Friday, January 6, 2012

HANK GARLAND AND CHET ATKINS, "THE HOT GUITAR" WITH EDDIE HILL



I think this is the hot cut I heard a dj play once almost thirty years ago, and have been searching for ever since. It's one of those songs where the singer acts as an announcer, and guitarists ape a bunch of other great pickers. But this one features the stellar lineup of Hank Garland, Chet Atkins, and steel guitarist Jerry Byrd trading breaks-- killer.

You have to guess who plays which break, but I'm assuming Chet plays the Chet and Merle stuff, plus some Chet-like hot licks. (We hear so much melodic Chet-style playing that it's easy to forget that Chet played hot licks too!)

Then I think Hank Garland probably handled the other imitations. He has a slippery way of picking that you don't hear in Chet's playing. Although it often seems that Chet can do anything, even virtuoso and versatile players usually run to form, and where Chet's playing usually has a prim consistency, Hank's looser phrasing and articulation can help you tell the two apart. (Unless I'm wrong!) At any rate, Chet was the guy who told the young Hank Garland about Django Reinhardt, probably the source of that bubbly and hell-bent quality in his sound.

2 comments:

zbcustom73 said...

Somewhere I have a version of this tune (an aircheck I think) of Phil Baugh playing ALL the parts, then a fiery chorus as his own self. I'll try to dig it up when I get home, and will share it if I find it.

Karl Straub said...

yes, please forward. i've heard a couple phil baugh things in that vein, but an aircheck would be new for me. and any phil baugh is welcome anytime, as a general rule.