ATKINS CHET, THE BEST OF Styles and Techniques of the Father of Country Guitar. CD TAB.
A Step-by-Step Breakdown of the Styles and Techniques of the Father of Country Guitar
Series: Signature Licks Guitar
Softcover with CD - TAB
Author: Chad Johnson
Artist: Chet Atkins
Learn the trademark riffs and licks behind one of the most influential recording artists of all time and one of the founders of the Nashville sound. This book/CD pack features analysis and lessons for 12 Atkins hits along with a CD featuring full demos.
72 pages
INTRODUCTION
Chet Atkins holds a place in musical history reserved for a very select few. His contributions to country music are inestimable, as is his influence on guitar players worldwide.
Simply put, country music would not be the same today if it weren't for Chet. Quite likely the most recorded instrumentalist in the history of popular music, his guitar playing has graced the records of Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams, Jerry Reed, and Les Paul, to name but a few. Originally a disciple of fingerstyle legend Merle Travis, Chefs groundbreaking guitar work throughout his recording career of over fifty years has in turn influenced the styles of such notable players as Mark Knopfler, Eric Johnson, and George Harrison. And although his virtuosity on the instrument is well acknowledged, his talents were not limited to the guitar alone. As a producer for RCA records, he is often credited as single-handedly creating the "Nashville Sound" as we know it today, fusing the twang of traditional country with a pop sensibility. His list of producer credits reads like a "who's who" in popular country music, including Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Reed. He also discovered and/or signed such legendary artists as Dolly Parton, Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson, and Steve Wariner.
Chester Burton Atkins was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee, about twenty miles northeast of Knoxville. His first musical influence was his older brother Jim, a highly accomplished guitar player who eventually went on to play with Les Paul. Chefs parents separated when he was ten, and he moved to Georgia to live with his father, a music teacher and song leader for several traveling evangelists. At his brother's suggestion, the fiddle became Chefs first instrument, but it wasn't long before he acquired a Sears Silvertone guitar and started learning to play it. He advanced rapidly, and by the time he left high school in 1941 at age seventeen, he had made up his mind to make a career for himself in music.
Chefs sophisticated style was a tough sell at first. He held a few performance slots at various radio stations in Knoxville and eventually Cincinnati, but he was often dismissed because his style wasn't "hillbilly" enough. During this time, while working at WLW with the duo Homer and Jethro, Chet met his future wife, Leona Johnson. They married in 1946. Later that year, Atkins finally received a break when, in support of Red Foley, he made his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, where his ear-grabbing style was greatly appreciated. Several more radio positions followed in Virginia and Missouri, but in 1947, with the birth of his first daughter and poor job prospects, Chet moved back to Knoxville to work with Homer and Jethro at WNOX. Eventually, a tape of Chefs radio performances was sent to RCA Victor's office in Chicago and made its way to Steve Sholes, the label's head of country music. After receiving a call from Sholes, Chet moved the family to
Nashville.
Sholes was greatly impressed by Chefs playing and put him to work immediately; Chet was featured on nearly every recording session of 1949. Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters hired him a year later as a regular on the Grand Ole Opry, signaling that Chet had officially arrived in Nashville. During this time, Chefs playing wound up on records by Hank Williams ("Cold, Cold Heart" and "Jambalya"), The Louvin Brothers ("When I Stop Dreaming"), The Carlisles ("Too Old to Cut the Mustard" and "No Help Wanted"), Kitty Wells ("Release Me" and "Repenting"), and many more. When Sholes could not make the sessions because of other business, Chet was allowed to produce them himself.
By the mid-fifties, Chet was producing thirty artists a year as well as recording his own 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 Chefs name; it eventually became a huge seller in the early sixties when George Harrison made it his guitar of choice with the Fab Four. 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." He became to country guitar what James...
Big Foot
Blue Angel
Cascade
Chinatown, My Chinatown
Country Gentleman
Galloping On The Guitar
A Little Mark Musik
Mister Sandman
So Soft Your Goodbye
There'll Be Some Changes Made
Yakety Axe
You Do Something To Me
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