Class Guitar (Remastered) Chet Atkins

• 1 Yellow Bird (Instrumental) 03:13
• 2 Malaguenas (Instrumental) 02:45
• 3 Morenita Do Brazil (Instrumental) 03:00
• 4 Testament Of Amelia (Instrumental) 01:51
• 5 Acutely Cute (Instrumental) 02:06
• 6 Medley: Little Music Box (La Alborada) / Lagrima (Instrumental) 03:38
• 7 El Humahuagueno (Carnavalito) (Instrumental) 03:00
• 8 Ave Maria (Instrumental) 02:52
• 9 Scherzino Mexicano (Instrumental) 02:39
• 10 Manha De Carnaval (Theme From "Black Orpheus") (Instrumental) 02:43
• 11 Cancion Triste (Sad Song) (Instrumental) 02:28
• 12 To Be In Love (Instrumental) 02:10
• 13 I Feel Pretty (From "West Side Story") (Instrumental) 02:21
• Total Runtime 34:46

Info for Class Guitar (Remastered)

One of the most striking things about the architects of the Nashville Sound is that their music has stood the test of time so well. Chet Atkins is one of those architects. The works of Chet Atkins have remained in print to touch era after era of music lovers with their freshness, spark and inventiveness.

Known as "Mr. Guitar," Chet Atkins is the most recorded solo instrumentalist in music history. As a studio musician, his string-tickling work has gilded the records of Elvis Presley, Kitty Wells, The Everly Brothers, Hank Williams and dozens of other Nashville legends. His style influenced such pop greats as Mark Knopfler, Duane Eddy, George Harrison, The Ventures, George Benson and Eddie Cochran, as well as thousands of country pickers. He has won nine CMA Awards as Musician of the Year, four Playboy jazz poll honors and thirteen Grammies, more than any other artist in the history of country music. …

As the head of RCA Records, he propelled an entire generation of country stars to fame -- Dottie West, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Charley Pride and Eddy Arnold were all signed and/or produced by Chet. He built RCA Studio B, said to be the most hit-generating studio in the history of Music Row. The name of Chet Atkins is synonymous with The Nashville Sound. (Bob Oermann)

His albums are also highly regarded by audiophiles, as many of them were well-recorded and sound terrific. They also, by and large, just make for great listening. By the late 1960s, his pop chart activity was mostly behind him, but most of his releases sold well on the country charts.

Class Guitar, released in 1967, was one of those albums that sold “pretty well” by the standards of the day, reaching #26 on the country charts and #189 on the pop charts.

Chet Atkins, guitar

Recorded 1967 at RCA "Nashville Sound" Studio, Nashville, TN
Engineered by Jim Malloy
Produced by Bob Ferguson, Chet Atkins

Digitally remastered

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 96 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 192 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Chet Atkins
one of country music’s greatest instrumentalists, producers, and promoters of the Nashville Sound, was born the son of a fiddler in Luttrell, Union County in 1924. He took up guitar at an early age but first performed on Knoxville’s WNOX as a fiddler, a sideman for Johnnie Wright and Jack Anglin, and Kitty Wells. Atkins moved on to Cincinnati’s WLW, Nashville’s WSM, and Springfield, Missouri’s KWTO, backing artists such as the Carter Sisters and Red Foley during the 1940s.

In 1950 Steve Sholes of RCA offered the guitarist his first contract. Atkins returned to Nashville and immediately became a prominent studio artist. His musical talents and friendship with Sholes led to his appointment as Sholes’s Nashville assistant in 1952. When RCA built its own studio in 1957, Atkins managed it. Before long, Sholes turned over RCA’s country operations to his protégé, and by 1968 Atkins was a vice-president at RCA.

Atkins supervised other producers, produced many of his own recordings, and signed such artists as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Jerry Reed, and Charley Pride. As an instrumentalist and producer, Atkins broadened the country music sound to compete with the growing popularity of rock music. By shaping the Nashville Sound, he strengthened the city’s position as a recording center and helped establish its fame as Music City.

Known by many as “Mr. Guitar,” Atkins legitimized the role of the country guitar soloist throughout his career with dozens of albums showcasing his unique “galloping guitar” picking style. The Gretsch and Gibson guitar companies even brought out guitar models built to Atkins’s specifications.

As of 1997 Atkins had received fourteen Grammy awards and in 1973 became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, at that time the youngest individual to be so honored. He retired from RCA in 1981 but continued to perform and record until his death on June 29, 2001.

This album contains no booklet.