Anyone looking for an example of how to craft a record around two guitars and nothing else (bar a little humming) could do no better than check out the LPs reissued on this twofer.
Chet Atkins was Nashville’s pre-eminent producer in the 60s and 70s; Jerry Reed, songwriter and sessioneer, was one of his signings. Between them, they liked nothing better in the world than playing guitar – and that’s what they do here. Atkins may have been the big boss (he was certainly a very powerful figure in Nashville) but the honours are split equally throughout both LPs. Indeed, Chet goes so far as to say of Reed’s licks that he “never begs, steals or borrows like the rest of us. He just sits around and makes up his own”.
Nothing outstays its welcome here, nothing drags and nothing seems out of place, even though the material ranges from the self-penned to psychedelic ballads such as MacArthur Park to George Harrison’s Something. Frantz Liszt gets a look in with Liebestraum, just as Merle Travis does with Cannonball Rag.
If you like to hear guitars being played well, this CD is one of the best investments you could make.
