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The Chet Atkins Appreciation Society
Scotty first met Chet Atkins backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in October of 1954 when performing there with Elvis and Bill. Elvis walked up to Chet and said "My guitar player wants to meet you." Scotty had been a fan but had never met him before that. It was hearing a song by Chet on the radio in 1955 using the Ray Butts' EchoSonic amplifier that made Scotty get one to replicate the slapback echo sound that Sam Phillips got at Sun. He continued to use that amp throughout his career with Elvis and many years after. Through the years their paths would cross quite often, especially after Elvis signed with RCA and they became good friends. In September of 1997 both he and Chet along with Hank Garland, Duane Eddy and James Burton were inducted into the Guitar Center's Rock Walk Hall of Fame.
The Chet Atkins Appreciaton Society is a fan club that was founded in the 1950's and has evolved into one of the largest international guitar related fan clubs. Each year they have a 4 day convention held in July in Nashville, Tennessee where they feature meetings, workshops, concerts and products. The convention is open only to registered CAAS members and their family. In 1994 along with Scotty some of the featured performers and attendees at the convention were John Jorgenson, Romane, Claes Neeb and Robert Nephtali.
John Jorgenson, one of the founding members of "The Desert Rose Band" with Chris Hillman of "The Byrds", was also a founding member of "The Hellecasters" along with Will Wray and Jerry Donahue. Most recently he has been the guitarist with Elton John. Hailing from France, Gypsy guitarist Romane is considered one of the most original and innovative acoustic jazz guitarists of the current generation. He plays Dupont guitars regularly and played one there at the convention. Claes Neeb is a guitarist from Norway and Robert Nephtali at that time was the president of Marcel Dadi's guitar club in France.
That year Scotty brought Ronnie McDowell's band in to play there with D.J. Fontana and the Jordanaires. Also attending were Scotty's longtime friends Don and Ann Dean, Thom Bresh and their wives and girlfriends. Thom is another long time member and frequent participant at the convention. In addition to the workshops and concerts there is also a dinner.
In July of 2003 the convention was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Nashville and Scotty attended briefly to present a plaque from Gibson and the Society to the family of Ray Butts in appreciation of his contributions to the world of music. Ray, who passed away on April 20, 2003, was a friend to Scotty, Chet and the Society and he attended the convention faithfully for many years.
Interested in learning more about CAAS? Contact: Mark Pritcher, President, CAAS
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All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited. |
