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About
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, actor, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I Am a Pilgrim", and "Dark as a Dungeon". He is best known today, though, for his unique guitar style, still called Travis picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb, while melodies are plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Top Tracks
- 1
Sixteen Tons
Sixteen Tons, The Kentucky Legend
- 2
I Am A Pilgrim
Folk Songs Of The Hills
- 3
Is Anything Better Than This
The Essential Chet Atkins
- 4
Kentucky Means Paradise
The Merle Travis Story
- 5
Steel Guitar Rag
The Legend of Merle Travis
- 6
If I Had You
The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show
- 7
What Will I Do
25 Years Of Country & Western Hits
- 8
Little Maggie
Bluegrass & Banjo
- 9
I'll See You In My Dreams
The Best Of Merle Travis: Sweet Temptation 1946-1953
- 10
Dark As A Dungeon
The Merle Travis Story
