"Terry A. Smith" wrote:
> As for Chet
> Atkins, since most of the artists he worked with wound up receiving
> similar arrangements for their tunes, I'd say that's fairly good evidence
> that he was calling the shots. That doesn't mean the artists had a problem
> with his choices (though I don't know that you can assume perfect harmony
> on those choices either).
There is no question that Chet was making the conscious attempt to
popularize country music by using pop elements the the RCA records he
was making. I was a kid dj in Ft. Worth during this time, and my boss
was the guy who wrote "Fraulein" and was on RCA and Chet and he talked
the radio station into putting in what he called a "countrypolitan"
format, which was in essence a non-twangy country format aimed at urban
audiences. We played all the new Ray Price and all the RCA stuff and all
of the rash of "Hank with Strings" and all that mess.
However, I must say that in Atkins' defense (as if he needed it- he's a
giant) that in the instances where the addition of pop elements would
have been jarring, he didn't do it (like for Charley Pride and Johhny
Bush.) (I still maintain that those Bare records were not jarring when
we heard them for the first time- they fit perfectly with the era.
Objecting to the Anita Kerr singers just would have seemed silly in the
60s.) He didn't just run from studio to studio cramming strings and
singers onto country records, he used good sense to try to slick up what
could be slicked up and left the rest alone.
--
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com
