Galloping Guitar: The Early Years is a multi-disc box-set retrospective recording by American guitarist
Chet Atkins, released in 1993 on the Bear Family label.
This large boxed set (four CDs, 116 songs) focuses on Atkins' earliest recordings from 1940 to 1954. Early in his career, Atkins was signed and marketed mainly as a vocalist who played guitar. The majority of this set includes Chet’s vocal releases as well as guest vocalists. There are a number of instrumentals featured.
The track list is more extensive than Guitar Legend: The RCA Years, covering much of the same material while adding four previously unavailable songs. There are many early Atkins originals and also a large sampling of hard-to-find songs which Atkins co-wrote with Boudleaux Bryant. The biographical essay was written by country music historian Rich Kienzle, known for his expertise on the subject of country guitar.
