Herein lays the FOUNDATION and cornerstone of all country music--all alone, totally calm and in control, Merle masters the bass line, the rythm, the vocals, and throws in two magnificent leads for 'good measure.' I can play Hendrix, Zepplin, Vaughan, Van-Halen, Johnson, James, etc., and even though country is not my style, as a guitarist, I have to recognize this guy is one of the all time GREATS. Total genius!!--
Yep, fastest thumb and index finger in the world. Certainly self taught and he can pick a lot faster than this fiercely up stroking the index finger. It's quite amazing. another that was like this was Toy Caldwell. one of the founders of the Marshall tucker band. Sadly it seemed he lived a cursed life. Tragedy after tragedy plagued he and his family. He could tear a guitar up with a bare thumb and no pick at all and finger pick with his own unique style and brand. One the best that left way to soon. when ever i have struggles in my life i think of what that man went through and then I laugh at myself and move along.
Dude . You are not only misinformed. But youre full of shit. You dont learn this shit from books boy. Grampa grandma. My brother would say 'pay attentipn'.
Wow.... first time ever hearing this and I just shed a tear. Something about his voice and playing is so sincere and laidback, at the same time skillful and full of soul
Man this dude is insane. Funny how metal brought me here and now I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to replicate this on my Ibanez 7 string haha. Merle Travis is the man, this is just mindblowingly good.
He taught us all how to make our guitars talk. He inspired Doc Watson to take to the stage. Doc named his son for Merle Travis. It all goes round and it comes back home. The circle will NOT be broken. If you have not heard "Folk Songs of The Hills", then waste no time in acquiring this record! You will not take it off your player for a long time. It was out of print for many years and I had to get by with my beat-up scratchy old copy, but the lacquers have been found and it has been transferred to digital and remastered well. It is a joy to behold -Like listening to it for the first time again. If he had made only this record -that would have been enough! But there is so much more...
Not sure if he inspired to "take to the stage" (that's certainly not what Doc says) but he was THE influence on Doc's fingerpicking approach, which Doc acknowledged and imitated perfectly in the right-hand technique... but not the left. In his famous intro to Deep River Blues on that double live album from the early 70s with Merle, Doc says he put the Delmore Bros's tune in the Travis style, which is obvious. Chet, who learned to play by copying Travis, said, "Without Merle Travis, I'd still be looking at the hind end of a mule". Travis influenced deeply MILLIONS of guitar pickers, either directly, or through his two most famous followers.
There have been many renditions of this song. Some very good but none have that exciting rhythm and easy stroking of the strings that Merle had. His voice had that mountain ring to it. This is a unique piece of history and should be appreciated forever.
My family is from Muhlenberg Co, Ky, and Merle wanted to date my grandma. She called him a "pill-poppin' drunk" lol... but he was a genuinely nice guy. Once shoveled a load of coal for my great-great-grandma, who delivered mail with a horse-drawn cart. She always spoke well of him after that. RIP Merle Travis
***** Thanks, Merle factored heavily into my family's history. The story on my great great grandma, was that she was loading her OWN coal, and Merle and some guys were standing around, when Merle said "Are we mice, or are we men?" and promptly grabbed a shovel and loaded it for her. Cool cat, helluva guitarist, and a Kentucky legend.
Adolph Oliver Bush While I don't have that close of a connection to the Merle, I grew listening to my dad play that song. My dad was born in Hazard, KY… Harlan County… So the song means a lot to me. Charles Powell, RIP
Mark Powell Me and the wife spent the day in Harlan a couple weeks back. Unbelievable scenery, and amazing mountaintops. I know it is painted as a tragic place with meth problems and what not, and some of that is true, but such a beautiful area.
Any guitar player has heard of " Travis Picking "...But if you watch all the instruction videos they use 3 , 4 or 5 fingers on their right hand. Watch Travis and notice that no mater what song or how elaborate he only uses 2 fingers...index finger and thumb. Makes it even more impressive I think.
Good call, James. I'm not a finger picker, but I do try Travis picking now and then, and next time I'm going to use the two finger approach and see how fun and/or challenging it is.
+Fanis Filippas The alternating bass gives the drive and low accompaniment, but the fingers pick the melody. Might help to listen... That style, that most people call "finger picking" was called thumb picking in Mulenberg Co., Kentucky where Travis is from. Who, pray tell, called it... ahem... uh... Duo Fingers!?
I believe the two finger method sounds better, if that makes sense. Or maybe it's just that the practitioners do, not sure on that. Doc Watson, was of course another.
I watched these run as short fillers on B&W TV, Saturday mornings, in early 1950s. Never knew exactly when they might be shown, just had to watch, wait, and hope. I was ecstatic to learn they were available on RU-vid.
That's right! I remember watching that movie and in the scene where that guy is playing the trumpet mouthpiece. I see that unique headstock as the guitar player is strumming in the background. I jump up and say "Holy Crap, that's Merle Travis ... THAT'S MERLE TRAVIS!!!" Everyone in the room is going "Whose that ?" But I knew. Great moment.
Paul Bissonnette haha that gives some clarity, thanks :) which wife? as a guitarist that pours over the films of his playing I’m always hoping for better shots of his hands
@@spacekarma4 it was a joke. I just thought the strangle nod was a bit much . There are plenty of vids showing Tommy Emmanuel playing that and he nails it and mentions Merle every time.
@@spacekarma4 I have been a Merle fan for decades. I struggle but continue to study and get it, but the brain and fingers don't want to be on the same page. I basically suck but enjoy playing . With the Advent of RU-vid I have been exposed like many others , to so much great talent. Talent we would not know about more than likely if not for RU-vid. And Billy strings and his band are incredible. So much out there. Be well
@MrJellyrollBaker If I am not mistaken, that is his Martin D-28 with a bigsby neck. He played this guitar for many years including in the movie "From Here to Eternity".
The first finger picking tune i ever heard that sound blew me away i have been a finger picker ever since i heard this and this is where Chet Atkins got his style from.
Dingled: Merle's album FOLK SONGS OF THE HILLS recorded in 1946 has some of his seminal songs on it. I think it has been released as a c.d.--certainly as a c.d.
Well....Mose Rager, Odell Martin, Kennedy Jones came before good ole Merle. I play with just a thumb and index finger like Merle though, for most of my Thumbpickin songs. LLKM! Long Live Kentucky Music!
Always thought Jimi Hendrix was sort of the pioneer of using the thumb over the top, hence ( Hendrix chords). Well I was wrong. Awesome playing, love some Merle!
Anybody else feels sorry for the thumbs-down people I mean if you don't like country music music made by people who work for a living then don't listen to it although that's sad as well
I'm a picker myself and I was crazy with the likes of Chet Atkins, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhart, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup or Les Paul... Merle Travis was just a name I never paid attention… Wrong, wrong, wrong, made a big mistake and feel ashamed for it… What a picker!... Sorry Mr Travis
found out something interesting about the late Les Paul, now someone correct me if i;m wrong, grew up on an old Les Paul Mary Ford 45 as a child. this year I read an article about him breaking his arm years ago, and the Dr wanted to set it straight, but the break was such, that if they had done that he would not be able to play guitar again, so he had them set the arm at an angle, so he could still play guitar. loved the sound of his old Les Paul. have heard several in person, and love the sound of them although my fav are the old Martin Guitars that cost oodles and doodles of money
Yes, Chet heard him play on the radio in the 40s and then started his style, which was consisting of thumb and 3 fingers. He was fired from a lot of country band and radio show because he sounded to sophisticated. He was playing on the opera in the late 40s and became a member in 50. Both had their own style, I would give a fortune to play like either.
No, that's Travis' Martin D28 that he took to Paul Bigsby in 1946. Bigsby sweated off the Martin neck and replaced it with one that was similar in radius to the neck on the custom Bigsby solid body electric that he had built earlier for Travis. Travis played the D28 for the rest of his life, most notably on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1971 album, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" In 2009, C.F. Martin issued a 100-copy run of this guitar, with Bigsby neck, calling it the D28M. Price: $7,999.00.
It was this soundie that brought Travis to the attention of Fred Zimmerman at Columbia Studios, and resulted in Travis' being cast in the role of Private Sal Anderson in the Oscar-winning flick "From Here to Eternity".
The great Merle Travis. Even the mighty Roy Clark, virtuoso of all instruments stringed, apparently never learned to Travis pick. Can't find any thumbpickin' by Roy Clark anywhere.
@chester777ful the right hand rolls are modifications of old time mountain banjo players....if you look at some of the "originals" of early country, a lot of them started out picking on a banjo with the thumb and first finger....examples: Lester Flatt, Maybelle Carter, Carter Stanley and Merle. Back in the hills, banjos were very popular because if you knew 3 chord and had a good right hand rhythm you could play about every song out there.....then along came Earl Scruggs and went wild :)
@billga2010 A little bit. Bigsby was an amazing guy. From motorcycles(racing and manufacture) to war machines to musical instruments I'd say he contributed far more than his share. A good friend of mine made a replica/tribute of the Merle Travis Bigsby which I made the pickup for and did the wiring(actually still trying to come up with a tone pot/capacitor combo to get the sound right).
Thumbpick and ONE -- count 'em! -- finger plus palm-heel muting the bass strings. A simple formula that very few have mastered -- I had the first two down solidly, but never quite got the bass string muting right because it altered my right hand position too much for comfort and speed.
Merle " Set the Stage " for the rest of us Fingerstyle guitarists........The only thing is, WE HAVE TO USE THREE FINGERS, & our Thumb--- and aren't capable of just using One finger & the Thumb. Rest in Peace With the LORD, Mr. Travis---you are the GodFather of Country Style FingerPickin.
ACHPKP Chet learned Travis style from a record but thought he was using his thumb and two fingers. So the Chet Atkins style was born. Chet always gave credit to Merle for influencing him and writing great songs.
@jak442 You sound like you know what you're talking about. I was quoting a Guitar Player Magazine article. "One of Travis' design inovations was having tall the tuning machines on the same side of the headstock ."
@jak442 From Bigsby websit > One day in late 1946, Merle and P.A. Bigsby were having lunch. Merle, an accomplished cartoonist, had sketched an idea for a new guitar on a Pasadena radio station’s program sheet and passed the drawing to Paul. “Can you make this, P.A.?” asked Merle. P.A. answered, “I can make anything.”And indeed he could! That drawing of the Solid Body electric guitar with all six tuning pegs on one side of the headstock was built the following year and played by Merle in public
wish i could play those bass line with my thumb but alas baby hands lol Fred Sokolow( at Stephan Grossman's ) does a dang good job teaching the style though! wicked man! wicked!
+Mike Piercey He uses two fingers and his thumb and can play anything, any way you want it played. I am talking about, in my opinion, the greatest all around guitar player in the world. Mark Knopfler.
Notice that Merle used only his thumb and forefinger (2 finger picking) where as people who were influenced by Merle's style like Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Scotty Moore Doc Watson and others used multiple fingers in addition to their thumb. (Chet Atkins first heard Travis on WLW in 1939 and was inspired to adapt his fingerpicking techniques)
Does anyone know what kind of pick he used? He makes it look so easy. It looks like a very small, sharp, short pick, mounted pretty high on the thumb... Never seen it before.. I love seeing merle play and sing, makes it sound even better 💙💙💙💙💙
It's a thumb pick, some type of vinyl or maybe turtle shell. I don't think they made plastic picks them. You can shave them or wear them down short. Some players learned as kids, their thumbs were small and the pick would go to the knuckle, when they grew they kept shoving them there because it felt natural. Not sure though.
he mentioned on a show i just watched that he was told if he gave his old guitar to the Hall Of Fame that the company would build him another guitar, and said it was the most expensive one the factory ever built
Horsehide I'm a Murray's man myself, for beard and hair. Gotta heat it up on the stove in order to use it but I'll be damned if it's not the best pomade I've used
@billga2010 That's a bold statement and it's not true. P.A. Bigsby was re-necking martins with his signature head-stock long before he met Merle. Travis did commission P.A. to build the first solid body electric guitar however. He drew it on a napkin. Leo Fender borrowed the guitar for a few days, while it was in for the cut-away to be added, and within 6 months he was building Broadcasters. By all accounts, this ended their friendship.
