Customer Reviews

Corn Pickin & Slick Slidin

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

 

 

This album was my bible for tele playing. Both Ralph and James were the rulers of the tele and steel, as far as I was concerned. Nobody played like them..nobody!

Recorded at the Capitol Records Tower in the mid 60's, this album, while perhaps sounding corny to some, laid down a true blueprint for west coast country playing.

Burton's dobro (both fretted and with slide) transends good taste and originality, while Ralphs one-of-a-kind steel guitar weaves its way around the great selection of songs.

James and Ralph helped establish a sound that put LA on the map as a true contender for west coast country music hit recording. These guys were simply the best at their ax..and this album captures then in their prime. I highly reccomend this CD. It sits on my studio shelf as a reminder of it's influence on my playing.

JOhn Beland

Flying Burrito Brothers

Austin Texas

www.johnbeland.com

This is a great snapshot of late-'60s country, especially the "Bakersfield" sound created by Burton, Buck Owens and carried on today by Dwight Yoakum. No fancy strings or choirs here, just straight ahead Telecaster pickin' by Burton and cryin' steel guitar by Mooney. This is the way country music is supposed to sound, my friends. Completely the opposite of what you hear on country radio, today.

My favorite track on the disc is "Corn Pickin'", but they are all great and are the perfect showcase for this duo's talent. I wish country today sounded like this. If you like no B.S., bare bones country, give this disc a try.

A lot of times, you only get to hear musicians such as Ralph Mooney and James Burton, when they did session work for somebody's album. Here, you get to hear them uninterrupted by the singer. This allows the listener to really hear how talented these two individuals were/are. There are plenty of licks on this CD to keep anyone busy for awhile. Not to mention that this is a unique CD to have in a collection.

I really enjoyed this CD. Jim Burton is a wonderful guitarist. Anyone interested in the Tele country style guitar sound, I highly recommend this CD.

this is one of the best instrumental cds you will ever hear. If you like the style of ralph mooney's steel guitar and james burton's lead guitar, this is for you.

I may be going overboard, I would probably give this record 4.5 stars but I still love it dearly. As the other reviewer said it definately show alot of Owens influence, but it also treads some interesting ground. There are some really interesting and memorable arrangements/melodies in here. My personal favorite cut is "The Texas Waltz" which I believe Mooney wrote, they got a wah-wah lead guitar! That must have been pretty daring for country music in the late 60's! It reminds me of what groups like the Byrds were doing at the time by combining sort of "psychedelic" sounds with traditional country arrangements. All in all, any fan of good guitar and steel guitar pickin, or anyone who wants to hear country music from a different point of view need this record!

It's intensely "country," but after listening to it a few times, I got used to that and began to enjoy the playing more. I particularly like the steel guitar here. James Burton's playing is impeccable, as always, but what he plays here is rather simple and not all that interesting. I think this album was intended for a general audience of country music fans rather than fans of the guitar.

Although published back in 1968 on black vinyl, this fretboard acrobatic work of James Burton and Ralph Mooney is still highly recommendable, especially for all Telly-Sound afficionados and guitar pickin' admirers. James Burton has accompanied many great artists in their backing bands as guitarist, eg. Elvis, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, his musical and artistic qualities are evident, as well as his trademarked chicken pickin' style. All in all, these twelve intrumental tracks represent a very good mix of electric and acousitc guitar music and guarantee a listening pleasure. For those who like Merle Travis, Jimmy Bryant and other great guitarplayers, this CD is "a must" and complements every serious instrumental country music CD-Collection.