The Essential Chet Atkins

The Essential Chet Atkins

ASIN: B000002WX5

Track Listings

1. Mr. Sandman

2. Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song)

3. Boo Boo Stick Beat

4. Alley Cat

5. Travelin'

6. Yakety Axe

7. Yesterday

8. Blue Angel

9. Theme from Zorba the Greek

10. Snowbird

11. Steeplechase Lane

12. Jerry's Breakdown - Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed

13. Black Mountain Rag

14. Fiddlin' Around

15. Somewhere, My Love [Lara's Theme: From Dr. Zhivago]

16. Entertainer (Theme from "The Sting")

17. Londonderry Air

18. On My Way to Canaan's Land

19. Tennesse Ray/Beaumont Rag

20. Chet's Medley: Four Walls/I Can't Stop Loving You/Send Me the Pillow Yo

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Without blinking an eye, Atkins and his unwavering guitar move from bluegrass and country to pop, jazz, gospel, the Beatles, and the movies. Spanning nearly 40 years, these 20 cuts brilliantly display the elegant, quietly astonishing fingerpicking technique that Atkins perfected. Inspired by fingerpicking pioneer Merle Travis, Atkins developed a graceful, effortless style that often leaned toward classical guitar, and he applied it to everything from "Mr. Sandman" to "Black Mountain Rag." Atkins reaches even greater heights when spurred on by other top-flight musicians, as he is on striking duets with fiddler Johnny Gimble and guitarists Doc Watson and Jerry Reed. --Marc Greilsamer

The Essential Chet Atkins,Chet Atkins,RCA,Arranger,Country,Country & Western,Country Boogie,Country-Pop,Instrumental Country,Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan,Pop,Producer,Traditional Country

The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years
Average customer rating:

I Love It!

A Master Guitarist in His Maturity

Later Chet Atkins great material

The Master at his very best

The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years
Chet Atkins
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music
Nashville Sound | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music
Smooth Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

A Master And His Music

Guitar Legend: The RCA Years

The Essential Chet Atkins

The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World

Neck and Neck

ASIN: B0002S94VQ
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Tracks:

Bourree
Cosmic Square Dance
Wobegon (The Way It Used To Be)
Maybelle
Dixie McGuire
Jam Man
Poor Boy Blues
Road To Gundaghi/Waltzing Matilda
Sneakin' Around
Dream
After You've Gone
I'll See You In My Dreams
Young Thing
Imagine
So Soft, Your Goodbye

Customer Reviews:

I Love It!.......2007-02-14

I bought this CD shortly after having fallen in love with An East Tennessee Christmas and was absolutely delighted by what I heard. If you have a good sound system at home or in your car, put this CD on and sit back and enjoy. A great selection of songs beautifully played in a top-notch recording. I don't know which song is my favorite...but I'm wearing this CD out trying to decide.

A Master Guitarist in His Maturity.......2006-07-01

I'm working through my first listen of this recording. I just brought it home from the store and am enjoying a trip far back in my own history. I first picked up the guitar when I was 15 years old and that's about 38 years ago. Before much time passed, I was taking lessons from a man who played "Chet Atkins' Style," a technique of using a thumbpick and fingers that is a variation of the classical style. But the technique was not applied to the classical literature; it was applied to country and popular music.

I was enthralled. I learned a number of arrangements using Atkins' style and still remember a few of them. Not only was Atkins a master guitarist, he was a master arranger as well.

This album showcases Atkins during his mature years. His collaboration with a number of fine musicians pleases me. The songs are well selected and the addition of other musicians is a treat. If you are a fan of Atkins, especially his later material, then you'll like this recording.

Chet Atkins was a master musician and an excellent arranger. He also had a knack for picking compatible musicians to play with. This recording exemplifies both characteristics.

Later Chet Atkins great material.......2006-02-07

As the liner notes to this second "Essential" volume indicates, Chet Atkins had wanted to explore jazz and other idioms when with RCA, and the label, despite Chet's stature and the fact that he was the executive producer for the label, flatly refused to allow him to do so. They cited, maybe correctly so, that such excursions would go over the heads of the general country audience.
Chet knew he could vastly broaden his audience rather than limit his exposure, so he split RCA for Columbia and continued to grow and solidify his already legendary status.
"Essentials" - The Columbia Years" is a must have for Atkins fans particulary fond of his jazz work and more modern tunes. It opens with a JS Bach tune "Bourree", that starts out in the baroque style of the original, picks up a beat and swings into bebop territory before coming back to square one, and that's just the opening cut.
Numbers with Tommy Emmanuel, George Benson, Jerry Reed, Mark Knopfler and Suzy Bogguss pepper this CD but every guest takes the obligatory backseat to the unquestioned master. Atkins delivers a tender reading of Lennon's "Imagine" and closes with "So Soft, Your Goodbye", from the Atkins- Knopler CD "Neck and Neck."
All in all, the title of this collection says it all. For an even more straight up jazz CD, check out Chet's "CGP" album.

The Master at his very best.......2005-12-01

I am quite surprised I am the first to review this album.
Chet in the last 10 years of his life recorded several albums.
He recorded songs with Mark Knopfler, Jerry Reed and a few others. Chet Atkins has taken the guitar to a new level, and we are lucky enough to hear the master play the guitar as only he can play it.
This CD represents to latter part of his life and his more recent recordings..
Chet has always been considered the greatest guitar player on the planet. Chet can play all genres of music and play with the best of them.
Chet will always be remember as a master guitarist.
Some of the finest recordings of his career are on this CD.
Bouree starts the CD out and shows his classical side. Bouree starts the way Bach recorded it and goes to a country style, and then back to Bach, truely a masterpiece.
Dream is another highlight on the CD, and well worth the listen.
I'll see you in my dreams is another song on this CD that gets my attention time and time again.
He pulls out old songs like Waltzing Matilda and gives them a new life.
The only problem with this CD is the absence of my personal favorite, I Still Cant Say Goodbye.
The first time I heard the song I was in tears.
Chet Atkins was a class act and his songs are classics.
Rest in Peace Chet and thanks for the memories

Average customer rating:

Mr.Guitar
essential in more ways than one
Pay your dues to the lord high master of guitar
Country Guitar Player
Essential to listen to

The Essential Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

Nashville Sound | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

A Master And His Music
Guitar Legend: The RCA Years
Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles
Christmas with Chet Atkins
Almost Alone

ASIN: B000002WX4
Release Date: 1996-06-18

Tracks:

Mr. Sandman
The Poor People Of Paris
Boo Boo Stick Beat
Alley Cat
Travelin'
Yakety Axe
Yesterday
Blue Angel
Zorba The Greek (Theme)
Snowbird
Steeplechase Lane
Jerry's Breakdown
Black Mountain Rag
Fiddlin' Around
Somewhere My Love
The Entertainer
Londonderry Air
On My Way To Canaan's land
Tennessee Rag/Beaumont Rag
Chet's Medley: Four Walls/I Can't Stop Loving You/Send Me The Pillow You Dream On/Five Hundred Miles/Oh Lonesome Me

Amazon.com essential recording

Without blinking an eye, Atkins and his unwavering guitar move from bluegrass and country to pop, jazz, gospel, the Beatles, and the movies. Spanning nearly 40 years, these 20 cuts brilliantly display the elegant, quietly astonishing fingerpicking technique that Atkins perfected. Inspired by fingerpicking pioneer Merle Travis, Atkins developed a graceful, effortless style that often leaned toward classical guitar, and he applied it to everything from "Mr. Sandman" to "Black Mountain Rag." Atkins reaches even greater heights when spurred on by other top-flight musicians, as he is on striking duets with fiddler Johnny Gimble and guitarists Doc Watson and Jerry Reed. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

Mr.Guitar.......2007-02-13

Its very rare to come across musicians of this caliber, who make it look so easy. Chet Atkins is Mr.Guitar for a reason, the guitar just an extension of himself. I am not a big fan of country music as such, but dont get turned away by the country connotations - This is absolutely stunning music - the music takes precedence over technical genius...you are just left speechless at the sheer beauty of the guitar tone
- if you still need a reason, just listen to 'yesterday'. This version seems to take the original song and paint it more beautiful with guitar notes, than can ever be done by mere words.
As has often been said, Chet Atkins will make you respect the guitar in all its majesty more than ever, sans pick.

essential in more ways than one.......2006-11-15

A couple of years ago I became fascinated by George Benson's 60s jazz guitar playing and visited his website where I found an unexplained picture of Chet Atkins (not still there). Having grown up in the 60s I saw Chet on tv and had read that he was an important influence on George Harrison, but never sat down and listened to him. (Way too uncool!) So I got this album and now I want to play it over and over. Chet's style may strike some as corny, but his crystal clear tone, his precise touch, his unshowoffy virtuosity are lovely and the purity, the directness and unaffectedness of his approach are quite touching.

Pay your dues to the lord high master of guitar.......2006-01-30

You do not deserve any credit as a musician or guitarist if you don't pay homage to Chet Atkins, the overall greatest guitarist in the history of the universe.
"The Essential Chet Atkins" is a good starting point, and shows what mastery and taste can do to any tune when in the hands of a genius.
Chet could outpick and outplay anybody and his interpretations of hundreds of cover tunes were beyond reproach and simply couldn't be improved upon.
Rockers must pay attention to "Boo Boo Stick Beat", a precursor to punk, funk and surf all in one tune. Atkins' reading of "Yesterday" not only pays tribute to one of music's greatest songs, but ends up bearing his indelible stamp. This cover is probably the only one that does the original justice, and I seriously doubt McCartney has any complaints.
It takes somebody special to turn corny tunes like "Snowbird" and "Mr. Sandman" into instrumental masterpieces, showing that Chet knew a great hook when he heard one and also knew how to improve upon it.
If anybody out there who fancies themselves a hot guitarist wants to put their money where their mouth is, try learning "Jerry's Breakdown", with highly underrated guitarist Jerry Reed as a guest soloist on this track, note for note. Now go back and do your homework, smart ass.
It's only a glimpse into genius, but it's a great place to start.

Country Guitar Player.......2002-03-22

I'm sure Les Paul and Chet Atkins did more for the guitar than anyone of their generation. This great album scans most of his career and includes everything from 'Yakety Axe' and spin-off of Boots Randolphs' 'Yakety Sax' to a Beatle tune. I always found the trio of Floyd Cramer, Boots Randolph and Chet Atkins entertaining.

Essential to listen to.......2001-07-04

All I can say is that from the moment I hit the play button, I was mesmerized by this CD. I listened to it over and over, and am still listening to it. The Essential Chet Atkins is just that, essential listening, not only if you're a Chet Atkins fan, but also if you appreciate distinctive guitar picking. From background music to front-line listening, this is a CD worth hearing--over and over and over. Also check out Chet Atkins with Mark Knopfler, a thoroughly pleasurable collaboration.

Average customer rating:

The Essential Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000OOOJ04
Release Date: 2007-07-24

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