[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Chet Atkins — Take Five
Album: Guitar Legend: The RCA Years
Avg rating:
8.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1555









Released: 1973
Length: 2:38
Plays (last 30 days): 0
(Instrumental)
Comments (160)add comment
EXCELLENT!   Thanx RP!   
The more I hear this version, the more I like it!!   2nd ONLY to the original!!
 eileenomurphy wrote:

Of course, Brubeck did it best!
 

Desmond was a freaking genius.
 eileenomurphy wrote:
EXCELLENT! ...GREAT rendition of a an iconic jazz classic! ...I have have heard other artists butcher it! 
 
Of course, Brubeck did it best!
EXCELLENT! ...GREAT rendition of a an iconic jazz classic! ...I have have heard other artists butcher it! 
 MM_Oz wrote:
Try listening to some of his material with Mark Knopfler.
 

So....do it better yourself.
I've always loved the Brubeck version, in part because it was seen as so wildly inventive when it first came out.  There must be several hundred covers of it. This one's near the top, IMO, but every one of them brings something cool to the party - the reggae version, Tito Puente's conga madness version, Jah Wobble, NY Ska Ensemble.

It's such a classic everyone feels the urge to play it. ( I think the George Benson version matches this one...)
 MM_Oz wrote:
Try listening to some of his material with Mark Knopfler.
 
Ooh, that does sound like it would be worth a listen!
Love this classic. Soothing to the ears.

I also feel like I'd probably automatically give at least 7 to any song that's in a unique meter... 4/4 time is so boring :)
Love the intricate simplicity of it all.
 CoYoT51 wrote:
I gave it a 4. 
I see no interest (even musical one) in listening to this version once again.
 
It's Chet Atkins
It's Dave Brubeck
It's mandatory for any music lover.

So, about 3 hours ago, I'm on hold with the health clinic at the local Meijer grocery store and THIS comes on (Dave's of course-- but I like Chet just as much). Anyway, someone in that grocery chain has some mighty fine good taste!!!
I gave it a 4. 
I see no interest (even musical one) in listening to this version once again.
Try listening to some of his material with Mark Knopfler.
 Proclivities wrote:

I don't know why you posted your comment four consecutive times but you must have an alternate definition of the word "musical".

 
If you can't hear the musical difference between Paul Desmond's beautiful sound & phrasing and Chet Atkins monosyllabic twangs, I despair.

My repeated posts were a system glitch somewhere in the pipeline. I can't even type that quickly. 
One of music's unsung heroes, probably because of his production and talent scout skills.
I wish like hell I could play guitar half (even a quarter) as well.
I gave it an '8'  - what was I thinking of!!
 easmann wrote:
 
Others in this (very incomplete) list of influential guitar players who at one time where practically unknown to the public but revered by guitarists:

Doc Watson
Jean "Django" Reinhardt
Les Paul
Leadbelly 
John Lee Hooker

 
Everyone was "at one time practically unknown", but those players you have listed there were and are quite well known outside of the guitarists' community, as was Chet Atkins - who received at least a dozen Grammy awards..
Thanks, Dad.  Your appreciation of Chet's music and of others has made my life so much more rich. 
 grazie wrote:
I dunno why so many rate Chet Atkins? He does some clever stuff, but to me it's just not musical, this included.

 
I don't know why you posted your comment four consecutive times but you must have an alternate definition of the word "musical".
 grazie wrote:
I dunno why so many rate Chet Atkins? He does some clever stuff, but to me it's just not musical, this included.

 
Huh?
Really annoying click track on this recording if you are listening with headphones.
Chet did amazing things before anybody else did,....  many musicians from his time blazed trails that allowed many to progress to where they are today.  Ask Mark Knopfler and Tommy Emmanuel. Fund youtubes of  Chet and Mark Knopfler and see what I mean.
I dunno why so many rate Chet Atkins? He does some clever stuff, but to me it's just not musical, this included.
 billyfields wrote:
Had I heard this anywhere else I would have dismissed as elevator-ish and gone back to my usual distracted thoughts.. 

When RP plays this kind of stuff, following my perfunctory WTF .. I try to give the music its due.

In many cases I learn something.

Listening to Atkins and remembering this is one fellow on an acoustic guitar (not a 10 piece orchestra) kind of overwhelms.

 

 

chet was one of the best getfiddle beaters to ever record....no better....{#Guitarist}
 oldsaxon wrote:

extra fingers?

 

and 60+  years of playing.....{#Whisper}
 AlienRelic wrote:

I want to ride on THAT elevator.



 

indeed !
aaahhhh ! a master covering a master.... good to the very last note....{#Guitarist}  {#Notworthy}
 Ballzak wrote:

I find the foot taps a bit annoying, maybe cheaper speakers would help.

 
No ... they won't. {#Naughty}
 hbs47 wrote:

Percussive effects(spoons/ muted tambourine) and  foot taps etc

 
I find the foot taps a bit annoying, maybe cheaper speakers would help.

Everybody in my church loves this music...
 
 Bat wrote:
I swear that I hear some scratches and pops in the background.  Vinyl LP?
 
Percussive effects(spoons/ muted tambourine) and  foot taps etc
I swear that I hear some scratches and pops in the background.  Vinyl LP?
 timmus wrote:
I agree, nice tune, but this is getting a bit too far into the elevator music genre.  Every time Radio Paradise slows things down too much (especially with extreme elevator music like Primavera), Radio Paradise goes off and I end up dialing in Radio Caroline or Sky FM.

  I saw Chet Atkins in Fargo before he died, so maybe I have a different connection, but that's what so many of us love about RP.  Keep it coming—up, down, and around!  Incredibly delightful concert, by the way!


 jberko wrote:
Wow...  How?
 
extra fingers?
you and me both friend.
 Saw Dave play in Oakland at Yoshi's a couple of years ago, and he blew me away.  I've never had the chance to see Chet play live, but TV, videos, duets with other like Mark Knopfler, plus the fact that I pretend to play a 12 string so I think I have a clue, all tell me that man was a giant among those who actually play.  He and Leo Kottke are my guitar heros, each for his own reason. Collectively  they do things with ONE instrument that pretty much defy logic.

AlienRelic wrote:

I want to ride on THAT elevator.
 


brilliant!
 
Oh Chet, if you would have only stuck with the guitar and let Nashville alone.
 timmus wrote:
I agree, nice tune, but this is getting a bit too far into the elevator music genre.  Every time Radio Paradise slows things down too much (especially with extreme elevator music like Primavera), Radio Paradise goes off and I end up dialing in Radio Caroline or Sky FM.

 
I want to ride on THAT elevator.


Wow...  How?
It is when stuff like this is sounding so smooth and easy that it is in fact not, but incredibly hard to play it sounding so effortless. It takes a master of the guitar...

Jawdropping track!{#Clap}
Well, well, well!  Chet's chillin' and it's mighty fine.
What a great version.  Didn't even think of this (duh).  Trying to learn it on guitar and now I have a new study version.  Thanks RP!

Children, children, eat your broccoli, finish your homework, then grow up and appreciate Chet Atkins. I'm 57 years young and never really appreciated Chet's stuff until later in life. You youngins has got all the rest of your days to dig it. Dig it?

 dwlangham wrote:
It takes a special kind of musical moron to classify Chet Atkins (or Dave Brubeck) as "elevator music".
 
It takes a musical lobotomy.

Well,...that was kinda awesome!
 dedawson wrote:
Sorry, but at this point, ANY version of Take Five is no more than a hackneyed cliche
 

Well, this was recorded around 1973, not really "at this point", and it's an interpretation of a jazz standard - I guess that can be considered "cliche" by some.  Is there such a thing as an "unhackneyed cliche"?

Had I heard this anywhere else I would have dismissed as elevator-ish and gone back to my usual distracted thoughts.. 

When RP plays this kind of stuff, following my perfunctory WTF .. I try to give the music its due.

In many cases I learn something.

Listening to Atkins and remembering this is one fellow on an acoustic guitar (not a 10 piece orchestra) kind of overwhelms.

 
It takes a special kind of musical moron to classify Chet Atkins (or Dave Brubeck) as "elevator music".
Chet Atkins doing Dave Brubeck is not elevator music. timmus wrote:
I agree, nice tune, but this is getting a bit too far into the elevator music genre.  Every time Radio Paradise slows things down too much (especially with extreme elevator music like Primavera), Radio Paradise goes off and I end up dialing in Radio Caroline or Sky FM.
 


I agree, nice tune, but this is getting a bit too far into the elevator music genre.  Every time Radio Paradise slows things down too much (especially with extreme elevator music like Primavera), Radio Paradise goes off and I end up dialing in Radio Caroline or Sky FM.

Another album that I now need.
Thanks Bill; thats my wallet you hear screaming.
Such a pretttttty cover!
 Shaker wrote:
Chet can't do wrong. {#Bananajam}
My evening was sucky as I found some unknown sticky and difficult to remove substance had filled my fridge-thankfully Radio Paradise has been kicking some serious energizing tunes this evening. Mucho gracious!
 


I am afraid to ask...

But I agree with you on Chet. He and his Gretsch (among others) were magic.
nice take...
Chet can't do wrong. {#Bananajam}
My evening was sucky as I found some unknown sticky and difficult to remove substance had filled my fridge-thankfully Radio Paradise has been kicking some serious energizing tunes this evening. Mucho gracious!
 df1489 wrote: 
I can do without Tori Amos, but it fits with this groove.  All my errands are done, and I'm settling into a nice space for the night. The music is perfect for it... (Uh, except for this really horrific Bonobo intro...) {#Lol}
 scrubbrush wrote:
Golden brown, texture like sun...
 
Ahh I believe it is texture like sand, with that track being about Heroin and all...........Anyways nice guitar work for sure

I saw George Benson do a respectable cover of this on youtube
 
when the memory returns remade by ~gyurka
lohmuller gyuri ©2007-2010 ~gyurka

oil
.


 Oscar_the_Grouch wrote:
When all you critics down there cut an album, we'll see how your pathetic skills match up against a master like Adkins.
In the mean time how about a nice tall frosty mug of shut the fuck up?
 
Adkins...  Oscar? Wow you are a fan. {#Tongue-out}
Thank you so much Bill, I've been trying to remember this song's name for a few days... I love it, both versions.
Golden brown, texture like sun...
 calypsus_1 wrote:

Mark Knopfler & Chet Atkins - Instrumental Medley Live (1987):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTVLIZaxMk

" 'I'll see you in my dreams' and 'Imagine' by John Lennon."


 

Seen this video many times already... WOW!! What a performance, and what a legend Chet is! {#Notworthy}

Mark Knopfler & Chet Atkins - Instrumental Medley Live (1987)
" 'I'll see you in my dreams' and 'Imagine' by John Lennon."
DogSwede1



 Oscar_the_Grouch wrote:
When all you critics down there cut an album, we'll see how your pathetic skills match up against a master like Adkins.
In the mean time how about a nice tall frosty mug of shut the fuck up?
 
like your style!!!!

 Oscar_the_Grouch wrote:
When all you critics down there cut an album, we'll see how your pathetic skills match up against a master like Adkins.
In the mean time how about a nice tall frosty mug of shut the fuck up?
 
I join you in a tall frosty mug, Oscar

no no nO NO NO!
you listen.
you don't criticize
you cherish.
because there are some gods that had a hand in creating the wonderful music universe we live in.
this was one.

and even in far-flung corners of the world like melbourne, australia, we know this....
cheers
 Oscar_the_Grouch wrote:
When all you critics down there cut an album, we'll see how your pathetic skills match up against a master like Adkins.
In the mean time how about a nice tall frosty mug of shut the fuck up?
 
Brilliant. WELL SAID! <bravo clap clap clap bravo!>


What a performance!  Mr. Atkins was, indeed, a master musician.
When all you critics down there cut an album, we'll see how your pathetic skills match up against a master like Adkins.
In the mean time how about a nice tall frosty mug of shut the fuck up?
 salice wrote:
i interpreted this as crap piano playing until i saw the piccy

what's the point?

sounds pantalons I'm afraid
 
Maybe you shouldn't be interpreting then...?  "I didn't know the solo instrument" takes away the right to vote.

i interpreted this as crap piano playing until i saw the piccy

what's the point?

sounds pantalons I'm afraid
 denmom wrote:

Agree.  I think very highly of Chet Atkins, but this strikes me as a bit of a party trick that adds nothing.

 
Nothing?  Nothing??


I think one guy playing a guitar covering a tune made popular by a band of 5?  or was it 4?

I am sorry, but impresses me.

agree with some of the previous comments; a bit unnecessary. I will say if I would choose anyone to do this, it would be Chet though. plus that foot-keeping-the-beat thing is a bit unsettling. nonetheless, probably sounds while drinking egg nog...
poor... and bad.

ça swingue pas...
no swing

quel intérêt ?
what's the interest ?

no, i don't like that
prefer original version, Dave Brubeck...
 dedawson wrote:
Sorry, but at this point, ANY version of Take Five is no more than a hackneyed cliche
 
You may be correctly right but your job at the Department of Redundancy Department calls.

 dedawson wrote:
Sorry, but at this point, ANY version of Take Five is no more than a hackneyed cliche
 
Agree.  I think very highly of Chet Atkins, but this strikes me as a bit of a party trick that adds nothing.

Smoked smoked smoked.  All your goats are smoked.
very good
Sorry, but at this point, ANY version of Take Five is no more than a hackneyed cliche
DAMNNN!!!!!!
 Xeric wrote:
I generally loathe covers of tunes I like (heard some gawd-awful metal travesty of the Pretenders' "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These" today—bah), but this is very cool.
 
The Pretenders wish they had written and played Sweet Dreams.
Twas the Eurythmics. Marilyn Manson did an okay cover of it.

I generally loathe covers of tunes I like (heard some gawd-awful metal travesty of the Pretenders' "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These" today—bah), but this is very cool.
alanthecowboy wrote:

I have the foot tapping in my left speaker and the clicking in the right speaker. One of us has something hooked up wrong. Let's check our cabling and meet back in 5.


Mine's got the foot on the left and the (highly annoying) click on the right.

Chet was a master of his style, and I really like his playing on this recording, but the clicks killed it for me.

I also agree somewhat with aaronm below...Brubeck's version definitely swings more. I got to hear him play it solo in person back in high school when he came and talked to our stage band. Seemed like a cool guy, too.


 DeeCee1109 wrote:
Harmless. {#Cool}
 

Mostly.


OH NO, NOT THIS AGAIN!

Sorry, couldn't resist again either...
I really like it but I prefer a coffee coloured woman singing it smokey like
Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles = Genius
Harmless. {#Cool}
 alanthecowboy wrote:

I have the foot tapping in my left speaker and the clicking in the right speaker.  One of us has something hooked up wrong.  Let's check our cabling and meet back in 5.


 
Whew!  I thought I was the only one who was hearing that the other way around.

As for the song itself, for some reason it bothers me a tremendous deal that the tune has been de-swingified somewhat from the typical renditions.  It's not that this is a bad thing, but every even-noted lick he plays just serves to remind me of the version that I prefer.

jayvee2 wrote:
I assume that's Chet's foot tapping coming out of the right speaker but what's that "click-click" sound in the left? Anyone have thoughts?


I have the foot tapping in my left speaker and the clicking in the right speaker.  One of us has something hooked up wrong.  Let's check our cabling and meet back in 5.

jayvee2 wrote:
I assume that's Chet's foot tapping coming out of the right speaker but what's that "click-click" sound in the left? Anyone have thoughts?
The click click's Chet grinding his teeth....after taking five!
I assume that's Chet's foot tapping coming out of the right speaker but what's that "click-click" sound in the left? Anyone have thoughts?
One of my father's favorite artists. So nice to hear Chet again. RP=smiles.
Classic song and a great version of it from a master. Not many people can hold their own with Brubecks original, but Chet can.
I never heard this version of Take Five before and would have never guessed Chet Atkins. Wow. Bill.....you rock.
This may be the greatest song ever written and this was a nice treatment of it.
mread wrote:
Following Nick Drake (... "I could have been" ...) with this instrumental track is just brilliant. It's like his voice ended but the music goes on. And the semi-melancholy tone of Take Five is a perfect fit. Kudos, Bill.
Again, nice segue. Way better than that stupid scooter thingy.
That was refreshing.
Man this guy could play--but I never knew he played this. Wow!
Good lord that was incredible. I must run out and get a copy of that as waiting for it to come back around on RP taint gonna work. Never had an opinion of Mr Atkins one way or another, too little exposurem but if this is a representative example I've been missing out. Aaahhhh, so much great music, so little time.
mread wrote:
Following Nick Drake (... "I could have been" ...) with this instrumental track is just brilliant. It's like his voice ended but the music goes on. And the semi-melancholy tone of Take Five is a perfect fit. Kudos, Bill.
Hello, There are two things being tapped -- a higher-pitched one on the right side (muted tambourine?) and a lower pitched, syncopated one on the left. And yes, the analog hiss is there, too -- but to get rid of it would probably kill the fidelity of the instrument and the space. Neil
Is this double-tracked, or is he doing all that at the same time?
Not over-dubbed, one guitar.
Following Nick Drake (... "I could have been" ...) with this instrumental track is just brilliant. It's like his voice ended but the music goes on. And the semi-melancholy tone of Take Five is a perfect fit. Kudos, Bill.
How about some Lester and Chester?
coding_to_music wrote:
Is there a lot of hiss in the background of this song?
There is a fair amount of hiss, no doubt a consequence of this being recorded in the audio dark ages. When engineers are working on re-releasing some of these older recordings, they face a dilema: 1. Clean up all of the pops, hisses, scratches, and whatever other problems that are in the recording, and at the same time eliminate a substantial part of the true sound of the music. OR 2. Live with the hiss, etc., and try to produce as faithful copy of the original as possible. Personally, I favor the second alternative.
! Is this double-tracked, or is he doing all that at the same time? If the latter is correct, then: !!!!
bcorcoran wrote:
You can hear someone (Chet?) tapping on something during the song. But I don't hear a hiss.
Wow, you're right. My headphones pick it up quite clearly. (AKG K-100s, in case anyone's looking for new headphones - I highly recommend them.)
dixiedeb wrote:
I had the privilege of seeing Chet Atkins perform in Nashville with my parents around 1970 or 71.
What instrument did your parents play? Great follow to Nick Drake. Outstanding rendition and tune.
I had the privilege of seeing Chet Atkins perform in Nashville with my parents around 1970 or 71. He was amazing!
coding_to_music wrote:
Is there a lot of hiss in the background of this song?
You can hear someone (Chet?) tapping on something during the song. But I don't hear a hiss.
handyrae wrote:
This song is just about perfect.
It's great..
This song is just about perfect.