Mr. Atkins Guitar Picker / Finger Pickin' Good

by Chet Atkins

Description by OLDIES.com:

This 19-track audio CD contains two Chet Aktins albums originally released on the RCA Victor budget label Camden.

Product Description:

2 LPs on 1 CD: GUITAR PICKER (1971)/FINGER PICKIN' GOOD (1972).

On this two-for-one CD, most of the songs are culled from the Great American Songbook or the Appalachian folk tradition. Exceptions are a superb Western version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and the much-loved African-based tune "Wimoweh," which may be better known as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Thoughtful renditions of Irving Berlin's "You're Just in Love" and Harry Warren's "Shadow Waltz" show the scope of Atkins's repertoire, as do clever arrangements of lesser-known country standards "Cattle Call" and "Old Joe Clark." Atkins's upbeat hit "Yakety Axe" is also included toward the end of the disc.

With every track recorded before 1972, this is really classic Atkins material. He plays with all the Travis-picking pizzazz for which he's famous, and the collection moves from livelier tunes to ballads and back again with both grace and alacrity. The last track, "Back to Old Smoky Mountain," is the only selection that contains vocals (as sung by Atkins and a small female choir), and this cheerful song may be the highlight of the disc.