This Song of the Week is an instrumental version of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” played by Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. I’m not going to say much about them. I assume that anyone who is drawn to this post already knows who they are. For those who don’t, I’m afraid that I would need a whole lot more space than this to even try to do these men justice.
Let me briefly explain how I came to choose the song, though. After mentioning guitarists like Mark Knopfler and Chitarrista Misterioso in last week’s post, I spent some time listening to some of Knopfler’s recordings and I came across a video of him playing “I’ll See You in My Dreams” with Chet Atkins. That reminded me of a version I had heard a long time ago played by Atkins and Merle Travis.
That made me think that it would be nice to write about one of the songs written by Merle, like “Dark as a Dungeon” or “Sixteen Tons.” However, I listened again to Merle and Chet playing “I’ll See You in My Dreams” and decided it sounds so downright pleasant that I should post it here.
For those of you who are into musical history, you know that Merle Travis and Chet Atkins have influenced the way the guitar is played and understood in country music, and ultimately rock music, more than anyone else you can name. This duet is a good example of why that is.
As for the song, the tune of “I’ll See You in My Dreams” was written by a band leader named Isham Jones in 1924. It was on the charts for four months back then, and was the Number One song in the country for seven weeks. In the years since, it has been recorded by the likes of Al Jolson, Doris Day, Jerry Lee Lewis, Andy Williams, Bob Wills and many others; and has been featured in several motion pictures. The version below is probably one of the best.