Editing Chet Atkins (section)

==Biography==

===Childhood and early life===
Atkins was born on June 20, 1924, in [[Luttrell, Tennessee]], near [[Clinch Mountain]]. His parents divorced when he was six years old, after which he was raised by his mother. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl. He started out on the [[ukulele]], later moving on to the [[fiddle]], but he made a swap with his brother Lowell when he was nine: an old pistol and some chores for a guitar.<ref name="CMT">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/atkins_chet/bio.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040110022510/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/atkins_chet/bio.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 10, 2004 |title=Country Music Television biography. |publisher=CMT |access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref> He 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." Forced to relocate to Fortson, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], outside of [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]] to live with his father because of a critical [[asthma]] condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who became obsessed with music. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he played his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit that lasted his whole life.<ref name="CG">Atkins, Chet; Neely, Bill (1974). "Country Gentleman."  Chicago. Harry Regnery. {{ISBN|0-8092-9051-0}}.</ref> While living in Fortson,  Atkins attended the historic{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Mountain Hill School. He returned in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition.<ref>{{cite news
 | last = Rush
 | first = Dianne Samms
 | title = Chet Plays; Gatlin Lives
 | newspaper = Lakeland Ledger
 | location = Lakeland, Florida
 | page = 9C
 | date = October 23, 1994
 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19941023&id=9KpNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2822,1595083
 | access-date = July 6, 2012}}</ref>
Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit and play guitar, crowded the musician and put his ear so close to the instrument that it became difficult for the visitor to play.<ref name="CG" />

Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school.<ref name="CMT" /> He used the restroom in the school to practice, because it had good acoustics.<ref>Atkins, Chet; Neely, Bill (1974). "Country Gentleman". Chicago. Harry Regnery. p. 52. {{ISBN|0-8092-9051-0}}.</ref><ref>[[David Halberstam|Halberstam, David]] (1961). liner notes. ''Chet Atkins' Workshop''. [[RCA Victor]] LSP-2232.</ref> His first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used.<ref name="mamg">Atkins, Chet; Cochran, Russ (2003). "Me and My Guitars." Milwaukee: Hal Leonard. {{ISBN|0-634-05565-8}}.</ref> He later purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amplifier, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet, since his home didn't have electricity.<ref>Atkins, Chet; Neely, Bill. (1974). "Country Gentleman." Chicago. Harry Regnery. pp. 61–62. {{ISBN|0-8092-9051-0}}.</ref>

Later in life, he lightheartedly gave himself (along with [[John Knowles (guitarist)|John Knowles]], [[Tommy Emmanuel]], [[Steve Wariner]], and [[Jerry Reed]]<ref>{{YouTube|M8AXs6oRPnQ|'Interview of Chet Atkins'}}</ref>) the honorary degree CGP ("Certified Guitar Player").<ref name="mamg" />
In 2011, his daughter Merle Atkins Russell bestowed the CGP degree on his longtime sideman [[Paul Yandell]].  She then declared no more CGPs would be allowed by the Atkins estate.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Freeman
| first = Jon
| title = A Guitarist Paul Yandell Passes
| url = http://www.musicrow.com/2011/11/guitarist-paul-yandell-passes/
| publisher = Music Row
| date = November 22, 2011
| access-date = July 6, 2012}}</ref>

His half-brother Jim was a successful guitarist who worked with the [[Les Paul Trio]] in New York.<ref name="CG" />

Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when (while still living in Georgia) he heard [[Merle Travis]] picking over [[WLW]] radio.<ref name="CG" /><ref>*[http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=99 Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014040342/http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=99 |date=October 14, 2007 }}</ref> This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style.<ref name=pc10/> Whereas Travis used his index finger on his right hand for the melody and his thumb for the bass notes, Atkins expanded his right-hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.  He also listened closely to the single-string playing of [[George Barnes (musician)|George Barnes]] and [[Les Paul]].

Chet Atkins was an [[amateur radio]] general class licensee. Formerly using the call sign WA4CZD, he obtained the vanity call sign W4CGP in 1998 to include the CGP designation, which supposedly stood for "Certified Guitar Picker". He was a member of the [[American Radio Relay League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arrl.org/pages/display/error404|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050920143059/http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2001/07/02/1/?nc=1|url-status=dead|title=American Radio Relay League &#124; Ham Radio Association and Resources|archive-date=September 20, 2005|website=Arrl.org}}</ref>

===Early musical career===
After dropping out of high school in 1942, Atkins landed a job at [[WNML (AM)|WNOX (AM)]] (now WNML) radio in [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], where he played fiddle and guitar with the singer [[Bill Carlisle]] and the comic [[Archie Campbell (comedian)|Archie Campbell]] and became a member of the station's Dixieland Swingsters, a small swing instrumental combo. After three years, he moved to [[WLW|WLW-AM]] in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], where Merle Travis had formerly worked.

After six months, he moved to Raleigh and worked with [[Johnnie and Jack]] before heading for [[Richmond, Virginia]], where he performed with [[Sunshine Sue|Sunshine Sue Workman]]. Atkins's shy personality worked against him, as did the fact that his sophisticated style led many to doubt he was truly "country". He was fired often but was soon able to land another job at another radio station on account of his unique playing ability.<ref name="CG" />

Atkins and [[Jethro Burns]] (of [[Homer and Jethro]]) married twin sisters Leona and Lois Johnson, who sang as Laverne and Fern Johnson, the Johnson Sisters. Leona Atkins outlived her husband by eight years, dying in 2009 at the age of 85.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=3389 |title=Chet Atkins' Widow Dies |date=October 22, 2009 |work=Country Standard Time |access-date=October 29, 2011}}</ref>

Travelling to Chicago, Atkins auditioned for [[Red Foley]], who was leaving his star position on [[WLS (AM)|WLS-AM]]'s ''[[National Barn Dance]]'' to join the [[Grand Ole Opry]].<ref name="RollingStone">[https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5931727/chet_atkins_dies/print "Chet Atkins Dies"]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ''Rolling Stone''. Accessed on March 28, 2008.</ref> Atkins made his first appearance at the Opry in 1946 as a member of Foley's band. He also recorded a single for Nashville-based [[Bullet Records]] that year. That single, "Guitar Blues", was fairly progressive, including a clarinet solo by the Nashville dance band musician Dutch McMillin and produced by Jim Bulleit, founder of Bullet Records. He had a solo spot on the Opry, but when that was cut, Atkins moved on to [[KWTO (AM)|KWTO]] in [[Springfield, Missouri]]. Despite the support of executive [[Si Siman]], however, he soon was fired for not sounding "country enough".<ref name="CG" />

===Signing with RCA Victor===
While working with a Western band in [[Denver, Colorado]], Atkins came to the attention of [[RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor]]. Siman had been encouraging [[Stephen H. Sholes|Steve Sholes]] to sign Atkins, as his style (with the success of Merle Travis as a hit recording artist) was suddenly in vogue. Sholes, A&R director of country music at RCA, tracked Atkins down in Denver.

He made his first RCA Victor recordings in Chicago in 1947, but they did not sell. He did some studio work for RCA that year, but had relocated to Knoxville again where he worked with Homer and Jethro on WNOX's new Saturday night radio show ''The Tennessee Barn Dance'' and the popular ''Midday Merry Go Round''.

In 1949, he left WNOX to join [[June Carter]] with Mother Maybelle and the [[The Carter Sisters|Carter Sisters]] on KWTO. This incarnation of the [[Carter Family]] featured Maybelle Carter and daughters June, Helen, and Anita. Their work soon attracted attention from the Grand Ole Opry. The group relocated to [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] in the mid-1950s. Atkins began working on recording sessions and performing on [[WSM (AM)|WSM-AM]] and the Opry.<ref name="CG" /> Atkins became a member of the Opry in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Opry Timeline – 1950s
| url = http://www.opry.com/about/Timeline_1950.html
| access-date = July 2, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190330032424/https://www.opry.com/about/Timeline_1950.html
| archive-date = March 30, 2019
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

While he had not yet had a hit record for RCA Victor, his stature was growing. He began assisting Sholes as a session leader when the New York–based producer needed help organizing Nashville sessions for RCA Victor artists. Atkins's first hit single was "[[Mr. Sandman]]", followed by "Silver Bell", which he recorded as a duet with [[Hank Snow]]. His albums also became more popular. He was featured on ABC-TV's ''[[The Eddy Arnold Show]]'' in the summer of 1956 and on ''[[Ozark Jubilee|Country Music Jubilee]]'' in 1957 and 1958 (by then renamed ''Jubilee USA'').
[[File:Gretsch G6122-1958.jpg|thumb|upright|Atkins's [[Gretsch]] Country Gentleman, model G6122, 1962]]

In addition to recording, Atkins was a design consultant for [[Gretsch]], which manufactured a popular [[Gretsch 6120|Chet Atkins line of electric guitars]] from 1955 to 1980. He became manager of RCA Victor's Nashville studios, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary [[RCA Studio B]], the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous [[Music Row]]. Also later on, Chet and [[Owen Bradley]] would become instrumental in the creation of studio B's adjacent building [[RCA Studio A]] as well.<ref name="mamg" />

===Performer and producer===
When Sholes took over pop production in 1957—a result of his success with [[Elvis Presley]]—he put Atkins in charge of RCA Victor's Nashville division. With country music record sales declining as rock and roll became more popular, Atkins took his cue from [[Owen Bradley]] and eliminated fiddles and steel guitar from many recordings, though not all, as a means of making country singers appeal to pop fans, many of whom disliked the "twang" elements of country. This became known as the [[Nashville Sound]], which Atkins said was a label created by the media for a style of recording during that period intended to keep country (and their jobs) viable.

Atkins used the [[Jordanaires]] and a rhythm section on hits such as [[Jim Reeves]]'s "[[Four Walls (Jim Reeves song)|Four Walls]]" and "[[He'll Have to Go]]"<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r245817|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic entry for ''Welcome to My World'', Jim Reeves 1996 box set, Bear Family Records]</ref> and [[Don Gibson]]'s "[[Oh Lonesome Me]]" and "Blue Blue Day".<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1624|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic biography of Don Gibson]</ref> The once-rare phenomenon of having a country hit [[Crossover (music)|cross over]] to pop success became more common. He and Bradley had essentially put the producer in the driver's seat, guiding an artist's choice of material and the musical background. Other Nashville producers quickly copied this successful formula, which resulted in certain country hits "crossing over" to find success in the pop field.

Atkins made his own records, which usually visited pop standards and [[jazz]], in a sophisticated home studio, often recording the rhythm tracks at RCA and adding his solo parts at home, refining the tracks until the results satisfied him.<ref name="mamg" /> Guitarists of all styles came to admire various Atkins albums for their unique musical ideas and in some cases experimental electronic ideas. In this period, he became known internationally as "Mister Guitar", inspiring an album, ''[[Mister Guitar]]'', engineered by both Bob Ferris and [[Bill Porter (sound engineer)|Bill Porter]], Ferris's replacement.

[[File:RCA Studio B - Chet Atkins, Bill Porter.jpg|thumb|upright|Atkins listening as [[Bill Porter (sound engineer)|Bill Porter]] adjusts a mix in RCA's Nashville studio]]
At the end of March 1959, Porter took over as chief engineer at what was at the time RCA Victor's only Nashville studio, in the space that would become known as [[RCA Studio B|Studio B]] after the opening of a second studio in 1965. (At the time, RCA's sole Nashville studio had no letter designation.) Porter soon helped Atkins get a better reverberation sound from the studio's German effects device, an [[EMT 140]] [[Reverberation#Plate reverberators|plate reverb]]. With his [[golden ear]], Porter found the studio's acoustics to be problematic, and he devised a set of acoustic baffles to hang from the ceiling, then selected positions for microphones based on resonant [[room modes]]. The sound of the recordings improved significantly, and the studio achieved a string of successes. The Nashville sound became more [[Dynamic range|dynamic]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ballou|first=Glen|title=Handbook for Sound Engineers|year=1998|publisher=Focal Press|page=1154}}</ref> In later years, when Bradley asked how he achieved his sound, Atkins told him "it was Porter."<ref name=McClellan2004>{{cite book |last1=McClellan |first1=John |last2=Bratic |first2=Deyan |title=Chet Atkins in Three Dimensions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmCUExOXx0MC |volume=2 |year=2004 |publisher=Mel Bay Publications |isbn=978-0-7866-5877-0 |pages=149–152}}</ref> Porter described Atkins as respectful of musicians when recording—if someone was out of tune, he would not single that person out by name. Instead, he would say something like, "we got a little tuning problem&nbsp;... Everybody check and see what's going on."<ref name=McClellan2004/> If that did not work, Atkins would instruct Porter to turn the offending player down in the mix. When Porter left RCA in late-1964, Atkins said, "the sound was never the same, never as great."<ref name=McClellan2004/>

Atkins's trademark "Atkins style" of playing uses the thumb and first two or sometimes three fingers of the right hand. He developed this style from listening to Merle Travis,<ref name=pc10>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19758/m1/ |title=Show 10 – Tennessee Firebird: American Country Music Before and After Elvis. [Part 2] }}</ref> occasionally on a primitive radio. He was sure no one could play that articulately with just the thumb and index finger (which was exactly how Travis played), and he assumed it required the thumb and two fingers—and that was the style he pioneered and mastered.

He enjoyed jamming with fellow studio musicians, and they were asked to perform at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] in 1960. That performance was cancelled because of rioting, but a live recording of the group (''[[After the Riot in Newport|After the Riot at Newport]]'') was released. Atkins performed by invitation at the [[White House]] for every U.S. president from [[John F. Kennedy]] through to [[George H. W. Bush]]. Atkins was a member of the [[Million Dollar Band (country music group)|Million Dollar Band]] during the 1980s. He is also well known for his song "Yankee Doodle Dixie", in which he played "[[Yankee Doodle]]" and "[[Dixie (song)|Dixie]]" simultaneously, on the same guitar.

Before his mentor Sholes died in 1968, Atkins had become vice president of RCA's country division. In 1987, he told [[Nine-O-One Network Magazine|''Nine-O-One Network'' magazine]] that he was "ashamed" of his promotion: "I wanted to be known as a guitarist and I know, too, that they give you titles like that in lieu of money. So beware when they want to make you vice president."<ref>Nine-O-One Interview, Nine-O-One Network Magazine, December 1987, p.10-11</ref> He had brought [[Waylon Jennings]], [[Willie Nelson]], [[Connie Smith]], [[Bobby Bare]], [[Dolly Parton]], [[Jerry Reed]], and [[John Hartford]] to the label in the 1960s and inspired and helped countless others.<ref name="RockHall">[http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/chet-atkins "Chet Atkins"], Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Accessed on March 28, 2008.</ref> He took a considerable risk during the mid-1960s, when the [[civil rights movement]] sparked violence throughout the South, by signing country music's first African-American singer, [[Charley Pride]], who sang rawer country than the smoother music Atkins had pioneered.

Atkins's biggest hit single came in 1965, with "Yakety Axe", an adaptation of "[[Yakety Sax]]", by his friend, the saxophonist [[Boots Randolph]]. He rarely performed in those days and eventually hired other RCA producers, such as [[Bob Ferguson (music)|Bob Ferguson]] and [[Felton Jarvis]], to lessen his workload.<ref name="mamg" />

===Later career===
In the 1970s, Atkins became increasingly stressed by his executive duties. He produced fewer records, but could still turn out hits such as [[Perry Como]]'s 1973 pop hit "[[And I Love You So (song)|And I Love You So]]". He recorded extensively with close friend and fellow picker Jerry Reed, who had become a hit artist in his own right. A 1973 diagnosis of [[colorectal cancer|colon cancer]], however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA Records, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed or even Jethro Burns from Homer and Jethro (his brother-in-law) after Homer died in 1971.<ref name="mamg" /> Atkins would turn over his administrative duties to [[Jerry Bradley (music executive)|Jerry Bradley]], son of Owen, in 1973 at RCA.

Atkins did little production work at RCA after stepping down and in fact, had hired producers at the label in the 1960s, among them [[Bob Ferguson (musician)|Bob Ferguson]] and [[Felton Jarvis]]. As a recording artist, Atkins grew disillusioned with RCA in the late 1970s. He felt stifled because the record company would not let him branch into jazz. He had also produced late '60s jazz recordings by Canadian guitarist [[Lenny Breau]], a friend and protege. His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, [[Les Paul]], ''[[Chester and Lester|Chester & Lester]]'' and ''[[Guitar Monsters]]'', had already reflected that interest; ''Chester & Lester'' was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career. At the same time, he grew dissatisfied with the direction Gretsch (no longer family-owned) was going and withdrew his authorization for them to use his name and began designing guitars with [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]]. In 1982, Atkins ended his 35-year association with RCA Records and signed with rival [[Columbia Records]]. He produced his first album for Columbia in 1983.<ref name="RollingStone" />

Atkins had always been an ardent lover of jazz and throughout his career he was often criticized by "pure" country musicians for his jazz influences. He also said on many occasions that he did not like being referred to as a "country guitarist", insisting that he was "a guitarist, period." Although he played [[Playing by ear|by ear]] and was a masterful improviser, he was able to read music and even performed some classical guitar pieces. When [[Roger C. Field]], a friend, suggested to him in 1991 that he record and perform with a female singer, he did so with [[Suzy Bogguss]].<ref name="mamg"/>

Atkins returned to his country roots for albums he recorded with [[Mark Knopfler]] and Jerry Reed.<ref name="mamg" /> Knopfler had long mentioned Atkins as one of his earliest influences. Atkins also collaborated with Australian guitar legend [[Tommy Emmanuel]]. On being asked to name the ten most influential guitarists of the twentieth century, he named [[Django Reinhardt]] to the first position, and also placed himself on the list.<ref name="OfficialSite">{{Cite web |date=December 17, 1999 |title=Chet names the century's most influential guitarists |url=http://www.misterguitar.com/news/chetsten.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080712192238/http://www.misterguitar.com:80/news/chetsten.html |archive-date=2008-07-12 |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Chet Atkins: Mister Guitar}}</ref>

In later years, he returned to radio, appearing on [[Garrison Keillor]]'s ''[[Prairie Home Companion]]'' program, on [[American Public Media]] radio, even picking up a fiddle from time to time,<ref name="mamg" /> and performing songs such as [[Bob Wills]]'s "[[Corrina, Corrina (song)|Corrina, Corrina]]" and [[Willie Nelson]]'s "[[Seven Spanish Angels]]" with Nelson on a 1985 broadcast of the show at the [[Bridges Auditorium]] on the campus of [[Pomona College]].