Image of Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", 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 was primarily known as a guitarist. He also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele. Atkins's signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Other major guitar influences were Django Reinhardt, George Barnes, Les Paul, and, later, Jerry Reed. His distinctive picking style and musicianship brought him admirers inside and outside the country scene, both in the United States and abroad. 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. Rolling Stone credited Atkins with inventing the "popwise 'Nashville sound' that rescued country music from a commercial slump," and ranked him number 21 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time." Among many other honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received nine Country Music Association awards for Instrumentalist of the Year. 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chet Atkins, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
Jun 20, 1924 In Luttrell, Tennessee, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
10
First Appeared:
In the series The Ed Sullivan Show 1948-06-20
Latest Project:
Movie The Winding Stream 2014-03-15
Known For
Poster of The Winding Stream
Poster of Opry Video Classics: Hall of Fame
Poster of Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story
Poster of Nashville 99
Filmography
Movie The Winding Stream Self (archive footage) 2014-03-15
Movie Opry Video Classics: Hall of Fame Self (archive footage) 2007-11-21
Movie In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story Self 1999-10-07
Movie Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story Chet Atkins 1995-01-22
Movie Country Music Classics: Webb Pierce and Chet Atkins Self (archive footage) 1991-01-01
Movie The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball Self 1987-01-01
Series Nashville 99 Unknown 1977-04-01
Series The Secret Policeman's Ball Self 1976-04-01
Series The Johnny Cash Show Unknown 1969-06-07
Series The Ed Sullivan Show Unknown 1948-06-20