Chet Atkins Dead at 77

June 30 -- Chet Atkins, whose guitar style influenced a generation of rock musicians even as he helped develop an easy listening country style to compete with it, died Saturday. He was 77.

Funeral director Bill Ritter of Roesch Patton Funeral Home,which is handling the funeral, said Atkins died at home.

Atkins had been battling cancer for several years. He underwentsurgery to remove a brain tumor in June of 1997, and he had a boutwith colon cancer in the 1970s.

A Long Legacy

Atkins recorded more than 75 albums of guitar instrumentals andsold more than 75 million albums. He played on hundreds of hitrecords, including those of Elvis Presley (Heartbreak Hotel),Hank Williams Sr. (Your Cheatin' Heart, Jambalaya) and TheEverly Brothers (Wake Up Little Susie).

As an executive with RCA Records for nearly two decades startingin 1957, Atkins played a part in the careers of Roy Orbison, JimReeves, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings,Eddy Arnold and many other stars.

At the same time as Owen Bradley at Decca Records, Atkinscrafted the lush Nashville Sound, using string sections and lots ofecho to make records that appealed to older listeners notinterested in rock music. Among his notable Nashville Soundproductions are The End of the World by Skeeter Davis andHe'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. "CauseI'm kind of square."

Chester Burton Atkins was born June 20, 1924, on a farm nearLuttrell, Tenn., which is about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville.His elder brother Jim Atkins played guitar first, and went on toperform with Les Paul. Chet Atkins' first professional job was as afiddler on WNOX in Knoxville, where his boss was singer BillCarlisle.

"He was horrible," Carlisle said at a tribute concert toAtkins in June (1997). "But I heard him during a break playingguitar, and decided to feature him on that."