More of this Feature • Part 2: Atkins Guitar Tab • Part 3: Bio Timeline

Join the Discussion "Chet changed country music with the Nashville Sound in the late 50s. Even in his early recordings, you could hear innovative licks constantly. Yes, he was influenced by the great Merle Travis but he took the thumb style of playing to new heights." ANGELFAN912

Related Resources • Atkins Holiday MP3 • Mark Knopfler Profile

From Other Guides • Chet Atkins Quotes

Elsewhere on the Web • Chet Atkins: Mister Guitar • Chet Atkins Guitar Lesson • Chet Atkins Fans • Atkins Discussion Group • Watch Atkins Music Video • Chet Atkins Sound Clips

It's been a rough few weeks for guitarists and guitar fans. on Saturday, June 30th, less than ten days after the passing of blues legend John Lee Hooker, it was reported that guitarist Chet Atkins had died in Nashville, at the age of 77. Atkins passing marked the end of the guitarist's longstanding bout with colon and brain cancer, for which he had undergone significant amount of surgery. (Read the Associated Press Story)

While Atkins is no longer with us in body, his music certainly will continue to live on, both in recordings, and via several generations of guitarists who have been affected by his work. Atkins was certainly one of the most influential guitarists of the past century, inspiring musicians from many differing genres of music. A full list of players Atkins made a marked impression on would be literally impossible, since we've all been influenced by Chet - either directly, or via guitarists we admire who was have drawn influence from him. Suffice it to say that players as diverse as Earl Klugh, Lenny Breau, Larry Coryell, Randy Bachman, Scotty Moore, Eric Johnson, Lonnie Mack, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Eddie Cochran, George Harrison, and Albert Lee have all been affected by Chet Atkins' trademark "choke style" of guitar playing. For more information on the technical aspects of Chet Atkins' guitar work, study the Chet Atkins lesson on Guitarworld.com.

Atkins gained huge respect as a guitarist, and as a man, amongst his peers. Let me leave you with just a few just a few snippets of what some notable individuals had to say about Chet Atkins:

"For years, Chet was my idol. I finally figured out that I can't play three-finger style or four-finger style like he does, literally, physically can't do it. I don't have the span, the reach that he has on the neck of the guitar. "
-Doc Watson

"His mind is a combination of inventor and musician. As musicians we must all try to be inventors to create new sounds and write new and really different music. The power of Chet's inventive mind placed him at the same level as people like Chuck Berry and Les Paul. He is a tinkerer and American original."
-Don McLean

"I know others will bear me out when I say men do not come along every day like Chet Atkins. I have learned a lot just being around him"
-Ray Stevens

Read more celebrity letters about Chet Atkins