''Sails'' is the fifty-fourth studio album by

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 ...

. It was released in 1987 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. ''Sails'' follows in the 1980s' vein of Chet Atkins' releases with a smooth jazz and new age atmosphere.

Reception

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 ...

music critic Richard S. Ginell wrote of the album; "this recording veers well across the line into new age wallowing of the most innocuous kind... this is not one of the better Atkins Columbia discs."

Track listing

# "Sails" (Hall) – 4:20 # "Why Worry" (

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 ...

) – 6:23 # "Sometime, Someplace" (

David Hungate David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American retired bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his ...

, Randy McCormick) – 4:59 # "Up in My Treehouse" (Walker) – 3:52 # "Waltz for the Lonely" (Chet Atkins,

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum wrote number one songs in each of the four decades after his first number one hit, 1978's " You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appeared on ...

) – 3:01 # "Laffin' at Life" (Atkins, Daryyl Dybka, David Hungate) – 5:30 # "On a Roll" (Atkins, Dybka, Paul Yandell) – 5:21 # "My Song" (

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

) – 5:08 # "Love Letters" (Dybka) – 3:09 # "Wobegon (The Way It Used to Be)" (Atkins) – 3:20

Personnel

*Chet Atkins - guitar, banjo *Darryl Dybka - keyboards *

- bass *

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy Award and received 13 nominations. Biography At the age of six, Klugh commenced training on the piano until he switched to the guitar ...

- guitar *

- guitar *Mike Lawler - keyboards *Clayton Ivey - keyboards *Randy McCormick - keyboards * Billy Joe Walker, Jr. - guitar *

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist known for her vivid portrayals of African American women's lives, relationships, and journeys of self-discovery. Her best-selling works, including ''Waiting to Exhale'' and ''How S ...

- harmonica, percussion *

Paul Yandell Paul Yandell (September 6, 1935 – November 21, 2011) was an American guitar player from Mayfield, Kentucky. Yandell played fingerstyle, a style he learned to play from his neighbors, influenced by Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. In 1955 he was hire ...

- guitar *Millard Green - guitar *

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, percussion *Mark Hammond - percussion, drum programming *Bob Mater - drums *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

- horns *Mike Haynes - horns *Baba Ram Dave - sitar *Aristotle Onassid -

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

*Dave Humphries - drum programming

Production notes

*Strings arranged by Bergen White *Horns arranged by Bergen White and Darryl Dybka *Mixed by Dave Palmer and John Mills *Engineered by John Mills and Tom Singers *Mastered by Denny Purcell *Design by Bill Johnson and Jeff Morris

References

{{Authority control 1987 albums Chet Atkins albums Albums produced by Chet Atkins Columbia Records albums