RCA packaged some of Atkins' early recordings between 1950 and 1953 originally released on 10" versions for this title. They filled the collection out with more tracks for this 12" LP. The 1967 re-issue is in "phoney stereo."
Atkins had two hit singles in 1955, "Mr. Sandman" and a guitar duet with Hank Snow called "Silver Bell."[1] Also that year he endorsed a Gretsch guitar he helped design and built his first home studio in his garage.[2]
Allmusic music critic William Ruhlmann wrote of the album, "Atkins' playing is as distinctive as ever, and if the sources of the material are various, his style holds it together into a coherent collection."[3]