Fire on the Strings [Original recording remastered]

Joe Maphis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1957
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000058T5X
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,740 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There was nothing nuanced about Joe Maphis, a star on Southern California's Town Hall Party television show in the 1950s. Playing a double-necked Mos-Rite Special guitar he helped design, Maphis was arguably the first picker to adapt fiddle breakdowns for guitar, and the hell-bent-for-leather title tune was his calling card. Occasionally, he'd turn in a relaxed, swinging performance like "Bully of the Town," or a seamless, well-paced workout like "Guitar Rock and Roll." But mostly he just burned, as on "Flying Fingers." Needless to add, this often worked better live than on record, and the real showstoppers here didn't even appear on the original 1957 album. On four of the seven bonus tracks, Maphis and protégé Larry Collins play rockin' country together like white on rice, especially on the charging "Hurricane," where they pull out all the stops, and the bluesy "Bye, Bye," a perfect balance of flash and restraint. --John Morthland

Product Description

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1957 album from the Country picker. There's a reason why Joe Maphis was called 'King Of The Strings ' - because he had so much ability that whenever he picked up any string instrument, he could almost play it straight off. No lessons required, just a natural aptitude, he was almost without peer in the world of country during the 1950s and 1960s and the album title Fire On The Strings is more than just hyperbole. He was most renowned for playing a double neck Mosrite guitar - and can lay claim to being perhaps the first musician to use this instrument. Fire On The Strings is the perfect showcase for his many talents, allowing him to slam through such songs as 'Guitar Rock And Roll', 'Bully Of The Town' and 'Flying Fingers', with fingers a seeming blur, while never allowing pure speed and technique to overtake his core sense of feel. 19 tracks. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smokin' reissue of legendary country guitar ace's debut LP, February 6, 2001

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fire on the Strings (Audio CD)

Maphis is perhaps best known today as the guitar ace who mentored teenage rockabilly whiz Larry Collins in the 50s. And though Collins' guitar talent was (and remains) substantial, the incendiary flat-picking style (and the twin-neck electric Mosrite guitar) Collins employed was not only originated by Maphis, but never got better. Augmented with seven bonus tracks (including four blazing duets with Collins) and newly penned liner notes from Rich Kienzle, this reissue of Maphis' 1957 Columbia debut is a fitting memorial to one of the guitar's unsung revolutionaries. (Bear Family's "Flying Fingers" compilation offers five additional tracks - and a shuffled track order - at a premium price.)

Across 19 instrumentals, Maphis fingers fly in lightning quick runs. His renditions of classic fiddle tunes, such as "Fire on the Mountain" and "Bully of the Town," pushed flatpicking to its limits, and set the stage for both country and rock (especially surf) pickers to follow. He recast Earl Scruggs' banjo instrumental "Randy Lynn Rag" for the guitar, and then turned to flatpicking a banjo for his own "Floggin' the Banjo." Elsewhere he shows off his mastery of the mandolin.

Perhaps most exhilarating of all are four tracks from the 1957 EP "Swinging Strings." Teacher Maphis and student Larry Collins play with an interlocked precision that is breathtaking. As one vamps, the other races up and down the frets, only to be met at the end by the ripping leads of the other. When they finally slow to a lope, the interplay is nearly telepathic. Also featured on a few tracks are Maphis' wife Rose Lee, and Johnny Bond.

Maphis' television work (most notably on the Los Angeles-based "Town Hall") led to work as a studio ace (including hit sessions with Ricky Nelson and early rockabilly sides with Wanda Jackson), but for sheer guitar pyrotechnics, his debut shows that he left the gate galloping at full speed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, March 11, 2004

By 

COMPUTERJAZZMAN "computerjazzman" (Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire on the Strings (Audio CD)

Joe Maphis was a great player on virtually any stringed instrument. Not many guitar players I know of can keep up with him. This guy was a whiz. The CD "Country Guitar Thunder" with Merle Travis is another must-have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a well titled record!, August 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fire on the Strings (Audio CD)

Joe Maphis had undeniable talent and technique as a flat picking guitar monster. Unfortunately, his records are unlistenable. Why? He rushed the beat so much. It's uncomfortable to hear. Drummers must have hated playing with him. But as another reviewer said, it must have worked better live. Listen to Jimmy Bryant or George Barnes "Country Jazz" to hear better version of this sort of guitar playing.