Customer Reviews

Simpatico

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

 

 

Here is a disc that will remind you why just about everybody loved Chet Atkins. Like so many other artists, Chet helped Suzy Bogguss get her start. From working together, Chet tried to help her get a recording contract. No takers. So one day he called her up and asked her if she'd like to tour with him. After her exposure on the tour, she was offered a recording contract almost immediately. Then Chet and Suzy decided they'd like to do an album together and what an effort it turned out to be!

The smoothness of Suzy's voice is in perfect harmony with Chet's smooth playing in that spare, "just right" style he had. The production allows Suzy's singing and Chet's playing to be present in the mix and even to an untrained ear they sound exceptional.

This album is a good example of what's happening to high quality older recordings in the music industry today. As good as this one is, it should be judged a classic and never go out of print. However because not many people even know about it, you have to do like I did and search it out from a second hand source. By my humble judgment, it was easily worth the effort.

Exquisite! Suzy Bogguss is at the top of this genre, and Chet Atkins' participation ensures that this disk is true gold.

What can you possibly add to superb, that would do justice to this album? Not only do you have the greatest guitar player in the world, but also, argueably, the finest female voice in country music today. The Man is a musical genius, who knows about making great records; he has been performer, backing musician, producer, arranger, etc.etc., and so forth, while the Lady has a voice to die for, one that entrances & captivates the listener, just as one might expect of the angels. Put them together with ten great country classics, and you have Simpatico. It is the perfect blending, & the result is simply flawless. I've lost count of the number of times I have played my copy of Simpatico, and yet I've never tired of listening to a single track from it. There's lots of great country albums out there, but there is only one Simpatico.

If you like a great guitarist and singer performing together, this CD can't be beat. Suzy has one of the best voices around.

Sadly, I have to agree with the above reviewer who has already pointed out that the listening public, for the most part, is spending their dollars on noisier options. The 14-year-old girls who, supposedly, make up the bulk of the record-buying public, and are pretty much the deciding votes on which records $-wise are deemed to be "hits", will find not much on this to stimulate their gonads. How sad; that artists as talented and pleasing to the ear as Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins are, once again, relegated to the "discount bin".
I remember Chet from an old video saying: "....I'm pretty big at garage sales"
"Poignant"..is the word, because now he is gone....and this record is "out-of-print"
But old geezers, like me, are still breathing....and our hearts are still beating and feeling, all of a sudden, very heavy, when Suzy sings: "When She Smiled At Him". No one, except a father who has ever had a little girl, who he lost, will ever understand or appreciate that lovely song....done, so perfectly. Or, as Chet was forever described: "...just right"

This is a solid album with two country stars - one of them (Atkins) a legend - who appeal to a broad market. In other words, this CD isn't to just be enjoyed by country music fans, but everyone who likes good music and two solid artists.

I disagree with the "editorial review" above which somewhat trashes Bogguss. I always found her voice extremely pleasing and albums to be uplifting. Atkins was doing more than trying to help a nice woman's career; he also appreciated Suzy's talent.

Overall, its a compilation of songs that will have you humming them in no time.....and putting a smile on your face. Just listening to these two, you know you are listening to very nice people as well. It comes across that way.

As another reviewer says here, it's too bad this is out of print but getting a used copy is a lot better than no copy. It's definitely worth a purchase.

Darn. This album opens with a fun, jauntily stripped-down acoustic version of the Jimmie Rodgers oldie, "In The Jailhouse Now" -- exactly the kind of sound I was hoping this album would have -- but it soon slides into soft, over-orchestrated Nashville pop, stuff that misses the mark, as far as I'm concerned. There are a couple of tunes that dip back into the simpler style (and they are also pretty nice), but this is one of those guess-they-just-can't-help-themselves outings in which two talented artists who have sometimes-rootsy leanings let their love of studio technique get the best of them. These two are, indeed, simpatico, but it extends to the poppy stuff as well as the more traditional. Bogguss & Atkins fans probably won't be disappointed, but grumpy traditionalists like myself will find this a bit too goopy.