Has Mark Knopfler gone soft in his old age? Last year he and three British cronies put together the Notting Hillbillies.
That pickup band turned out a self-named album in homage to the American South that was well-intentioned but a total snore. And now, Neck and Neck, is a cornball duet record with Chet Atkins, Nashville's Mr. Guitar. Lately Atkins has concentrated on New Age jazz and fusion, but on this collaboration producer Knopfler simply gives those styles a nod and then moves on to ''aw-shucks'' country dreck.
Worst offerings: Knopfler's back-patting ''The Next Time I'm in Town'' and an excrutiating parody of ''There'll Be Some Changes Made'' in which the 66-year-old Atkins declares a taste for ''groupie girls.'' Just because Knopfler wanted to make a vanity album with his guitar hero is no excuse to foist it on the rest of us. (by gw.com)
That pickup band turned out a self-named album in homage to the American South that was well-intentioned but a total snore. And now, Neck and Neck, is a cornball duet record with Chet Atkins, Nashville's Mr. Guitar. Lately Atkins has concentrated on New Age jazz and fusion, but on this collaboration producer Knopfler simply gives those styles a nod and then moves on to ''aw-shucks'' country dreck.
Worst offerings: Knopfler's back-patting ''The Next Time I'm in Town'' and an excrutiating parody of ''There'll Be Some Changes Made'' in which the 66-year-old Atkins declares a taste for ''groupie girls.'' Just because Knopfler wanted to make a vanity album with his guitar hero is no excuse to foist it on the rest of us. (by gw.com)
Personnel:
Chet Atkins (guitar, vocals)
Floyd Creamer (piano)
Guy Fletcher (bass, drums, guitar, keyboards)
Paul Franklin (dobro, steel-guitar, pedabro)
Vince Gill (background vocals)
Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals)
Larrie London (drums)
Edgar Meyer (bass)
Mark O´Connor (fiddle, mandolin)
Steve Wariner (bass)
Tracklist:
01. Poor Boy Blues (Kennerly) 4.01
02. Sweet Dreams (Gibson) 3.24
03. There´ll Be Some Chances Made (Higgins/Overstreet) 6.28
04. Just One Time (Gibson) 4.11
05. So Soft, Your Goodbye (Goodrum) 3.16
06. Yakety Axe (Randolph/Rich) 3.24
07. Tears (Grappelli/Rheinhardt) 3.54
08. Tahitian Skies (Flacke) 3.18
09. I´ll See You In My Dreams (Jones/Kahn) 2.59
10. The Next Time I´m In Town (Knopfler) 3.21
ARMU 2440 (zippyshare)