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Choose one and explain why.
1. Poor Boy Blues 1 (20%)
2. Sweet Dreams 1 (20%)
3. There'll Be Some Changes Made 0 (0%)
4. Just One Time 0 (0%)
5. So Soft, Your Goodbye 0 (0%)
6. Yakety Axe 0 (0%)
7. Tears 0 (0%)
8. Tahitian Skies 0 (0%)
9. I'll See You In My Dreams 1 (20%)
10. The Next Time I'm Town 2 (40%)
Total Votes: 5
Favourite Track From Neck & Neck; Please choose your favourite track.
Topic Started: Friday, 19. July 2013, 11:41 (267 Views)
qjamesfloyd
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Neck & Neck is for me a classic album, it ranks amongst both Chet and Mark's best work. And because it is so good, it is hard to choose one track, but that is your task.

Now it might look like me making an easy choice by choosing Mark's song as my favourite on the album, but I truly feel that with this song Mark has created a country standard to rate amongst many country classics. It has been recorded and played live by the likes of Johnny Cash, enough said. But also the track has a great melody, and apart from Mark great musicians like Chet Atkins, Vince Gill, and Paul Franklin on it.
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
Mark Knopfler.
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suprlinda
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Hi, QJF, I also really like the Neck and Neck album - one of the greatest. And you are right, it is really hard to select just one song, but I picked The Next Time I'm in Town as mine. I find it to be a fitting tribute to Chet from Mark - really from the heart - and I thought that the instant I heard it, before I ever heard or saw anything written up or said about it. You could tell Chet was really touched by it on the show that was called Chet Atkins and Friends, and I believe he also used it afterwards as his closer, just like Johnny Cash.

Everyone of the other songs has equal qualities, but they are different, too. Tough choice! Great music. :waytogo:
A pack of dog jackals and a rabble of ravens
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qjamesfloyd
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It is a very tough choice.
But if Mark's song was not on the album, my favourite track would be There'll Be Some Changes Made. I love the vocal interplay between Chet and Mark, you can hear the respect they have for each other, and it sounds like they had a lot of fun making that track, also the guitar playing is first rate :rockon:
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
Mark Knopfler.
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suprlinda
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I guess if I had to choose a second song on the album it would have to be So Soft, Your Goodbye. I know Chet had Randy Goodrum write this one special for the album, and I think he did a terrific job! The two guitars are so seamless! They were really pretty well matched in being able to weave a single line between the two instruments. One has to really be paying attention to each player's style of attack to be able to discern which was playing which set of notes.

Of course, this is true of the whole album, too. And it was a really hard choice to make for favorite and then number two song. :wallbang:
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qjamesfloyd
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Your right Linda, It is a hard choice, I was not aware Randy wrote that track for the album, where did you get that info from?
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
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suprlinda
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I haven't been able to find where I found that about Randy writing the song for the album. He is certainly listed on the credits for it. I must not have saved it at the time. I think I had done some research on the album and ran across it then. Unfortunately, some things seem to disappear from the web when you want to revisit them if it has been a while since you last looked! It may even have been in an interview by Chet about the album. :(
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qjamesfloyd
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I wonder how they came to the decision over what to play on this album? Guy has said that there were no other left over tracks, so, what's you get on the album is all they recorded, which tells me they must have decided what to put on the album when recording it, normally tracks are decided after they are all recorded, but with Neck & Neck it must have been different.
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
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3Pints
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qjamesfloyd,Jul 19 2013
04:41 AM
Neck & Neck is for me a classic album, it ranks amongst both Chet and Mark's best work. And because it is so good, it is hard to choose one track, but that is your task.

Not hard at all. For me personally, it's about the guitar playing here, and in my humble opinion the best guitar-playing is on "Yakety Axe" and "I'll See You In My Dreams".

I picked the latter because it's an old favourite of mine, and such a nice melody. (.....and also because it doesn't have any singing on it!) :cheekyb:
Cheers,
3Pints

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You’ve dropped your poisoned cup
The telephone is ringing, but you’re not picking up
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3Pints
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qjamesfloyd,Sep 6 2013
09:42 AM
I wonder how they came to the decision over what to play on this album? Guy has said that there were no other left over tracks, so, what's you get on the album is all they recorded, which tells me they must have decided what to put on the album when recording it, normally tracks are decided after they are all recorded, but with Neck & Neck it must have been different.

Chet was a consummate professional and a very experienced record producer and A&R man. In the 1950s and '60s when he was gaining all his experience, records were often carefully planned before anyone set foot in a studio. So I expect he had a good idea of what he wanted before they started recording.

And with Mark being the perfectionist that he is, I'd also guess that he wanted to rehearse the material beforehand, so it's very likely that they talked over the song selection, agreed on the basic arrangements, and pretty much knew in advance what they were going to do.

Anyway, that's my theory, for however many pints it's worth. :huh:
Cheers,
3Pints

"It’s a quiet life from here on in,
You’ve dropped your poisoned cup
The telephone is ringing, but you’re not picking up
"
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