Hello and welcome to this weeks legends number 22? yeah 22 . Now many of you may not even know who the man I have chosen is which Is ok but after this you better buy some records of his because he is amazing . the man I am talking about is Tommy Emmanuel the Australian born guitarist who has sold 600,000 cd's in his home country but enough of that on with the thread




Biography


Tommy Emmanuel is pretty much a household name in his native country Australia and is perhaps th most successful instrumental artist in Australia to date .

Born in Australia Tommy first picked up the guitar at the age of four after his mother gave hima guitar and his first lesson . Then at the age of six he began touring the Australian outback with his family ( Two Brothers and One Sister ) they were billed as " The Midget Sufaries " . So even from such a young age he was involved in music . It was at the ripe age of 7 that Tommy's life was changed and the way he played guitar was determined just from hearing Chet Atkins for Tommy this was the turning point in his playing life as this helped him discover the style that he wanted to develop .

Since that day Tommy has worked with many artists and played in many different styles from country to classical from Jazz to rock he has done it all . He was worked with such names as Chet Atkins , Micheal Bolton , Eric Clapton , John Denver , Olivia Newton-John , Tina Turner , Stevie Wonder and many more . But none of these experiences compared to the bliss that accompinied the recording of " The Day FingerPickers Took Over The Wolrd " Where he worked with his guitar idol and legends Chet Atkins .

Tommy's career has not limited him to just Australia he has been beckoned all over the globe to his fan's and surprising fans . What i mean by surprising fans is teh tiem he played for the King Of Thailand and teh Prime Minister of Australia . Tommy's playign seems to reach everyone at every side of the world . In 2000 Tommy was included in the closing cermonies of the Summer Olympics Games . He has also been awarded the Australian Entertainer of the year in 1995 and 1997 .

Although Tommy is a native Australian he actually lives in the U.K and continues to tour the world . In 1999 he receieved the guitar wolrlds highest honour when Chet Atkins in Nashville presented him the C.G.P ( Certified Guitar Player ) award . The summer of 2003 found Tommy Touring the US with guitar Buddies and fellow Favoured Nation recordign artists , Pete Huttliner and Peppino D'Agostino . Tommy and his buddies performed in 12 different cities before crowds of all ages . One thing I will say is that if you miss this man you will be very sorry you did .


I don't usually add in awards but i came across this while researching and thoguth i might as well add it in .

Awards

*Juke Magazine: Australia's Best Guitarist - 1986,1987 & 1988
*Bi-Centennial Music Wk. Studio Musician of the Year - 1988
*Rolling Stone Magazine: Most Popular Guitarist - 1989 & 1990 , Best Guitarist - 1991,1992,1993 & 1994
*A.R.I.A Australian Adult Contemporary Record of the Year: 1991 - Determination 1993 - The Journey
*Australia's Biggest Selling Guitar Instructional Video -Guitar Talk
*MO Awards - Australian Performer of the Year - 1995 & 1997
*A.R.I.A Awards nomination for Best Australian Adult Contemporary Release Classical Gas- 1996 Can't Get Enough - 1997
*Gold Record for "Classical Gas" sales of 35,000 copies - Oct 1996
*The 1998 Nashville Music Award Winner - Instrumental Album category "The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World" with Chet Atkins
*Grammy Awards nomination with Chet Atkins for "Smokey Mountain Lullaby" from The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World - 1998
*RAWARDS "Lifetime Friend Of Commercial Radio" award - 1998
*C.G.P Award - Certified Guitar Player. "In recognition of his contributions to the art of Fingerpicking" - 1999 (Jerry Reed, Arthur Knowles and Chet Atkins are the only other people to get this prestigious award).








Discography

Albums

From Out Of Nowhere :1979
Up From Down Under :1987
Dare To Be Different :1990
Determination :1992
The Journey :1993
The Journey Continues :1993
Terra Firma :1995
Initiation :1995
Classical Gas :1995
Can't Get Enough :1996
The Day Finger Pickers Took Over The World:1997 < With Chet Atkins
Collaboration :1998
Only :2000
The Very Best Of :2001

Contribution To Album

Going Home :1993
The Spirit of Christmas 1994 :1994
Good Vibrations :1998

Session musician


Ian MacLeod -Hello Mary Lou 1977
Patti Williams S.A.L.F.T.M. 1977
Maureen Elkner Love Tracks 1978
The Trade Winds W.R.I. 1978
Judy Stone What Are You Doing Tonight 1978
Thomas and Bailey Missing Persons 1979
Air Supply Life Support 1979
Mike McClellan Laughing In The Dark 1980
Air Supply Lost In Love 1980
Daryl Cotton Best Seat In The House 1980
John Farnham Uncovered 1980
Edith Bliss Sheer Bliss 1980
Swanee Into The Night 1980
Geoffrey Laing I.T.T.B.D. 1980
Jean Stafford T.W.I.F.I. 1981
Philippe Gabbay 1981
Rod Williams M.E. 198?
Pattie Kieth Y.N.L. 1981
Sam McNally First Chance 1981
Sharon O'Neill Maybe 1981
Peter Cupples Fear Of Thunder 1981
Swanee This Time Is Different 1982
Goldrush Live At Last 1983
Billy Washington's Drifters Primitive Love 1983
Doug Parkinson Heartbeat To Heartbeat 1983
S. Williams B.L.F. 1984
Swanee Bushido 1985
Australia Too The Garden 1985
Electric Pandas Point Blank 1985
Soundtrack Queen Of The Road 1985
Sharon O'Neill Danced In The Fire 1987
Suzanne Clacher 1988
Australian Olympians You're Not Alone 1988
John Schumann Looby Loo 1989
Dragon Bondi Road 1989
James Blundell James Blundell 1989
Tania Bowra Heaven And Earth 1989
Margaret Urlich Safety In Numbers 1989
Various ABC Children's Series 0,1 1989
Mike McClellan Heartland 1989
Norma Murphy C.N. 1990
Jade Hurley No Stopping 1990
John Farnham Chain Reaction 1990
Sharon O'Neill Edge Of Winter 1990
Daryl Braithwaite Rise 1990
Debbie Byrne Caught In The Act 1991
Say Yes Raining In My Heart 1991
Phil Emmanuel Kakadu Sunrise 1992
Nathan Cavaleri Jammin' With The Cats 1993
Jimmy Barnes Flesh And Wood 1993
Cliff Richard Songs From Heathcliff 1995
Rick Price Tamborine Mountain 1995
Dragon Incarnations 1995
Bushwackers Jubilee 1996
Slim Dusty 91 over 50 1996
Mal Eastio The Southern Line 1996
Troy Cassar Daley Beyond The Dancing 1996
Alex Pertout From The Heart 2002

Bands/Preojects

Emmanuel Quartet 1960-1963 Chris Emmanuel, Phil Emmanuel, Virginia Emmanuel
The Midget Surfaries 1963 Chris Emmanuel, Phil Emmanuel, Virginia Emmanuel
The Trailblazers 1967-1970 Phil Emmanuel
Buddy Williams Band 1969-1972
Southern Star Band 1977-1980 Doug Parkinson, Frank Esler-Smith, Jim Gannon, Mark Kennedy, Keith Kirwan, Duncan McQuire
Goldrush 1980 Phil Emmanuel, Doug Bligh, Mark Collins, Guy Dickerson, Chris Haigh, David Mare, Tony Slavich, John Spence, Bruce Worrell
John Farnham Band 1981
Emmanuel Brothers Wiz Band 1982 Phil Emmanuel, Chris Haigh, Steve Hope, Shauna Jensen, Graham Nepia
The Bushwackers 1982-1984 Hugh McDonald
Sharon O'Neill Band 1984-1985
Dragon 1986-1987
John Denver tour 1988
Tommy Emmanuel Band 1988-1992 Mitch Farmer, Darren Farrugia, Shauna Jensen, Jim Kelly, Rob Little, Sam McNally, Roger Mason, Kevin Murphy, Robyn Payne, Rick Price, James Roach, Victor Rounds
Eastick-Emmanuel Band 1989
Joan Armatrading tour 1989
Albert Lee tour 1990
Eric Clapton tour 1990
Catfish 1991
Emmanuel Brothers Band 1992 Phil Emmanuel, Mitch Farmer, Mike Gubb, Ian Lees
Michael Bolton tour 1994
Rick Price tour 1996
Joe Cocker tour 1996
All You Need Is Beatles (show) 199? Sir George Martin, Human Nature, James Reyne, Glenn Shorrock

To say that Tommy has kept himself busy over the years would be an understatement this just proves how talented he is to have the chace to work with the names he has worked with etc This guy is absoloutely astounding his guitar work is phenominal I know he may not be the best Fingerstyle player but the guy can play Check Him Out


Anyway there you have it you now you know who Tommy Emmanuel is the acoustic Virtuoso a living legend .

Until Next Week .

Z

Nicely done.

Nice job

i hate that style of electric guitar.. reminds me of an asian two level bus

I'd like to hear him. I fingerpick sometimes. Maybe I can learn something from this dude.

He's Amazing I reccomend the double cover song Day Tripper/Lady Madonna to start with then get some stuyff with him and Chet Atkins Mr Guitar is one to start you off . The you can get some other stuff like Ive Always thougth of you etc Have Fun .

Z

The man is unbelievable... he is truely a genius.

Wizzy tells me this guy is amazing. and his brother Phil, is a pretty amazing guitarist as well. onya mate! (wizzy been teaching me da lingo )

i`m goona d/l some of this now.

The man is truly great a truly genius player. Quite big in Oz apparently.

tommy plays predominantly acoustic though...

yeah he's amazing fellas. ive got a book with heaps of stuff on him and some tabs and whatnot.

when welfare tried to make him go to school he ran away and practiced 16 hours a day. He's an incredibly well rounded performer: funny, at ease, just a kickass player. big inspiration to me.

Yeah he's a legend. He released a new album last year called endless road. There's some powertabs of some of these on the net. I personally think its his best album yet!!
His stuff is so fun to (try) to play

Tommy does in fact play mostly acoustic these days and his success outside of Australia (my home by the way) rests mainly on his fantastic acoustic fingersyle performances. A lot of the electric stuff on his older (very successful in Oz)albums does sound a little dated these days, I think due more to the production - though his albums always had their fair share of great acoustic guitar insrumentals. His playing is brilliant whether electric or acoustic. Seeing him live is something you'll never forget - sheer joy. Tommy is playing at Les Paul's 90th birthday Tribute coming up soon. I'm praying that this concert is filmed and released on DVD. Oh yeah - one or two other guitar legends are playing too, including the Birthday boy himself.

You should listen to his version of Over The Rainbow