category: instrumental country / western swing

Album review:
Here at last is the ultimate 3-CD box set that illuminates guitarist Jimmy Bryant’s fretboard genius once and for all, spotlighting the dizzying technique, the flu-ent lines and the electrifying flights of improvisation that have made Bryant a legend with guitar cognoscenti everywhere. To say Jimmy Bryant was as important to country-guitar picking as Charlie Parker was to bebop is a tribute to both legends. This deluxe-edition, 75-track, career-spanning collection is loaded with the gravity-defying, Capitol-era duets of Bryant and Speedy West, the never-reissued Bryant solo material from the Imperial and Dolton labels, as well as a large handful of ultra-rare singles, unissued material and previously unheard alternate versions. Blessed with the heart of a country boy and the soul of a ground-breaking jazzman, Jimmy Bryant is of that rare breed whose work will always sound ahead of its time.

CD Track Listing

Disc 1
  1. Bryant’s Boogie (J.Bryant) (2:32)
  2. Red Headed Polka (Bryant / O'Dell / Blair) (2:29)
  3. Railroadin’ (S.West) (2:12)
  4. Stainless Steel (S.West) (2:06)
  5. T-Bone Rag (J.Bryant / B.Strange) (2:13)
  6. Truck Driver’s Ride (S.West) (2:10)
  7. Liberty Bell Polka (J.Bryant / B.Strange) (2:16)
  8. Bryant’s Shuffle (J.Bryant) (2:14)
  9. Yodeling Guitar (J.Bryant) (2:06)
10. Georgia Steel Guitar (C.Harris) (1:54)
11. Pickin’ The Chicken (J.Bryant) (2:13)
12. Comin’ On (J.Bryant) (2:10)
13. Lover (R.Rodgers / L.Hart) (2:14)
14. Serenade To A Frog (J.Bryant) (2:04)
15. Bryant’s Bounce (J.Bryant) (2:19)
16. Whistle Stop (J.Bryant / B.Strange) (2:14)
17. Hometown Polka (J.Bryant / B.Strange) (2:17)
18. Jammin’ With Jimmy (J.Bryant) (2:26)
19. Two Of A Kind (J.Bryant / S.West) (2:15)
20. Old Joe Clark (trad.arr. J.Bryant) (2:20)
21. Arkansas Traveler (trad.arr. J.Bryant) (2:04)
22. Country Capers (J.Bryant) (2:11)
23. Low Man On A Totem Pole (J.Bryant) (2:36)
24. Cotton Pickin’ (J.Bryant) (2:26)
25. Sleepwalker’s Lullaby (I.Duhig / H.Hensley) (2:08)
Total timing: 57:35

Disc 2
  1. Stratosphere Boogie (J.Bryant) (2:09)
  2. Flippin’ The Lid (S.West) (2:05)
  3. Deep Water (J.Bryant) (2:59)
  4. Shuffleboard Rag (S.West) (2:13)
  5. Caffeine Patrol (S.West) (1:49)
  6. Pickin’ Peppers (J.Bryant) (2:10)
  7. Chatter Box (J.Bryant) (2:07)
  8. Frettin’ Fingers (J.Bryant) (2:00)
  9. Pushin’ The Blues (J.Bryant) (3:09)
10. Rolling Sky (J.Bryant) (2:24)
11. The Night Rider (J.Bryant) (2:21)
12. Hillcrest (Opus 3) (J.Bryant / S.Smith) (2:02)
13. China Boy (Boutelje / Winfree) (6:13)
14. Ha-So (J.Bryant) (1:52)
15. Tobacco Worm (J.Bryant) (1:50)
16. Strings (take 6 -early version of Joy Ride) (previously unissued) (Frio / Turner) (2:44)
17. Long Walk Home (take 1) (previously unissued) (C.Taylor) (2:38)
18. Frettin’ Fingers (take 1 - early version of Rapid Transit) (previously unissued) (J.Bryant) (1:20)
19. Whistle Stop (take 1) (previously unissued) (J.Bryant) (1:52)
20. Peach Grove Express (J.Bryant / S.Turner) (2:00)
21. Rattle Dance (Murphy / Turner / Bryant) (2:09)
22. Scottish Eagle (adapt. Liebert / Turner / Bryant) (2:01)
23. Julie’s Gone (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (2:07)
24. Buggy Ride (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (1:54)
25. Blow Your Hat In The Creek (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (1:38)
Total timing: 59:11

Disc 3
  1. Fender Bender (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (2:02)
  2. Model 400 Buckboard (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (1:53)
  3. Laughing Guitar (S.Turner / J.Bryant) (1:58)
  4. Joy Ride (R.Frio / S.Turner) (2:18)
  5. Corn Ball (S.Turner) (2:10)
  6. In The Heart Of A Clown (Rollins / Nelson / Kane) (1:57)
  7. Tabasco Road (S.Turner / C.Harris) (1:46)
  8. Come Alive Polka (J.Bryant) (1:41)
  9. Lazy Guitar (J.Davis) (2:15)
10. Shinbone (S.Turner / B.Liebert) (1:59)
11. Trevor’s Theme (S.Turner) (2:20)
12. Liverpool (previously unissued) (S.Turner / B.Liebert) (2:36)
13. Boogie For Guitar (S.Turner) (1:35)
14. Steel Guitar Rag (Travis / Stone / McAuliffe) (1:21)
15. 12th Street Rag (E.Bowman) (1:40)
16. Little Rock Getaway (J.Sullivan / C.Sigman) (1:51)
17. Caravan (D.Ellington / J.Tizol) (2:30)
18. Down Yonder (Gilbert) (1:40)
19. Georgia Boogie (C.Harris / S.Turner) (1:50)
20. Tico Tico (Z.Abreu) (1:58)
21. Indiana (J.Batiste) (2:04)
22. Ten Wheels (C.Harris / S.Turner) (1:47)
23. Stumbling (Z.Confrey) (1:56)
24. Voxwagon (C.Harris / S.Turner) (1:52)
25. Sugar Foot Rag (H.Garland / G.Vaughn) (1:29)
Total timing: 49:50

Label/No: Sundazed 11134

Release date: 2003 reissue