VIA PRESS RELEASE | Producer, A&R man, songwriter, sometimes-vocalist, and, above all, a guitarist par excellence, Chet Atkins basically invented RCA’s lush Nashville sound on the way to becoming a 14-time Grammy winner and member of both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. The Complete RCA Victor & Columbia Christmas Recordings presents all 46 holiday-themed sides Chet recorded over the course of 43 Years.
It’s for good reason that Chet Atkins remains one of the most revered names not only in country music but in American music itself. A producer, A&R man, songwriter, sometimes- vocalist, and above all, a guitarist par excellence, Atkins defined the sound of country with his championing of RCA’s lush Nashville Sound. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee and a 14-time Grammy winner (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), Atkins recorded three albums of Christmas music throughout his lengthy career.
Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records’ 2-CD set The Complete RCA Victor and Columbia Christmas Recordings is packed with almost 50 vintage holiday tunes from this legendary musician originally released between 1953 and 1996 on both of those labels. These joyous and virtuosic recordings encompass rare singles, the complete albums Christmas with Chet Atkins (in both its original 1961 version and re-recorded 1976 iteration) and East Tennessee Christmas, and numerous one-offs from various albums over the years.
Chet brought his singular guitar style to recordings of both pop and country hits (“Jingle Bell Rock,” “Blue Christmas”) and classic carols (“Away in a Manger,” “Ave Maria”) plus favorites like “Winter Walkin’” and “East Tennessee Christmas.” Annotated by The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese, and remastered by Vic Anesini at Sony’s Battery Studios.
