Biography

Without Chet Atkins, country music may never have crossed over into the pop charts in the '50s and '60s. Although he recorded hundreds of solo records, Atkins' largest influence came as a session musician and a record producer. During the '50s and '60s, he helped create the Nashville sound, a style of country music that owed nearly as much to pop as it did to honky tonks. As a guitarist, he was without parallel. His style grew out of his admiration for Merle Travis, expanding Travis' signature syncopated thumb and fingers roll into new territory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Top Tracks

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• Amazing Grace

• Anna

• Avalon

• Barber Shop Rag

• Begin The Beguine

• Birth Of The Blues

• Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain

• Boo Boo Stick Beat

• Canned Heat

• Caravan

• Cascade

• Cheek To Cheek

• Chinook Winds

• Country Gentleman

• Country Gentlemen

• Dance Of The Goldenrod

• 'deed I Do

• Dill Pickles Rag

• Dixie Mcguire

• Django's Castle

• Early Times

• Estrellita

• Flop Eared Mule And Other

• Galloping On The Guitar

• Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad

• Green, Green Grass Of Home

• Hidden Charm

• Hot Mocking Bird

• I Still Can't Say Goodbye

• I Still Write Your Name In The Snow

• I'll See You In My Dreams

• Imagine

• In The Chapel In The Moonlight

• In The Pines

• Indian Love Call

• It Don't Mean A Thing (if It Ain't Got That Swing)

• It's Now Or Never

• Jingle Bell Rock

• Jitterbug Waltz

• Josephine

• Kicky

• La Dolce Vita

• Lazy River

• Liza (all The Clouds'll Roll Away)

• Make The World Go Away

• Malaguena

• Maria Elena

• Medley: The Battle Of New Orleans/sugarfoot Rag

• Medley: The Coventry Carol/god Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen

• Michelle

• Mister Sandman

• Mr. Bojangles

• Mr. Sandman

• Mystery Train

• Night Train

• Ode To Mel Bay

• One Man Boogie

• One Mint Julep

• Peeping Tom

• Poor Boy Blues

• Portugese Washerwoman

• Prancin' Filly

• Road To Gundaghi/waltzing Matilda

• San Antonio Stroll

• Scotland

• Sidewalks Of Nashville

• Silver Bell

• Silver Bells

• Skirts Of Mexico

• Sleep

• Sleep Walk

• Someday My Prince Will Come

• Someone's Last Day

• Song For Anna

• Spanish Fandango

• St. Louis Blues

• Struttin'

• Swanee River

• Swedish Rhapsody

• Take Five

• Tammy

• Teensville

• Tennessee Stud

• The Bells Of St. Mary's

• The Claw

• The Nashville Jump

• The Old Rugged Cross

• The Streets Of Laredo

• Theme From "picnic"

• Third Man Theme

• Tip Toe Through The Bluegrass

• Travelin'

• Twichy

• Unchained Melody

• Under The Hickory Nut Tree

• Volare

• Walk Don't Run

• When They Ring The Golden Bells

• Winter Wonderland

• Yakety Axe

• Yellow Bird

• Yesterday

• Yesterdays

• You Belong To Me

• You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

• You're Always Brand New

Discography

• Click on the album to launch in Spotify

• The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World

  Sony Music Distribution

  1997

• Almost Alone

  Columbia / Sony Music Distribution

  1996

• Read My Licks

  Columbia

  1994

• Simpatico

  Liberty / Liberty

  1994

• Sneakin' Around

  Columbia

  1991

• C.G.P.

  Columbia

  1988

• Sails

  Columbia

  1987

• Street Dreams

  Columbia

  1986

• Stay Tuned

  Columbia

  1985

• Work It Out With Chet Atkins C.G.P.

  CBS Records

  1983

• Reflections

  Sugar Hill

  1980

• First Nashville Guitar Quartet

  RCA

  1979

• Me and My Guitar

  1977

• Guitar Monsters

  RCA

  1976

• The Night Atlanta Burned

  RCA

  1975

• In Concert

  RCA

  1975

• Atkins-Travis Traveling Show

  BMG International

  1974

• Chet Atkins Picks on Jerry Reed

  RCA

  1974

• Alone

  RCA

  1973

• This Is Chet Atkins

  RCA

  1971

• Chet Picks the Pops

  RCA

  1970

• Me & Jerry

  1970

• Solid Gold '70

  RCA

  1970

• Yestergroovin'

  RCA

  1970

• Lovers Guitar

  RCA

  1969

• Solid Gold '69

  RCA

  1969

• Chet Atkins & C E Snow

  RCA

  1969

• Chet Picks on the Pops

  1969

• Solid Gold '68

  RCA

  1968

• Solo Flights

  1968

• It's a Guitar World

  RCA

  1967

• From Nashville with Love

  RCA

  1966

• The Pops Goes Country

  1966

• More of That Guitar Country

  RCA

  1965

• My Favorite Guitars

  1964

• Guitar Country

  1964

• Progressive Pickin'

  1964

• Travelin'

  1963

• Our Man in Nashville

  1963

• Teen Scene

  1963

• Down Home

  RCA

  1962

• Caribbean Guitar

  1962

• Chet Atkins' Workshop

  1961

• The Most Popular Guitar

  1961

• Teensville

  BMG International

  1960

• The Other Chet Atkins

  BMG International

  1960

• Chet Atkins in Hollywood [#1]

  JVC XRCD / JVC/XRCD

  1959

• Hum & Strum Along With Chet Atkins

  1959

• Mister Guitar

  1959

• Chet Atkins at Home

  U'Ground Connection

  1957

• Finger Style Guitar

  1956

• Stringin' Along with Chet Atkins [LP Version]

  RCA

  1956

• Chet Atkins in Three Dimensions

  1955

• A Session with Chet Atkins

  RCA

  1954

• Stringin' Along with Chet Atkins [10-Inch Version]

  1953