''Neck and Neck'' is a collaborative album by American guitarist

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

and British singer-songwriter and guitarist

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

, released on October 9, 1990, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. "

Poor Boy Blues "Poor Boy Blues", or "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home", is a traditional blues song that has been cited as one of the oldest in the genre. As with most traditional blues songs, there is great variation in the melody and lyrical content as perform ...

" was released as a single. At the

33rd Annual Grammy Awards The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 20, 1991. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Quincy Jones was the night's biggest winner winning a total of six awards including Album of the Year. Performer ...

in 1991, the track "Poor Boy Blues" won Best Country Vocal Collaboration, while the track "So Soft Your Goodbye" won Best Country Instrumental Performance. Atkins originally recorded "Yakety Axe", a parody of Boots' Randolph's "Yakety Sax", on his 1965 album ''

More of That Guitar Country ''More of That Guitar Country'' is the twenty-seventh studio album by US country musician Chet Atkins. It is a follow-up to his ''Guitar Country'' release and was more successful. His rendition of "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph earned Atkins a hi ...

''. This new recording features lyrics and a new arrangement that were composed by

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of Ameri ...

. Atkins also previously recorded "I'll See You in My Dreams" on an album with Travis. The track "

There'll Be Some Changes Made "There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular music, popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins (vaudeville), Billy Higgins (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly ja ...

" was later included as track 10 of the 15-track 1996

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Sound System Demonstration Disc and accompanying cassette.

Critical reception

In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

gave the album four out of five stars, calling it "the most focused and arguably the most rewarding record Atkins has released." Erlewine singled out Knopfler's influence on the guitarist:

Track listing

Personnel

;Music *

– guitar, vocals *

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), known professionally as Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listened to dr ...

– drums *

Guy Fletcher Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English musician, best known for his position as one of the two keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subsequent work with Dire Straits fron ...

– drums, bass, keyboards *

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated ten times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...

– bass *

Steve Wariner Steven Noel Wariner (born December 25, 1954) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late ...

– bass *

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...

– fiddle, mandolin * Paul Franklin – steel guitar, pedabro, Dobro *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

– piano (track 2) *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

– backing vocals ;Production * Mark Knopfler – producer * Mike Poston – engineer * Guy Fletcher – engineer * Vanelle – assistance engineer * Ron Eve – assistance engineer *

Bill Schnee William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated ...

– mixing engineer *

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

– mastering at The Mastering Lab in Los Angeles * Alan Yoshida – mastering at The Mastering Lab in Los Angeles *

Deborah Feingold According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...

– photography

Charts

Albums

Singles

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

''Neck and Neck''
a
Mark Knopfler official website

"I'll See You in My Dreams"
{{Authority control 1990 collaborative albums Albums produced by Mark Knopfler Chet Atkins albums Columbia Records albums Mark Knopfler albums