''Guitar Monsters'' is an album by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

and

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

, released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 1978. It is their second collaboration, after their

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning release '' Chester & Lester''. At the

Grammy Awards of 1978 The 20th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 23, 1978, and were broadcast live on American television. They were hosted by John Denver and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1977. Award winners *Record of the Year **Bil ...

, ''Guitar Monsters'' was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1964 to 1967. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1964 to 1965, the award was known as Best Instrumental Performance - Non-Jazz *In 1966, it was called the Best Instrum ...

Reception

Writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic Richard S. Ginell recalled the success of the duo's first collaboration and wrote of this album "the results are just about as marvelous."

Reissues

* ''Guitar Monsters'' and ''Chester and Lester'' were released on CD in 1989 by Pair Records as ''Masters of the Guitar: Together'' with some tracks omitted. Allmusic review of Masters of the Guitar./ref> * Both albums were re-released with the two albums intact on one CD in 1998 by One Way Records.

Track listing

Side one

# "Limehouse Blues" (Philip Braham,

Douglas Furber Douglas Furber (13 May 1885 – 20 February 1961) was a British lyricist and playwright. Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song "The Lambeth Walk" and the libretto to the musical '' Me and My Girl'', composed by Noel Gay, from which ...

) - 2:50 # "I Want to Be Happy" (Caesar, Youmans) - 3:41 # " Over the Rainbow" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

E.Y. Harburg Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( ...

) - 2:41 # "

Meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

" (

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

) - 2:32 # "

Lazy River A lazy river is a water ride found in water parks, hotels, resorts, and recreation centers, which usually consists of a shallow () pool that flows similarly to a river. There is generally a slow current, usually just enough to allow guests to g ...

" (

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

Sidney Arodin Sidney Arnandan or Arnondrin or Arnondin, better known as Sidney Arodin (March 29, 1901, Westwego, Louisiana - February 6, 1948, New Orleans) was an American jazz clarinetist and songwriter, best known for co-writing the pop standard " Lazy River" ...

) - 3:01 # "I'm Your Greatest Fan" - 3:49

Side two

# "

It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing) "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills. It is now accepted as a jazz standard, and jazz historian Gunther Schuller characterized it as "now legendary" and "a prophe ...

" (

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was an American music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal Mills was ...

) - 2:58 # "

I Surrender Dear "I Surrender Dear" (sometimes written as "I Surrender, Dear") is a song composed by Harry Barris with lyrics by Gordon Clifford, first performed by Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra with Bing Crosby in 1931, which became his first s ...

" (

Harry Barris Harry Barris (November 24, 1905 – December 13, 1962) was an American popular singer and songwriter. He was one of the earliest singers to use "scat singing" in recordings. Barris, one of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, along with Bing Crosby and ...

, Gordon Clifford) - 4:04 # "

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

" (

Ary Barroso Ary de Resende Barroso (1903–1964), better known as Ary Barroso, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, soccer commentator, and talent-show host on radio and TV. He was one of Brazil's most successful songwriters in the first half of the 20th centur ...

, Russell) - 2:41 # "Give My Love to Nell" (Traditional) - 2:53 # "Hot Toddy" (

Ralph Flanagan Ralph Elias Flenniken (April 7, 1914 – December 30, 1995), known professionally as Ralph Flanagan, was an American big band leader, pianist, composer, and arranger for the orchestras of Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Blue Barron, Charlie Barnet, an ...

) - 3:00

Personnel

*Chet Atkins – guitar *Les Paul – guitar *Joe Osborne – bass *Buddy Harman, Larrie Londin, Randy Hauser – drums *Randy Goodrum – piano *Paul Yandell – rhythm guitar

References

{{Authority control 1978 collaborative albums Chet Atkins albums Albums produced by Bob Ferguson (music) RCA Records albums Les Paul albums