Editing Chet Atkins (section)

===Signing with RCA Victor===
While working with a Western band in [[Denver, Colorado]], Atkins came to the attention of [[RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor]]. Siman had been encouraging [[Stephen H. Sholes|Steve Sholes]] to sign Atkins, as his style (with the success of Merle Travis as a hit recording artist) was suddenly in vogue. Sholes, A&R director of country music at RCA, tracked Atkins down in Denver.

He made his first RCA Victor recordings in Chicago in 1947, but they did not sell. He did some studio work for RCA that year, but had relocated to Knoxville again where he worked with Homer and Jethro on WNOX's new Saturday night radio show ''The Tennessee Barn Dance'' and the popular ''Midday Merry Go Round''.

In 1949, he left WNOX to join [[June Carter]] with Mother Maybelle and the [[The Carter Sisters|Carter Sisters]] on KWTO. This incarnation of the [[Carter Family]] featured Maybelle Carter and daughters June, Helen, and Anita. Their work soon attracted attention from the Grand Ole Opry. The group relocated to [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] in the mid-1950s. Atkins began working on recording sessions and performing on [[WSM (AM)|WSM-AM]] and the Opry.<ref name="CG" /> Atkins became a member of the Opry in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Opry Timeline – 1950s
| url = http://www.opry.com/about/Timeline_1950.html
| access-date = July 2, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190330032424/https://www.opry.com/about/Timeline_1950.html
| archive-date = March 30, 2019
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

While he had not yet had a hit record for RCA Victor, his stature was growing. He began assisting Sholes as a session leader when the New York–based producer needed help organizing Nashville sessions for RCA Victor artists. Atkins's first hit single was "[[Mr. Sandman]]", followed by "Silver Bell", which he recorded as a duet with [[Hank Snow]]. His albums also became more popular. He was featured on ABC-TV's ''[[The Eddy Arnold Show]]'' in the summer of 1956 and on ''[[Ozark Jubilee|Country Music Jubilee]]'' in 1957 and 1958 (by then renamed ''Jubilee USA'').
[[File:Gretsch G6122-1958.jpg|thumb|upright|Atkins's [[Gretsch]] Country Gentleman, model G6122, 1962]]

In addition to recording, Atkins was a design consultant for [[Gretsch]], which manufactured a popular [[Gretsch 6120|Chet Atkins line of electric guitars]] from 1955 to 1980. He became manager of RCA Victor's Nashville studios, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary [[RCA Studio B]], the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous [[Music Row]]. Also later on, Chet and [[Owen Bradley]] would become instrumental in the creation of studio B's adjacent building [[RCA Studio A]] as well.<ref name="mamg" />