Harold Bradley - Guitar for Lovers Only (1966/2016) [HDTracks]

Want to meet her Dadley...okay, another real stretch at a pun...but if you did love her madly, this Harold Bradley album just might be an appropriate backdrop. I won't pull any punches here, this is music that many would simply tag as easy listening. I found this on eBay several years ago and had no idea what to expect other than the hope that there might be some masterful guitar playing to enjoy. Then, when I ripped it I was a bit disappointed at the unusually reserved playing and also had a lot of LP noise on my vinyl. So I never thought to post it and haven't listened to it again. That is until I just today broke down and got the 'ClickRepair' software that has been touted so highly of late. And now, well, it's certainly cleaned up a lot, and now I kind of like this collection of pretty tunes. Yes, it includes beautiful voices and strings lusciously arranged and conducted by Bill McElhiney, and yes, Harold's playing is decidedly deliberate and at times almost painfully slow. But, as the title suggests, this is supposed to be romantic, mood music of sorts, and as such, it has its moments and generally provides some very nice guitar sounds for the intended mood. I know very little about Harold Bradley except that he was apparently a very successful guitarist during the 50's and 60's and beyond. According to the liner notes he was particularly busy as an accompanist to many pop-country artists like Brenda Lee, Connie Francis, Red Foley, Burl Ives, Patti Page, Anita Bryant and Ann Margret. He seems to have country roots but clearly understands the jazz sensibilities as he pretty much displays throughout this album of jazz-pop standards. He makes the guitar sound beautiful and every so often adds a nice run of single notes to bridge his pleasant 'chordings'.