![]() That did not prevent him from continuing to perform, and the year after he played the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, he came to the White House to play for President Kennedy. In his 20 years as an RCA executive, he was given credit for influencing the careers of Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings and Eddy Arnold, among others. Sandman," and he repeated its popularity by joining with Hank Snow in "Silver Bell." By 1957, he had become manager of RCA's Nashville unit. Shortly after his arrival there, he was made studio guitarist for the label's Nashville sessions, and by 1950 he was firmly anchored in the country music capital, as a regular on Grand Ole Opry.Īccording to one account, his first RCA hit was a rendition of "Mr. By the late 1940s, he was recording in Nashville for RCA. He was with the Dixie Swingers and with Homer and Jethro, and backed up Red Foley. Atkins immune to the lure of the guitar, and he began picking at the age of 9 by his late teens, he was regarded as a polished player.Īfter he graduated from high school in 1941, he began making regular radio appearances, in Knoxville, Tenn. The attractions of the fiddle did not leave Mr. His father was a kind of wandering teacher of piano, who would on occasion sing with traveling evangelists. His mother played the piano and also sang. The fiddle that he took up as a young child was seen in part as a refuge and shelter from the harshness of his life. It was a remarkable climb to fame, honor and homage for a shy, asthma-afflicted child who was born in the hamlet of Luttrell, Tenn., and grew up in Appalachian poverty. There is a "Chet Atkins Place" on Nashville's Music Row. He received honors four times in the Playboy jazz poll and was named the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year nine times. Atkins had recorded more than six dozen guitar albums and sold more than 75 million albums. ("Your Cheatin' Heart") and the Everly Brothers ("Wake Up Little Susie.")īy one count, Mr. In addition to performing and recording on his own, he was a producer for RCA records.Īs one of the foremost session artists, he can be heard in the background of scores of artists' hits, including those of such figures as Elvis Presley ("Heartbreak Hotel"), Hank Williams Sr. He was recognized as playing a vital role in moving the country sound and sense into the musical mainstream, and was credited as a creator of the Nashville Sound, one of the landmarks of American popular music.įamed for a finger-picking style of play, he was viewed as an influence not only on guitar technique and styles of country performance but also on jazz and rock. Atkins's 13 Grammy Awards - the music industry's Oscar - may have been the most for any country performer. Atkins, who had twice undergone cancer surgery, died at his home. Chet Atkins, 77, the Tennessee-born guitar virtuoso who was one of the pillars of American popular music in the last half of the 20th century, as performer, songwriter, spotter of talent and shaper of trends, died June 30 in Nashville.Ī funeral director told the Associated Press that Mr.
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