| The Essential Chet Atkins | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 1946 - 1995 | |||
| Genre | Country, jazz | |||
| Label | Legacy | |||
| Producer | Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Daryl Dybka, Bob Ferguson, Charles Grean, Bob Irwin, Anita Kerr, Stephen H. Sholes, Mark Knopfler | |||
| Chet Atkins chronology | ||||
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The Essential Chet Atkins is a two-disc compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 2007 on the Legacy label.
The 40 tracks span Atkins' career from "Chet Atkins and the All-Star Hillbillies" ("Guitar Blues") released on Bullet Records to his last solo album Almost Alone ("Big Foot"). The selections include not only Chet's solo recordings and his duets with other guitar players, but also include songs he contributed to as a sideman. Songs with Maybelle Carter and The Carter Sisters, Eddy Arnold, The Everly Brothers, Don Gibson are represented in this collection. Duets include Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Lenny Breau, Les Paul and Mark Knopfler. This marked the first licensed US release of "Guitar Blues."
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Allmusic stated: "It might not be the ultimate Atkins compilation, given the sheer quantity of material the guitarist recorded. But it's a good — and, more crucially, very listenable — starting point for surveying his work as a solo artist."
Chester Burton Atkins, also known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang.
Jerry Reed Hubbard, known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included "Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", "A Thing Called Love", "Alabama Wild Man", "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot", "Ko-Ko Joe", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "East Bound and Down", "The Bird", and "She Got the Goldmine ".
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I am a Pilgrim" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his unique guitar style, still called "Travis picking" by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Finger-Style Guitar is the sixth studio album by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1956.
Chet Atkins' discography is large and diverse. Not only did he release principal studio albums as a solo artist, he was a prolific and much sought-after collaborator. He also played as a sideman on many more. His major collaborations were with Hank Snow, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, The Country All-Stars, The Nashville String Band, Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Lenny Breau, Les Paul, Mark Knopfler, Suzy Bogguss, Floyd Cramer, Johnny Gimble, and Tommy Emmanuel. He frequently guested on a track or two with other friends. Several of his recordings won or were nominated for Grammy Awards.
Down Home is the nineteenth studio album by American guitarist Chet Atkins.
Guitar Country is the twenty-fourth studio album by American guitarist Chet Atkins. It was nominated for the 1964 Best Country & Western Album Grammy award but did not win. It reached number 1 on the Country albums charts. Prior to 1964, there was no separate genre chart for Country LPs, thus Chet's previous charting albums were on the Pop charts. Numerous future Atkins releases "crossed over" from the Country and Pop charts.
The Atkins–Travis Traveling Show is the title of a recording by guitarists Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, released by RCA Records in 1974. The two musical legends team up on 11 songs, earning the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance. Rehearsed in Nashville, this album was recorded in California.
Me & Jerry is the first duet studio album by Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, released by RCA Records in 1970. Consisting of pop, country and standards, this collaboration won the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
Me & Chet is the title of the follow-up to Me & Jerry, the successful duet recording by Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed. It was nominated for the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance but did not win. Chet's solo release Chet Atkins Picks on the Hits was also nominated in the same category. It reached No. 24 on the Billboard Country Album charts.
World's Greatest Melodies is an album by The Nashville String Band. The band consisted of Chet Atkins and Homer and Jethro.
Heroes & Friends is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Randy Travis. It was released on August 31, 1990 by Warner Records. Except for the title track, every song on this album is a duet with another recording artist. "A Few Ole Country Boys" and the title track were both released as singles from this album, peaking at numbers 8 and 3, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts in 1990.
Superpickers is a 1974 album by guitarist Chet Atkins and top recording session players in Nashville, TN.
Guitar Legend: The RCA Years is a two-disc compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins. The 50 tracks included here focus on his first recordings in 1947 to the 1977 release Nashville Guitar Quartet.
The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years is a compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins. The 15 tracks included here are from his recordings on the Columbia label from 1983 to the 1997. The tracks have all been digitally remastered.
Galloping Guitar: The Early Years is a multi-disc box-set retrospective recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1993 on the Bear Family label.
The Best of Chet Atkins & Friends is a compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1976. It peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Country Albums charts in 1977.
Walkin' the Strings was the first solo acoustic guitar album by Merle Travis, released in 1960 but recorded in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Travis was at the peak of his performing abilities. It is widely regarded as one of Travis's finest musical achievements.
Chet Picks on the Grammys is a compilation recording by American guitarist Chet Atkins. The 13 tracks are all recordings of songs that won Grammy awards from 1967 to 1996. The songs either won a Grammy individually or were included on an album that won.
The Complete Living Room Tapes is a compilation album by Canadian guitarist Lenny Breau and clarinetist Brad Terry that was released in 2003.
