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In memory of Chet Atkins |
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The following is a piece written by a friend. It is my pleasure to have it on my web site. For myself, Chet Atkins WAS guitar. Although, I don't play Chet's style, I have long enjoyed his music and talent. I feel confident in saying, "there will never be another one like him". A guitar master, with the gentle manner of a child. I never saw any traces, or heard anyone speak of Chet having a lofty attitude concerning his playing. Chet Atkins: A legend worthy of the fame and admiration that came to him. Thanks for all the music, Chet. Nobody did it better. ---Michael Allsup---
June 30, 2001 was a very sad day for guitarists around the world, as word emerged from Nashville that Chet Atkins, perhaps the most-honored instrumentalist in history, died at the age of 77.
Chet was not only a pioneering guitarist, but also a major player in the development of the "Nashville Sound" as a producer and executive at RCA Records.
Over his 50-plus-year recording career, he released over 75 albums, and was cited as an influence by guitarists ranging from Duane Eddy to the Ventures to George Harrison to Mark Knopfler to Steve Wariner, among others. Chester B. Atkins was born in 1924 in Luttrell, in East Tennessee. One of his earliest musical influences was his older brother, who moved to Chicago and worked with artists such Les Paul. Another influence was Merle Travis, who had popularized a thumb-and-forefinger picking technique. "I first heard Merle on WLW around 1939 or '40," Chet recalled later, "and I didn't understand why everybody didn't throw away their straight picks and start playing like that." Atkins got his own chance on the radio, on WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1942 - but NOT as a guitarist. He was still playing fiddle in those days. Shortly thereafter, he worked as a sideman for Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright, still playing the fiddle. In 1946, he began playing guitar on WLW, the same Cincinnati radio station where he'd heard Merle Travis years before. By now, Atkins was experimenting with adding two or more fingers to play melodies along with the bass lines picked with the thumb. In contrast to Travis' rootsy, blues-flavored technique, Chet was developing a melodic style that influenced players in every field of music. Another fortuitous event took place during the stint at WLW; he met the singing Johnson sisters, Leona and Lois. Chet married Leona, and his friend, Kenneth "Jethro" Burns of Homer and Jethro, married Lois. Chet and Leona had a daughter, Merle, a couple of years later. He began recording solo in the late 40s, with some of his earliest sessions produced by Owen Bradley. RCA came calling in 1949, seeing Atkins as their answer to Travis, who was a star with Capitol by this time. Chet's first singles for the label were "Galloping On the Guitar" and "Main Street Breakdown," on which he was accompanied by Homer and Jethro (and, on the latter, Anita Carter, as Chet was working as a sideman for Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters by this time). When Maybelle and her daughters, by now usually referred to as "The Carter Family," moved to WSM and the Grand Ole Opry, Atkins also headed to Nashville. And he never left, as he quickly became a sought-after sideman. Chet played on some of Hank Williams's final sessions, and, as the 50s progressed, accompanied Faron Young, the Carlisles, Porter Wagoner, Webb Pierce and others in the studio. In 1955 he began an association with Gretsch guitars, who developed a Chet-endorsed instrument called the Country Gentleman, named after a 1953 Atkins single. As his star grew, so did his influence, and RCA promoted him to producer, although he continued to play backup for a number of artists, including the early RCA singles for Elvis, such as "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." By 1957, RCA promoted Atkins to manager of its Nashville operations, and Chet supervised the construction of Studio B, the first Nashville-based office and recording complex for a major label. The studio later became known as "the house that Chet built." Atkins, and Decca's Owen Bradley, are often cited as the chief architects of the "Nashville Sound," a slicker, more pop-influenced approach to country music which broadened its audience greatly in the late 1950s and throughout the 60s. Chet signed and/or produced dozens of acts for RCA, including Don Gibson, Floyd Cramer, Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Dottie West, Bobby Bare, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and - breaking modern country's color line- Charley Pride. Away from RCA, Atkins also helped launch the career of the Everly Brothers, as he introduced the boys to Fred Rose of Acuff-Rose Publishing, which led to their contract with Cadence Records in 1957. By the late 60s, he was an RCA vice president, running the Nashville division, and turning much of his production duties over to others, such as Felton Jarvis. Atkins also recorded several albums with others, beginning in the 1970s, with artists such as Jerry Reed (whom Atkins signed to RCA in the 60s), Ray Stevens (the tables turned, as Stevens produced an album of Atkins as a singer), and fellow legends Les Paul ("Chester and Lester") and Travis ("The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show"). He was also inducted in the Country Music Hall Of Fame in the '70s. By the 90s, Atkins had left RCA and moved to Columbia, strictly as an artist. Albums with fine guitartists such as Earl Klugh, Larry Carlton and Mark Knopfler followed. Atkins' legacy is celebrated through a magazine, "Mister Guitar," and an annual convention hosted by the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society, which draws devotees from across the planet, and performances by such fine guitarists as Thom Bresh and Buster B. Jones. Atkins was sidelined by cancer in recent years, and died from complications related to the disease. The funeral service will be held Tuesday, July 3, in the revered Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-74. Will the circle be unbroken ... The legendary Chet Atkins, c.g.p. (certified guitar player), dead at 77.
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