Chet Atkins
Encyclopedia
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley
, created the smoother country music
style known as the Nashville sound
, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.
Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis
, Django Reinhardt
, George Barnes
and Les Paul
, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for Perry Como
, Elvis Presley
, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold
, Don Gibson
, Jim Reeves
, Jerry Reed
, Skeeter Davis
, Connie Smith
, Waylon Jennings
and others.
Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Award
s as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
, nine Country Music Association
Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
.
, near Clinch Mountain
, and grew up with his mother, two brothers and a sister—he was the youngest. His parents divorced when he was six. He started out on the ukulele
, later moving on to the fiddle, but traded his brother Lowell an old pistol and some chores for a guitar when he was nine. He stated in his 1974 autobiography, "We were so poor and everybody around us was so poor that it was the forties before anyone even knew there had been a depression." Forced to relocate to Fortson, Georgia
, to live with his father because of a near-fatal asthma
condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who made music his obsession. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair in order to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he would play his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life. While living in Fortson, he attended historic Mountain Hill School. He would return in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition.
Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit, and if that person played a guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so very close to the instrument that it became difficult for that person to play.
Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school. He would use the restroom in the school to practice, because it gave better acoustics. His first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used. He later purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet since his home had no electricity.
Later in life he lightheartedly gave himself (along with John Knowles
, Tommy Emmanuel
, Steve Wariner
and Jerry Reed
) the honorary degree CGP, standing for "Certified Guitar Player". In 2011 Daughter Merle Atkins Russell bestowed the CGP degree upon long time sideman Paul Yandell. She then declared no more CGP's would be allowed by the Atkins Estate.
His half-brother Jim was a successful guitarist who worked with the Les Paul Trio in New York.
Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when (while still living in Georgia) he heard Merle Travis
picking over WLW
radio. This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style. Whereas Travis's right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.
Chet Atkins was a Ham Radio General class licensee. Formerly using the call-sign, WA4CZD, he obtained the vanity call sign W4CGP in 1998 to reflect the C.G.P. name. He was an ARRL
member.
radio in Knoxville
. There he played fiddle and guitar with singer Bill Carlisle
and comic Archie Campbell
as well as becoming a member of the station's Dixieland Swingsters, a small swing instrumental combo. After three years, he moved to WLW-AM
in Cincinnati, Ohio
, where Merle Travis had formerly worked.
After six months he moved to Raleigh and worked with Johnnie and Jack before heading for Richmond, Virginia
, where he performed with Sunshine Sue Workman. Atkins's shy personality worked against him, as did the fact that his sophisticated style led many to doubt he was truly "country." He was fired often but was soon able to land another job at another radio station due to his unique playing ability. Atkins and Jethro Burns of Homer and Jethro
married twin sisters, Leona and Lois Johnson who sang as Laverne and Fern Johnson: the Johnson Sisters. Leona Atkins outlived Atkins by eight years, dying in 2009 at the age of 85.
Traveling to Chicago, Atkins auditioned for Red Foley
, who was leaving his star position on WLS-AM
's National Barn Dance
to join the Grand Ole Opry
. Atkins made his first appearance at the Opry in 1946 as a member of Foley's band. He also recorded a single for Nashville-based Bullet Records that year. That single, "Guitar Blues", was fairly progressive, including as it did, a clarinet solo by Nashville dance band musician Dutch McMillan with Owen Bradley
on piano. He had a solo spot on the Opry; but when that was cut, Atkins moved on to KWTO-AM
in Springfield, Missouri
. Despite the support of executive Si Siman, however, he soon was fired for not sounding "country enough."
, Atkins came to the attention of RCA Victor. Siman had been encouraging Steve Sholes
to sign Atkins, as his style (with the success of Merle Travis
as a hit recording artist) was suddenly in vogue. Sholes, A&R director of country music at RCA, tracked Atkins down to Denver.
He made his first RCA recordings in Chicago in 1947. They did not sell. He did some studio work for RCA that year but had relocated to Knoxville again where he worked with Homer and Jethro
on WNOX's new Saturday night radio show The Tennessee Barn Dance and the popular Midday Merry Go Round.
In 1949 he left WNOX to join Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters back on KWTO. This incarnation of the old Carter Family
featured Maybelle Carter and daughters June, Helen and Anita. Their work soon attracted attention from the Grand Ole Opry. The group relocated to Nashville
in mid-1950. Atkins began working on recording sessions, performing on WSM-AM
and the Opry.
While he hadn't yet had a hit record on RCA his stature was growing. He began assisting Sholes as a Session Leader when the New York–based producer needed help organizing Nashville sessions for RCA artists. Atkins's first hit single was "Mr. Sandman
", followed by "Silver Bell", which he did as a duet with Hank Snow
. His albums also became more popular, and he was featured on ABC-TV's The Eddy Arnold Show
during the summer of 1956; as well as on Country Music Jubilee
in 1957 and 58 (by then renamed Jubilee USA).
In addition to recording, Atkins became a design consultant for Gretsch
, who manufactured a popular Chet Atkins line of electric guitars from 1955–1980. Atkins also became manager of RCA's Nashville studio, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary RCA Studio B
, the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous Music Row
.
—he put Atkins in charge of RCA's Nashville division. With country music record sales declining as rock and roll took over, Atkins and Bob Ferguson
took their cue from Owen Bradley
and eliminated fiddles and steel guitar as a means of making country singers appeal to pop fans. This became known as the Nashville sound
which Atkins said was a label created by the media attached to a style of recording done during that period to keep country (and their jobs) viable.
Atkins used the Jordanaires and a rhythm section on hits like Jim Reeves
' "Four Walls
" and "He'll Have to Go
" and Don Gibson
's "Oh Lonesome Me" and "Blue Blue Day". The once rare phenomenon of having a country hit cross over
to pop success became more common. He and Bradley had essentially put the producer in the driver's seat, guiding an artist's choice of material and the musical background.
Atkins made his own records, which usually visited pop standards and jazz
, in a sophisticated home studio, often recording the rhythm tracks at RCA but adding his solo parts at home, refining the tracks until the results satisfied him. Guitarists of all styles came to admire various Atkins albums for their unique musical ideas and in some cases experimental electronic ideas. In this period he became known internationally as "Mister Guitar", inspiring an album named Mister Guitar
, engineered by both Bob Ferris and Bill Porter, his replacement.
At the end of March 1959, Porter took over as chief engineer at RCA's Nashville studio, in the space now known as "Studio B". (At the time there was only one studio at RCA, with no letter designation.) Porter soon helped Atkins get a better reverberation sound from the studio's German effects device, an EMT
plate reverb. With his golden ear
, Porter found the studio's acoustics to be problematic, and he devised a set of acoustic baffles to hang from the ceiling, then selected positions for microphones based on resonant room modes. The sound of the recordings improved significantly, and the studio achieved a string of successes. The Nashville sound became more dynamic
. In later years, when Bradley asked how he achieved his sound, Atkins told him "it was Porter." Porter described Atkins as respectful of musicians when recording—if someone was out of tune he would not single that person out by name. Instead, he would say something like, "we got a little tuning problem ... Everybody check and see what's going on." If that didn't work, Atkins would instruct Porter to turn the offending player down in the mix. When Porter left RCA in late 1964, Atkins said, "the sound was never the same, never as great."
Atkins's trademark "Atkins Style" of playing uses the thumb and first two—sometimes three—fingers of the right hand. He developed this style from listening to Merle Travis occasionally on a primitive radio. He was sure no one could play that articulately with just the thumb and index finger (which was exactly how Travis played) and he assumed it required the thumb and two fingers—and that was the style he pioneered and mastered.
He enjoyed jamming with fellow studio musicians which led to them being asked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival
in 1960. Although that performance was canceled due to rioting, a live recording of the group (After the Riot at Newport) was released. Atkins performed by invitation at the White House
for presidents Kennedy through George H. W. Bush. Atkins was a member of the Million Dollar Band
during the 1980s. He is also well known for his song "Yankee Doodle Dixie", in which he played "Yankee Doodle
" and "Dixie
" simultaneously, on the same guitar.
Before his mentor Sholes died in 1968, Atkins had become vice president of RCA's country division. In 1987 he told Nine-O-One Network Magazine
that he was "ashamed" of his promotion: "I wanted to be known as a guitarist and I know, too, that they give you titles like that in lieu of money. So beware when they want to make you vice president." He had brought Waylon Jennings
, Willie Nelson
, Connie Smith
, Bobby Bare
, Dolly Parton
, Jerry Reed
and John Hartford
to the label in the 1960s and inspired and helped countless others. He took a considerable risk during the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement
sparked violence throughout the South by signing country music's first African-American singer Charley Pride
, who sang rawer country than the smoother music Atkins had pioneered.
Atkins's own biggest hit single came in 1965, with "Yakety Axe", an adaptation of his friend saxophonist Boots Randolph
's "Yakety Sax
". He rarely performed in those days, and eventually had to hire other RCA producers like Bob Ferguson
and Felton Jarvis
to alleviate his workload.
's pop hit "And I Love You So
". He recorded extensively with close friend and fellow picker Jerry Reed
, who'd become a hit artist in his own right. A 1973 diagnosis of colon cancer
, however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed
or even Homer & Jethro's Jethro Burns (Atkins's brother-in-law) after Homer died in 1971.
By the end of the 1970s, Atkins's time had passed as a producer. New executives at RCA had different ideas. He first retired from his position in the company, and then began to feel stifled as an artist because RCA would not let him branch out into jazz
. His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, Les Paul
, Chester & Lester and Guitar Monsters, had already reflected that interest; Chester & Lester was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career. At the same time he grew dissatisfied with the direction Gretsch (no longer family-owned) was going and withdrew his authorization for them to use his name and began designing guitars with Gibson
. He left RCA in 1982 and signed with Columbia Records
, for whom he produced a debut album in 1983.
Jazz had always been a strong love of his, and often in his career he was criticized by "pure" country musicians for his jazz influences. He also said on many occasions that he did not like being called a "country guitarist", insisting that he was a guitarist, period. Although he played 'by ear' and was a masterful improviser he was able to read music and even performed some classical guitar pieces. When Roger C. Field
, a friend, suggested to him in 1991 that he record and perform with a female singer he did so with Suzy Bogguss
.
He returned to his country roots for albums he recorded with Mark Knopfler
and Jerry Reed
. Knopfler had long mentioned Atkins as one of his earliest influences. Atkins also collaborated with Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel
. On being asked to name the ten most influential guitarists of the 20th century, he named Django Reinhardt
to the first position, and also placed himself on the list.
In later years he even went back to radio, appearing on Garrison Keillor
's Prairie Home Companion radio program, on American Public Media
radio, even picking up a fiddle from time to time.
Atkins is notable for his broad influence. His love for numerous styles of music can be traced from his early recording of stride-pianist James P. Johnson
's "Johnson Rag," all the way to the rock stylings of Eric Johnson
, an invited guest on Atkins's recording sessions who, when Chet attempted to copy his influential rocker "Cliffs of Dover
", led to Atkins's creation of a unique arrangement of "Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)."
Chet's recordings of "Malaguena" inspired a new generation of Flamenco
guitarists; the classical guitar selections included on almost all his albums were, for many American artists working in the field today, the first classical guitar they ever heard. He recorded smooth jazz
guitar still played on American airwaves today.
While he did more performing in the 1990s his health grew frail as he was diagnosed with cancer again in 1996. He died on June 30, 2001 at his home in Nashville.
Atkins was laid to rest at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens in Nashville.
Atkins was quoted many times throughout his career, and of his own legacy he once said:
A stretch of Interstate 185
in southwest Georgia
(between LaGrange
and Columbus
) is named "Chet Atkins Parkway". This stretch of interstate runs through Fortson, GA where Atkins spent much of his childhood.
In 2002, Atkins was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
. His award was presented by Marty Stuart
and Brian Setzer
and accepted by Atkins's grandson, Jonathan Russell. The following year, Atkins ranked No.28 in CMT
's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.
At the age of 13, jazz guitarist Earl Klugh
was captivated watching Atkins's guitar playing on The Perry Como
Show. Similarly he was an extremely big influence on Doyle Dykes
. Atkins also inspired Drexl Jonez and Tommy Emmanuel
.
Clint Black
's album "Nothin' but the Taillights
" includes the song "Ode to Chet," which includes the lines "'Cause I can win her over like Romeo did Juliet, if I can only show her I can almost pick that legato lick like Chet" and "It'll take more than Mel Bay 1, 2, & 3 if I'm ever gonna play like CGP." Atkins plays guitar on the track. At the end of the song Black and Atkins have a brief conversation.
In 1967 a tribute song called "Chet's Tune" was produced for his birthday, with contributions by a long list of RCA/Victor artists including Eddy Arnold, Connie Smith, Jerry Reed, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, and others. The song was written by Nashville songwriter Cy Coben
, a friend of Atkins. The single reached #38 on the country charts.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Grammy Awards
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
, created the smoother country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
style known as the Nashville sound
Nashville sound
The Nashville sound originated during the late 1950s as a sub-genre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of honky tonk music which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s...
, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.
Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
, Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, George Barnes
George Barnes (musician)
George Barnes was a world-renowned swing jazz guitarist, who claimed he played the first electric guitar in 1931, preceding Charlie Christian by six years. George Barnes made the first recording of an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with Big Bill Broonzy.-Biography:George Barnes was born in...
and Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
, Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
, Skeeter Davis
Skeeter Davis
Mary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...
, Connie Smith
Connie Smith
Connie Smith is an American country music artist. She began her career in 1963 after winning a local talent contest near Columbus, Ohio, which attracted the attention of country songwriter Bill Anderson...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
and others.
Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
, nine Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum identifies and preserves the evolving history and traditions of country music and educates its audiences...
.
Childhood and early life
Chet Atkins was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, TennesseeLuttrell, Tennessee
Luttrell is a city in Union County, Tennessee, United States, with a population of 915 as of the 2000 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, near Clinch Mountain
Clinch Mountain
Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains...
, and grew up with his mother, two brothers and a sister—he was the youngest. His parents divorced when he was six. He started out on the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, later moving on to the fiddle, but traded his brother Lowell an old pistol and some chores for a guitar when he was nine. He stated in his 1974 autobiography, "We were so poor and everybody around us was so poor that it was the forties before anyone even knew there had been a depression." Forced to relocate to Fortson, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, to live with his father because of a near-fatal asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who made music his obsession. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair in order to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he would play his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life. While living in Fortson, he attended historic Mountain Hill School. He would return in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition.
Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit, and if that person played a guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so very close to the instrument that it became difficult for that person to play.
Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school. He would use the restroom in the school to practice, because it gave better acoustics. His first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used. He later purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet since his home had no electricity.
Later in life he lightheartedly gave himself (along with John Knowles
John Knowles (guitarist)
John Knowles is an American acoustic guitarist. He is one of five Certified Guitar Players , a lighthearted title given out by Atkins to his friends.-Biography:...
, Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
, Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner
Steven Noel "Steve" Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released eighteen studio albums, including six on MCA Records, and three each on RCA Records, Arista Records and Capitol Records...
and Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
) the honorary degree CGP, standing for "Certified Guitar Player". In 2011 Daughter Merle Atkins Russell bestowed the CGP degree upon long time sideman Paul Yandell. She then declared no more CGP's would be allowed by the Atkins Estate.
His half-brother Jim was a successful guitarist who worked with the Les Paul Trio in New York.
Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when (while still living in Georgia) he heard Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
picking over WLW
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...
radio. This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style. Whereas Travis's right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.
Chet Atkins was a Ham Radio General class licensee. Formerly using the call-sign, WA4CZD, he obtained the vanity call sign W4CGP in 1998 to reflect the C.G.P. name. He was an ARRL
American Radio Relay League
The American Radio Relay League is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the USA. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was founded in May 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut...
member.
Early musical career
After dropping out of high school in 1942, Atkins landed a job at WNOX-AMWNOX
WNOX is a radio station in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. It broadcasts a news-talk format.WNOX operates a 100,000-watt transmitter, located on Cross Mountain north of Briceville, Tennessee...
radio in Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
. There he played fiddle and guitar with singer Bill Carlisle
Bill Carlisle
William Toliver Carlisle was an American country music singer, songwriter, comedian and guitarist popular in the late 1940s and 1950s but who influenced the genre for more than 50 years. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.-Biography:Bill Carlisle was born in Wakefield, Kentucky...
and comic Archie Campbell
Archie Campbell
Archie Campbell was an American writer and star of Hee Haw, a popular long-running country-flavored network television variety show...
as well as becoming a member of the station's Dixieland Swingsters, a small swing instrumental combo. After three years, he moved to WLW-AM
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...
in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, where Merle Travis had formerly worked.
After six months he moved to Raleigh and worked with Johnnie and Jack before heading for Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, where he performed with Sunshine Sue Workman. Atkins's shy personality worked against him, as did the fact that his sophisticated style led many to doubt he was truly "country." He was fired often but was soon able to land another job at another radio station due to his unique playing ability. Atkins and Jethro Burns of Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
married twin sisters, Leona and Lois Johnson who sang as Laverne and Fern Johnson: the Johnson Sisters. Leona Atkins outlived Atkins by eight years, dying in 2009 at the age of 85.
Traveling to Chicago, Atkins auditioned for Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
, who was leaving his star position on WLS-AM
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
's National Barn Dance
National Barn Dance
National Barn Dance, broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry...
to join the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
. Atkins made his first appearance at the Opry in 1946 as a member of Foley's band. He also recorded a single for Nashville-based Bullet Records that year. That single, "Guitar Blues", was fairly progressive, including as it did, a clarinet solo by Nashville dance band musician Dutch McMillan with Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
on piano. He had a solo spot on the Opry; but when that was cut, Atkins moved on to KWTO-AM
KWTO
KWTO refers to two radio stations in Springfield, Missouri, USA. On AM, KWTO can be found at 560 kHz, where it airs a news-talk format. On FM, KWTO operates at 98.7 MHz and carries a sports talk format....
in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
. Despite the support of executive Si Siman, however, he soon was fired for not sounding "country enough."
Signing with RCA Victor
While working with a Western band in Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Atkins came to the attention of RCA Victor. Siman had been encouraging Steve Sholes
Stephen H. Sholes
Stephen H. Sholes was a prominent recording executive with RCA Victor.-Career:He was born Stephen Henry Sholes, in Washington, D.C.. His family moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his father worked in the RCA Victor plant. Sholes started work at RCA Victor as a messenger boy in 1929...
to sign Atkins, as his style (with the success of Merle Travis
Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
as a hit recording artist) was suddenly in vogue. Sholes, A&R director of country music at RCA, tracked Atkins down to Denver.
He made his first RCA recordings in Chicago in 1947. They did not sell. He did some studio work for RCA that year but had relocated to Knoxville again where he worked with Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
on WNOX's new Saturday night radio show The Tennessee Barn Dance and the popular Midday Merry Go Round.
In 1949 he left WNOX to join Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters back on KWTO. This incarnation of the old Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
featured Maybelle Carter and daughters June, Helen and Anita. Their work soon attracted attention from the Grand Ole Opry. The group relocated to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in mid-1950. Atkins began working on recording sessions, performing on WSM-AM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
and the Opry.
While he hadn't yet had a hit record on RCA his stature was growing. He began assisting Sholes as a Session Leader when the New York–based producer needed help organizing Nashville sessions for RCA artists. Atkins's first hit single was "Mr. Sandman
Mr. Sandman
"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...
", followed by "Silver Bell", which he did as a duet with Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
. His albums also became more popular, and he was featured on ABC-TV's The Eddy Arnold Show
The Eddy Arnold Show
The Eddy Arnold Show is the name of three similar American network television summer variety programs during the 1950s hosted by Eddy Arnold and featuring popular music stars of the day...
during the summer of 1956; as well as on Country Music Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
in 1957 and 58 (by then renamed Jubilee USA).
In addition to recording, Atkins became a design consultant for Gretsch
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
, who manufactured a popular Chet Atkins line of electric guitars from 1955–1980. Atkins also became manager of RCA's Nashville studio, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary RCA Studio B
RCA Studio B
RCA Studio B is a noted recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Situated at 30 Music Square W and originally known simply as RCA Studios, it became famous in the 1960s for being a part of what many refer to as the Nashville Sound...
, the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
.
Performer and producer
When Sholes took over pop production in 1957—a result of his success with Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
—he put Atkins in charge of RCA's Nashville division. With country music record sales declining as rock and roll took over, Atkins and Bob Ferguson
Bob Ferguson (music)
Robert Bruce "Bob" Ferguson Sr was an American songwriter, record producer who was instrumental in establishing Nashville, Tennessee as a center of country music; movie producer, and Choctaw Indian historian. Ferguson wrote the bestselling songs "On the Wings of a Dove" and "The Carroll County...
took their cue from Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
and eliminated fiddles and steel guitar as a means of making country singers appeal to pop fans. This became known as the Nashville sound
Nashville sound
The Nashville sound originated during the late 1950s as a sub-genre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of honky tonk music which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s...
which Atkins said was a label created by the media attached to a style of recording done during that period to keep country (and their jobs) viable.
Atkins used the Jordanaires and a rhythm section on hits like Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
' "Four Walls
Four Walls (song)
"Four Walls" is a country song published in 1957 by Marvin Moore and George Campbell, written by Winifred J. Bartly in 1957.Jim Reeves’ recording is the best known; it has been recorded by other artists, including Bing Crosby and Willie Nelson...
" and "He'll Have to Go
He'll Have to Go
"He'll Have to Go" is an American country and pop hit recorded on October 15, 1959 by Jim Reeves. The song, released in the fall of 1959, went on to become a massive hit in both genres early in 1960.-Background:...
" and Don Gibson
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...
's "Oh Lonesome Me" and "Blue Blue Day". The once rare phenomenon of having a country hit cross over
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
to pop success became more common. He and Bradley had essentially put the producer in the driver's seat, guiding an artist's choice of material and the musical background.
Atkins made his own records, which usually visited pop standards and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, in a sophisticated home studio, often recording the rhythm tracks at RCA but adding his solo parts at home, refining the tracks until the results satisfied him. Guitarists of all styles came to admire various Atkins albums for their unique musical ideas and in some cases experimental electronic ideas. In this period he became known internationally as "Mister Guitar", inspiring an album named Mister Guitar
Mister Guitar
Mister Guitar is the title of a recording by guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1959. That title, as well as "Country Gentleman", became monikers assigned to Chet....
, engineered by both Bob Ferris and Bill Porter, his replacement.
At the end of March 1959, Porter took over as chief engineer at RCA's Nashville studio, in the space now known as "Studio B". (At the time there was only one studio at RCA, with no letter designation.) Porter soon helped Atkins get a better reverberation sound from the studio's German effects device, an EMT
Elektro-Mess-Technik
Elektro-Mess-Technik is a manufacturer of phonograph turntables and professional audio equipment, including a well-regarded line of artificial reverberation devices beginning with the EMT 140 plate reverb. The company was founded by Wilhelm Franz....
plate reverb. With his golden ear
Golden ear
A golden ear is a term in audio circles referring to a person who is thought to possess special talents in hearing. Golden ears claim to be able to discern subtle differences in audio reproduction that most inexperienced and untrained listeners cannot, much like trained wine experts claim to...
, Porter found the studio's acoustics to be problematic, and he devised a set of acoustic baffles to hang from the ceiling, then selected positions for microphones based on resonant room modes. The sound of the recordings improved significantly, and the studio achieved a string of successes. The Nashville sound became more dynamic
Dynamic range
Dynamic range, abbreviated DR or DNR, is the ratio between the largest and smallest possible values of a changeable quantity, such as in sound and light. It is measured as a ratio, or as a base-10 or base-2 logarithmic value.-Dynamic range and human perception:The human senses of sight and...
. In later years, when Bradley asked how he achieved his sound, Atkins told him "it was Porter." Porter described Atkins as respectful of musicians when recording—if someone was out of tune he would not single that person out by name. Instead, he would say something like, "we got a little tuning problem ... Everybody check and see what's going on." If that didn't work, Atkins would instruct Porter to turn the offending player down in the mix. When Porter left RCA in late 1964, Atkins said, "the sound was never the same, never as great."
Atkins's trademark "Atkins Style" of playing uses the thumb and first two—sometimes three—fingers of the right hand. He developed this style from listening to Merle Travis occasionally on a primitive radio. He was sure no one could play that articulately with just the thumb and index finger (which was exactly how Travis played) and he assumed it required the thumb and two fingers—and that was the style he pioneered and mastered.
He enjoyed jamming with fellow studio musicians which led to them being asked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
in 1960. Although that performance was canceled due to rioting, a live recording of the group (After the Riot at Newport) was released. Atkins performed by invitation at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
for presidents Kennedy through George H. W. Bush. Atkins was a member of the Million Dollar Band
Million Dollar Band (country music group)
The Million Dollar Band was an all-star group of popular country musicians which often performed on the Hee Haw television variety show from August 1980 through November 1988....
during the 1980s. He is also well known for his song "Yankee Doodle Dixie", in which he played "Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
" and "Dixie
Dixie (song)
Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
" simultaneously, on the same guitar.
Before his mentor Sholes died in 1968, Atkins had become vice president of RCA's country division. In 1987 he told Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine
Nine-O-One Network Magazine was a bi-monthly music magazine published in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1986 to 1989.-Beginnings:The magazine originated during the heralded 1986 “Class of '55” recording session in Memphis with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. Producer Chips...
that he was "ashamed" of his promotion: "I wanted to be known as a guitarist and I know, too, that they give you titles like that in lieu of money. So beware when they want to make you vice president." He had brought Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Connie Smith
Connie Smith
Connie Smith is an American country music artist. She began her career in 1963 after winning a local talent contest near Columbus, Ohio, which attracted the attention of country songwriter Bill Anderson...
, Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
and John Hartford
John Hartford
John Cowan Hartford was an American folk, country and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore...
to the label in the 1960s and inspired and helped countless others. He took a considerable risk during the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
sparked violence throughout the South by signing country music's first African-American singer Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, who sang rawer country than the smoother music Atkins had pioneered.
Atkins's own biggest hit single came in 1965, with "Yakety Axe", an adaptation of his friend saxophonist Boots Randolph
Boots Randolph
Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit, "Yakety Sax"...
's "Yakety Sax
Yakety Sax
"Yakety Sax" is a piece of music written by James Q. "Spider" Rich and popularized by saxophonist Boots Randolph.The composition includes pieces of assorted fiddle tunes such as "Chicken Reel", and was written for a performance at a venue called The Armory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky...
". He rarely performed in those days, and eventually had to hire other RCA producers like Bob Ferguson
Bob Ferguson (music)
Robert Bruce "Bob" Ferguson Sr was an American songwriter, record producer who was instrumental in establishing Nashville, Tennessee as a center of country music; movie producer, and Choctaw Indian historian. Ferguson wrote the bestselling songs "On the Wings of a Dove" and "The Carroll County...
and Felton Jarvis
Felton Jarvis
Felton Jarvis, , produced most of Elvis Presley's recordings from 1966-1977.He also released several singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
to alleviate his workload.
Later career
In the 1970s, Atkins became increasingly stressed by his executive duties. He produced fewer records but could still turn out hits such as Perry ComoPerry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
's pop hit "And I Love You So
And I Love You So
And I Love You So may refer to:* And I Love You So , 1970 song by Don McLean* And I Love You So , 1972 album by Shirley Bassey* And I Love You So , 1973 album by Perry Como...
". He recorded extensively with close friend and fellow picker Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
, who'd become a hit artist in his own right. A 1973 diagnosis of colon cancer
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
, however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
or even Homer & Jethro's Jethro Burns (Atkins's brother-in-law) after Homer died in 1971.
By the end of the 1970s, Atkins's time had passed as a producer. New executives at RCA had different ideas. He first retired from his position in the company, and then began to feel stifled as an artist because RCA would not let him branch out into jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, Chester & Lester and Guitar Monsters, had already reflected that interest; Chester & Lester was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career. At the same time he grew dissatisfied with the direction Gretsch (no longer family-owned) was going and withdrew his authorization for them to use his name and began designing guitars with Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
. He left RCA in 1982 and signed with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, for whom he produced a debut album in 1983.
Jazz had always been a strong love of his, and often in his career he was criticized by "pure" country musicians for his jazz influences. He also said on many occasions that he did not like being called a "country guitarist", insisting that he was a guitarist, period. Although he played 'by ear' and was a masterful improviser he was able to read music and even performed some classical guitar pieces. When Roger C. Field
Roger C. Field
Roger C. Field is an inventor with over 100 patents, an award winning industrial designer and a guitarist.He is best known as the inventor of the Foldaxe folding electric guitar. He has also been written about in Playboy magazine in ten countries and in Penthouse magazine four times in Europe...
, a friend, suggested to him in 1991 that he record and perform with a female singer he did so with Suzy Bogguss
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After...
.
He returned to his country roots for albums he recorded with Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
and Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
. Knopfler had long mentioned Atkins as one of his earliest influences. Atkins also collaborated with Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
. On being asked to name the ten most influential guitarists of the 20th century, he named Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
to the first position, and also placed himself on the list.
In later years he even went back to radio, appearing on Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
's Prairie Home Companion radio program, on American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
radio, even picking up a fiddle from time to time.
Legacy
Atkins received numerous awards, including 14 Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards. In 1993 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Billboard magazine awarded him their Century Award, their "highest honor for distinguished creative achievement", in December 1997.Atkins is notable for his broad influence. His love for numerous styles of music can be traced from his early recording of stride-pianist James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson was an American pianist and composer...
's "Johnson Rag," all the way to the rock stylings of Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
, an invited guest on Atkins's recording sessions who, when Chet attempted to copy his influential rocker "Cliffs of Dover
Cliffs of Dover (song)
"Cliffs of Dover" is an instrumental composition by guitarist Eric Johnson which appeared on his 1990 Ah Via Musicom album. The album version of the song is composed in the key of G major, the song was played with a Gibson ES-335 through a B.K. Butler Tube Driver and an Echoplex plugged into a...
", led to Atkins's creation of a unique arrangement of "Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)."
Chet's recordings of "Malaguena" inspired a new generation of Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitarists; the classical guitar selections included on almost all his albums were, for many American artists working in the field today, the first classical guitar they ever heard. He recorded smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
guitar still played on American airwaves today.
While he did more performing in the 1990s his health grew frail as he was diagnosed with cancer again in 1996. He died on June 30, 2001 at his home in Nashville.
Atkins was laid to rest at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens in Nashville.
Atkins was quoted many times throughout his career, and of his own legacy he once said:
A stretch of Interstate 185
Interstate 185 (Georgia)
Interstate 185 is a 49.30-mile secondary interstate in western Georgia. I-185 is also known as unsigned State Route 411, and is named the Chet Atkins Parkway for its entire length. It provides a freeway connection from Columbus and Fort Benning to Atlanta. Its southern terminus is at U.S. 27, U.S...
in southwest Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
(between LaGrange
LaGrange, Georgia
LaGrange is a city in Troup County, Georgia, United States. It is named after the country estate near Paris of the Marquis de La Fayette, who visited the area in 1825. The population was 24,998 at the 2000 census...
and Columbus
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
) is named "Chet Atkins Parkway". This stretch of interstate runs through Fortson, GA where Atkins spent much of his childhood.
In 2002, Atkins was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
. His award was presented by Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
and Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
and accepted by Atkins's grandson, Jonathan Russell. The following year, Atkins ranked No.28 in CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.
At the age of 13, jazz guitarist Earl Klugh
Earl Klugh
Earl Klugh is an American smooth jazz/crossover jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer.At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when Atkins made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. Klugh was a performing guest on several of Atkins' albums...
was captivated watching Atkins's guitar playing on The Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
Show. Similarly he was an extremely big influence on Doyle Dykes
Doyle Dykes
Doyle Dykes is an American country acoustic guitarist from Jacksonville, Florida. He is influenced by a wide variety of musical styles and musicians such as Chet Atkins, the Allman Brothers, to the Beatles and U2...
. Atkins also inspired Drexl Jonez and Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
.
Clint Black
Clint Black
Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...
's album "Nothin' but the Taillights
Nothin' but the Taillights
Nothin' but the Taillights is a 1997 album by country singer Clint Black. Black co-wrote many of the songs with others and played much of the guitar himself for this album....
" includes the song "Ode to Chet," which includes the lines "'Cause I can win her over like Romeo did Juliet, if I can only show her I can almost pick that legato lick like Chet" and "It'll take more than Mel Bay 1, 2, & 3 if I'm ever gonna play like CGP." Atkins plays guitar on the track. At the end of the song Black and Atkins have a brief conversation.
In 1967 a tribute song called "Chet's Tune" was produced for his birthday, with contributions by a long list of RCA/Victor artists including Eddy Arnold, Connie Smith, Jerry Reed, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, and others. The song was written by Nashville songwriter Cy Coben
Cy Coben
Cyrus "Cy" Coben was an American songwriter whose hits were recorded by bandleaders, country singers, The Beatles, and even Leonard Nimoy....
, a friend of Atkins. The single reached #38 on the country charts.
Industry awards
Country Music AssociationCountry Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
- 1967 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1968 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1969 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1981 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1982 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1983 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1984 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1985 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
- 1988 Instrumentalist of the YearCountry Music Association AwardsThe Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum identifies and preserves the evolving history and traditions of country music and educates its audiences...
- Inducted in 1973Inductees of the Country Music Hall of FameThis is a list of inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame.Number of Inductees : 115 . Of these 15 are women and two are groups that include...
Grammy Awards
- 1971 Best Country Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
with Jerry ReedJerry ReedJerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
– Me and Jerry - 1972 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Snowbird"
- 1975 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Merle TravisMerle TravisMerle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
– The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show - 1976 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "The Entertainer"
- 1977 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Les PaulLes PaulLester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
– Chester and Lester - 1982 Best Country Instrumental Performance – Country After All These Years
- 1986 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
– "Cosmic Square Dance" - 1991 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
– "So Soft, Your Goodbye" - 1991 Best Country Vocal CollaborationGrammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with VocalsThe Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to quality country music collaborations for artists who do not normally perform together...
with Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
– "Poor Boy Blues" - 1993 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Jerry ReedJerry ReedJerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
– Sneakin' Around - 1993 Grammy Lifetime Achievement AwardGrammy Lifetime Achievement AwardThe Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
' - 1994 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Asleep at the WheelAsleep at the WheelAsleep at the Wheel is a American country music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, but based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty...
, Eldon ShamblinEldon ShamblinEldon Shamblin was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band....
, Johnny GimbleJohnny GimbleJohn Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
, Marty StuartMarty StuartJohn Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
, Reuben "Lucky Oceans" Gosfield & Vince GillVince GillVincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
– "Red Wing" - 1995 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Young Thing"
- 1997 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Jam Man"
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
- Posthumously inducted in 2002
External links
- Chet Atkins at the Country Music Hall of Fame
- [ Allmusic entry for Chet Atkins]
- Chet Atkins Official Web site
- Bob Moore's A-Team Musicians Website
- Chet Atkins Interview – Vintage Guitar magazine, June 1996(This reference no longer exists at this link – May 2011)
- Chet Atkins on the Pop ChroniclesPop ChroniclesThe Pop Chronicles are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s-60s popular music." Both were produced by John Gilliland.-The Pop Chronicles of the 50s and 60s:...