Atkins survived a bout of colon cancer in the 1970s, and in June 1997 underwent surgery to have a brain tumor removed.
Dubbed Nashville's “Mr. Guitar," Atkins left behind a massive musical legacy. He cut upwards of 100 solo studio albums of guitar instrumentals and sold more than 75 million discs. His innovative session work backed Elvis Presley ("Heartbreak Hotel"), the Everly Brothers' “Wake Up Little Susie," “Bye Bye Love" and “All I Have to Do Is Dream") and Hank Williams “Jambalaya," “Your Cheatin' Heart").
Perhaps most importantly, however, as a label exec for RCA Records, he signed or produced a generation of music greats, including Williams, Presley, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Roy Orbison and Charley Pride. Along the way, he developed the famed “Nashville Sound," which polished the twangy tunes with pop-friendly hooks, horn and string sections and backup singers, making the genre more accessible to mainstream radio and more popular than ever to today's audiences.
“There's nobody like him, and he'll never be replaced," Jennings told Nasvhille's Tennessean. Added Phil Everly, “Chet was like a second father to us. We loved him dearly, and we'll miss him."
Although purists grumbled, Atkins' style managed to attract millions of adults turned off by the harsh sounds of early rock 'n' roll.
“I realized that what I liked, the public would like, too," Atkins told the Associated Press in an 1996 interview. “ 'Cause I'm kind of square."
As one of the giants of country music, however, Atkins was considered pretty cool--not only by millions of fans but by his peers.
The guitar virtuoso won a total of 13 Grammys, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy and induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame. His unique finger-picking style--borrowed heavily from the pseudo-classical techniques of such guitar heroes as Django Reinhardt, Merle Travis and Les Paul--influenced all of pop music, from Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney to the Ventures, Eric Johnson, Mark Knopfler, Neil Diamond, George Benson, Larry Carlton, Earl Klugh, Duane Eddy and Eddie Cochran.
Born in deep in the heart of Appalachia--Luttrell, Tennessee--on June 20, 1924, Atkins had music in his blood. His grandfather was an accomplished fiddle player, his mother played the piano and his father was a music teacher and evangelical singer. Chet began plucking on a broken ukulele at the age of five and had his first guitar by his eighth birthday.
Afflicted with asthma as a child, Atkins was once so frail that he missed eight months of school, and instead put all his the time into mastering his new instrument. He became a polished player by the time he was a teenager.
He quickly parlayed his talent into session work, gaining a rep as one of Music City's top sidemen. He inked a recording contract with RCA in the '40s, scoring his first hit with a cover of “Mr. Sandman." That was followed by a hit version of “Silver Bell" with Snow and eventually the job of manager of the label's Nashville unit.
In the 1970s, he played in the Nashville String Band. He left RCA in 1982 to record at Columbia, which enabled him to experiment with other genres, including jazz. He released his final solo album, Almost Alone, on Columbia in 1996.
Atkins is survived by his wife of 55 years, Leona, and a daughter, Merle Atkins, as well as his sister, Billie Rose Shockley, and two grandchildren. His funeral service will be held on Tuesday at the Ryman Auditorium, former site of the Grand Ole Opry.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
