Atkins

["J. Andrey Manoukhin" <jjj@rtsnet.ru>]

Коротко: умер Чет Эткинс

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010630/ts/obit_atkins.html

Saturday June 30 6:49 PM ET 

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.

``It's impossible to capsulize his life - due to the profound impact
he's had as a wonderful human being and incredible member of our
industry,'' said Joe Galante, chairman of the RCA Label Group in
Nashville. ``His artistry and his influence as an industry leader have
impacted so many.

``There is no way to replace him nor what he has meant to music and our
Nashville community.''

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. The hall was also used for memorial
services for country singer Tammy Wynette and bluegrass founder Bill
Monroe in recent years.

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On the Net:
Chet Atkins official site: http://www.misterguitar.com/