Customer Reviews

Adventure In Country Swing

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Having just read a glowing review of this awesome musical collaboration in the Sept. 2001 issue of VINTAGE GUITAR magazine, I felt prompted to add a few thoughts, since independent CD productions as terrific as this deserve all the mentions they can get! We'd be "up a creek without a paddle" if we didn't have music like this to feed our souls and offer an alternative to radio formula music! The VINTAGE GUITAR reviewer writes eloquently of Nokie's gorgeous playing, the musicians' inventiveness, the incredible guitar double-stops and harmonics, and The Doughboys super backings and solos. This is a wonderful collection of melodies and music-as-art. You'll see and hear in this playing what has made America great and what the world so admires about American musicians and guitarists when you get and listen to this CD. And while you're at it, pick up these guys' A SURF N SWING/FRET N STRING CHRISTMAS.Support some of the greatest instrumental country guitar music you'll ever hear! Nokie Edwards of The Ventures and The Light Crust Doughboys--together--a genius, "who would ever have dreamed it" pairing...One of those delightful, just perfect, yet highly-original pairings that make one say, "Why didn't I think of that!"

If you think the days of finding newly-created and produced gems like Santo and Johnny's "Sleep Walk", Chet Atkins' "Trambone" and Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" are over---think no more! Friends, this is a "killer" country instrumental album: brave in its simplicity, bold in its style and tone....Like Johnny Cash's American Recordings of late, this pairing of Ventures' legendary guitarist Nokie Edwards and the equally-legendary Texas music pioneers, The Light Crust Doughboys creates the essence of country and folk music utilizing, in some cases, just a few instruments....Folks, it's not how many notes you can play (although Nokie and The 'Boys rip it up in a few instances), it's what you play and how you play it! I just can't get enough of this Nokie guitar tone and the "just right" rhythm folk accompaniment of these cowboy jazz men!....And Tom Brumley's haunting, liquid steel adds just the right seasoning...The only thing better than listening to these masters on this high-fidelity CD would be to sit at their feet and watch 'em as they perform. Let's all hope Nokie/Light Crust Doughboys concerts aren't in the distant future! It's such a pleasure to hear a guitar that sounds like a guitar...Just maybe, there'll be a series of these musical album gems, sorta like the PLAY GUITAR WITH THE VENTURES series in the 1960s. This fine CD could easily be the ultimate PLAY COUNTRY AND SWING GUITAR. Another great thing about this is it's non-import, all-American price. Producers/arrangers Nokie and The Light Crust Doughboys have given listeners an audio gift that will last a lifetime. Are there more gems like this to come from these kings of the strings??

This fantastic album is the ultimate country guitar showcase; if you don't like instrumentals with a strong melody line and clarity of tone, then stick to jazz or contemporary western jazz, because this album has classic Patsy Cline/Jim Reeves/Elvis/Hank Williams appeal! This is roots-Americana at its best! And as far as being authentic, players on this album defined the term "country music"! Players like Smokey Montgomery and Bill Simmons of The Light Crust Doughboys are the fathers of country music and Grammy-winning instrumentalists. Even Ventures' great Nokie Edwards, the featured soloist here, has a pedigree in country that's tops: lead guitarist for Buck Owens, Lefty Frizzell, David Frizzell and Shelly West, and many more. Again, don't expect the free-form, progressive jazz of Pat Martino here; this is guitar music with space and tone, Texas meets Nashville! But what this album is...is the best country instro album of the year in the classic country-easy listening vein.

To create a successful cd requires the obvious, a lot of hard work, but there's more. To be a cute above the others requires a special formula. That formula is this: 1.Interputing the music and performaning it in a way that is pleasing to the listener, 2. Having a great song selection, and 3. Having an accompaniment that enhances the songs. This being said, I believe this cd delivers on all the covered areas.

When I first heard this cd, I knew immediatlely that is was destined for great things. This cd very easily could become a classic. I believe in time this will happen.

I have heard today that this cd is up for a Grammy Award and I believe with all sincerity that it will definately be the winner of this coveted award.

I would ask, you the fan, to give this cd a chance to win you heart.

Wonder why the Ventures were the largest selling instrutmental recording group of all time. Two words come to mind, Nokie Edwards!

If you haven't followed Nokie's career then this CD will probably be a revelation. Guitar playing doesn't get much better than this.

Those guitar mags that feature the same no talent rock guitarists that all play variations on the same 6 riffs & these cats call themselves guitarists, let alone muscians. PLEASE!!! Buy this country western theme CD & listen to a true guitarists guitarist & a true musicians musician. Ladies & gentleman presenting NOKIE EDWARDS!!!

They say that there are only a few things folks will fight over: music, politics, religion and the opposite sex. That might explain why there are such strong opinions about masterworks such as this, and why legends like The Light Crust Doughboys and Nokie Edwards and The Ventures evoke such strong reactions. Make no mistake about it, this is one outstanding music project in the traditional country and in the Ventures mold. As a Tennessean once said: "Why with this album you can enjoy both of the world's greatest music styles: country AND western!" Seriously though, this project has got it all, if you like twanging, Nokie Edwards/Ventures guitar tones combined with rich, Americana and folk roots music. I heard this was the first of the famous Grammy-Winning Doughboys-Nokie sessions, and it's more reverent than some of their later offerings due to its inclusion of some of the most beautiful of all the country ballads. There's something for everybody on this collection, but if your tastes tend toward the wilder and more rocking, seek out at any price the ultra-rare and collectible Nokie-Doughboys TWANGING GUITARS AND SOULFUL VOICES, CHRISTMAS IN GUITARLAND, BEST OF NOKIE ROOTS VOL. 1 & 2. On all these releases, Nokie and The Light Crust Doughboys are so hot, they're cool. And it's the same with this tremendous release, it's just that this CD edges more toward countrypolitan while sprinkling in the Texas-style jazz banjo to give this album a real folk flavor. A best-in-the-west, 5-star listening experience, expertly produced and recorded, with special appeal for classic country and instrumental fans.

This is the first instrumental album I turn to for car and home listening. It's an essential album for guitar fans and for country music fans and students. It's unlike Nokie's later albums with The Doughboys which are more pop-oriented and Ventures'-style. This masterpiece, however, is much rawer and roots-oriented, and it sizzles from song-to-song with funky feel. Just wait until you hear "The Orange Blossom Special" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". I heard Nokie with The Doughboys in concert in Mesquite, Texas, and it was the best variety show and musical festival I've ever attended. The electricity between the musicians and in the auditorium was atomic-powered.

This Nokie-Light Crust Doughboys series including CHRISTMAS albums, country-folk albums and pop albums is one of the greatest series of albums in instrumental music history.

I was hoping for western swing with a little more surf twang in the leads than the Bob Wills variety, what I got was what it would sound like if a Monkees cover band did these tunes and dropped out the vocals. Overproduced, overbearing country-type elevator music. As each track started I kept reaching to turn down the volume a little more ...and Beer Barrel Polka wherein someone is banging against a mic does not help the mix. Lesson learned.

I love vintage music like Bob Wills western swing and even newer bands like Asleep At The wheel. This cd is not too good, the playing isn't authentic western swing, and I don't much care for it, it's slightly annoying...

As an enthusiast of Western Swing and a disc jockey who has programmed Western Swing for 24 years on Atlanta FM radio, I looked forward eagerly to hearing "Adventures In Country Swing" and playing it for my listeners. The reviews were so positive and glowing that I thought I'd just take the plunge- after all I know the Light Crust Doughboy's work from the 1940's (nice stuff!) and I dug the Ventures from way,way back.

I'm sad to say that this CD is as low on energy as any I've heard in recent memory. Nokie Edwards is relegated to acoustic guitar for the most part and Tom Brumley is primarily restrained by the anemic rhythm section. Bland electric keyboards shackle any enthusiasm the music might generate and the arrangements are weak........... what a huge disappointment. This could have been a sparkling, energetic romp but for the most part is a real slog. Do the other reviewers even know what exciting Western Swing is? I wonder..