This placed Atkins in charge of the label’s Nashville division as country music record sales went into a state of decline as rock and roll grew in popularity. Starting in 1957, there was a shift in management with RCI Victor due to the success of Elvis Presley. Soon afterward, his popularity was growing where it was only a matter of time the country gentleman would taste some real success in the music industry.

In 1949, he joined June Carter and the Carter Family that would ultimately lead him to Nashville and its Grand Ole Opry. Chet Atkins made his first recording out of Chicago in 1947 but they were not sellers. It wouldn’t be until he caught RCA Victor’s attention while in Denver, Colorado. However, finding new work wasn’t difficult for Atkins as his unique playing ability was enough to impress new employers in the beginning. Before Chet Atkins was finally taken seriously as a world-class musician, he often found himself fired by radio stations and other entertainment venues as they felt his style wasn’t country enough for their liking. Chet remained married to his wife until he died on June 30, 2001. The Johnson Sisters were also performers at the time Atkins and Burns met their wives. Am I Country Enough Now?Ĭhet Atkins married Leona Johnson, the twin sister of Lois Johnson who married Jethro Burns of Homer and Jethro fame. This, essentially, is what gave Chet Atkins another nickname, which was The Country Gentleman. Due to the shy personality of Chet Atkins, along with the sophisticated manner he carried himself, his peers didn’t take him seriously enough as a potential country music star. While there, he performed with Sunshine Sue Workman. Six months after that he moved to Raleigh, then to Richmond, Virginia. Three years later, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to work at the same radio station his idol, Merle Travis, previously worked. He later became a member of the station’s instrumental group, Dixieland Swingsters. He played the fiddle and guitar with the singer, Bill Carlisle, and the comedian, Archie Campbell. In 1942, Chet Atkins dropped out of high school, landing a job at a radio station in Knoxville. He even designated himself as a Certified Guitar Picker, a trademark that has since become an Atkins Family legacy. This trait would earn him the nickname of Mr. The cause for the influence came from hearing Merle Travis on the radio, inspiring Atkins to expand his right-hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, along with his thumb on bass. Certifiableĭespite his talent with the guitar, Chet Atkins didn’t begin developing his own solid style until 1939. His half-brother, Jim Atkins, established himself as a member of New York’s Les Paul Trio. Chet Atkins wasn’t the only sibling in the family to become a successful guitarist.

Later, he purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp but found he had to travel in order to find an electrical outlet as his family home didn’t have one at the time. While in high school, Atkins became quite an accomplished guitarist, often using the school washroom to practice as he felt it offered good acoustics. Throughout the entire course of Chet Atkins’ life, this was a habit that stayed with him. In order to cope with his health issues, he became obsessed with music, playing the guitar while forced to sleep on a straight-back chair just so he could breathe comfortably.

Chet Atkins did, however, relocate to Georgia to stay with his father due to a critical asthma condition he suffered from. According to Aktins, his family was so poor that when the Great Depression ravaged Americans during the 1930s it really didn’t seem to make any real difference in his eyes at the time. As a child, he began to play the ukulele, then the fiddle, before trading with his brother for a guitar. When he was just six years old, his parents divorced that saw him and his three older siblings mostly raised by their mother. This Top 10 Chet Atkins Songs list presents the best Chet Atkins songs including “The Entertainer,” “Jam Man” “Yakety Axe” and many more.Chester Burton Atkins was born on Jin Luttrell, Tennessee, which is near Clinch Mountain.

Yakety axe chords