Chet Atkins album

While Chet Atkins is justly recognized as a key architect of the Nashville country-pop sound, even relatively late in his career he would take some opportunities to return to his folksier roots. Such was the case with a couple of collaborations he embarked on with fellow guitar greats Merle Travis, on 1974's The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show, and Doc Watson, on 1980's Reflections. Both are combined onto one 57-minute disc on this Australian CD reissue. A little surprisingly, although Atkins and Travis had played together before the January 1974 session resulting in The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show, they'd never done so for an official release. With producer Jerry Reed (himself no small country guitar legend) adding rhythm guitar on a few tracks, the duo ran through some old favorites ("Muskrat Ramble," "Cannonball Rag," Travis' own "Nine Pound Hammer"), pop standards ("Who's Sorry Now"), and even a couple Shel Silverstein songs on this low-key album. Neither Atkins nor Travis had anything to prove by the time this pairing rolled around, and there's something of an "old friends getting together for the heck of it" feel to both their picking and their relaxed, almost nonchalant occasional vocals. It was a refreshingly plain production for a time when the country scene in which Atkins and Travis had started as youngsters was getting pretty slick. At the same time, there's a lack of ambition to the endeavor that makes it a secondary curiosity in both men's catalogs, and certainly not one of the top places to start as showcases for their formidable abilities. The same can be said of Reflections, but Atkins' partner sounds a little more animated on this album, even though this Atkins-Watson session shares a similar "just two pals pickin'" vibe (and though the band is fuller, with rhythm guitar, bass, and percussion backing the pair's guitars and vocals). Atkins and Watson wrote most of the material on Reflections, and it adequately displays both men's formidable instrumental skills in the folk-country style. The self-conscious "Me and Chet Made a Record" skirts novelty territory, and like the other tracks sporting vocals, reveals Atkins' fairly severe limitations in that department, as does their cover of the Delmore Brothers' "You're Gonna Be Sorry."

As a consummate display of Chet Atkins' refined fingerpicking style, Finger Style Guitar Plus sets its own lofty standards. A nearly invisible rhythm section underpins Atkins' one-man guitar ensemble with very subtle rhythm support on side one, where each number shines like a finished gem. To cite two examples, "Swedish Rhapsody" has dignity and subtle swing -- the perfect expression of a country gentleman -- and the note selection on "Liza" is astonishingly right every time. On side two, Atkins goes it alone, often leaning toward short, sometimes hokey classical pieces, the exception being "Unchained Melody," which has a simply stated first chorus followed by an echo-delayed, overdubbed second chorus. In general, the tunes with rhythm on side one are more ingratiating than the unaccompanied pieces on side two, yet they all display a relaxed, confident musicality at all times. [This edition comes with an additional ten tracks of bonus material.]