The first track of Chet Atkins's debut album was a cover of one of the most recognizable movie soundtrack themes of all time. Legend has director Carol Reed discovering zither player Anton Karas in a Viennese Heuriger, wine taverns treated as a national landmark of culture in Austria, and recruiting him to compose and perform the soundtrack to the film he was about to shoot there, The Third Man. Karas's "The Harry Lime Theme" unexpectedly became the most popular and memorable song of the year. Not only did the song top the singles charts and sell over half a million copies (unheard of at the time for such a novelty single), but it also propelled Karas into international superstardom. He toured the world in 1950 and again in 1951 but would soon return to the comfort of home in Vienna only returning to tour occasionally.
Here is the discography surrounding Anton Karas's debut album:
The Harry Lime Theme (1949 single)
The Third Man
"The Harry Lime Theme" by Anton Karas
Pass the Headphones!!
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