Chet Atkins, a guitarist who influenced such greats as George Harrison and Mark Knopfler and a record producer who created the lush string-laden Nashville Sound of the ’60s and ’70s, died yesterday at 77.
Atkins, who suffered several strokes in 1999 and battled cancer for several years, died at his Nashville home.
During a career that spanned five decades, Atkins recorded more than 75 albums of guitar instrumentals and sold more than 35 million albums.
He played guitar on hundreds of hit singles – including Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie.”
As an RCA Records producer for nearly two decades beginning in 1957, Atkins helped develop the careers of Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, Dolly Parton, and Eddy Arnold.
He later expanded country music’s horizons by introducing black country singer Charley Pride and encouraging the “outlaw” movement of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Atkins also helped craft the lush Nashville Sound, using string sections, lots of echo and backup choruses. Purists cringed, but Atkins insisted the sound brought country into the pop mainstream.
“I realized that what I liked, the public would like, too, ’cause I’m kind of square,” he said.
Chester Burton Atkins was born June 20, 1924, on a farm near Luttrell, Tenn., about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville. His father was a classically trained evangelical singer.
Atkins was a pioneer in the double-thumbing style of playing, in which the thumb plays bass while the fingers play melody.
During the 1940s he toured with acts such as Red Foley, The Carter Family and Kitty Wells.
He began making instrumental albums in 1953. Harrison, whose work on early Beatles albums is heavily influenced by Atkins, wrote the liner notes for “Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles” in 1966.