Stories have been told about the very young Chet, who, when a friend or relative would come to visit and play guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so close to the instrument that it became difficult for the visitor to play. CHET ATKINS YAKETY AXE LIVE STREAM SERIESHe returned in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition. While living in Fortson, he attended the historic Mountain Hill School. On those nights, he played his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair to breathe comfortably. 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, outside of Columbus, to live with his father because of a critical asthma condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who made music his obsession. 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 was the youngest of three boys and a girl. His parents divorced when he was six, after which he was raised by his mother. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.Ītkins was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee, near Clinch Mountain. He also received nine Country Music Association awards for Instrumentalist of the Year. Atkins spent most of his career at RCA Victor and produced records for the Browns, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings, and many others.Īmong many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His distinctive picking style and musicianship brought him admirers inside and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Other major guitar influences were Django Reinhardt, George Barnes, Les Paul, and, later, Jerry Reed. He also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele.Ītkins' signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Others influences include Les Paul, Jerry Reed, George Barnes and Django Reinhardt mainly because they shaped him and inspired him creatively.Country, jazz, rock and roll, folk, rockabillyĬhester Burton "Chet" Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001) was an American musician, occasional vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, who along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, among others, created the country music style that came to be known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country music's appeal to adult pop music fans. He happens across a musician named Merle Travis on the radio and finally realizes the path he wants to follow.įurthermore, Atkins didn’t want to imitate anyone’s style but instead he chooses to expand on it by using his right-hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass. While he didn’t have his own style developed yet until 1939. To us, he will always be a true guitar legend! He also works and produces a lot of other musicians music and songs to help them out in the music business. Later with the help of a few others, he ushers in the movement which later becomes known as the “Nashville Sound.”Ītkins goes on to become one of the best guitarists in the business during this time! Besides being a musical genius when it came to performing and playing the guitar. While working on on Music Row in Nashville, Chet discovers and signs many talented artists as Vice President of RCA. Furthermore, as a noted record producer, becomes one of the most prolific record producers in history. Starting in the music industry, Chet Atkins works his way up from low playing radio gigs to a recording artist. So, he would walk into town with his equipment and would plug-in and play wherever he could. The only problem is that there was no electricity where he lived. Later moving on to the fiddle and eventually trading an old pistol and some chores for a guitar.Īfter a while, he purchases a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp. Living with his mom, he starts out playing a ukulele. Chet Atkins – Hailing from Luttrell, Tennessee, he grew up from humble beginnings.
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