Chet Atkins' Workshop

History

Atkins is once again pictured on the cover in his home studio in Nashville. The liner notes are by David Halberstam, then writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, which discuss his practice of recording rhythm tracks in the RCA studio and then going home with the tapes to perfect his guitar part in his own studio. "The workshop resembles a small scale Cape Canaveral. In it is approximately $8,000 worth of electronic and electrical equipment, much of it built by Atkins himself: a small maze of mixing panels, a three channel stereo tape recorder, a one channel recorder... This is the lonely man's room and Atkins when he is working is a lonely man. 'Can't take my time in the studio. We're making money there and when you are making money you can't really take your time.' Here he can retire for days on end to be handed an occasional sandwich through the door by his wife Leona, but here to stay with his guitar, and his sound."

Reception

Allmusic critic Greg Adams wrote in his review that Atkins' "relaxed fingerpicking works the material into a smooth consistency that sometimes belies the complexity of his technique, but the album is an engaging listen and an effortless-sounding intersection of diverse styles."

Reissues

Side one

1. "Lambeth Walk" (Douglas Furber, Noel Gay) – 2:45
2. "A Summer Place" (Max Steiner) – 2:04
3. "Whispering" (Richard Coburn, Vincent Rose, John Schoenberger) – 2:04
4. "In a Little Spanish Town ('Twas ona a Night Like This)" (Sam M. Lewis, Mabel Wayne, Joseph Young) – 2:11
5. "Sleep" (Earl Lebieg) – 2:15
6. "Marie" (Irving Berlin) – 2:12

Side two

1. "Hot Mocking Bird" (Bud Isaacs) – 2:07
2. "Lullaby of Birdland" (George Shearing, George David Weiss) – 2:04
3. "Tammy" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) – 1:55
4. "Goofus" (William Harold, Gus Kahn, Wayne King) – 2:31
5. "Bonita" (James Rich) – 2:46
6. "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) – 2:07

Personnel