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GREAT PAIRING OF THE TWO OF THE MOST PROFICIENT COUNTRY GUITAR PLAYERS EVER, MERLE TRAVIS AND JOE MAPHIS. MERLE TRAVIS HAD THE GREAT STYLE OF PLAYING THAT FLAT-PICKING GUTIAR, AND JOE MAPHIS OCULD PLAY ANY STRINGED INSTRUMENT (A MODERN DAY ROY SMECK), AND PLAY IT LIKE HE HAD JUST DRANK TWO POTS FULL OF ESPRESSO. GREAT FINGER PICKING AND GUITAR PLAYING, YOU WILL ENJOY THIS CD IF YOU WANT O HEAR TWO MASTERS OF THE GUITAR PLAYING THIER HEARTS OUT.
From the rip-roaring hard-driving first cut, "Ballad of Thunder Road / Theme From Bonanza," to the last, sweetly rocking, upbeat "Eight More Miles to Louisville," this is one heck of an album. Great fun.Recorded in a variety of sessions, 1977 - 1981, in Nashville, Charlotte, and Albuquerque, these two masters of the guitar are joined sometimes by fiddle or piano and a drummer. Many songs are a break-neck race to the finish ("Nashville Jubilee," "Liberty" and "Flying Fingers"), while others are pure graceful swinging, like "Lonesome Road Blues" and "Freight Train," which bring to mind the style of protégé Doc Watson. Things slow down briefly for a heartbreaking duo version of "Mose Rager Blues." The set rounds out with a couple of old-timers, "John Henry" and "Irish Washerwoman," played as a theme and variations, first as a rollicking jig that segues into a joyous patch of syncopation and a tango-flavored interlude followed by an outburst of boogie-woogie and so on. Most often, it's just the two of them having the time of their lives. Really fine.
This cd is a great one and I am going to get it. I don't think there is any one that can pick a guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandelon or bass better than joe maphis. I am going to add this one to my collection.
If anyone likes guitar picking, this is one of the greatest with two of the finest pickers ever. I could put this one in and let it play for hours.
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