| Guitar Sounds from Lenny Breau | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Lenny Breau | ||||
| Released | 1968 | |||
| Recorded | Nashville, TN | |||
| Genre | Jazz, post-Bop | |||
| Length | 47:44 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Lenny Breau chronology | ||||
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Guitar Sounds from Lenny Breau is an album by Canadian jazz guitarist Lenny Breau, first released in 1968.[1]
Contents |
Breau had befriended Chet Atkins which resulted in Lenny's first two LP issues on RCA. Atkins and Breau also collaborated on Standard Brands in 1981. Breau was nearly ubiquitous around Atkins' office in Nashville both during and after these two RCA releases and also played clubs regularly.[2]
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."[3]
A wide range of styles are found on this release, from bluegrass to pop and jazz standards to Hank Williams and The Beatles.
The songs were recorded during two sessions under the supervision of Atkins. A technical difficulty delayed the release of the album until late winter. Breau was reportedly displeased with the track selection and sequencing, preferring the more straight ahead jazz tunes the trio had recorded versus the pop-flavored material Atkins chose to include.[4]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [5] |
Rolling Stone reviewer John Burke called Breau's playing "tender" and "understated" and stated in his review: "... part of the fascination in hearing an imaginative player like Breau lies in how he reinterprets each song so that you hear it as if for the first time... Within the pop/country, rock/jazz frame he has set for himself, you feel Breau extend himself to the fullest. A handsome first effort."[4] Music critic Thom Jurek of Allmusic called it "an impressive debut as any you're likely to find because of Breau's startling originality on the instrument."[5]