George Harrison wrote the sleeve notes for Chet Atkins' album......
I have appreciated Chet Atkins as a musician since long
before the tracks on this album were written; in fact,
since I was the ripe young age of seventeen. Since then
I have lost count of the number of Chet’s albums I have
acquired, but I have not been disappointed with any of them.
For me, the great thing about Mr. Atkins is not the fact
that he is capable of playing almost every type of music
but the conviction in the way he does it. Whilst listening
to CHET ATKINS PICKS ON THE BEATLES I got the feeling that
these songs had been written specifically with Chet in mind.
The fact that they were not proves his eminence as an
artist--the perfect example being Yesterday. Chet, by
himself, gets far more out of this than some of the people
known as "class" singers do with a full orchestral
arrangement to boot!
I’ll Cry Instead, She’s a Woman and Can’t Buy Me Love,
having a country feeling about them, lend themselves
perfectly to Chet’s own style of picking, which has
inspired so many guitarists throughout the world (myself
included, but I didn’t have enough fingers at the time).
All the other tracks have Chet adding harmonies and
harmonics in the least expected places, bringing out
that crystal-clear sound of the guitar to his audience’s
benefit.
One thing remains very clear to me at the end of this LP,
and that is why this sleeve note must end here. Chet
Atkins did not get to be a great guitarist by writing
sleeve notes, but by years of devoted practice on the
instrument he so obviously loves.
George Harrison
