Customer Reviews

No Stranger to a Tele

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I bought both this CD and "Telewacker" for Redd's guitar work, my favorite part of both CDs has been the vocal numbers. Redd chooses semi-obscure but classic honky-tonkers for his vocal workouts and his every-guy voice (there's actually some similarity to Junior Brown's) suits them just fine. Standout vocal cuts on this CD are "Big Big Love" and the swing number "End of the Line." These two cuts alone are worth the price of the CD. The guitar work on this CD is, of course, excellent. Unlike some of the other guitarists turning out solo albums these days (Scotty Anderson comes to mind), Redd doesn't shy away from pieces that emphasize tone and taste over flash and notes per second. His instrumental take on "I Forget You Every Day" by Merle Haggard makes for some really great listening without resorting to needless pyrotechnics. I especially like Redd's liberal use of steel guitar breaks on both of his CDs. On this CD he features Norman Hamlet (formerly with Merle Haggard) who adds plenty of solid steel. This is a really enjoyable CD for anyone who likes straight ahead country music and swing. Some of the original instrumentals are nothing special, but there always seems to be a killer cut just around the next bend. Keep it up, Redd! And keep including those vocal numbers!

I've known Redd for years. He is probably the best honky tonk picker alive ! I used to sub for him in Don Kelly's Band before he went to work for Merle. I learned more just staring at his fingers in amazement than from any other source. Every guitar picker in Nashville has stolen chops from Redd ( including me ). Now that he's got two great CD's out, maybe he'll get the recognition he deserves. If your a guitarist, this CD is a must ! The way Redd slides chords around in his solo work... this is the blueprint for honky tonk pickin. I can't wait for another !

I have known Redd since he became a Stranger with Merle. The first concert I saw him with Merle I told Merle that his duet with Redd was ausom and he said "I have finly found some one I can play with!" This is Redd! He can out play any one but he will not agree with this. In the No stranger to a telly he showes us this. His fingers never seem to move and he seem boored but never call him short, he knows how to play. He was known as Mayor of Brod St in Nashville for many years where a lot of pickers stole many of his liks! Brad Pasley admits this! By this CD and the first one and his last a DVD and watch those stubby fingers go!!
Thank you, frend Redd!!
Ron Frazier

Redd Volkeart's album No Stranger to a Tele (a play on The Strangers, Merle Haggard's band, which Redd plays lead guitar in) shows off his wide range of influences, from 40's jazz to songs that sound like they came from a Ventures album. Everything has a basic honky tonk counrty base, naturally, but the instrumentals (my favorites by far) have a wide pallette of sounds from Redd-hot chicken pickin' to Charlie Christian to whammy pedal driven surf licks Nokie Edwards would be proud of. When Redd sings he has a nice, smooth old-time country baritone voice. He's not quite Merle, but them who is? All in all, fans of tasteful Telecaster guitar will find this a true delight.

Volkaert's second solo LP finds him in good company. Besides the fellow members of Merle Haggard's Strangers (including 30-year steel-guitar veteran Norman Hamlet), he's joined by Asleep at the Wheel's Floyd Domino, Gilley's house band leader, Billy "F" Donahue, and singer-songwriter Gary Claxton. But mostly it's Volkaert's '54 Fender Telecaster, along with his fingers and pick, that are the stars of the show.

Volkaert employs fluid guitar licks that mix Bakersfield twang, western swing, jazz, country, blues and pop stylings (including riffs lifted from Haggard's "Mama Tried" and the circus theme, "Entry of the Gladiators"). His playing can be equally evocative of country pickers like Jimmy Bryant and Joe Maphis, pop instrumentalists like The Shadows' Hank Marvin, and blues legends like Johnny Winter and Albert King. Among the nine instrumentals he demonstrates his prowess at chicken-pickin' ("No Stranger to a Tele"), atmospheric romance ("Forget You Everyday"), haunting rock 'n' roll ("Chee-Z"), and late-night blues ("3-1/2 Minutes Left"). He even tosses in some acoustic playing ("Rubberdance") for good measure.

The five vocal tracks add variety, but to be honest, his singing's not as notable as his picking. His turns on Wynn Stewart's "Big Big Love," Bob Wills' "End of the Line," and Johnny Bush's "Conscience Turn Your Back" are all fine, but it's the instrumentals, with their tremendous fluency and taste, that make this album's mark.

It seems lots of reviewers of this record and Telewacker are disappointed Redd Volkaert isn't Danny Gatton. I don't get it. His playing is flawless; perhaps not as showy as the amped up offerings from Paisley or Gatton (who are/were both obviously great too), but so varied and musical.

While it is certainly a matter of taste, this CD is rather boring. Being the great tele player that he is, Redd could have done much better than this piece of typical draggy Nashville sound. If you like good tele playing that sounds like hell then get yourself "The Nashville Guitars". Only the title song "No stranger to a Tele" comes remotely close to the awesome sound of the guys of "The Nashville Guitars". The rest sounds more like Chet Atkins forty years ago. Disappointing.

This Canadian-born telewhacker is the Real McCoy. There just a few current tele players of this calibre, these would include James Burton, Brad Paisley and certainly Redd. Whether it is corny country or real Texas swing, he can navigate that fretboard like nobody's business. Any fan of Danny Gatton or James Burton will flip over this guy's stuff. A must-have for any telecaster fan, or ANY guitar fan for that matter!

Redd's playing is just plain fun to listen to. You can feel the fun and sometimes plain 'ole silliness he tries to get across. If you like to listen to the guitar in country (or are a picker yourself) this is just one of those albums that you need to have. The joy he gets in what he is doing and the energy around him clearly is transmitted. This is one of those albums that won't get air play, but you wish you can see him in person and just join in the fun. Fine playing, fine recording, and you can almost see him playing his tele. This is my 2nd Redd album and I will buy his next too. As always there is something you can pick up for your own playing. And, it is one of those albums we thank AMAZON for having as is is not likely I'd find a copy locally.

While I didn't like all of this album as much as his first one, Telewacker, No Stranger to a Tele is still a must own. If you love the Bakersfield sound that Redd supplies to Merle Haggard and his band the Strangers, then you'll appreciate this album. My favorites are the instrumentals, especially the title track (which pays homage to Haggard's Mama Tried). But Volkaerts vocals are superb too. This is just a good time album that's fun to listen to and will undoubtedly find it's way to your CD player over and over.