Alone (Remastered) Chet Atkins

• 1Hawaiian Slack Key02:36
• 2The Claw02:16
• 3Spanish Fandango02:01
• 4Flop Eared Mule and Other Classics02:48
• 5Over the Waves02:30
• 6Just As I Am01:25
• 7Take Five02:43
• 8Smile02:42
• 9Blue Finger02:36
• 10Me and Bobby McGee02:25
• 11Londonerry Air02:58
• 12The Watkins Man02:47
• Total Runtime29:47

Info for Alone (Remastered)

Legendary for his technical innovations, it's his talents on the guitar that have secured him the name "Mr. Guitar" and made him one of country music's top-selling international artists. An 8-time Grammy winner, Chet has played on sessions by everyone from Hank Williams and Elvis Presley to the Everly Brothers and Paul McCartney. His 6 previous albums were critically acclaimed releases that achieved sales success based on strong media coverage and incredible retail support - that same strategy will be in effect for Almost Alone.

"In recent years, Chet Atkins has shared albums with Mark Knopfler, Suzy Bogguss, and Jerry Reed, but the veteran guitarist recorded this 1996 disc just the way the title suggests: Almost Alone.

Aside from the strings added to several cuts, only 3 of the 13 numbers feature any musicians other than Atkins. And on 11 of the tracks, only one Chet Atkins is present; in other words, those tracks feature a single take without overdubs. When it works, this minimalist format allows us to enjoy Atkins at his best--just 10 fingers and 6 strings. Too often, however, he can't resist his lifelong temptation to clutter up arrangements with sugary string charts. Still, he dazzles on such unaccompanied pieces as his own pretty pop tune "Happy Again" and Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek." (Geoffrey Himes)

Chet Atkins, guitar

Digitally remastered

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.