Essential Chet Atkins (2007)

Product Summary Label: Cbs/epic/wtg Records UPC: 00886970767729 Release Date: 7/24/2007 Buy.com Sku: 204323677 Item#: M3K94C Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Guitar Blues (Pickin' the Blues) ~ Chet Atkins 2. Bug Dance ~ Chet Atkins 3. Dizzy Strings ~ Chet Atkins 4. Centipede Boogie ~ Chet Atkins 5. Mainstreet Breakdown ~ Chet Atkins 6. Root, Hog Or Die - (with The Carter Sisters/Mother Maybelle) ~ Chet Atkins 7. Jitterbug Waltz ~ Chet Atkins 8. Third Man Theme, The ~ Chet Atkins 9. Black Mountain Rag ~ Chet Atkins 10. Country Gentleman ~ Chet Atkins 11. City Slicker ~ Chet Atkins 12. Mister Sandman ~ Chet Atkins 13. Poor People Of Paris, The (Jean's Song) ~ Chet Atkins 14. Big D - (with Eddy Arnold) ~ Chet Atkins 15. Trambone ~ Chet Atkins 16. Should We Tell Him - (with The Everly Brothers) ~ Chet Atkins 17. Hidden Charm ~ Chet Atkins 18. Oh Lonesome Me - (with Don Gibson) ~ Chet Atkins 19. I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles ~ Chet Atkins 20. Slinkey ~ Chet Atkins Disc 2 Song Title Sample 1. Boo Boo Stick Beat ~ Chet Atkins 2. Hot Mocking Bird ~ Chet Atkins 3. Slop, The ~ Chet Atkins 4. Man Of Mystery ~ Chet Atkins 5. Wheels ~ Chet Atkins 6. Teen Scene ~ Chet Atkins 7. Freight Train ~ Chet Atkins 8. Satan's Doll ~ Chet Atkins 9. Yakety Axe ~ Chet Atkins 10. Taste Of Honey, A ~ Chet Atkins 11. Drive In ~ Chet Atkins 12. Get On With It ~ Chet Atkins 13. Cannonball Rag - (with Jerry Reed) ~ Chet Atkins 14. Take Five ~ Chet Atkins 15. Is Anything Better Than This - (with Merle Travis) ~ Chet Atkins 16. It's Been a Long Time - (with Les Paul) ~ Chet Atkins 17. Polka Dots And Moonbeams - (with Lenny Breau) ~ Chet Atkins 18. Poor Boy Blues - (with Mark Knopfler) ~ Chet Atkins 19. Sneakin' Around - (with Jerry Reed) ~ Chet Atkins 20. Big Foot ~ Chet Atkins (C) (P) Compilation 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Additional personnel: Jerry Reed, Lenny Breau, Les Paul, Mark Knopfler, Merle Travis. THE ESSENTIAL CHET ATKINS is a solid two-disc overview of one of country music's true pioneers. Chet Atkins, as an artist, session guitarist, and producer, is one of the key figures in country music, the man most responsible for the development of the pop-oriented "countrypolitan" sound in the 1960s. This 40-track anthology covers all of Atkins's career and includes such canonical Atkins favorites as "Guitar Blues (Pickin' the Blues)" and "Country Gentleman," which provided the guitarist with his nickname. The set also includes comparative rarities such as a collaboration with Mother Maybelle Carter on the old folk standard "Root Hog Or Die" and the late-1950s stab at rock & roll, "Teen Scene." This is an ideal starting point for novices. Chet Atkins is more esteemed as a session musician and producer than as a solo artist, and critics have rightly noted that much of his immense catalog as a solo artist is unimpressive. It might thus be assumed that it would be difficult to pick a two-CD, 40-track career-spanning retrospective that would both represent much of his finest solo output and appeal to the general listener, not just the country music scholar. Happily, this set manages the difficult feat of doing exactly that, owing to intelligent selection of a wide cross-section of tracks, going all the way back to a 1946 single by Chester Atkins & the All-Star Hillbillies and all the way up to a 1995 recording (though most of the set predates 1970). Atkins' virtuosity as a guitarist has never been in question, but here it's allied with good material and taste, showing him as a fine blender of hillbilly, boogie, and jazz styles in a variety of contexts. It's mostly instrumental, of course, but wisely his talents as a sideman are showcased here and there too on vocal sides by the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, Eddy Arnold, the Everly Brothers, and Don Gibson. Even the pop standards are good when chosen this judiciously, and there are some surprisingly bold moves into more electric and rock-influenced territory on cuts like "Slinkey" (with its innovative tremolo), "Boo Boo Stick Beat," the Shadows cover "Man of Mystery," and "Teen Scene" (which he co-wrote with Jerry Reed). It might not be the ultimate Atkins compilation, given the sheer quantity of material the guitarist recorded. But it's a good -- and, more crucially, very listenable -- starting point for surveying his work as a solo artist. ~ Richie Unterberger Producer: Mark Knopfler; Chet Atkins; Lenny Breau; Archie Bleyer; Anita Kerr; Jim Bullet; Chester B. Atkins; Stephen H. Sholes; Bob Ferguson; Charles Grean; Bob Irwin (Compilation)   Compilation Appearances Tribute To Music Of Bob Wills Rhythm Country & Blues Vol 3 Singing Ranger Vol 2 Singing Ranger Essential George Jones Spirit Vol. 2-Teen Beat Silliest Songs Having Thumb Fun With My Frien 20 Greatest Hits Mflp's 20th Anniversary Collection Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle With Chet At Country Christmas My Very Special(legacyed) Greetings From Nashville Yesterday: Country Music Tribute The Beatles 40 Years Of Duets Carter Sisters Mother Maybelle And Ch George Jones:hits Then Till Now Celebration Of Stars:children's Music Me And Jerry/me And Chet   Associated Artists and Works Almeida, Laurindo Artists, Various Bogguss, Suzy Bogguss, Suzy Breau, Lenny Coleman, Jim Coleman, Jim Cramer, Floyd Ears, Rabbit Rabbit Ears Rabbit Ears Watson, Doc The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show/Reflections ~ Watson, Doc   Technical Info Release Date : 07/24/2007 Original Release Date : 2007 Catalog ID : 88697076772 Label : Columbia Nashville Number of Discs : 2 Runtime : 103m : 3s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00886970767729   Professional Reviews Dirty Linen (p.76) - "THE ESSENTIAL CHET ATKINS showcases his considerable skills on the guitar....The dynamic duo of Chet Atkins and Les Paul is a formidable six-string powerhouse if ever there was one."    Product Image