FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 16, 2018

DEAR JERRY: Cable news channel MSNBC recently aired a piece on Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, wherein one of his colleagues described him as being "self-effacing."

Hearing that planted an earworm in my brain, a recording about someone being "a self-effacing guy." I think this mystery song was out in the 1970s. Does any of this ring a bell with you?
—Louise Williams, Knoxville, Tenn.

DEAR LOUISE: The only 1970s record I know, with "a self-effacing guy" in the lyrics, is "Chet's Tune, Part 2", by Some of Chet's Friends (RCA Victor 74-0799). It is a tribute to Chet Atkins.

"Some of Chet's Friends" are about 40 of RCA's popular country stars at the time. Each vocalist sings a few words, and a some instrumentalists get a few licks in.

It wouldn't seem right to only provide the lyrics in "Part 2," (where "self-effacing" is heard twice), so let's begin with "Part 1":

Jerry Reed: Guitar solo
Floyd Cramer: Piano solo
Eddy Arnold: "Who's the tall man with a guitar in his hand, it's Chet"
Dottie West: "He's the guitar picker's picker, no one picks 'em quicker than Chet"
Archie Campbell: "He first learned to play down in Tennessee way"
Bobby Bare: "Then he started in to roam"
Norma Jean: "Playing here and there, playin' everywhere"
George Hamilton IV: "Till Nashville called him home"
Skeeter Davis: "Lucky are the strings that are caressed by the fingers of Chet"
Jimmy Dean: "All the guitars in the land have voted him the man, whose business they'd like to get"
Hank Locklin: "From Australia to Kokomo"
Jim Ed Brown: "From Africa to Ohio"
Hank Snow: "Toes are a'tappin and fingers are a-snappin' to the music of the Country Gentlemen"
John D. Loudermilk: "Guitar-pickin' Chet Atkins"
Anita Kerr Singers: "He first learned to play down in Tennessee way, then he started in to roam. Playing here and there, playin' everywhere, till Nashville called him home"
Connie Smith: "Lucky are the strings that are caressed by the fingers of Chet"
Homer & Jethro: "All the guitars in the land have voted him the man, whose business they'd like to get"
Waylon Jennings: "From Liverpool to Tokoyo"
Willie Nelson: "From Montreal to El Paso"
Porter Wagoner: "Toes are a'tappin and fingers are a-snappin' to the music of the Country Gentlemen"
Don Bowman: "Guitar-pickin' Chet Atkins"
Anita Kerr Singers: "Guitar-pickin' Chet Atkins"
Jerry Reed: Guitar solo

"Chet's Tune, Part 2":

Jerry Reed: Guitar solo
Lester Flatt: "10 golden fingers playing six silver strings, that's Chet"
Red Lane: "On electric guitar, a classic, or acoustic, he's a gas, that's Chet"
Scotti Carson: "He's humble and he's shy, he's a self-effacing guy, you'd never know that he's a star"
Pat Daisy: "Tell him he plays great, and he will quickly numerate"
Dickie Lee: "All the better pickers than him there are"
Johnny Russell: "On the radio, when they play his records, right away you say Chet"
Charlie Walker: "He can play any tune, from a hoedown to "Clair de Lune"
Billy Edd Wheeler: "How versatile can you get"
Norro Wilson: "His shelves are filled with great awards
Bud Brewer: "But he don't care, he just picks chords
Nat Stuckey: "All he really wants to do is play guitar his whole life through, so we say to him play on"
Dallas Frazier: "Chester Atkins, we love you"
Danny Davis & Nashville Brass: band solo
Anita Kerr Singers: "He's humble and he's shy, he's a self-effacing guy, you'd never know that he's a star. Tell him he plays great, and he will quickly numerate, all the better pickers than him there are"
Buck Trent: banjo backing Anita Kerr Singers
Kenny Price: "On the radio, when they play his records, right away you say Chet"
Dolly Parton: "He can play any tune, from a hoedown to "Clair de Lune"
Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: "How versatile can you get"
Charley Pride: "He's the troubadour of Nashville town, he's Mister Guitar of world renown"
Jessi Colter: "Hope he stays the way he is, he's the finger-pickin' king"
Mac Wiseman: "So we say to him, play on"
Johnny Bush: "Chester Atkins, we love you"
Anita Kerr Singers: "Chester Atkins, we love you"
Jerry Reed: "Well chief, they asked me to put an ending on this record for you, and I just happened to make up one. A'one, two, ready go, what fun"

Click here Parts 1 & 2 of "Chet's Tune"