Chet plays Guy van Duser's arrangement of John Philip Sousa's Fourth of July favorite. The fireworks are on the frets. It took about a year for me to play this . . . at half speed. From a Channel 11 Soundstage show.
As I was trying to say, playing since age 10, now a total of 66 years and I can say without question Chet Atkins was and still is the greatest guitarist mankind has been blessed to ever hear as well as see!
Was about 8 years old came down stairs to see Chet playing freight train onthe Ed Sullivan show I said to myself I got to do that!! I had already been tinkering on the piano since I was six years old. I'm retired now and still playing the guitar every day. Thank you Chet.
I feel privileged to have had a tiny part in this. Randy Heeren was taking some classical lessons from me back in the 1970s. He gave me a cassette tape of Guy Van Duser playing Stars and Stripes forever in a beer joint in Boston. it was spectacular and of course brought the house down. I got Guy down to Nashville to play a little gig at another beer joint called Spring Water. Once again he brought the house down. I took him to Chet's office and they hit it off. By the time Chet did this performance I had acquired for him a guitar made by my friend Robert Ruck in 1975. It developed a center seam top crack. A local repair tech had trouble matching the finish after gluing it up. (light streak below the bridge visible in this video) I sent it to Ruck to deal with the finish. Subsequently Chet generously consigned it to me to sell. The third owner was one of my university students. RIP Chet Atkins, Paul Yandel and Robert Ruck
Chet was going through health issues (cancer) when this concert occurred. According to Chet, he was extremely sick during this time period. I wonder how this might have sounded if he was feeling healthy and chipper? The man was simply the greatest to ever pick up a guitar and influenced as many well known guitarists as anyone ever.
Apparently Chet was asked if he could play Stars and stripes forever...by Jerry Reed once and he said "no ..i usually get tired after about an hour "....haha
I love this version....Guy Van Duser has a music book out and this entire piece is written out.....it's a killer to play properly, and Chet is and will always be the "KING"
At this writing, there are 25 fools that have zero clue of what incredible guitar playing is. Like many of the people who've commented on this, I am a player. I play nothing like this, but greatness is greatness. Chet was, simply put, a guitar heroes' guitar hero. This performance is incredible. Far beyond what the vast majority of players on Earth can do, even today. Very, very impressive. Thanks, Chet.
Rklewis2, I was about ten ( and taking music lessons for guitar ) when i first heard Mr Atkins play , 62 yrs later he is still one of a handful of people I would ever respectfully address as Mr. Thankfully your artistry will be shared till the end of our time
@ rklewis2 - How great was Chet Atkins? Can anyone name another guitarist, living or dead, whose acolytes vied to be recognized by Chet as a "certified CPG," which stood for "certified country guitar player"? Moreover, Guy van Duser, himself one of the greatest fingerstyle guitarists of the last half-century, handed his arrangement to Chet! If you play fingerstyle guitar in the alternating bass style, then the "Big Three" are Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. Between those three giants, you can cover an awful lot of ground.
I think the average arc of a guitarist is when you start you think Hendrix is the greatest, after you play a few years you understand Chet is in a league all his own.
I count myself (and my wife, who also loves good music!) as very fortunate indeed to have seen and heard Chet Atkins perform live not many years before his death. I was well-aware of his prowess as an instrumentalist, but was also pleasantly surprised at his singing, story-telling and humor. "Country Gentleman," indeed! What a wonderful evening that was!
Chet wouldn't play when my neighbor Johnny Smith saw him walk into a jazz club in Denver where Johnny played occasional gigs. both were great but played different styles.
@@cravinbob - Johnny Smith intimidated a lot of very good players. He was that good! Chet knew some jazz tunes, but he wasn't per se a straight-ahead jazz cat, so I can understand his reluctance to throw on his axe. Like you said, different players and different styles. I'm sure Smith respected Chet and his accomplishments, too.
An extremely complex piece of music played so well it looks easy. Absolutely amazing. The guitar god in all his majesty. If you want to see someone who is truly better than everyone else do something, watch Chet.
You're right. I believe Sousa composed it in the early 1900's during the same period that Tarrega was composing. You can hear the Romantic classical influences, but also the ragtime. Stars and Stripes Forever is really a genius composition, and Guy Van Duser's arrangement is one of the most stunning pieces in the guitar repertoire, an ultimate guitar challenge typically made to look easy by Chet's incomparable playing.
I learned to play guitar with a bunch of Led Zeppelin heads back in the 70's in South Carolina. Rockers we all were, but we also knew this: When it was available to watch Chet Atkins or Roy Clark, even though none of us were country music fans, we watched. And we knew those guys were so good that they were beyond any categorization that might have kept us from watching. All you had to was watch and listen for 30 seconds and it was all over.
I love how he uses dynamics, notice how he'll play something at normal volume then he'll have a little descending scale or something and he'll have the volume descend as he goes down the scale. Little stuff like that, he's intentionally doing even though you may not notice it, or care.. but it makes the whole presentation sound better.
I heard Chet play in Carnegie Hall NYC once in my life. I had the best seats in the house. I was front row, center, three feet from the stage. He was about four feet up on the stage. Talk about a rush. If you take a close watch on this video, about 128-129 he has this shit eating grin while he is playing. I think he is planning in his mind the ending where he says "If you think this is the end, well it is." There are a lot of people who follow this man, but in my humble opinion, he was the best. Enjoy and keep practicing. I do this piece in the key of C which I picked up by ear, I have to put it on here one of these days.
I've commented on a lot of Chet Atkins performances and I am totally a fan. He was Mr Guitar. What a beautiful talent and he was humorous. I would like to have known him.
Wonder if the Guy Van Duser sheet music and instructions are still out there for this ????? Wow it is better than Glen Cambells William Tell overture. And that is some accomplishment if you ever listened to that it's on RU-vid it will blow you away.
i love this song, i love chet atkins too. i like to listen stripes and stars forever in all his versions. In my country we have this news chanel who play this song in their news, but nobodie knows where the song is from. they dont wonder it ither. but i did. soon i figure it out its about Philip sousa and his song that later was declared as the national us march.
Whenever I hear someone say that Americans don't have serious culture, I think of men like John Philip Sousa and Chet Atkins, and smile. Really now, I have heard people describe SSF as a Prussian march, which is a lot like describing Chet Atkins as a hillbilly guitar player.
There is funny WWII anecdote about a German military band that would welcome back U-boats from patrol at the tune of Stars & Stripes Forever until the band director was told that it was an American military march; he just loved the liveliness of the song and had picked it from his read book.
Do you think this guy, Chet will ever become famous? All kidding aside, he has inspired so many others that it is incredible. A great loss when he passed. I did see him play in the late 1960s at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, alongside Andres Segovia. Is there anything the guy couldn't play?
I always think guitarists that started out with "country" music and with fingerpicking style are the best guitarists ever, though my preference is Chet Atkins, but Merle Travis, Jerry Reed, and Tommy Emmanuel deserves their share as greatest to ever pick up guitar. With Chet Atkins, you have technicality, versatility to play multiple genres like rock, pop, jazz and classical music, and the stage presence. Chet is simply the greatest and in the league of his own.
There Is Only Way To Get 1/10 As Good As Master Chet Atkins .... Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice !! Then You Repeat That For 10 Hours A Day For 30 Years !! 😎
I think this is the most difficult song he had ever played, according to him sometimes he can get it right, and it makes him nervous playing this song.
I would say he more than got through it-this man is simply amazing-he always sounds good. He is always under control. The man is the definition of class and taste.
Chet Atkins playing a classic Guy Van Duzer arrangement! Two guitar giants, each with talents almost beyond measure!. Too bad, although friends, they never recorded together. Appreciate Van Duzer! He's still with us!
