Search - Joe Maphis :: Fire on the Strings (Exp)

Joe Maphis
Fire on the Strings (Exp)
Genres: Country, Pop

Track Listings (19) - Disc #1
1. Fire on the Strings
2. Randy Lynn Rag - Joe Maphis, Scruggs, Earl
3. Twin Banjo Special
4. Bully of the Town - Joe Maphis, Ledbetter, Huddie
5. Flying Fingers
6. Lorrie Ann
7. Tennessee Two Step - Joe Maphis, Warren, Margie Ann
8. Floggin' the Banjo
9. Guitar Rock and Roll
10. Town Hall Shuffle
11. Sweet Fern - Joe Maphis, Carter, A.P.
12. Katy Warren Breakdown - Joe Maphis, Warren, Katy
13. Marching to Pretoria [*] - Joe Maphis, Marais, J.
14. Early American [*]
15. The Rockin' Gypsy [*]
16. Hurricane [*] - Joe Maphis, Collins, Larry
17. Bye, Bye [*] - Joe Maphis, Collins, Larry
18. Short Recess [*]
19. Moonshot [*]

CD Details

All Artists: Joe Maphis
Title: Fire on the Strings (Exp)
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony
Original Release Date: 1/1/1957
Re-Release Date: 2/6/2001
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Country, Pop
Styles: Bluegrass, Roadhouse Country, Classic Country
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
Other Editions: Fire on the Strings
UPC: 074646214824

Synopsis

Amazon.com

There was nothing nuanced about Joe Maphis, a star on Southern California's Town Hall Party television show in the 1950s. Playing a double-necked Mos-Rite Special guitar he helped design, Maphis was arguably the first picker to adapt fiddle breakdowns for guitar, and the hell-bent-for-leather title tune was his calling card. Occasionally, he'd turn in a relaxed, swinging performance like "Bully of the Town," or a seamless, well-paced workout like "Guitar Rock and Roll." But mostly he just burned, as on "Flying Fingers." Needless to add, this often worked better live than on record, and the real showstoppers here didn't even appear on the original 1957 album. On four of the seven bonus tracks, Maphis and protégé Larry Collins play rockin' country together like white on rice, especially on the charging "Hurricane," where they pull out all the stops, and the bluesy "Bye, Bye," a perfect balance of flash and restraint. --John Morthland

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CD Reviews

Smokin' reissue of legendary country guitar ace's debut LP

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 02/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Maphis is perhaps best known today as the guitar ace who mentored teenage rockabilly whiz Larry Collins in the 50s. And though Collins' guitar talent was (and remains) substantial, the incendiary flat-picking style (and the twin-neck electric Mosrite guitar) Collins employed was not only originated by Maphis, but never got better. Augmented with seven bonus tracks (including four blazing duets with Collins) and newly penned liner notes from Rich Kienzle, this reissue of Maphis' 1957 Columbia debut is a fitting memorial to one of the guitar's unsung revolutionaries. (Bear Family's "Flying Fingers" compilation offers five additional tracks - and a shuffled track order - at a premium price.)Across 19 instrumentals, Maphis fingers fly in lightning quick runs. His renditions of classic fiddle tunes, such as "Fire on the Mountain" and "Bully of the Town," pushed flatpicking to its limits, and set the stage for both country and rock (especially surf) pickers to follow. He recast Earl Scruggs' banjo instrumental "Randy Lynn Rag" for the guitar, and then turned to flatpicking a banjo for his own "Floggin' the Banjo." Elsewhere he shows off his mastery of the mandolin.Perhaps most exhilarating of all are four tracks from the 1957 EP "Swinging Strings." Teacher Maphis and student Larry Collins play with an interlocked precision that is breathtaking. As one vamps, the other races up and down the frets, only to be met at the end by the ripping leads of the other. When they finally slow to a lope, the interplay is nearly telepathic. Also featured on a few tracks are Maphis' wife Rose Lee, and Johnny Bond.Maphis' television work (most notably on the Los Angeles-based "Town Hall") led to work as a studio ace (including hit sessions with Ricky Nelson and early rockabilly sides with Wanda Jackson), but for sheer guitar pyrotechnics, his debut shows that he left the gate galloping at full speed."

Blistering country guitar, banjo and violin!

SIMON AGUILAR-GARCIA | Seattle, Wa. USA | 03/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of the hottest country guitar, banjo and violin on cd! Very catchy tunes that want to get you playing with Joe himself!"

WOW!

COMPUTERJAZZMAN | Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States | 03/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Joe Maphis was a great player on virtually any stringed instrument. Not many guitar players I know of can keep up with him. This guy was a whiz. The CD "Country Guitar Thunder" with Merle Travis is another must-have."