Iconic Chet Atkins Prototype Guitar Comes Home To Nashville After
55 Years
One of the guitars that started it all… The Original Gretsch 6120
Prototype aka "DARK EYES"
July, 2016 Nashville, Tennessee.
It’s been over 55 years since
the world renowned early Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 prototype guitar,
aka "Dark Eyes"
guitar has been played in
public for an audience. This week, famed guitar virtuoso Tommy
Emmanuel is bringing the iconic instrument back to its original
home, The Grand Ole Opry on the evening of July 12, 2016… as well as
The Country Music Hall of Fame event on July 16th,
2016 in Nashville, TN. The 1956 Gretsch Sealed Top 6120 prototype
made just for Chet Atkins was dubbed "Black Gold" in a 2013 Guitar
Aficionado Magazine feature article, and has been hailed by Guitar
Player Magazine as One of "Two of The Most Important Electric
Guitars Of All Time"… both of those guitars belonging to Mr. Tom
Doyle, most noted for being Les Paul’s personal guitar builder,
restorer, tech, soundman, and co-inventor for nearly half a century.
T
ommy
Emmanuel performing with Chet’s legendary Gretsch 6120 Prototype for
the Chet Atkins Tribute Show at The Grand Ole Opry is a particularly
auspicious and historic event… the nostalgia and respect for this
guitar and for Mr. Atkins is quite literally palpable. "This is
truly my honor… I am one of the luckiest guys in the world to be
able to even hold this instrument, never mind play it onstage at the
Opry", says Emmanuel. This is especially poignant because
Emmanuel was one of Atkins’ protégés, and credits a large part of
his career and inspiration to his mentor, the inimitable Chet
Atkins. Chet himself bestowed The Certified Guitar Player award to
Tommy Emmanuel - an honor reserved for only 5 guitar players in the
world. Emmanuel and Atkins became very close friends and even
recorded an album together in 1997. The very iconic and historically
significant guitar has not been played onstage in over 55 years…
Chet himself famously played this Gretsch one of a kind prototype
guitar at the Opry back in the mid to late 1950’s when he most
notably performed the Old Russian folk tune, "Dark Eyes", hence the
guitar’s moniker.
The 1956 Chet Atkins Gretsch 6120 Prototype "DARK
EYES"
For a time Chet’s "Dark Eyes" guitar hung in the
Smithsonian Museum of American History, when it was famously part of
the "Chinery Collection" and was featured in Scott Chinery’s book,
"The Chinery Collection: 150 Years of American Guitars". At one
point this seminal Gretsch prototype was even owned by Bill Porter,
the well-known audio engineer who helped shape the Nashville sound
and recorded such stars as The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley,
Connie Francis, Roy Orbison, and of course, Chet Atkins from the
late 1950s through the 1970s. Joe Carducci, Senior Product Manager
for Gretsch Guitars called this guitar "Something special that
needs to be shared with world… and in my mind as a guitar player,
this is like the Holy Grail". Mr. Fred Gretsch, President of the
Gretsch Guitar Company is quoted as saying, "We are glad that
this historic one-off guitar has survived. It gives a glimpse into
the innovative nature of Chet and his lifelong obsession for
improving the electric guitar…"
The Country Music Hall of Fame has approached
Mr. Doyle and his team about owning Chet’s Original 6120 Gretsch
Prototype for their Chet Atkins Collection Exhibit. Officials at the
Nashville based museum understand this guitar’s significance to Chet
Atkins’ legacy, the legacy of the Gretsch Guitar Company, and
Atkins’ early collaboration with Gretsch that spawned many future
famous models of Chet Atkins guitars… as well as our shared American
musical heritage. The curators at the museum are very excited about
owning this instrument for posterity, and believe it would be the
"Crown Jewel" in their exhibit. They are hoping to find benefactors
to assist them in attaining the piece, and are actively seeking
patrons.
Tom Doyle has been an admirer and friend of Chet
Atkins for his whole life, and truly wishes that this pivotal
instrument land in a place where it can be admired, revered, and
appreciated for generations to come… and says, "I cannot think of
a better place for this guitar than Nashville at The County Music
Hall of Fame, it is where she belongs… and I know that it’s what our
friend Chet would have wanted."
