I feel privileged to have had a tiny part in this. Randy Heeren was taking some classical lessons from me back in the 1970s. He gave me a cassette tape of Guy Van Duser playing Stars and Stripes forever in a beer joint in Boston. it was spectacular and of course brought the house down. I got Guy down to Nashville to play a little gig at another beer joint called Spring Water. Once again he brought the house down. I took him to Chet's office and they hit it off. By the time Chet did this performance I had acquired for him a guitar made by my friend Robert Ruck in 1975. It developed a center seam top crack. A local repair tech had trouble matching the finish after gluing it up. (light streak below the bridge visible in this video) I sent it to Ruck to deal with the finish. Subsequently Chet generously consigned it to me to sell. The third owner was one of my university students. RIP Chet Atkins, Paul Yandel and Robert Ruck
As I was trying to say, playing since age 10, now a total of 66 years and I can say without question Chet Atkins was and still is the greatest guitarist mankind has been blessed to ever hear as well as see!
Was about 8 years old came down stairs to see Chet playing freight train onthe Ed Sullivan show I said to myself I got to do that!! I had already been tinkering on the piano since I was six years old. I'm retired now and still playing the guitar every day. Thank you Chet.
I count myself (and my wife, who also loves good music!) as very fortunate indeed to have seen and heard Chet Atkins perform live not many years before his death. I was well-aware of his prowess as an instrumentalist, but was also pleasantly surprised at his singing, story-telling and humor. "Country Gentleman," indeed! What a wonderful evening that was!
Chet wouldn't play when my neighbor Johnny Smith saw him walk into a jazz club in Denver where Johnny played occasional gigs. both were great but played different styles.
@@cravinbob - Johnny Smith intimidated a lot of very good players. He was that good! Chet knew some jazz tunes, but he wasn't per se a straight-ahead jazz cat, so I can understand his reluctance to throw on his axe. Like you said, different players and different styles. I'm sure Smith respected Chet and his accomplishments, too.
Chet was going through health issues (cancer) when this concert occurred. According to Chet, he was extremely sick during this time period. I wonder how this might have sounded if he was feeling healthy and chipper? The man was simply the greatest to ever pick up a guitar and influenced as many well known guitarists as anyone ever.
Apparently Chet was asked if he could play Stars and stripes forever...by Jerry Reed once and he said "no ..i usually get tired after about an hour "....haha
I love this version....Guy Van Duser has a music book out and this entire piece is written out.....it's a killer to play properly, and Chet is and will always be the "KING"
I think the average arc of a guitarist is when you start you think Hendrix is the greatest, after you play a few years you understand Chet is in a league all his own.
An extremely complex piece of music played so well it looks easy. Absolutely amazing. The guitar god in all his majesty. If you want to see someone who is truly better than everyone else do something, watch Chet.
I learned to play guitar with a bunch of Led Zeppelin heads back in the 70's in South Carolina. Rockers we all were, but we also knew this: When it was available to watch Chet Atkins or Roy Clark, even though none of us were country music fans, we watched. And we knew those guys were so good that they were beyond any categorization that might have kept us from watching. All you had to was watch and listen for 30 seconds and it was all over.
At this writing, there are 25 fools that have zero clue of what incredible guitar playing is. Like many of the people who've commented on this, I am a player. I play nothing like this, but greatness is greatness. Chet was, simply put, a guitar heroes' guitar hero. This performance is incredible. Far beyond what the vast majority of players on Earth can do, even today. Very, very impressive. Thanks, Chet.
Rklewis2, I was about ten ( and taking music lessons for guitar ) when i first heard Mr Atkins play , 62 yrs later he is still one of a handful of people I would ever respectfully address as Mr. Thankfully your artistry will be shared till the end of our time
@ rklewis2 - How great was Chet Atkins? Can anyone name another guitarist, living or dead, whose acolytes vied to be recognized by Chet as a "certified CPG," which stood for "certified country guitar player"? Moreover, Guy van Duser, himself one of the greatest fingerstyle guitarists of the last half-century, handed his arrangement to Chet! If you play fingerstyle guitar in the alternating bass style, then the "Big Three" are Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. Between those three giants, you can cover an awful lot of ground.
I've commented on a lot of Chet Atkins performances and I am totally a fan. He was Mr Guitar. What a beautiful talent and he was humorous. I would like to have known him.
I love how he uses dynamics, notice how he'll play something at normal volume then he'll have a little descending scale or something and he'll have the volume descend as he goes down the scale. Little stuff like that, he's intentionally doing even though you may not notice it, or care.. but it makes the whole presentation sound better.
You're right. I believe Sousa composed it in the early 1900's during the same period that Tarrega was composing. You can hear the Romantic classical influences, but also the ragtime. Stars and Stripes Forever is really a genius composition, and Guy Van Duser's arrangement is one of the most stunning pieces in the guitar repertoire, an ultimate guitar challenge typically made to look easy by Chet's incomparable playing.
I heard Chet play in Carnegie Hall NYC once in my life. I had the best seats in the house. I was front row, center, three feet from the stage. He was about four feet up on the stage. Talk about a rush. If you take a close watch on this video, about 128-129 he has this shit eating grin while he is playing. I think he is planning in his mind the ending where he says "If you think this is the end, well it is." There are a lot of people who follow this man, but in my humble opinion, he was the best. Enjoy and keep practicing. I do this piece in the key of C which I picked up by ear, I have to put it on here one of these days.
i love this song, i love chet atkins too. i like to listen stripes and stars forever in all his versions. In my country we have this news chanel who play this song in their news, but nobodie knows where the song is from. they dont wonder it ither. but i did. soon i figure it out its about Philip sousa and his song that later was declared as the national us march.
Whenever I hear someone say that Americans don't have serious culture, I think of men like John Philip Sousa and Chet Atkins, and smile. Really now, I have heard people describe SSF as a Prussian march, which is a lot like describing Chet Atkins as a hillbilly guitar player.
There is funny WWII anecdote about a German military band that would welcome back U-boats from patrol at the tune of Stars & Stripes Forever until the band director was told that it was an American military march; he just loved the liveliness of the song and had picked it from his read book.
There Is Only Way To Get 1/10 As Good As Master Chet Atkins .... Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice !! Then You Repeat That For 10 Hours A Day For 30 Years !! 😎
Wonder if the Guy Van Duser sheet music and instructions are still out there for this ????? Wow it is better than Glen Cambells William Tell overture. And that is some accomplishment if you ever listened to that it's on RUclips it will blow you away.
Do you think this guy, Chet will ever become famous? All kidding aside, he has inspired so many others that it is incredible. A great loss when he passed. I did see him play in the late 1960s at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, alongside Andres Segovia. Is there anything the guy couldn't play?
I think this is the most difficult song he had ever played, according to him sometimes he can get it right, and it makes him nervous playing this song.
I would say he more than got through it-this man is simply amazing-he always sounds good. He is always under control. The man is the definition of class and taste.
![The Stars and Stripes Forever with 94 piccolos! [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TvWWXv59apY/mqdefault.jpg)
I feel privileged to have had a tiny part in this. Randy Heeren was taking some classical lessons from me back in the 1970s. He gave me a cassette tape of Guy Van Duser playing Stars and Stripes forever in a beer joint in Boston. it was spectacular and of course brought the house down. I got Guy down to Nashville to play a little gig at another beer joint called Spring Water. Once again he brought the house down. I took him to Chet's office and they hit it off. By the time Chet did this performance I had acquired for him a guitar made by my friend Robert Ruck in 1975. It developed a center seam top crack. A local repair tech had trouble matching the finish after gluing it up. (light streak below the bridge visible in this video) I sent it to Ruck to deal with the finish. Subsequently
Chet generously consigned it to me to sell. The third owner was one of my university students. RIP Chet Atkins, Paul Yandel and Robert Ruck
kudos Sir
I’ve been playing guitar since age 10, now a total of 66 years and I can say without question Chet Atkinson is the greatest guitarist mankind
As I was trying to say, playing since age 10, now a total of 66 years and I can say without question Chet Atkins was and still is the greatest guitarist mankind has been blessed to ever hear as well as see!
Was about 8 years old came down stairs to see Chet playing freight train onthe Ed Sullivan show I said to myself I got to do that!! I had already been tinkering on the piano since I was six years old. I'm retired now and still playing the guitar every day. Thank you Chet.
Totaly agree , he and Paco de Lucia are my favorites
please check alip bata playing finger style he can cover all any kind of music genres
Really great ...one of the best ....love the way he works the piccolo line into his playing.
From 2:24 on . The piccolo AND melody simultaniously! So hard to play! But he mastered it absolutely ingenious!
Never, ever get tired of listening to/watching this.
I count myself (and my wife, who also loves good music!) as very fortunate indeed to have seen and heard Chet Atkins perform live not many years before his death. I was well-aware of his prowess as an instrumentalist, but was also pleasantly surprised at his singing, story-telling and humor. "Country Gentleman," indeed! What a wonderful evening that was!
Chet wouldn't play when my neighbor Johnny Smith saw him walk into a jazz club in Denver where Johnny played occasional gigs. both were great but played different styles.
@@cravinbob - Johnny Smith intimidated a lot of very good players. He was that good! Chet knew some jazz tunes, but he wasn't per se a straight-ahead jazz cat, so I can understand his reluctance to throw on his axe. Like you said, different players and different styles. I'm sure Smith respected Chet and his accomplishments, too.
Chet was going through health issues (cancer) when this concert occurred. According to Chet, he was extremely sick during this time period. I wonder how this might have sounded if he was feeling healthy and chipper? The man was simply the greatest to ever pick up a guitar and influenced as many well known guitarists as anyone ever.
Apparently Chet was asked if he could play Stars and stripes forever...by Jerry Reed once and he said "no ..i usually get tired after about an hour "....haha
"Sometimes I get through it!" I guess this was one of those times!!! This was BETTER than hearing a marching band play it!
I love this version....Guy Van Duser has a music book out and this entire piece is written out.....it's a killer to play properly, and Chet is and will always be the "KING"
He is without a doubt one of the greatest guitar players I have ever seen.
I think the average arc of a guitarist is when you start you think Hendrix is the greatest, after you play a few years you understand Chet is in a league all his own.
Chet had a huge influence on the progressive rock guitarists from England.
Can't one adore Chet AND Jimi for entirely different reasons? Just sayin'
@@markparee99 Sure can,different styles both master players.
Hendrix is not even in the equation regardless
@@RodCorkin from a technique standpoint it ain't even close. Chet's on another planet. Can't deny Jimi's influence , though.
when you think you can play guitar then suddenly you have a toasty fire and no more guitar....what an absolute master🥰
Q
If he was sick during this you can’t tell. Stupendous as per usual
An extremely complex piece of music played so well it looks easy. Absolutely amazing. The guitar god in all his majesty. If you want to see someone who is truly better than everyone else do something, watch Chet.
This version is delicately swung, which is very characteristic of Chet.
Chet might not be the flashiest finger picker by modern standards, but his relaxed feel will always be what makes him #1 for me.
His right hand thats why
There will never be another Chet Atkins. An 'Honour' to still be able to hear and see the 'Master'. Thank you, RUclips.
I learned to play guitar with a bunch of Led Zeppelin heads back in the 70's in South Carolina. Rockers we all were, but we also knew this: When it was available to watch Chet Atkins or Roy Clark, even though none of us were country music fans, we watched. And we knew those guys were so good that they were beyond any categorization that might have kept us from watching. All you had to was watch and listen for 30 seconds and it was all over.
At this writing, there are 25 fools that have zero clue of what incredible guitar playing is.
Like many of the people who've commented on this, I am a player.
I play nothing like this, but greatness is greatness. Chet was, simply put, a guitar heroes' guitar hero.
This performance is incredible. Far beyond what the vast majority of players on Earth can do, even today.
Very, very impressive. Thanks, Chet.
Rklewis2,
I was about ten ( and taking music lessons for guitar ) when i first heard Mr Atkins play , 62 yrs later he is still one of a handful of people I would ever respectfully address as Mr.
Thankfully your artistry will be shared till the end of our time
A great guitarist very talented.
@ rklewis2 - How great was Chet Atkins? Can anyone name another guitarist, living or dead, whose acolytes vied to be recognized by Chet as a "certified CPG," which stood for "certified country guitar player"? Moreover, Guy van Duser, himself one of the greatest fingerstyle guitarists of the last half-century, handed his arrangement to Chet!
If you play fingerstyle guitar in the alternating bass style, then the "Big Three" are Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. Between those three giants, you can cover an awful lot of ground.
The good ones all make it look so easy.
My mother was an accomplished pianist. She used to tell me the very same thing!!!
Nobody has ever matched this guy at his style of guitar playing. He was the boss❤
Just WOW!!!!! He is so amazing, he was my daddy's favorite guitarist❤ now he's my favorite🥰🥰🥰🥰 and that ending was spectacular😁😁😁🥰🥰🥰🥰
An immaculate performance by Chet, and an amazing arrangement by Guy Van Duser...Jack Baker NYC
I saw him play this concert on TV..over fifty years ago when i was just a kid, he absolutely mesmerized me.
RIP Chet.
A masterpiece. God bless you Chet.You left us too soon!!!
I've commented on a lot of Chet Atkins performances and I am totally a fan. He was Mr Guitar. What a beautiful talent and he was humorous. I would like to have known him.
This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life.
This just put a huge smile on my face. In these troubling times the sorld and our country is in right now, this is really beautiful to hear.
I love how he uses dynamics, notice how he'll play something at normal volume then he'll have a little descending scale or something and he'll have the volume descend as he goes down the scale. Little stuff like that, he's intentionally doing even though you may not notice it, or care.. but it makes the whole presentation sound better.
You're right. I believe Sousa composed it in the early 1900's during the same period that Tarrega was composing. You can hear the Romantic classical influences, but also the ragtime. Stars and Stripes Forever is really a genius composition, and Guy Van Duser's arrangement is one of the most stunning pieces in the guitar repertoire, an ultimate guitar challenge typically made to look easy by Chet's incomparable playing.
I heard Chet play in Carnegie Hall NYC once in my life. I had the best seats in the house. I was front row, center, three feet from the stage. He was about four feet up on the stage. Talk about a rush. If you take a close watch on this video, about 128-129 he has this shit eating grin while he is playing. I think he is planning in his mind the ending where he says "If you think this is the end, well it is." There are a lot of people who follow this man, but in my humble opinion, he was the best. Enjoy and keep practicing. I do this piece in the key of C which I picked up by ear, I have to put it on here one of these days.
let's hear it
We are waiting, Paul!!!!
Love the way he works the piccolo solo....and the chord sequences ....wow!
Wow, I've never heard this famous march played on guitar before! Very impressive!
A magnificent master at play. My favorite guitarist of all time. 💙
何度聞いても本当にキレッキレッで美しいプレー✨✨✨
I like guitar music but never thought very much of it, generally speaking But now I am IMPRESSED!
Words fail me. Mesmerising brilliant unbelievable!!
i love this song, i love chet atkins too. i like to listen stripes and stars forever in all his versions. In my country we have this news chanel who play this song in their news, but nobodie knows where the song is from. they dont wonder it ither. but i did. soon i figure it out its about Philip sousa and his song that later was declared as the national us march.
Whenever I hear someone say that Americans don't have serious culture, I think of men like John Philip Sousa and Chet Atkins, and smile. Really now, I have heard people describe SSF as a Prussian march, which is a lot like describing Chet Atkins as a hillbilly guitar player.
Chet was one of the greats of guitar.
Chet jokingly referred to himself as Mr Guitar many, many years ago and its never been disputed. Nor will it. Beautiful fretwork.
There is funny WWII anecdote about a German military band that would welcome back U-boats from patrol at the tune of Stars & Stripes Forever until the band director was told that it was an American military march; he just loved the liveliness of the song and had picked it from his read book.
A timeless genius. A very decent person as well...nice to be both.
This is incredible! What a gift.
no words, the music speaks
Yes ! 🎶😊🎶
one word that separates chet from others . composure . nobody close to him . R I P Chet .
unbelievable
There Is Only Way To Get 1/10 As Good As Master Chet Atkins .... Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice , Practice !!
Then You Repeat That For 10 Hours A Day For 30 Years !! 😎
Guy van duser arranged this perfectly, but from what i've seen, chet plays it cleaner and better
Wonder if the Guy Van Duser sheet music and instructions are still out there for this ????? Wow it is better than Glen Cambells William Tell overture. And that is some accomplishment if you ever listened to that it's on RUclips it will blow you away.
Do you think this guy, Chet will ever become famous? All kidding aside, he has inspired so many others that it is incredible. A great loss when he passed.
I did see him play in the late 1960s at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, alongside Andres Segovia. Is there anything the guy couldn't play?
Just fabulous!!!
hands down the best
Just came across this and I do believe it is the best I have ever heard.
My dad had a shirt just like that. It's also on his Best of Friends album. Unfortunately, even draping it on myself didn't help play this any better!
A partir de 2mn25 , CHET joue deux mélodies en méme temps !!! le Maestro absolu !!!
Never heard anyone call it "The Maine" before...really interesting. Great playing of course!
I noticed that.
I think it was more an....Uh... as he was searching his mind for the state. A boy up in, Uh, Maine who plays like I do ....
Soo amazing. My favorite guitar man.❤️
Maybe the greatest guitar arrangement of all time!
Sousa's family were immigrants, mixed Spanish, Portuguese and German heritage. He was born in Washington.
Van Duser is awesome, but I have to say this is the definitive performance of his arrangement.
I would love to hear Rev Gary Davis.
Chet's the KING!
Never heard it on a guitar. What a treat, thanks
Dang Chet, you can still smoke so many of today's "slashers".
Gotta love that shirt...oh yeah, and the guitar playing is amazing as always from the Guitar Godfather. :)
Fantastic!!!
just wonderful
Astounding!
very impressive !
Awesome!
Pure genius...Virtuoso
This is really good!
Perfection!
It's like he's playing two separate guitars at the same time!
How is it possible that anyone can play so well?
Perfect!
Maestro!!!
Young people be asking, "Can you djent?"
Old people be responding, "Hahahahaha. Can you Chet?"
X'D Hahaha
Cletus Kasady well put ha ha
He was a magician.
Just.Too.Good.
Chester was the G. O. A. T.
I think this is the most difficult song he had ever played, according to him sometimes he can get it right, and it makes him nervous playing this song.
Beautiful Chet RIP
Genius: My Hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RIP Chet Atkins
Classic!!
Bellisimo!!!!!!
very difficult piece to play correctly. Chet's version is the best I have heard. Sound is crisp, clear and flawless.
Realmente,,,,,,,uma Fera.
I would say he more than got through it-this man is simply amazing-he always sounds good. He is always under control. The man is the definition of class and taste.
Extraordinary playing
super super!!!
Still he wears dots!
A legend.
Genial interpretción.
Mr. Guitar nailed it!
3:45 Aah...
Cheat Atkins... He was so good!
@ospreyflight2 - That was on Dan Duser's version of Semper Fidelis.
Fun version by Guy Van Duser, played by Chet back in 1978 I think.
How did he DO that?!
Well...he was on another level.
PRACTICE - PRACTICE - PRACTICE!!!
6 people clearly have no idea about what sheer talent and virtuosity really are.
Totally agree - looks like now 11 people. How anyone can give this a thumbs down is beyond me.
Steve Forward or communist Chinese.
Beautiful, and there's his best bud Paul Yandel on rhythm.
guy van duser even plays the snare drum part on the guitar by folding the "A" string over the "E" string.
Tom