Merle Travis Guitar Cannon Ball Rag LIVE

[guibox3]

Just goes to show you don't need all your bloody fingers to do fingerstyle. This was how I first learned and people couldn't believe I only used two fingers and make it sound like more. Since those early days I've only incorporated my index and middle fingers with my thumb. It's served me well all these years.

[jumba5]

Merle Travis INVENTED fingerpicking? okay guy... Black musicians like Rev. Gary Davis and Blind Blake were playing this kind of syncopated fingerstyle before Merle Travis picked up a guitar and they were playing tunes that were far more complex that those by Travis. Don't get me wrong, Merle Travis is great and I do love that "Cannonball Rag" but I believe in giving credit where credit is due and I don't think Blind Blake, Gary Davis, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc get enough of it.

[Nekroguitar]

The 70's and country combined created what has to be the world's worst style of fashion etc known to man!

[Batman001]

no notice on that the first tune is 9 pound hammer?

[guitaneman]

django reinhardt invented finger picking and he didnt even use his fingers he used a pick i guess merle travis was influenced by django anybody don't know what i am talking about check mystery pacific by django Reinhardt

[asxefv]

this guy is awesome

[anotherbowman]

Merle came to my Air Force base back in the 60s and played at the NCO club. I missed the first set and during a break between sets I asked him if he would play and sing THAT'S ALL. He said he played it in the first set but would play it again for me...and he did. Great picker....he also wrote a little message for my dad who is one of his greatest fan. I'll never forget it!

[countryclassic]

Damn...he was so great!!!

[korisniktitube]

Postovanje!

[Analist]

i prefer Tommy Emmanuel's versions

[tickyreal]

WOW

[ausgang]

What's the name of the first song?

[punishr36]

@ausgang 9 pound hammer

[callasexperience]

whose mose rager?

[Jordini131]

my dad learned guitar from merel travis the first song that he taught my dad was cannonball rag

[MrElliotRocker]

i want that gibson!!

[AndyLeece]

his voice is so similar to jonny cash, or vice versa.

[BlShkspr]

@AndyLeece

Merle was out there recording 20 years before Johnny Cash.

[Zagoram]

He is great and I never heard of him

[hammerogod]

That Guitar is a work of art.

[no1Efan]

yeah it's amazing. i'd bet Les Paul had a little something to do with thak custom giutfiddle. it's old too. did you see the other vid of him playing the 1min 8 sec version of cannonball rag? he's much younger and the guiter looks brand new.

[no1Efan]

well not too much younger but the guiter looks much younger

[williamanesbitt]

That's his custom Super 400, right? Wonder who's got that guitar now (and how much it's worth)?

[comments4fun]

Not sure if it was bought by the museum or just donated as part of a private collection, but it's at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville now. Not sure how much it's worth, but I want it!

[keepraining]

Willing to bet its his son Thom Bresch, he most likely inherited his gorgeous collection

[eatsandsleeps]

In my heart of hearts I'm a metalhead but Merle Travis is an A Number One Bad Ass.

[rossfletcher22]

Merles the man! any fans out there might like to check out the recent book "the story of paul bigsby father of the modern solidbody guitar" photo's of merle and stories...great stuff!

[sharkabilly]

Blind Blake was a big influence on Merle and Rev Gary Davis (who also played with two fingers).

[KarloR27]

Blind Blake is my hero. And my all time favorite fingerpicking guitar player.

[MarijnvdZaag]

Props for Merle for inventing the stuff (lol I can hardly imagine the style just not existing before him yet), but fingerstyle evolved a huge lot further from this to what Chet Atkins did and from that to what Tommy Emmanuel does.

He started, but Tommy got soooo much further compared to these two fingers.

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@APerchedDove:

What about the father of the Everly Brothers, Ike Everly? Wasn't he involved in this creation of this style? It is also worth knowing that Blind Blake and people like that were playing "ragtime" guitar way back in the 1930s. probably impossible to credit any one prson with inventing the syncopated style all of these greats played. Just appreaciate the music!

[GeorgiaBoy1961]

@APerchedDove: Get down off your high horse, sonny. I have two masters degrees, and don't a lecture from some snot-nose kid about reading comprehension. That clear enough for you?? Merle Travis was a brilliant musician, and happens to be one of my all-time favorites. You are being defensive and a pain in the rear, so pipe down.

[2t123]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 I agree. some of this style came from a black guy named kennedy jones, mose,and ike ,picked up many licks from him...its said writer of guitar rag i dont know that but ive heard merle mention it..

[2t123]

@GeorgiaBoy1961 I agree,mose and ike got a lot of licks from a black guy named kennedy jones,said to be the writer of guitar rag.

[GherkinGob]

@APerchedDove ok mate.

[insaneguitarfreak]

WTF the BASS?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?

[GibsonMarco]

What a huge Gibson!

[laiosto]

Like Django, Merle shows that you only need 2 fingers to play as fast and clean as you want

[williebrown01]

Except Django was fretting with two fingers

[bandit7498]

@laiosto the difference was DJ had that handicap with his fret hand.

[AgentZeroForTheWin]

@laiosto djangohad 2 on the left,merle only used 2 on the right

[moproducer]

@AgentZeroForTheWin Hey, if you got Django & His Two Fingers together with Merle & His Two Fingers, you'd have Django, Merle And Their Four Fabulous Fingers.

[ffairlane57]

geez, the poor guy looks sickly. At least he was able to perform before we lost him.

[DannyDesperate]

He's got invisible fingers somewhere I'm sure! 'Mazin' stuff.

[zorbazig]

Go and see the video "Marcel Dadi teaches Fuller Blues" on Youtube - he explains some of Merle's tricks !

[DannyDesperate]

Nice shout! M. Dadi is indeed sadly missed, and I agree he was just about the most relaxed and informative tutor ever. The guy really understood finger pickin'.

Now folks, DO as the man says, get along there & pay a visit!!

[dakotaoh]

ya well he is my great grandpa haha

[NickRatnieks]

Chet Atkins said that Merle was the most talented man he had ever known. He also said that Ronnie Prophet was "The greatest one-man show I've seen". The picking's wonderful on this, but the real "Show stopper" has to be that suit! Jerry Reed said that he looked forward to being able to play rhythm for Merle when his time was over. Sadly, that reunion is taking place somewhere in another dimension. I am sure Chet will participate too!

[cygrew]

マールスはいつ見ても素晴らしい。

[tagangato]

he is using thumb and point finger only but it's fantastic.

[YT28666]

It is great but that is "Nine Pound Hammer", not "Cannonball Rag".

[delpuckett]

you gotta wait until 2:10 for Cannonball Rag

[budzarelli]

It is a medley of both songs, he just plays nine pound hammer first.

[texmorton]

Merle is one of my main influences, ever !

[timechannel]

And I bet a certain J Cash listened to this Guy

[allshookup77]

He sure was a great guitar picker... that was some great classic tv footage, thanks for sharing it Lloyd...FrAnK (5*)

[oldcountrytunes]

Thanks for this video. This is guitar pickin' with a capital P.

[ghostgal30e]

Thanks for sharing It don't get no better.5***** G.G.

[emifolk]

enjoyed it a lot fantastic

thanx for posting this

[HoldorFold]

Posted a video of Cannonball rag by Merle

5 stars for ya.

[radcam69]

Legendary.

[Ragpicker81]

he sings with a WC pipe!

[naalar]

Merle was one of my first guitar gods. Note,

he gets all that sound with a thumb and one finger ! His "Blue Bells" was one of the best fingerstyle tunes ever recorded.

[Pickinbuddy]

Merle is THE "Grand Master"....one of the most ORIGINAL musicians ever.

The absolute "trunk of the tree" where fingerstyle guitar is concerned--and ALL the rest of us are but branches...

[rottenhubert]

If I had one best performance as good as Merle's worst, I'd be a happy man.

Plus, I absolutely must have a suit like that.

[crescentridge]

Any musical master gets a little shaky when they're nearing the end of their line. He opened up a whole world for us. RIP.

[morotoslim]

muito INCRIVEL,

ELE É GENIO!

[RaggedTime]

I love Merle, but that's not the best performance I've seen. I agree he's not 100% here, looks like his mind is somewhere else.

[ffairlane57]

agreed.

[dkfelix]

I heard his shoes were killing him on the show.

[merletravis]

thanx very much :)

[newriko2]

Genius!

[grets6120]

you can tell that hes not 100% because of all those dead notes and mess ups but it is still very good. If you have the whole performance please upload the rest

[billga2007]

He's alwys 100 % . The band can't keep time.

Thanks for posting this . I love that Nudie suit !

[ghostgal30e]

GREAT.5*****