How Can I Roll When the Wheels Won’t Go?

Man, if there’s any pricey box set worth throwing down for it’s Guitar Rags And a Too Fast Past (Bear Family), the stellar Merle Travis comp. Today’s the virtuoso picker’s birthday, born in Rosewood, Kentucky in 1917. Sizzling strings? Hell to the yeah. But he also has a string of ditties that stretch from “Shut Up and Drink Your Beer” to “I Like My Chicken Frying Size.” Henry Threadgill fans should know that MT’s spin on “Too Much Sugar For A Dime” can juice any mixed tape. A couple more clips live after the jump.