38 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2009 www.premierguitar.com
BOOKS
Solo Sessions: Chet Atkins
Three things you need to know: Chet Atkins,
solo guitar, and clean, readable transcriptions.
This book contains a simple, easy-to-digest
collection of some of Chet’s most popular solo
guitar tunes, transcribed by John McClellan
and Deyan Bratic, and interspersed with some
charming drawings of Chet by BriAnn Wassman.
The introduction is blessedly short and to the
point; less chat, more Chet. Disc information is
included for most of the songs, which means
you can head to the Chet section of your CD
collection to listen to the songs before leaping in and attempting to play them. The CD
included also contains one piece of music, the
“Courante” from Bach’s French Suite No. 1 in
C minor. Chet never released the recording,
which makes this a world premiere. The playing
is lovely, and the idea of Bach being played by
Chet on electric guitar makes me chuckle.
Most of the tunes are traditional, either old
folk tunes or classical pieces, with a couple of
old standards thrown in for fun. What other
player in history could get away with “Arkansas
Traveler” and “Maleguenas” in the same collection? There are a couple of Joplin pieces (Scott,
not Janis), and even a little Dvorák. You have
to respect somebody that can take that much
musical territory and put his own stamp on it.
This book is a must for Chetophiles. Its a
splendid way to show just what the original
“Certified Guitar Player” was capable of
with two hands and a gittar. —GDP
List $25
chetatkinssolosessions.com
Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and
the Music of Laurel Canyon
This is a huge, heavy book that’s loaded with
photos relating to the musical history of a
California nexuspoint where music thrived
and the party didn’t end for the better part of
three decades. Laurel Canyon native Harvey
Kubernik tells the story lovingly through his
memories and interviews with still-living denizens of the Canyon’s glory days. Unabashed
about the whole sex, drugs and rock and roll
theme, it manages to avoid becoming tawdry
while acknowledging it as a fact of life.
It is an engaging and comprehensive tome,
yet at times the stories cut off rather abruptly
and you’re left shifting gears before you’re
ready. The writing style is also a little rough,
and at times the author uses devices that don’t
quite work. He usually gets the point across,
but sometimes you have to read things over
a couple times to get it. But being treated to
such an intimate look at the workings of the
patch of real estate that brought us the likes of
Jackie Deshannon, Frank Zappa, The Monkees,
Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell,
Carole King, the LA Wrecking Crew, Jackson
Browne, Sonny and Cher, Glen Campbell and
the Doors (to name a tiny fraction), is a pleasure
you don’t have to feel guilty about. —GDP
List $30
sterlingpublishing.com
Travelin’ Man: On the Road and
Behind the Scenes With Bob Seger
Bob Seger was all over the radio when I was
growing up; he’s the biggest rock star that
was never in your face—but he was always in
your ears.
Travelin’ Man: On the Road and Behind
the Scenes with Bob Seger is a photo-rich
tribute by photographer Tom Weschler and
music journalist Gary Graff, who traveled
and worked closely with Seger during the
late ’60s and through the ’70s. It chronicles
Seger’s career from the very earliest baby-faced incarnation—The Bob Seger System—
through what ultimately evolved into The
Silver Bullet Band, including his brief time
as a solo singer-songwriter, which Seger
describes as, “like Simon and Garfunkel without Garfunkel.” The story is told with many
photos and few words; there are short little
memories of moments and events, but not
lengthy stories or gig-by-gig reflections. The
captions are a bit sparse, and sometimes it’s
not too clear who the people in the photos
are, but then you remind yourself that this is
about Bob Seger in the ’70s, and it all makes
perfect sense. The booze, drugs and women
stories are kept to a minimum, seemingly
because that’s the sort of stuff that “goes
without saying,” and as a result of that,
Weschler and Graff end up telling a far more
compelling story by allowing the reader to
craft up their own descriptive captions.
The forward and afterward are written by
John Mellencamp and Kid Rock respectively,
and there’s a very complete discography at
the end. —GDP
List $27.95
wsupress.wayne.edu
BY GABRIEL J. HERNANDEZ, CHRIS KIES, GAYLA DRAKE PAUL
MEDIA
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