{"id":14481,"date":"2020-03-11T16:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T23:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=14481"},"modified":"2020-03-11T16:22:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T23:22:00","slug":"how-country-guitar-king-chet-atkins-helped-popularize-classical-repertoire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/how-country-guitar-king-chet-atkins-helped-popularize-classical-repertoire\/","title":{"rendered":"How Country Guitar King Chet Atkins Helped Popularize Classical Repertoire"},"content":{"rendered":"
FROM THE WINTER 2017 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/a> | BY JOHN PATYKULA | PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PEIRCE, COURTESY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ARCHIVES<\/h6>\n

In 1967, Chet Atkins,<\/span> the 43-year-old guitar virtuoso, could already look back on a life filled with accomplishments. He had gone from his \u201cstarving days\u201d as a struggling musician making $3 a night, to fame and fortune, earning $22,000 for a concert. He was known internationally as \u201cMr. Guitar,\u201d as well as vice-president of RCA in Nashville. When asked in an interview that year about his future, Atkins replied: \u201cI want to enjoy life and learn to play the guitar better. I want to play the classical guitar.\u201d He loved the classical guitar, and it is to his credit that this high school drop-out with no formal musical training had the talent, drive, and discipline to explore the demanding art of that instrument. In his early days, Chet Atkins (1924-2001) was hired as a \u201ccountry guitarist\u201d for radio shows in various cities, but he was often fired because he \u201cwas not commercial enough.\u201d Still, during these difficult times, he began to evolve as a guitarist, influenced not only by guitar greats Les Paul and Django Reinhardt, but also by other musicians and styles that caught his ear. He was searching and discovering new possibilities for his playing.<\/p>\n

Atkins\u2019 interest in the classical guitar and classical music can be traced through his extensive discography, which includes over 100 albums. Atkins recorded his first album for RCA Victor in 1952. Although he had some success with singles during his early recording days, his albums sold more than the singles. None of his early recordings included any classical music. A turning point was the 1956 album Chet Atkins in Three Dimensions<\/i>, which included light classics along with his regular popular fare. Noel Digby\u2019s liner notes state that Atkins was \u201csearching for perfection, broader vision, greater dimension\u201d in his playing. For the first time, Atkins demonstrated his ability on the classical guitar, playing a Minuet and Prelude by J.S. Bach. On these and other classical selections, including some played on the electric guitar, Atkins displayed, as Digby wrote,\u00a0 <\/span>\u201ca unique mastery of and a great sensitivity for the delicate and the intricate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Other Chet Atkins<\/i><\/a>, recorded in 1960, was the first time Atkins used a classical guitar for all of the selections on an album. Although none of the selections were \u201cclassical\u201d per se, he ably demonstrated that he was comfortable with classical guitar techniques, which he used in his arrangements of Latin American favorites such as\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMaria Elena,\u201d \u201cDelicado,\u201d and \u201cQuiereme Mucho.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Christmas with Chet Atkins<\/i><\/a> (1961) is still considered one of the best Christmas instrumental albums, and commercially it was one of Atkins\u2019 top-selling records. The whole second half of this album features Atkins on the classical guitar playing such favorites as \u201cSilent Night,\u201d \u201cThe First Noel,\u201d and \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy\u201d; each carol performed in a style that combined both craftsmanship and emotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years later, Atkins recorded the Caribbean Guitar<\/i><\/a> album, which featured Antonio Lauro\u2019s famous Venezuelan Dance No. 3<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>under the guise of \u201cMayan Dance.\u201d Atkins, who played his electric guitar for this piece, displayed a very clean technique, adding orchestral accompaniment and his own improvisation of the melody. <\/span><\/p>\n