Editing Chet Atkins (section)

===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>