The Merle Travis Collection (Guitar Recorded Versions) [Paperback]

First of all, the selection of tunes is pretty darn lousy - almost bizarre. I'd assume that most people who want to learn how to play guitar like Merle Travis don't want to do so because of his swing material. I, and I'd think most other guitarists, was hoping for a collection which included the thumb-picking style he so energetically pioneered and for which he is best known. Unfortunately, the only tune in this book fitting that description is "Cannonball Rag." Also the transcriptions don't seem to be particularly faithful to any of the Merle Travis records that I own.

If you are in the strange group of guitarists who always dreamed of playing "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)" and "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed," this is the book for you. If you want to learn tunes with actual Travis picking, there are other, far better options available. Tommy Flint's book is phenomenal, but it doesn't contain many of Travis's actual songs; only a bunch in his style, nutty chord fingerings and all. Both Thom Bresh and Marcel Dadi have excellent videos which go into detail on the ins and outs of his playing on a great selection of his tunes, as well as tips on getting a handle on the tricky parts.

I've had this book for over 10 years and have never gotten through it. To put that in perspective, I've worked through advanced jazz books and even Rev Gary Davis books in just few months. I disagree with the other reviewer - I actually prefer Travis' western swing years and I wish there was a songbook out for his work with Hank Thompson. I understand his point - though you will find Cannonball Rag, Dark as a Dungeon, Dance of the Golden Rod and I Am A Pilgrim in the book, which any thumbpicker should have in their repertoire. Most of these songs are formatted for a larger band.... when playing solo, comping through trumpet solos doesn't really apply.... and these days, it is nearly impossible to form a western swing band - I've been trying for over 10 yrs! So, if you are interested in this book, get the old "Merle Travis Story 24 Greatest Hits" cd so you'll be familiar with all of the songs. Then, be prepared to very slowly learn some very, very advanced finger style guitar. One thing that makes Travis' playing, especially during the swing years" harder for me than Chet Atkins' style is that Travis was more about the feel of a tune than a carefully composed, logical composition. You can put a Chet tune together like a puzzle, where as with Travis, you need to learn all of the licks, runs and various details of his style and then just jump into a tune with energy and a willingness to improvise - unless you are Marcel Dadi, learning Travis' repertoire note for note will be an impossibility - even Thom Bresh and Buster B Jones always commented along the lines of, "That is sort of how Travis played it, but I threw in a few of my own licks." That is probably because Travis never played most tunes the same way twice and because his style isn't classical music - it is meant to be personalized and made your own.... bring to it blues, jazz, country, gypsy, whatever and do it YOUR WAY! So, do buy this book! Keep in mind though, that if this book were rated by difficulty level the way many instructional videos are (4 being advanced), this would be a 6 or 7!