Superpickers
Encyclopedia
Superpickers is an album by guitarist Chet Atkins
and top recording session players in Nashville, TN.
"Fiddlin' Around" reached No. 75 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and top recording session players in Nashville, TN.
"Fiddlin' Around" reached No. 75 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
Reception
Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlmann wrote of the album "Atkins joins together with an A-list of Nashville session musicians for a set of picking extravaganzas... Atkins himself is goaded into some wonderful playing as a result, and Superpickers is one of his best albums."Reissues
- Superpickers was reissued on CD in 1998 along with Picks on the HitsPicks on the HitsPicks on the Hits is an album by guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1972. It was nominated for the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance but did not win...
by One Way Records.
Side one
- "Paramaribo" (John D. LoudermilkJohn D. LoudermilkJohn D. Loudermilk is an American singer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Durham, North Carolina, Loudermilk grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army faith and was influenced by the church singing. His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin...
) – 2:27 - "Fiddlin' Around" (Johnny GimbleJohnny GimbleJohn Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
) – 3:06 - "Mr. Bojangles" (Jerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
) – 4:35 - "Beef and Biscuits" (Mat Camison) – 2:35
- "Sweet Dreams" (Don GibsonDon GibsonDonald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
) – 2:44
Side two
- "Just Another Rag" (Atkins, Jerry Reed HubbardJerry ReedJerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
) – 2:38 - "Canadian Pacific" (Ray GriffRay GriffRay Griff is a Canadian country music singer and songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia. Griff began songwriting in the early 1960s and had early cuts by Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, and others. Griff moved to Nashville in 1964 to pursue his music career full-time...
) – 3:50 - "City of New OrleansCity of New Orleans (song)"City of New Orleans" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman , describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans via the Illinois Central Railroad in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. Goodman got the idea while traveling on the eponymous train for a visit to his wife's family...
" (Steve GoodmanSteve GoodmanSteve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
) – 3:26 - "Bell's of Saint Mary's" (Doug Tringer) – 2:51
- "Are You from Dixie?" (George L. CobbGeorge L. CobbGeorge Linus Cobb was a prolific composer best known for ragtime, including both instrumental compositions and ragtime songs, although he did produce other works including marches and waltzes. Jack Yellen was a frequent lyricist for the songs.Entering Syracuse University in 1905, his first...
, Jack YellenJack YellenJack Selig Yellen was an American lyricist and screenwriter.-Life and career:Born in Poland, Yellen emigrated with his family to the United States when he was five years old. The oldest of seven children, he was raised in Buffalo, New York and began writing songs in high school...
) – 3:02
Personnel
- Chet Atkins - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Johnny GimbleJohnny GimbleJohn Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
- fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music... - Buddy HarmanBuddy HarmanBuddy Harman was an American session musician.-Career:Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Brenda Lee, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis, Chet Atkins, Marty Robbins, Roger Miller,...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Charlie McCoyCharlie McCoyCharles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
- harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Weldon Myrick - pedal steel guitarPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
- Jerry Shook - guitar
- Farrell Morris – percussion
- Hargus "Pig" Robbins - pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Larrie LondinLarrie LondinRalph Gallant, better known by his stage name Larrie Londin , was an American drummer and session musician. Londin played with a wide range of artists including Journey and Steve Perry....
- drums - Paul Yandell - guitar, ukelele
- Henry Strzelecki -bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Bobby Thompson - banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, guitar