![]() ![]() Chet never had guitar lessons as such he would watch and listen to other guitarists and work out licks for himself. Apart from his brother, Chet's main influences as a guitarist were Les Paul, Django Reinhardt and, most of all, the finger-picking style of Merle Travis. Chet watched Jim play the instrument and at five he started playing an old ukelele. His father was an itinerant music teacher, his mother sang and played piano and his half-brother, Jim Atkins (twelve years his senior), was a professional guitarist. (Check out his amazing Bach performance at the bottom of the YouTube list below.)Ītkins grew up in the hills in a tiny, remote eastern Tennesssee town called Luttrell. ![]() He also recorded jazz, folk, pop, Latin American and classical music. Yet, country music was always only part of what Atkins did. Many hit records that he produced during his days at RCA are now classics. As a producer he was the key architect of the 'Nashville Sound', a smooth, polished style that made country music acceptable to a wider audience, at a time that the overpowering surge of rock 'n' roll was threatening to sweep it under. As a guitarist he is one of the most recorded instrumentalists in music history and he was an influence on countless pickers, from Duane Eddy to George Harrison. The importance of Chet Atkins can hardly be overstated. Born Chester Burton Atkins, 20 June 1924, Luttrell, Tennessee ![]()
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