Customer Reviews

Frettin Fingers: Lightning Guitar of Jimmy Bryant

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Usually, when I think of an "original", the originality itself is the issue, while the pure chops have since been surpassed by some youngblood hot-shot. In Jimmy Bryant's case,(and I truly believe that James Burton, Albert Lee, and the Hellecasters would agree), the world's -first- Telecaster player is -still- the -hottest-.

I first heard Jimmy Bryant on satellite radio doing a song called "Little Rock Getaway." I knew if there was any other song on this set half as impressive as that one, then the set was worth the price. In fact, there are several. The speed of his licks and the clean sound he gets combines to inspire awe in the listener. The first CD in the set is obviously a group of older recordings -- less polished and less produced -- which may be a good thing. Not that the first CD isn't amazing in its delivery of scorching hot guitar licks, but by the third CD, Bryant has simply moved to another plane. This is a style of picking that reminds me of Roy Clark -- only much faster, cleaner, and with a more serious nature... but the same kind of tone. You'll definitely be impressed with Bryant's delivery. As a guitarist, I stand in complete reverence of the late Mr. Bryant. "Awe Inspiring" is too cliche for this stuff -- it's just mind-boggling lightning strapped down to the neck of a guitar.

This set is a great introduction to Jimmy Bryant. It covers most of his work with Speedy West and the majority of his later singles of the 60's. My title for this review pretty much says it all. It's bebop in a cowboy hat. If you are a musician and don't know who Django Reinhardt is, listen to him; then listen to Bryant; then hit the woodshed. Good Luck.

Country Boogie as a genre is new to me. I first heard it in a 10-minute capsule at the end of NPR's Fresh Air, during which the reporter played samples from this Jimmy Bryant box set and another box set (Hillbilly Boogie) with a wider range of artists.

I was impressed with all of it, but Jimmy Bryant (six string guitar) and Speedy West (pedal steel guitar) are just way over the top in their playing skills; the music is lively and fun, too. Called country music, a great deal of this work contributes to the then-emerging genre called rock 'n' roll, and you could really spice up a dance mix by throwing in some of this material. You'll find plenty of jazzy licks as well as blues on this set.

This box set has a terrific range of Bryants' work. Since his recorded work was with Speedy West (through 1956), most tracks on the box also feature West. The sound quality is very good for the time it was recorded. A number of the tracks with West on this set were written by Bryant. About 36 tracks are later work from Bryant (without West), recorded from 1962-1967.

But the three discs left me hungry for more, and I learned that Flamin' Guitars, an earlier box set featuring Bryant and West, was also available (though a bit pricey). Well, I got that one, and found that there are 39 recordings in common between the two box sets; that's how I know for certain that many of the recordings on the Bryant box feature West as well. Most of the previously unreleased material is on both box sets.

If you wanted a good introduction to Jimmy Bryant, you could choose Frettin' Fingers - which is reasonably priced, includes the best of Bryant and West, has solo work for Jimmy Bryant, and has a lot of great music on 3 discs. But if you are taken in by the amazing pedal steel work by West, you might want to consider Flamin' Guitars, which has 4 CDs, but Speedy West tends to crowd out Bryant's work on many selections. And of course, you have the option of getting both, knowing that the two sets have a lot of tracks in common.