Chet Atkins - Country Guitar Music Legend Part 2
Steve Sholes, RCA Victor's head of country music, was greatly impressed by Chet's guitar playing and put him to work immediately. Chet was featured on nearly every recording session from 1949! Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family Sisters hired him a year later as a regular on the Grand Ole Opry signalling that Chet had officially arrived in Nashville. During this time, Chet's guitar playing wound up on records by Hank Williams, The Louvin Brothers, The Carlisles, Kitty Wells and many others. When Sholes could not make the sessions because of other business obligations, Chet was allowed to produce the recordings himself.
By the mid-50s, Chet was producing 30 artists a year as well as recording his own guitar albums for RCA. His 1954 debut album, "Chet Atkins and His Galloping Guitar" produced his hit instrumental version of "Mister Sandman" and included his now classic "Country Gentleman". A signature model Gretsch guitar was developed bearing Chet's name and it eventually became a huge seller in the early 60's when George Harrison made it his guitar of choice with The Beatles. Chet played on Elvis Presley's historic RCA debut "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956 and provided the famous tremoloed electric guitar part on The Everly Brothers "All I Have To Do Is Dream". If a country song had been recorded in Nashville during the mid 50s to mid 60s, there's a good chance Chet Atkins played on it or produced it. It was during this time that Chet began to be known as "Mister Guitar".
Chet was promoted to Manager of Operations at RCA Victor in 1957 and immediately convinced the company to build it's own office and studio. The result, Studio B, became the first long standing record company office on the now famous "Music Row" in Nashville. It was there that Chet began to craft "The Nashville Sound". With his savvy approach to production making use of strings, layered background vocals, and pop style arrangements, Chet is often credited with saving popular country music which was in a decline at the time due to the popularity of rock and roll. An endless string of hits poured out of Studio B by such artists as Jim Reeves, Hank Locklin, Roger Miller, Hank Snow, and George Hamilton.
During the 70s Chet began to concentrate more on performing and embarked on several collaborative albums with Lenny Breau, Jerry Reed, Hank Snow, Les Paul, Doc Watson, and Merle Travis - resulting in critical acclaim and many awards. Chet released his first instructional video for guitar in 1987 "Get Started On Guitar" and followed in 1996 with an advanced guitar instructional video "The Guitar of Chet Atkins" which features an in-depth look at Chet's guitar techniques and a full step-by-step explanation of nine of his solos.
Chet Atkins died of cancer at the age of 77 on June 30th 2001 at his home in Nashville. The musical legacy he left behind is enormous. His friends and fans always described Chet as kind, humble, and genuine - a true "Country Gentleman". Guitarists the world over can be thankful for the amazing body of work he left behind for them to study. If anyone is worthy of the title "Mister Guitar" it is certainly Chet Atkins.
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Guitarist Chet Atkins holds a place in musical history reserved for a very select few! His contributions to country music are enormous as is his influence on guitar players worldwide.
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