Guitarist Chet Atkins Dies at 77
Pat Smith
Guitarist Chet Atkins Dies at 77
By JIM PATTERSON, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Chet Atkins, whose guitar style
influenced a generation
of rock musicians even as he helped develop an
easygoing country style to compete
with it, died Saturday. He was 77.
Atkins died at home, a funeral director said.
Atkins had battled cancer several years. He underwent
surgery to remove a brain
tumor in June 1997, and had a bout with colon cancer in
the 1970s.
Atkins recorded more than 75 albums of guitar
instrumentals and sold more than 75
million albums. He played on hundreds of hit records,
including those of Elvis
Presley (``Heartbreak Hotel''), Hank Williams Sr.
(``Your Cheatin' Heart,''
``Jambalaya'') and The Everly Brothers (``Wake Up
Little Susie'').
As an executive with RCA Records for nearly two decades
beginning in 1957, Atkins
played a part in the careers of Roy Orbison, Jim
Reeves, Charley Pride, Dolly
Parton, Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings, Eddy Arnold and
many others.
Atkins helped craft the lush Nashville Sound, using
string sections and lots of echo to
make records that appealed to older listeners not
interested in rock music.Among his notable productions are ``The End
of the World'' by Skeeter Davis and ``He'll Have to Go'' by Reeves.
``I realized that what I liked, the public would like,
too,'' Atkins said in a 1996
interview with The Associated Press. '``Cause I'm kind
of square.''
Chester Burton Atkins was born June 20, 1924, on a farm
near Luttrell, Tenn.,
about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville. His elder
brother Jim Atkins also played
guitar, and went on to perform with Les Paul. Chet
Atkins' first professional job was
as a fiddler on WNOX in Knoxville, where his boss was
singer Bill Carlisle.
``He was horrible,'' Carlisle said at a tribute concert
to Atkins in 1997. ``But I heard
him during a break playing guitar and decided to
feature him on that.''
Atkins' unusual fingerpicking style, a pseudoclassical
variation influenced by such
diverse talents as Merle Travis and Django Reinhardt,
got him hired and fired from
jobs at radio stations all over the country. Atkins
sometimes joked that early on his playing sounded
``like two guitarists playing badly.''
During the 1940s he toured with many acts, including
Red Foley, The Carter Family
and Kitty Wells. RCA executive Steve Sholes took Atkins
on as a protege in the
1950s, using him as the house guitarist on recording
sessions.
RCA began issuing instrumental albums by Atkins in
1953. George Harrison, whose
guitar work on early Beatles records is heavily
influenced by Atkins, wrote the liner notes for ``Chet Atkins Picks
on the Beatles.''
Sholes put Atkins in charge of RCA Nashville when he
was promoted in 1957.
There, he helped Nashville survive the challenge of
rock 'n' roll with the Nashville Sound. The
lavish sound has been criticized by purists who prefer
their country music raw and unadorned.
Atkins was unrepentant, saying that at the time his
goal was simply ``to keep my
job.''
``And the way you do that is you make a hit record once
in a while,'' he said in
1993. ``And the way you do that is you give the
audience something different.''
Atkins quit his job as an executive in the 1970s and
concentrated on playing his
guitar. He's collaborated with a wide range of artists
on solo albums, including Mark Knopfler, Paul
McCartney, Eric Johnson, George Benson, Susie Bogguss and Earl
Klugh.
At the time he became ill, Atkins had just released a
CD, ``The Day Finger Pickers
took over the World.'' He also had begun regular Monday
night performances at a
Nashville club.
``If I know I've got to go do a show, I practice quite
a bit, because you can't get out there and embarrass yourself.''
Atkins said in 1996.
``So I thought, if I play every week I won't be so
rusty and I'll play a lot better.''
Survivors include his wife of more than 50 years, Leona
Johnson Atkins, and a
daughter, Merle Atkins.
The funeral is Tuesday morning at Nashville's Ryman
Auditorium, the former home
of the Grand Ole Opry.
Pat Smith
and the whole boom-chick thing. Thank goodness for all the records.
Paul Sawyer
easy.
Tom Lippincott
Tom Lippincott
Guitarist, Composer, Teacher
audio samples, articles, CD's at:
http://www.tomlippincott.com
Bob Russell
wrote on 6/30/01 6:40 PM:
> I totally loved Chet and the whole boom-chick thing. Thank goodness for all
>the records.
Me too. Chet Atkins is one of the people who truly put the guitar on the map
as far as the public is concerned; he deserves a lot of credit for that as
well as for having been a great player.
-- Bob Russell
http://www.uncwil.edu/people/russellr
David Rastall
news:B7643F7B.A76F%bobrus...@hotmail.com...
> ...Chet Atkins is one of the people who truly put the guitar on the map
> as far as the public is concerned; he deserves a lot of credit for that as
> well as for having been a great player.
He sure does. For those of us who were touched by his playing, he will
never be forgotten.
David Rastall
David Walden
Charlie
Joe Nez
admired him. Then I saw him at the Grand Ol' Opry in the mid 80s and he played the
Washington Post March on an acoustic without one buzz, squeek or muted note and I was frozen
to my seat. I'd seen hundreds of great players but I'd never witnessed anything quite like
that. From that day on I've always considered him to be among the very best I've ever seen.
Just thought it appropriate to share that memory.
joe nez
broy
one of the greatest guitarists ever to grace our planet. And a humble
and kind man as well. I doubt if we'll see another like him. We'll
miss you man.
broy
gladu hebert
I saw him about 5 years ago in Nashville at a small club great show!
Chet was a great guitar player as dedicated as they come to his
instrument. He loved and played many different types of music.
Thanks for all the music Mr Atkins
Gladu
Willie K. Yee, MD
When I was a kid, at the time I first picked up a guitar, I knew the
names of only three guitar players:
Duane Eddy, Andre Segovia, and Chet Atkins. Duane was probably Chet's
greatest fan. The other two on the list are immortals.
--
Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://www.bestweb.net/~wyee
Developer of Problem Knowledge Couplers for Psychiatry
http://www.pkc.com
Webmaster and Guitarist for the Big Blue Big Band
http://www.bigbluebigband.com
Remove "DONTSPAM" from return address to reply.
Jonathan Byrd
By the time I got out of college, I was tired of it. I listened to a
little classical, but my interest in music was basically fading out.
One summer, my girlfriend (now my wife) was house-sitting for one of her
dance professors. I was looking through her record collection, and
found a Chet Atkins record. I put it on, and heard Chet play Django
Reinhardt's "Tears." It woke up my musical interest, I had new goals
and the enthusiasm to tackle them. That's how I found jazz.
Thank you, Chet.
--
Jonathan Byrd Computer Software Engineering Technology
j...@isu.edu Idaho State University
(208) 282-4256 Pocatello, Idaho USA
Ugly
Xman
guitar, bar none.
xman