. He was soon diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also know as MND and Lou Gehrig's Disease) and given just three to five years to live. He could barely finish the recording, using low-gauge (thin) guitar strings and other techniques, which would make it easier to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, which was released in 1991, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; former Lizzy Borden guitarist Joe Holmes took Jason's place on tour.

Due to his illness, he eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father, Gary Becker. Although his ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually even to speak, he still remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continues composing.

In the back of the 'Perspective' CD case, Jason states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997.

As of 2010, Jason is feeling much better and has gained over 40lbs. He is still writing music and is working on a book about his life. The documentary film, 'Perpetual Burn: The Story of Jason Becker', is currently in production and is scheduled for release in 2012.


Perspective and the Berry Jams

In 1996 Becker released an album entitled 'Perspective', an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of Bob Dylan's song "Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely crippled his abilities. By using guitar and later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer physically play even a keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer helped him with a music-composing computer program which could read the movements of his head and eyes enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of his entire body.

Several years later Becker released Raspberry Jams (1999) and Blackberry Jams (2003), the first contained various unreleased demo-tracks and the latter contained demo-tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published into other albums.

Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. Respectively entitled Warmth in the Wilderness I and Warmth in the Wilderness II, they feature guitarists such as Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert,Marty Friedman, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances.




The Official trailer for the upcoming feature documentary film about guitar legend, Jason Becker.

Archival footage supplied by the Becker Family.
Music courtesy of Jason Becker and Shrapnel Records.
VIDEO BELOW: TRAILER FOR NOT DEAD YET: THE JASON BECKER STORY:

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
HAILS TO JASON BECKER \m/