Customer Reviews

Hot Pickin

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

 

 

A rollicking good buy, this comprehensive 50 track 2 CD collection of Merle Travis recordings spans the years 1943-1952, at a bargain price to boot! The first cut, one of several tasty rarities, 'You'll Be Lonesome Too', was recorded by Merle and 'Grandpa Jones' as the 'Sheppard Brothers' for King records (King 500) in 1943. Another sweet rarity follows, 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' (King 530), which was recorded by Travis, Jones, and The Delmore Brothers as the 'Browns Ferry Four' in February of 1946. Tracks 15 & 16 of disc 1 are another nice pair of scarce 'Browns Ferry Four' tracks, 'If We Never Meet Again' & 'Over In Gloryland' (King 577 & 799), from October of 1946. Tracks 3 & 4 on disc 1, 'No Vacancy' and 'Cincinnati Lou', are Travis originals and were his first hits for Columbia after signing with the label in the spring of 1946. Track 7 disc 1, 'Divorce Me C.O.D. would be Merle's first #1 country hit and also crossed over to the pop charts. Merle's unique talent for songwriting kept the hits kept coming for Capitol throughout the forties and they're all here. This long overdue retrospective from Proper fully showcases the awesome talent of Merle Travis, his songs, great voice and unmatched guitar wizardry. There isn't enough room to comment on every delicious track here, but Merle's lightning fast pickin' on the incredible 'Merle's Boogie Woogie' alone (track 2, disc 2) is worth the price you'll pay for this set, while the yodeling on 'Sioux City Sue' and 'T For Texas' is as good as it gets. And, as if Merle weren't enough, these sides are dripping with luscious accompaniment & solos by the greatest players of the day, including my favorite pedal-steel player of all time, Joaquin Murphey, as well as Noel Boggs, Smokey Rogers and so many others. Includes a 15 page booklet with rare photos, extensive liner notes, and a detailed discography. These two discs, along with the out of print 'Walkin' the Strings' CD (Capitol 7243-8-35809-2-7), are must-have recordings for any Merle Travis fan.

Jim Otterstrom

Merle Travis was born in Kentucky in 1917 and grew up with coal miners. He got a hand-me-down guitar from an older brother, left school to play music, and at the age of 20 had a radio show on WLW in Cincinnati, with a group called the Drifting Pioneers. His smiling young face from a 1938 publicity shot of that group is on the front of this wonderful 2-CD set.

The 50 songs included trace the soaring early career of this many-talented musician from his first recording with Grandpa Jones (performing as the Sheppard Brothers) in 1943 to 1952, after six years with Capitol Records in California. The range of styles captured in these recordings includes several coal-mining songs, with his own introductions, including the great traditional song "Nine Pound Hammer" and one of his best-known compositions, "Sixteen Tons," made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford, who sings with him here on two 1949 recordings, "Blues Stay Away From Me" and "Philosophy."

There's also plenty of blues, boogie-woogie, rags, old-fashioned gospel, and down-home country, with some western swing for good measure. Married several times, Travis' songs about women and relationships are sometimes bright and upbeat ("Sioux City Sue" and "Lawdy What a Gal"), or suggestive ("So Round So Firm So Fully Packed" and "Fat Gal"), but most often complaining about love gone wrong ("Divorce Me C.O.D." and "I'm Sick and Tired of You Little Darling"). The whole set closes with two lovely solo picking songs that reveal his influence on Chet Atkins: "I'll See You In My Dreams" and "Cannonball Rag."

By the early 1950s, this great country performer had already made his mark in music history. Sadly, drinking and drugging wrecked his career afterward, although in later years, he made brief comebacks, including the terrific "Country Guitar Thunder" with Joe Maphis. This CD set is a rewarding and enjoyable overview of 10 prolific years representing the work of a young, gifted giant whose songs cover a wide span of country music genres. The 16-page booklet that comes with this CD has an informative biography by bluegrass expert Adam Komorowski, several photos, and recording information for each track.

Here's a two-CD collection (50 songs!) by one of the true Father's of the Lead Guitar. Merle was not only superb studio musician (for the likes of Wayne Raney, Delmore Bros., etc...), but also designed and developed his own guitars. While most country guitarists of his era were faithful to the Martin or Gibson flattop, Merle was into electricity, and people, Merle was a a master of 6-strings. These are original recordings, and England's Proper Records did a fantastic job of presnting these to the listener. While Merle Travis' personal life was less than perfect (kicked out of the Marines, Drug & Alcohol abuse, divorce), his guitar work was spectacular, and reatined his signature sound from the first until last recording. Personally, I dont think another guitarist has had the influence that Merle has had, with disciples such as Chet Atkins and Jerry Garcia. Buy the album, and take a listen.....be forewarned, this is not the PC country of today, with numbers such as "Fat Gal", "I Got a Mean Old Woman", and "I'm Sick and Tired of you Little Darling". If you're a true country music lover, an aspiring guitarist, or want a true audio history of a legend, get this CD.

A classic mix of Merle's early stuff with his later (better) stuff.

Merle Travis's Hot Pickin' is great and this is an excellent CD for Rock-A-Billy fans, as well as hard core real country. A great cd, that showcases the West Coast influence on Rock-A-Billy and "Real" Country music. A fantastic cd, buy a fantastic artist!

The Mean Eyed Cat
KNON Radio 89.3
Dallas, Texas

A great review of Merle Travis' talents. Merle Travis doesn't get enough recognition for his early contributions to country music and spectacular guitar play. These CD's are loaded with toe tapping songs. Listen for the great guitar runs in the songs.

"Hot Pickin'". Well, truth in advertising. The singing may be OK, the songs themselves nothing special, but the guitar-playing here: Wow! Standouts are the jaw-dropping "Merle's Boogie Woogie", and the graceful "I'll See You in My Dreams" and "Cannonball Rag" which close the set. These three alone are worth the price of the album; I could just keep hitting the replay button indefinitely. But really, every cut has some of the best guitar-picking you will ever hear.

I bought this for Merle's guitar playing and only three out of 50 songs display his virtuosity. He mostly just accompanies his singing. He has a nice voice but his singing style is boring. There is a wide range of his playing, solo, western swing (an adequate group but nowhere as interesting as Bob Wills)and other. I'd give it one star for the guitar playing but figure anyone interested in his evolution in the industry might like the set. There are many songs that I'd never heard before so they are of interest, historically. (Most I'd just as soon never hear again.) Personally I feel that I've wasted my money.