Fire on the Strings
There was nothing nuanced about Joe Maphis, a star on Southern California'sTown Hall Partytelevision 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