| Chet Atkins is a part of Tennessee history. Join: Tennessee Project Discuss: tennessee |
Contents |
Chet Atkins, known as "the Country Gentleman," was one of the most highly regarded and skilled American guitarists of the twentieth century,[1][2] known for his work with Owen Bradley in developing the "Nashville Sound," a smooth, more sophisticated style of country music.[2][3][4]
Chester Burton Atkins was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee, near Clinch Mountain on his grandfather's farm, and grew up with his mother, Ida Ella Sharp, after she and his father, James Atkins, divorced when Chet was six.[5][4] He had two brothers and a sister—he was the youngest.[2]
He started out his musical pursuits on the ukulele, later moving on to the fiddle.[2] When he was nine, he traded his brother Lowell an old pistol (or possibly a farm wagon) and some chores for a guitar that had belonged to his step-father, Willie. He started playing local parties and businesses.[4] Chet 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."[4]
He relocated in the late thirties to Fortson, Georgia, to live with his father, because of a near-fatal asthma condition.[2][6] He often stayed home from school because of his health, and taught himself banjo during those times.[4] 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, and continue holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life.[2]
Chet became an accomplished guitarist while still in high school,[2] but it wasn't surprising considering his family's musical background. Chet's grandfather was a champion fiddler. His father, James, was a music teacher, piano tuner, and singer. His half brother, Jim, was a rhythm guitarist in the Les Paul Trio in the thirties. His older brother, Lowell, also played guitar.[4] He quit high school and jumped in on the spread of country music out of the South, as World War II drafted soldiers across the country. At age 17, he was a professional musician.[4]
He made his living first playing fiddle with the "Jumpin" Bill Carlisle-Archie Campbell radio show. A producer there heard him playing guitar in down times, and drafted him to play rhythm guitar for the "Midday Merry-Go-Round" show.[4] Despite his talent, he had trouble keeping jobs because of his shyness, which was often mistaken for hostility or arrogance. His luck turned when he joined up with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. Their fame grew into a TV show, and more so once they started appearing on the Grand Ole Opry.[4]
He profited from the popularity of his TV time by starting to record albums. His first hit LP was The Galloping Guitars in 1949. He moved to Nashville and started work as a studio musician. By 1957, Chet was the head of recording operations at RCA Victor in Nashville. It was in this role that he convinced RCA to outbid Columbia Records and sign Elvis Presley- a decision that made the company millions.[4]
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 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. Chet's picking style was inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul. He was admired for it across music styles and geographical borders.[2] Part of Chet's talent included being able to play chords and push out a melody line at the same time, using his trademark thumb and three-finger playing style, a technique he developed trying to mimic Merle Travis' thumb and one-finger style.[3][4]
He 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 many other well known artists.[2] His work in developing "Nashville Sound" is attributed to saving country music from a persistent slump it had been suffering by working to separate it from rockabilly and attract pop music fans.[3][4] The development turned Nashville into Music City, U.S.A.[4] He was known for how down-to-earth he could be, especially with those whose music careers he helped shape.[4]
He eventually worked himself out of the production side of music and back into playing, beginning worldwide tours in 1967. He wanted to have fun again.[4]
He was an amateur (i.e., ham) radio operator, earning the callsign WA4CZD as early as 1968, and obtaining the vanity call W4CGP in 1988. He was a member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and was very active in amateur radio in his later years. He was a contributor to the American Radio Relay League’s promotional video The New World of Amateur Radio and later created a closing theme song for an ARRL and Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) video Ham Radio in Space.[7]
Chet Atkins died June 30, 2001, at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.[4][8][9][10][11] He had spent many years battling cancers, including colon cancer in the 70s and a brain tumor in 1997.[4] He was survived by his wife of 55 years, Leona, his daughter, Merle (named after one of his heroes, Merle Travis, and Leona's mother, Merle Hancock Johnson), and two granddaughters.[4] He was buried in Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee.[12]
Among many honors, Chet received 14 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[2] Chet was offered numerous honorary degrees from universities, but turned them all down for his own designation as a CGP, "Certified Guitar Picker."[4] His CGP designation was reflected in his Amateur Radio vanity callsign W4CGP and in 2020, he was inducted into the QC Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, established in 2001 to recognize those radio amateurs who have made major contributions.[7]
See Also:
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Chet is 26 degrees from Herbert Adair, 24 degrees from Richard Adams, 21 degrees from Mel Blanc, 28 degrees from Dick Bruna, 14 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 36 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 21 degrees from Sam Edwards, 18 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 22 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 18 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 17 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
A > Atkins > Chester Burton Atkins
Categories: Grammy Award Winners of the 20th Century | Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens, Nashville, Tennessee | Grand Ole Opry | Example Profiles of the Week | Luttrell, Tennessee | Guitarists | Tennessee, Notables | Ham Radio Operators | Silent Keys | Country Music Hall of Fame | Tennessee Project-Managed | Notables | Tennessee Appalachians
Its Occupation|image=Bob_Burley_s_Public_Domain_Images-21.png|text=was an Amateur Radio Operator, Callsign: W4CGP
And here is a good citation (and info for his bio) from CQ (a worldwide amateur radio organization). https://www.onallbands.com/%EF%BB%BFlegendary-recording-artist-chet-atkins-w4cgp-sk-inducted-into-cq-hall-of-fame/