Chet Atkins Picks on Jerry Reed

AMG Review of Chet Atkins Picks on Jerry Reed

Richard S. Ginell
All Music Guide

The third of the Chet Atkins/Jerry Reed collaborations finds Atkins paying tribute to his pal by going it alone on ten Reed tunes, most of which are pretty terrific country vehicles. The majority of the songs are played on acoustic guitar, many have minimal rhythm backing, and, often, the setting is stripped down to just Atkins' guitar. All of these tunes give Atkins plenty of room to display some fancy fingerpicking, classical technique, and even a bit of gentle sustained rock guitar on his instruments. While the quality of the material is fairly even, one can single out "Baby's Coming Home" and "Steeplechase Lane" (a different recording from the often-reissued one on Yestergroovin) as the standouts. Since the vast majority of country albums then were considered disposable goods by the Nashville machine, this -- like many a fine Atkins record -- will be difficult to locate.