Chet Atkins once said that all he ever wanted to be was a famous guitarist.
If that were all he had accomplished in his 77 years, it would have
been enough. He taught himself to fingerpick by listening to every kind
of music and figured out how to play it all in a way that made people
want to listen. He never forgot the music of his East Tennessee origins—the
sweet, tragic songs and fiddle tunes—even when his concert repertoire
included sophisticated jazz tunes and classical pieces played with symphony
orchestras. His pure sound encouraged people all over the world to devote
their lives to playing guitar, adding his name to the short list of
Pickers Who Taught the World to Play.
Before there were transcription books and instructional videos, only
the most patient and determined succeeded in emulating Atkins’ great
tone and fastidious technique. Jim Nichols began learning Atkins’ repertoire
in the late 1950s when (at age 11) he heard Duane Eddy play an Atkins
original called "Trambone." By mimicking Eddy’s track and then patiently
studying as many Chet Atkins albums as he could get his hands on, Nichols
painstakingly unraveled the intricacies and mastered the style. His
great skill eventually brought him in personal contact with Atkins,
who loved to hear how others interpreted his arrangements and techniques.
"He had such a great touch on the guitar," Nichols says. "When we’d
play at his office, he’d invariably hand me one of his good guitars,
and he’d play a cheap classical guitar. No matter what guitar he played,
he made it sound beautiful. He also had a great ear for tone—he could
probably plug into a clock radio and dial in some kind of decent sound
on the thing, just by using his intuition, which was the same thing
that guided him in the studio."
Richard Smith is another guitarist who devoted himself to the Atkins
style at a young age. Growing up near London, Smith got interested in
the music through his father, who played guitar and loved listening
to records by Atkins and the Kentucky-born Merle Travis, Atkins’ primary
fingerpicking inspiration. Now a resident of Nashville, Smith says that
he was mesmerized by Atkins’ keen sense of taste and perfection.
"We’d play tapes in the car, and the melodies were so recognizable
that I’d sing along to the licks," he recalls. "Because Chet had such
great taste, everything was in the right place, everything was correct.
It just sounded right to me. There are lots of ways to play many of
the tunes that he played, but when he did it, it was like, ‘Man—that’s
the way it should be.’ I don’t think anyone else has mixed so many influences
and come up with such a perfect all-around style. It’s so difficult
to improve upon. You can make it different, but I don’t think you can
make it better."
Perhaps the most geographically distant example of Atkins’ powerful
musical influence is Australia’s Tommy Emmanuel, who told this year’s
Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention the story of how he was
mesmerized by Atkins’ playing. One of the most accomplished fingerpickers
in the world today, Emmanuel began playing the guitar while touring
the outback as a kid in a working band with his brothers and sister.
Atkins’ music reached Emmanuel’s ears via the radio and records.
"Back when I was 17 years old, I was in a small town in the center
of Australia, surrounded by the desert," Emmanuel told a rapt audience
during an extended musical homage to Atkins that also included performances
by Nichols, Smith, Guy Van Duser, and others. "There was a little music
shop there, and they had a brand-new copy of Chet’s For the Good
Times and Other Country Moods. It just so happened that we were
leaving that day to travel out to some aboriginal missions. It was a
long drive and I knew we’d have to stop overnight. I was very fortunate
because I had a record player that ran on electricity or battery power.
So I got the album and went to the supermarket and bought a big bag
of batteries. We drove about 300 miles in the dust and the heat until
about 11 o’clock at night. We finally stopped and made camp, and everybody
went to bed. There I was, in a hurry to get my batteries out and get
the record player going. I carefully untaped the plastic wrapping and
took out that beautiful, perfect new vinyl and put it on the turntable.
I’ll never forget that moment. As soon as I heard ‘Chaplin in New Shoes,’
that was it. The next thing I knew it was time for breakfast. The night
went just like that! There was no time. I was in his world. That’s where
I loved to be, and that’s what kept me sane amidst the madness of touring
in the outback."
In the Producer’s Chair
When it occurred to record company executives in the 1950s that it
would make sense to record country artists (many of whom were Opry regulars)
in Nashville instead of Chicago, Cincinnati, or New York, studios were
built and experienced musicians with an ear for good songs, a flair
for arrangements, and some knowledge of electronics were in high demand.
Atkins had all of that going for him and, as far as Steve Sholes at
RCA Records was concerned, he was the best person to supervise a new
country music division for the label. His subsequent track record as
an A&R man and producer from 1960 to 1975 is impressive to say the
least. The list of artists he helped launch to stardom includes Jerry
Reed, Waylon Jennings, Don Gibson, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Jim
Reeves, and Charley Pride, to name only a few.
Also on that list is singer Eddy Arnold. Atkins produced hundreds of
songs for Arnold at RCA, including such hits as "Make the World Go Away,"
and "You Don’t Know Me." Arnold said that Atkins’ rendition of "Cold,
Cold Heart" with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra is one
of his all-time favorite recordings.
"Chet was such a calm person, which puts an artist at ease," Arnold
said. "He never raised his voice, but people always respected what he
had to say. He loved good stories. Chet was a very well-read man. He
could talk to you on just about any subject you’d care to bring up.
He was far beyond just being a country guitar player. He could play
anything, and he practiced a lot."
These days Joe Galante is chairman of RCA’s Nashville group. He and
Jerry Bradley succeeded Atkins in the mid-1970s and continued building
RCA’s large share of the country music market.
"For a period of 15 years, the biggest and the best that came out of
the label were acts that Chet either signed or produced," Galante said.
"So you have almost two decades where what he did set the course of
our future. And Chet’s records continue to be an inspiration for so
many people. There are two parts to him, the executive and the artist,
and he was able to balance both in a very difficult environment."
Each year he was in that environment, Atkins produced up to 30 artists
while turning out at least two of his own albums. By the time he decided
to cash in his executive chips and be a full-time guitar player again,
the modest enterprise he and other key Nashville producers (such as
Owen Bradley and Paul Cohen) built from scratch had transformed the
Athens of the South into Music City, USA.
Harold Bradley played guitar on dozens of the sessions his brother
Owen produced for Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, and others. He remembered
Atkins’ vision of Nashville long before the city became what it is today.
"Back when I was working in the studios, Chet and Owen had an overall
picture of what this city could be," Bradley said. "Chet’s heart was
here, and he was such a great emissary for us."
Most people would have been happy just to enjoy the view from such
a lofty plateau, but Atkins used his departure from RCA as an opportunity
to revitalize his image and his music by exploring a more contemporary
style of instrumental music similar to what he liked on records by Earl
Klugh and Larry Carlton. He had already recorded several historic collaborations
with guitarists such as Lenny Breau, Les Paul, Doc Watson, and his old
friend Merle Travis. By then a new generation of players, including
Klugh, Carlton, Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, and Tommy Emmanuel,
were eager to go into the studio and give something back to the man
who had given them so much. Once again, Atkins listened carefully and
brought out the best of whomever was in the other chair.
For the Good Times
On July 3, hundreds of people gathered at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown
Nashville to attend a beautiful memorial for the man who dazzled Grand
Ole Opry audiences dozens of times on the very stage where his casket,
guitar, and photo were now displayed. Some of Atkins’ favorite Nashville
musicians, including Paul Yandell, Steve Wariner, Marty Stuart, David
Hungate, Mark Casstevens, and Vince Gill, performed for a tearful assembly
of family members, longtime friends, associates, and fans. Garrison
Keillor, who featured Atkins on numerous Prairie Home Companion
broadcasts, offered some insights during an eloquent eulogy while Pat
Donohue played softly behind him.
"He was the model of who you should be and what you should look like,"
Keillor said. "You could tell it whenever he picked up a guitar, the
way it fit him. His upper body was shaped to it, from a lifetime of
playing. His back was slightly hunched, his shoulders rounded, and the
guitar was the missing piece. He was an artist and there was no pretense
in him; he never waved the flag or held up the cross or traded on his
own sorrows. He was the guitarist."
In the years preceding his death, Atkins had enjoyed the ultimate reward:
being honored and loved by a global community of guitarists and fans.
One of the more visible expressions of that honor is a gorgeous, limited-edition
hardcover book written and published by Michael and Russ Cochran called
Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars. In addition to offering a lavishly
photographed history of the guitars Atkins owned, played, and helped
design throughout his career, the text includes a wealth of recollections
and commentary from the man himself as he reflected on his extraordinary
life. Near the end of the book, he offered these parting thoughts:
"Each generation has its innovators who carry the legacy further, and
our combined knowledge grows and gets passed on as the guitar’s secrets
are revealed, one by one. I am not the greatest guitarist, but I am
very proud of the part I’ve played in history. Years from now, after
I’m gone, someone will listen to what I’ve done and know I was here.
They may not know or care who I was, but they’ll hear my guitars speaking
for me, and maybe they’ll understand something. That’s the way it’s
supposed to be. The players come and go, but the music lives on, and
eternity will take care of the rest."
Selected Discography
CHET ATKINS
Guitar Country / More of That Guitar Country (two-CD
set), Collectables 2819 (2001), www.oldies.com.
Guitar Legend: The RCA Years (two-CD set), Buddha 74465
(2000).
Finger Style Guitar / Stringin’ Along with Chet Atkins
(two-CD set), One Way 35128 (1998), www.aent.com/oneway.
Almost Alone, Columbia 67497 (1996).
Sails, Columbia 40593 (1987).
WITH OTHERS
Reflections (with Doc Watson), Sugar Hill 3896 (1999,
recorded in 1980).
Me and Chet / Me and Jerry (with Jerry Reed, two-CD set),
One Way 35127 (1998).
Chester and Lester / Guitar Monsters (with Les Paul,
two-CD set), One Way 35120 (1998).
The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World (with Tommy
Emmanuel), Columbia 67915 (1997).
Neck and Neck (with Mark Knopfler), Columbia 45307 (1990).
Excerpted
from Acoustic
Guitar magazine, December 2001, No. 108.
That
issue also contained a transcription of Atkins' arrangement of the John
D. Loudermilk classic "Windy and Warm" and some tips on learning Atkins-style
fingerpicking. The issue also included a feature on Mary Chapin Carpenter,
a profile of Irish guitarist John Doyle, a review of guitars for kids,
lots of music to play, and more.
