“Everything I've ever done was out of fear of being mediocre.” ~ Chet Atkins

A pioneering Nashville record producer recognised as one of the main architects of the late 1950s ‘Nashville Sound’ and a successful record label executive. The most recorded solo instrumentalist in history, the quiet unassuming Chet Atkins was initially an aspiring vocalist when he was signed to an RCA Records back in 1948. With more than 100 albums to his credit, covering all styles of music, he has been a major influence on such guitar players as George Harrison, Albert Lee, Eric Clapton, and thousands more guitar-ace wannabes. ~ AlanCackett.com: Chet Atkins ~ retrieved December 4, 2015 © Alan Cackett

Chet Atkins ~ Ranked #21 Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists in 2011 ~ As a record executive and producer in the Sixties, Chet Atkins invented the popwise “Nashville sound” that rescued country music from a commercial slump. As a guitarist, he was even more inventive, mastering country, jazz and classical styles and perfecting the ability to play chords and melody simultaneously, thanks to his distinctive thumb-and-three-finger picking style. “A lot of it was trial and error,” Atkins told Rolling Stone in 1976. “I just had a damn guitar in my hands 16 hours a day, and I experimented all the time.” . ~ 2011 © Rolling Stone