Joe Maphis - Fire on the Strings (Columbia)

One among an elite fraternity of bleeding fingers plectrists, Joe Maphis set the guitar bar almost impossibly high in terms of speed and precision. While his approach on custom Mosrite double neck electric clocked velocities similar to the go-for-broke bluegrass sessions of elders Ralph Stanley and Uncle Dave Macon, his ears were also open to the genres of jazz, blues and rock and roll and his mind just as receptive to making a buck. This astutely titled program of instrumentals finds him in an ideal element with a crack studio band at his flanks and a selection of tunes arranged to feature his mercurial arpeggiations with no crooning or yodeling to compete for the spotlight. The other players settle into their supportive roles without guff and gladly accept the solo scraps Maphis tosses them; it’s clearly his show from the get-go. At times there are as many as six guitarists (including lap steel) picking away against a steady string bass thump and snare beat. The music is as fastidiously arranged as Maphis’ Opry duds pictured on the LP cover, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in the least for verve or variety. Maphis even hangs up his chief axe on a few for equally convincing turns on mandolin and banjo and slow waltz “Sweet Fern” shows off his sentimental side. Seven bonus tracks borrowed from two more LPs and a single join the original dozen for the reissue, expanding the album length to a healthy 50-odd minutes. Maphis is largely credited with bushwacking a stylistic path for the surf guitarists of the 60s and his liberal use of twangy reverb here bears out the claim. He also appears to have been the (unwitting?) model for those plastic hillbilly teeth so easily procurable this time of year.