Chet Atkins Caricature

Chet Atkins Caricature, shown here in a recording session at the RCA Studio B in Nashville, 1962, age 38 with his legendary “Electrotone” (sealed-top) Gretsch 6120 amber-orange double-cutaway.
Chester Burton Atkins was an American musician, occasional vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, who among others, created the country music style that came to be known as the “Nashville Sound”, which expanded country music's appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily known as a guitarist. He also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele.

As a youth, Atkins, because of his asthma, was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he played his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life.
His half-brother Jim, was a successful guitarist who worked with the Les Paul Trio in New York.
Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939, when (while still living in Georgia) he heard Merle Travis picking over WLW radio. This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style. Whereas Travis' right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right-hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.

Chet Atkins was a ham radio general class licensee, formerly using the call sign WA4CZD.
In addition to recording, in 1955, Atkins was a design consultant for Gretsch, which manufactured a popular Chet Atkins line of electric guitars until 1980. He became manager of RCA Victor's Nashville studio, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary RCA Studio B, the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous Music Row.
Studio B has also been home to numerous innovations in recording practices, including the development of the “Nashville number system,” a musician’s shorthand for notating a song’s chord structure, which facilitates the creation of individual parts while retaining the integrity of the song.

Atkins spent most of his career at RCA Victor and played/produced records for the Browns, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings, and many others.
He is heard on iconic recordings like Hank Williams' “Your Cheatin' Heart,” Elvis Presley's “Heartbreak Hotel” and several of the Everly Brothers' early hits.
Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 21 on their list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.”

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Atkins married his wife, Leona Johnson Atkins in 1946 and remained married until his death in 2001 at age 77 from colon cancer.