Luttrell is a town in east Tennessee where my childhood hero, Chet Atkins, was born and raised. I took a trip out there, and I stood at the very spot where his house used to be, and I wrote this song. All my life, his love and encouragement has meant so much to me. He was a true friend, a great man, and one of the most important pioneers in the history of guitar playing.
I flew all the way from the US to Beijing, China. When I got to my hotel room, I got my guitar out to practice and it sounded magical to me. It wasn’t long before I started writing this song. I had taken time to watch some videos of Chinese musicians as a way of trying to get inspired and get some fresh ideas in my head. Once I had this song written, I had no title for it. I recorded it on my iPhone and sent it to my family. Rachel, my daughter, heard it and commented “it sounds like the wide ocean.” An amazing thing to say for a 4-year-old. I was so moved by her words that it became the title.
The joy I was feeling at
the time I was composing this song is all in the song. I was in Kenya visiting
the children that I sponsor through World Vision,
and the flood of emotions I was feeling came out in this song. I’ve played it a
lot in the last 20 years, but I never tire of performing it. It fills my soul
and always makes me smile.
When I got the shocking news that my closest brother (Phil “The Wiz” Emmanuel) had passed away, I went into support mode for the rest of my family. We all talked for hours until I had to sleep. When I woke up, I got a different view of my irreplaceable partner. I started to see that I watched him struggle a lot in the last 10 years of his life, not just with his health but in his musical life as well. Somehow, I felt a sense of relief that he didn’t have to struggle anymore. I felt compelled to write this song. I loosely based it on the theme to Crocodile Dundee, the movie in which the main character could have easily been modeled after my brother. On Phil’s gravestone are the words “sail on beautiful soul.” Wiz rest easy and no smoking in heaven.
Sail On is played on a TE Personal Custom Maton
The Best of Tommysongs will be available on May 8th!! Stream on Spotify, Apple Music. You can also purchase a physical copy on my website, by clicking here!!
This video is part of the program for KPBS called “Tommy Emmanuel & Friends – Live from the Balboa Theatre.” It was filmed live at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego, CA in 2011. The is also our album/DVD of the month!!
CD – $6.00
DVD = $6.00 **The DVD has bonus tracks that are not on the CD
