I saw Chet at a matinee show in Lakeland, Fla. about this time, 1977. No one showed up! So, he invited everyone to come down and sit with him. There were maybe 15 people. I was so close I could have touched the tuning keys on his guitars. He would stare directly at me in the eyes with that Chet smile, like an old friend. He was magic and that concert was a great moment in my life.
Agreed. And he was extremely humble about his playing, too, often pointing out his own goofs when his audience was thinking "how the hell can anyone play that good?!"
I would mildly disagree because the way progress is made in any field is that the young ones start out in life by learning the master's techniques. By the time the young ones are about 40, they have moved the ball down the field and can play the master's songs better than the master ever could. There are so many fabulous pickers today who can easily outplay Chester (like Tommy Emmanuel and Richard Smith), but they never fail to give credit to Chet for showing them the ropes early on and then encouraging them to new heights. Just about any good guitar picker today will readily acknowledge Chet as one of their early inspirations. Tommy in particular never misses an opportunity to praise Chet.
Chet has his own personal style and its been around for quite awhile! Hes the best I've ever seen with his guitar picking so pristine. Congrats Uncle Chet your the king of The Pickers Jet Set.
A fine demonstration of Chet's amazing versatility on the guitar. The man could play anything - and play it superbly. I especially also like his acoustic guitar versions of Dizzy Fingers and Lover Don't Leave Me Now. Thanks much for posting this.
Fantastique morceau de guitare joué par le Maître Chester, avec sensibilité, pureté du son et apparente facilité. Cet homme était une exception de la nature. Qu'il demeure à jamais dans notre mémoire.
wonderful wonderful. Poor Val Doonican (host of this BBC TV show) strides out from the shadows at the end of the song, thinking 'shit....I've gotta follow that!!'
I've seen that one...looked like Gene and a group of pals in a garage having a fine old jam session. Gene is not Chet, but had very decent skills playing "his" own tune. Fun to see the composer in action.
Chet Atkins sold more sorry-ass guitars because he played so well. If he had stayed with his D'angelico electric guitar in its original configeration and Standel amp, and not spent all those now wasted years promoting gretsch guitars and as a cigar smoking nashville music producer but stuck to improving his guitar playing beyond how perfect it already was, he would have been remembered forever.
+Connor Bradley you've got a guitar but it don't look that hard? So you don't really play. Chet makes it look easy cause he worked at it for hours every day. You have to put the time into anything to get good. Try it.
