Standard Brands (Chet Atkins and Lenny Breau album)
Encyclopedia
Standard Brands is an album by Chet Atkins
and Canadian guitarist Lenny Breau
, released in 1981.
Atkins was instrumental in getting Lenny his first recording contract after hearing one of his (Lenny's) studio tapes. Atkins stated in an interview for Frets magazine: "Paul Yandell first brought Lenny to my attention around 1966. I immediately knew that here was one of the great players of this world. He had taken some of my fragmentary ideas, and gone on and on into musical areas I had never dreamed of."
Atkins also produced and recorded two other releases by Breau. Chet said of his longtime friend: "He was a great fingerstylist with fathomless knowledge. His legend will continue to inspire future generations."
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and Canadian guitarist Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
, released in 1981.
History
Due to Breau's drug problems, the album took nearly two years to complete.Atkins was instrumental in getting Lenny his first recording contract after hearing one of his (Lenny's) studio tapes. Atkins stated in an interview for Frets magazine: "Paul Yandell first brought Lenny to my attention around 1966. I immediately knew that here was one of the great players of this world. He had taken some of my fragmentary ideas, and gone on and on into musical areas I had never dreamed of."
Atkins also produced and recorded two other releases by Breau. Chet said of his longtime friend: "He was a great fingerstylist with fathomless knowledge. His legend will continue to inspire future generations."
Reception
Writing for Allmusic, music critic Robert Taylor wrote of Standard Brands: "The pairing of these two guitar legends for a series of guitar duets was long overdue, but thankfully was well preserved and finally reissued... The interplay between the duo is a fascinating lesson in the old teaching the new and vice versa... A wonderful piece of guitar history."Reissues
- The original LP was re-issued on CD by One Way Records in 1994. It is now out of print.
Side one
- "Batucada" (Luiz BonfáLuiz BonfáLuiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.-Biography:...
) – 3:19 - "Tenderly" (Walter GrossWalter Gross (musician)Walter Gross is best known for having composed the music for the popular 1946 song "Tenderly". In addition to composing dozens of other titles, he was also a pianist, arranger, orchestra leader, and record industry executive.-Biography:Born in New York City, Gross gave his first piano recital at...
, Jack LawrenceJack LawrenceJack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
) – 3:12 - "Cattle Call" (Tex Owens) – 2:08
- "Taking a Chance on Love" (Vernon Duke, Ted Fetter, John Latouche) – 4:35
- "Somebody's Knockin'" (Jerry Gillespie, Ed Penney) – 4:21
Side two
- "This Can't Be Love" (Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) – 3:07 - "This Nearly Was Mine" (Oscar HammersteinOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
) – 2:39 - "Going Home" (Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
) – 4:35 - "Polka Dots and MoonbeamsPolka Dots and Moonbeams"Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1940. It was Frank Sinatra's first hit recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra...
" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny BurkeJohnny Burke (lyricist)Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...
) – 5:45
External links
- The Genius of Lenny Breau (PDF document) Retrieved July 3, 2009.