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And they bring back so many memories. These are wonderful CD's--every selection is great. I don't think I'll ever tire of listening to these wonderful tunes by Chet Atkins. My favorite is "Jitterbug Waltz" which was the reason I bought the CD's originally, but I find that I now have many favorite selections. I find that his wonderful renditions of the tunes run through my mind even when I'm not listening to the CD's. I find myself irresitably dancing to many of the selections as I enjoy listening to them--good exercise.
It's the best place to start for the serious Atkins fan and beginner alike, and damn hard to beat, although his "Essential" CD's are good company. The accompanying booklet is interesting, along with early photos of the great man. Rock and roll, bluegrass, country, blues and jazz are blended together in a musical soup that astonishes the listener, usually in the space of a single song.
Atkins' virtuosity, taste and almost incomprehensible range of playing are simply unparalled. We hear shred guitar before the term and the hot shots of the 80's, including Vai and Satriani were even born. No self respecting guitar player should be without Chet Atkins in his or her collection.
Never hokey, Atkins was a living breathing slice of American music history. Guitarists, pay your dues today. "The RCA Years" is a superb compilation of his work starting in 1947 with "Canned Heat" and follows through to the late '70's before Chet jumped ship to Columbia to pursue a more jazzy path than RCA was willing to allow.
Every track in this 50 song double CD is indispensible.
Not every song is a classic, but there are some truly good ones here, it will open up your eyes a lot. Chet Atkins was truly a great musician, although he recorded a lot of crap over the years. This CD showcases his guitar talent, ranging from 1947-1978.
He did jazz, pop, country/pop, traditional country, rock and roll, semi-classical---alone and with small groups, in duets and with orchestras. His artistic genius was in the picking, and this collection shows his versatility quite well. He helped make the guitar more prominent in both country and rock in his heyday during the '50's, and he helped make Nashville famous and country music more mainstream in the '60's. He was RCA's top man in Nashville at the time, and it was fascinating to watch him work. One criticism of Chet is that he recorded too much, and perhaps that is true, but after all, that was his job. My new brother-in-law played an early LP for me in which Chet picked (and sang) a song about the Titanic. If you are new to Chet, I'd say this is essential. In Nashville in 1968 I was in the audience for a recording session Chet produced, featuring country comedians (and superb instrumentalists) Homer and Jethro.
But there was so much more to the man than those quiet recordings. I first became a fan of Chet Atkins in 1957, when I was 13. My applause is probably on it, and I'd like to own a copy. I knew who Homer and Jethro were because my parents had owned an earlier album of theirs, but I did not know at the time how respected they were as artists, or that their friendship with Chet went back 20 years. Chet did not play, as I recall--- he supervised, and teased, and conducted, and solved problems.
One of the session musicians was Jerry Reed, later to become a star himself. If you are already a fan, it is a worthy addition. Many think the latter transformation was a mixed blessing, but overall Chet Atkins is a towering figure in American popular music, and this collection proves it. This double CD set is welcome in my home as a tribute to a great guitarist and recording executive. I was lucky enough to see Chet in person twice. Since becoming a Chet fan in '57, I bought a handful of his own records over the years, but he made far too many for any one guy to own them all. That tune's not included in these two hours, but one early Chet vocal is on here, just to show us why we don't need more of his voice.
The result was released on LP as "Homer and Jethro Live at Vanderbilt University" but sadly has not been issued on CD. The other occasion was really special. Not every LP was ground-breaking, and a lot of Chet's work falls into the "easy listening" or "good background music" category, including some tracks on this set. Once was a concert, which included Boots Randolph on sax and Floyd Cramer on piano, but Chet was clearly the centerpiece.
This is a more sophisticated look into Chet and for the neophite not a bad first choice (although the best Chet sampler, IMHO, is Master and his Music). The CD disc 1 is early stuff, with a more jazzy hillbilly feel-very cool, but a bit lacking in the fidelity department as befits the era. The disc 2 is some later stuff and it is extraordinary and worth the entire set price-there are some jazz tunes which are Chet at this best. This is a great album. For those who really enjoy Chester and wish to visit his roots this is a good CD and bears the price. That being said, this is my fifth or sixth Chester CD and it is interesting, and there are always great tunes on every album. As point of departure I am a guitarist with eclectic tastes, and more interested in Chet for his technical and arrangeing abilitites than for the selections of tunes. As with so many guitarists, such as Clapton and Page, the RCA collection showcases Chet's evolution from frantic virtuoso (with flaming L7 in tow) into a rounded, melodic interpretative artist.
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