Chet Atkins Music - The Essential Chet Atkins

The thing about Chet Atkins' music is its wide-ranging appeal. Chet Atkins was a musician who could move from gospel to pop, from country to Beatles tunes, from bluegrass to jazz. That's not to say he was a jack of all trades and master of none. What he was a master at was finding the joy in playing the guitar.

Chet Atkins' finger picking style of guitar playing was based on the thumb and first finger technique of Merle Travis, a famous country guitar player and composer of the nineteen fifties. But Chet Atkins' music and guitar picking style attracted a whole new generation of fans to his music. The fans of Chet Atkins' music are fans of beautiful guitar playing no matter what genre the piece belongs to.

The Essential Chet Atkins contains twenty of his best tunes that show both his virtuosity and love of the guitar. The compilation also includes some famous fans of Chet Atkins music. Les Paul, Mark Knopfler and Jerry Reed are three famous guitar players from very different backgrounds who jumped at the chance to perform on record with Chet Atkins.

The complete list of tracks is:
"Guitar Blues (Pickin' the Blues)" (Atkins)
"Bug Dance" (Atkins)
"Dizzy Strings" (Atkins)
"Centipede Boogie" (Atkins)
"Mainstreet Breakdown" (Atkins)
"Root, Hog or Die" (Carter, Foree)
"Jitterbug Waltz" (Fats Waller)
"Third Man Theme" (Anton Karas)
"Black Mountain Rag" (Magness)
"Country Gentleman" (Atkins, Boudleaux Bryant)
"City Slicker" (Atkins)
"Mister Sandman" (Pat Ballard)
"The Poor People of Paris (Jean's Song)" (Rene Rouzaud, Marguerite Monnot)
"Big D" (Frank Loesser)
"Trambone" (Atkins)
"Should We Tell Him" (Phil Everly, Don Everly)
"Hidden Charm" (Rich)
"Oh Lonesome Me" (Don Gibson)
"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (Brockman, Kellette, Kennedy)
"Slinkey" (Atkins)
"Boo Boo Stick Beat" (Buddy Harman, John D. Loudermilk)
"Hot Mocking Bird"
"The Slop" (Cogswell)
"Man of Mystery" (Carr)
"Wheels" (Petty)
"Teen Scene" (Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed)
"Freight Train" (James, Williams)
"Satan's Doll" (Smith)
"Yakety Axe" (Boots Randolph, Rich)
"A Taste of Honey" (Marlow, Scott)
"Drive In" (Jerry Reed)
"Get on with It" (Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed)
"Cannonball Rag" (Merle Travis)
"Take Five" (Paul Desmond)
"Is Anything Better Than This" (Shel Silverstein)
"It's Been a Long, Long Time" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)
"Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)
"Poor Boy Blues" (Paul Kennerly)
"Sneakin' Around" (Kass)
"Big Foot" (Atkins)

Chet Atkins' music is the work of a guitarist who set out to impress nobody but ended up impressing everybody. The Essential Chet Atkins is a great introduction if you have not listened to him yet.

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