Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles

Amazon.com
As a sideline to his main job as producer and executive at RCA in the '60s, Atkins recorded many instrumental albums of contemporary pop and country hits, but this 1966 disc stands out from the others because of what it reveals about Nashville's influence on the Beatles and vice versa. It was Atkins, after all, who produced the Everly Brothers' early Cadence singles and played the limpid, lyrical lead guitar on them, and those records had a profound effect on Paul McCartney's songwriting and George Harrison's guitar playing. Atkins obviously has fun with these early Lennon-McCartney compositions. He plays slide guitar on "I Feel Fine," gives "Yesterday" an arpeggiated Appalachian feel, transforms "Can't Buy Me Love" into a Buck Owens Bakersfield song, emphasizes the Johnny Cash-like, low-string guitar figure on "I'll Cry Instead," and turns "She's a Woman" into a honky-tonk two-step. --Geoffrey Himes

Tracks:

I Feel Fine
Yesterday
If I Fell
Can't Buy Me Love
I'll Cry Instead
Things We Said Today
Hard Day's Night
I'll Follow The Sun
She's a Woman
And I Love Her
Michelle
She Loves You

Amazon.com

As a sideline to his main job as producer and executive at RCA in the '60s, Atkins recorded many instrumental albums of contemporary pop and country hits, but this 1966 disc stands out from the others because of what it reveals about Nashville's influence on the Beatles and vice versa. It was Atkins, after all, who produced the Everly Brothers' early Cadence singles and played the limpid, lyrical lead guitar on them, and those records had a profound effect on Paul McCartney's songwriting and George Harrison's guitar playing. Atkins obviously has fun with these early Lennon-McCartney compositions. He plays slide guitar on "I Feel Fine," gives "Yesterday" an arpeggiated Appalachian feel, transforms "Can't Buy Me Love" into a Buck Owens Bakersfield song, emphasizes the Johnny Cash-like, low-string guitar figure on "I'll Cry Instead," and turns "She's a Woman" into a honky-tonk two-step. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

Chet Atkins picks on the Beatles.......2007-06-27

If you like Chet Atkins and the Beatles music Chet does justice to
the Beatles music. Chet was one the greatest guitarist of this
era he plays any style and makes it convincing. I really enjoy
this album. Anyone who likes Chet's playing and the Beatles music
should like this recording. Actually I had this album in vinyl and
wore it out and I am now replacing it with the cd.

Yours
Daniel P. Testa

Worth a listen........2007-03-29

Quite nice versions of beatles standards. Exc harp blowing from Charlie McCoy and guitar lines way beyond original. Gives a taste of 60's nashville studio recordings, iow high quality in few takes (mostly direct w/o overdubs) and well-made arr. Best sound on vinyl though...

Tennessean pickin' Meet the Mersey Sound.......2004-11-17

Excellent. If you're into The Beatles and have a liking to sixties instrumentals with that guitar twang, this is a treat. Chet Atkins captures the sounds of the times with his rendition of the fab four's recordings. He basically covers the early Beatles up to the Rubber Soul period. This is a timeless collection that I really enjoyed. I particularly thought he did a good job at "I'll Follow The Sun," "She's a Woman," and the rumba soundings of "I Feel Fine."

This would be a great addition to any diehard Beatle fans collection.

Not bad........2004-04-04

It's soft. It's mellow. It's really quite good. Nice guitar pickin' on Chet's part, and McCoy's harmonica playing on many of the tunes is outstanding. I would have liked to have seen Chet pick on somebody more challenging for his level of playing like Jimi Hendrix instead of the Beatles.

Nashville Meets The Beatles On This Classic Reissue.......2000-04-13

"Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles" is a virtuoso performance by one of music's renaissance men: guitarist, producer, executive Chet Atkins. With a first-rate band (including harmonica master Charlie McCoy) Chet and friends find hidden countermelodies and deeper meanings in 12 Beatle songs already standards by this 1966 release.

Atkins clear, ringing guitar burrows in and out of low blues grooves in "Hard Day's Night," and "She's A Woman," both featuring ace McCoy solos. The guitar nearly sings the lyrics of "And I Love Her," and "If I Fell," catching the wistfulness and melancholy in Paul McCartney's melodies. "Things We Said Today" slows down one of McCartney's prettiest melodies and allows Atkins to cherish its opening verses. Only "Michelle," with its easy-listening string background, falls flat. (Atkins disciple George Harrison is not represented in the song set, but wrote the terse liner notes. You wonder what this band might have done with the C&W-flavored "Help" songs released the previous year.)

So with such an influential album and superb remastering, why did RCA/BMG cheap out on the packaging? No extra tracks (the set comes in at 30:47), no new liner notes, session information, or new photos; just a repeated photo of Atkins wearing a silly Beatle wig and holding a telephone. (Alfred Hitchcock wore the wig better on TV, but he was behind a drum set and had the accent down better.) Nonetheless, "Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles" is a first-class session, worthy of a sequel, and is recommended for fans of the artist, subject, or guitar playing in general.

Music Album:

Music Album