Atkins, Chet (Chester Burton Atkins), 1924–2001, American country guitarist, singer, and record company executive, b. Luttrell, Tenn. Part of a musical family, he played fiddle and guitar as a youngster and performed professionally while still a teenager. His distinctive guitar-picking style involved using three fingers to pick out the melody while the thumb supplied the bass. A respected studio musician during the 1940s, Atkins became well known after his debut (1950) on the Grand Ole Opry radio show and, in the years that followed released some 100 solo albums and contributed to many more. He also was (1957–82) an important record producer and executive at RCA's Nashville division. Through his music and that of those with whom he performed and whom he produced—including Elvis Presley Presley, Elvis, 1935–77, American popular singer, b. Tupelo, Miss. Exposed to gospel music from childhood, Presley began playing guitar before his adolescence. He first recorded in 1953, became a national sensation by 1956, and dominated rock music until 1963.
..... Click the link for more information. , the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Waylon Jennings, and Dolly Parton Parton, Dolly, 1946–, country singer, songwriter, and actress, b. Sevier County, Tenn. Among the most popular country singers of the 1970s and 80s, Parton is known for her Nashville-style flamboyance, talent for self-parody, and intelligent and witty approach
..... Click the link for more information. —Atkins helped shape the "Nashville sound" and transform the city into the center of the country music industry. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973 and received 14 Grammy awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award (1993).

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Chet Atkins: Country Gentleman (1974); biography by R. O'Donnell (1976).

Atkins, Chet

orig. Chester Burton Atkins

(born June 20, 1924, Luttrell, Tenn., U.S.—died June 30, 2001, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. guitarist and record company executive. Atkins began his musical career as a fiddler in the early 1940s, but it was his signature style of playing guitar (bass rhythm played with thumb, melody picked with three fingers) that brought him worldwide acclaim. In the early 1950s he began playing electric guitar, pioneering its use in country music. As an RCA Records executive, he produced hit recordings for Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, and Waylon Jennings.

Atkins, (Chester Burton) Chet (1924– ) guitarist, record producer; born near Luttrell, Tenn. In the 1940s he performed with the Carter Family and Red Foley and first appeared in the "Grand Ole Opry." In Nashville in the 1950s he made the electric guitar popular as a solo instrument for country music. As a producer for RCA he promoted such singers as Hank Snow and Waylon Jennings, reviving country music in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1982 he began recording for CBS records.