The Battle/Cripple Creek/Theme From Dixie/John Henry/Drivin’ Home/Prisoner’s Song/Up & Down/Bobbie/ Pepe/Lost Friend/Trambone/Gidget Goes Hawaiian
$1,000,000.00 Worth Of Twang Vol. 2 was the second collection of instrumental tracks from the king of the twangy guitar, Duane Eddy. His long run of instrumental hits would soon dry up. (UK:18)
“Duane Eddy gets pegged as a one-trick pony because of the 'twangy guitar' label but that's a misperception, as this album demonstrates. On Side A, he mostly drops the electric guitar in favour of acoustic (on which he displays a surprisingly delicate touch) and banjo, and focuses on traditional or traditional sounding songs; the result is a side with a distinct country-folk-bluegrass feel. Side B mostly features the trademark twang; the only exception is the Chet Atkins standard Trambone, which is a finger picking tune (and very well done here).”
"The Battle is a rocked-up version of Battle Hymn Of The Republic. Unfortunately, the song doesn't lend itself too well to this treatment, and it comes off as rather hokey and forced. A nice rendition of Cripple Creek comes next, followed by a nod to the other side in the recent unpleasantness in the form of Theme From Dixie, a swinging version that works very well. Then comes a very pretty John Henry, marred only by a clanging noise, meant to represent Henry's hammer that persists throughout the song and quickly becomes irritating. This is followed by Drivin' Home, which is the only contemporary sounding song on this side and is rather forgettable. The side ends with another nicely done traditional sounding tune, Prisoner's Song. The best of the mainly twangy songs on side two are Up & Down, Bobbie and particularly the jaunty Pepe. Gidget Goes Hawaiian sound corny, and Lost Friend is dirge-like.”
“Duane only needed a good melody and a few sidemen and his own talent and two minutes or so to make rock instrumentals that I've never grown tired of, despite hearing them hundreds of times.”
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