CHET ATKINS & DOC WATSON: Reflections

CHET ATKINS & DOC WATSON
Reflections
Released May 1999
Sugar Hill Records

Chet Atkins and Doc Watson have been playing guitar since before many of the so-called legends ever picked one up. With a blend of country, bluegrass, blues and folk music, the two legends have influenced performers and composers from numerous musical styles with their masterful guitar playing and balance of both traditional and progressive playing.

On September 24, 1979, the two master musicians met for the first time in a hotel room in Nashville. The next day they recorded the songs that make up Reflections as friends. Despite their short time together, the two musicians were long lost brothers bound by their common love for the music that they played. While Doc Watson was known primarily as a folk guitarist and Chet Atkins was known for his immense contribution to and influence on the sound of country music, the two musicians and their styles blended perfectly.

Reflections is a collection of musical styles with a simple yet common thread that brings everything together. The music is simple and yet very complex in the depth of sound that each song carries. Trading licks, the two guitarists produced sounds that are both very crisp and yet soothing.

Jumping from the down home country sound of "Tennessee Rag" to the gospel of "On My Way To Canaan's Land," the album is a constant blend of styles both musical and technical. From the intricate finger picking of "Texas Gales/Old Joe Clark" to the more laid back approach of "Dill Pickle Rag," the two masters trade licks without missing a beat.

The album has a relaxed feel to it that is both comforting and understated. The music is soft and on the surface seems so simple that it is very easy to miss the intricate layers of sound just below the surface. It is this very casual style of playing that makes the album even more impressive as the two masters refrain from trying to outdo or match each other and simply play what they feel. As a result each in turn pushed the other to go further and it is that feeling of kinship that comes across in every song.

On "Tennessee Rag/Beaumont Rag," Atkins and Watson take turns playing on a song originally performed as a fiddle piece and produce something special. "Black And White/ Ragtime Annie" is another interpretation of a fiddle piece on which the duo play almost effortlessly, producing notes that seem to glow. "Goodnight Waltz" is another eloquently played piece on which the notes seem to flow from the masters' guitars like water.

Amidst all of the instrumental songs on the album are three songs on which the duo sing together: " You're Gonna Be Sorry," "Don't Monkey Round My Widder" and "On My Way To Canaan's Land." "You're Gonna Be Sorry" is a country tune which is sung playfully as their voices blend as eloquently as their guitar playing. "Don't Monkey �Round My Widder" is a playful country and folk song on which Watson and Atkins revive a sound that was long since forgotten. "On My Way To Canaan's Land" is the sole gospel tune on the album and it is performed with the same warm tones and intricate guitar picking that made the other songs on the album so enticing.

Reflections is a collection of complex songs played to sound easy. Chet Atkins and Doc Watson are two master guitar players whose talent lies in their effortless ability to produce tones and notes that are warm and true. The mixture of their two playing styles and friendly personalities produces an album that is laid back and lets the music take center stage. Unlike many of the so-called modern guitar gods, the two masters placed ego and status aside and simply played. The result is an album that is a must have for anyone who is a fan of or plays guitar.

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-- Steve Johnston --