And His Guitar/The Guitar Genius

Performer: Chet Atkins
Distributor: Gotham Distributing Corp.

Notes: 2 LPs on 1 CD: CHET ATKINS AND HIS GUITAR: THE EARLY YEARS (1961)/GUITAR GENIUS (1963). Chet Atkins was one of the greatest guitar innovators of all time. Atkins is heard on this two-for-one disc playing no less than 22 superb "countrypolitan" tracks. On this collection, one of the finest tunes is Atkins's version of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," where the revered guitarist brings out the country roots in this song through his dazzling Travis picking style. However, nowhere on this disc is Atkins's playing more virtuosic than on "Kentucky Derby," a song that borrows generously from the famous "William Tell Overture." (The horse-galloping sound is imitated here by an uncredited person slapping their legs.) Atkins is not a one-trick pony, though; he dabbles in a handful of stylistic changes on these albums. For example, "Mountain Melody" and "Darling, Je Vois Aime Beaucoup" combine country swing with French jazz a la Django Reinhardt. On a few of these tracks, Atkins even sings, and his warm baritone voice is particularly effective on the upbeat, chestnut, "Swanee River."

Among fingerstyle country guitar players, perhaps only Merle Travis can rival Chet Atkins, whose distinctive sound defined an entire generation of Nashville country. Atkins has played an equally important role as a record producer. As RCA's chief Nashville producer in the '50s and '60s, Atkins oversaw sessions for Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Jim Reeves, Don Gibson, and countless others. He was one of the chief architects of the polished country style that came to be known as the "Nashville sound," but his own productions were more tasteful and appealing than those for which the genre is frequently lambasted. Atkins remained active into the '90s, but succumbed to cancer in 2001.

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