Chet Atkins-gone but never forgotten

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 30 Jun 2001 1:01 pm

One of my greatest influences is now gone.All players have been touched by this wondreful mans talent. Much will be written about his life and much will be said in the coming days, but I must say, He was very wonderful to me personally and to all steelers in genral. I'll miss you Chet!
Robert K Seymour

[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 30 June 2001 at 02:02 PM.]

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 30 Jun 2001 1:11 pm

Since Chet was not a steel player comments are more appopriete in the music area

------------------
Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 30 Jun 2001 1:23 pm

Sorry to see this ,Janice as he influenced so many musicians,producers,along with MANY steel players,Sorry, just thought some steel players would care enough to see it here.
Bobbe

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 30 Jun 2001 1:32 pm

Bobbe, If it matters I care. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. So bend the rules once in awhile Janice. Please?

------------------
1985 Emmons push-pull, Session 500, Nashville400, 65 re-issue Fender Twin, Fender Tele

Harry Johansen · Post by **Harry Johansen** » 30 Jun 2001 3:21 pm

Yes Bob,I got that message from Neil Flanz,and there is an open place again in the music world!

lakeshrk · Post by **lakeshrk** » 30 Jun 2001 3:25 pm

Chet Atkins name should come up any place people are talking about music,no matter what the instrument.My hero,Chet Atkins. Jerry D. Tillman

Larry Lenhart · Post by **Larry Lenhart** » 30 Jun 2001 3:34 pm

I am avid Chet fan and this is certainly sad news. I knew that it was coming soon. July 10th-13th is the Chet Atkins Convention in Nashville-which I have attended for the last 7 years. He is my first guitar hero and my favorite-I have a copy of all of his albums, Cds, books, and even a lifesize cardboard statue of him in my music room. My proudest possession is that I have a Gibson CG that he personally signed for me about 5 years ago when he was still able to attend the convention. As Lenny Breau said so wisely-"There is only one Chet". I have said it before on here, he is the most influential electric guitarist of all time. God bless Chet and his family.

Harry Hess · Post by **Harry Hess** » 30 Jun 2001 3:37 pm

3 years ago when Herb Ellis's manager, and my good friend, Terry Holmes, was dieing of cancer, some of us guitar players from around the country were each sending him $100 or so a month to help him out since he was broke.

Chet didn't really know Terry but heard of his plight and dashed a check for $500 off to him. Terry and all of his friends were very appreciative and developed a new respect for Chet.

Good bless him and may he rest in peace.

Regards,
HH

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 30 Jun 2001 3:41 pm

This is very sad news. Indeed. My sincere condolences to the family. Chet was to the guitar what Vladimir Horiwitz was to the piano. There will NEVER be another. EVER!

May he rest in peace. God bless him,

carl

Miguel e Smith · Post by **Miguel e Smith** » 30 Jun 2001 3:41 pm

What can't be said wonderful about Chet...both as a musicians musician and as a person. He may have been quiet, but he said a lot. My best friend and production partner (Randy Hauser)was Chet's drummer for almost 14 years and so I had occassion to see Chet often. When Randy passed away (at 43-years old), Chet did so much for the family. He also bent over backwards to enable us to rent a building he owned on the Row.
A great man who gave us so much.

Mike

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 30 Jun 2001 4:07 pm

An era has ended. There is no one that can fill his shoes. Such a great player and such a great person. He took time one day to put a little nobody like me on to some great thumb picks at a little store in Nashville. Rest in peace Chet. I'll see you later. Jody.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 30 Jun 2001 4:13 pm

Chet was my hero. I'm saddened by his passing, although I knew he has been in bad health recently.

When I was picking lead guitar, I did a lot of Chet style picking and had a Gretsch Chet Atkins guitar (a 1961 PX6120).

The upcoming Chet Atkins guitar festival (show or whatever it is called) will not be the same this year with the master gone.

Rick Garrett · Post by **Rick Garrett** » 30 Jun 2001 4:25 pm

Gone but will never be forgotten. God speed Chet and God Bless and keep the family. What an awesome musician and example.

Rick

Bill Bailey · Post by **Bill Bailey** » 30 Jun 2001 4:38 pm

I have played in bands with so many guitar players who would give tribute to their hero when they played things like Yankie doodle Dixie, Windy and warm, Bells of St mary and the like and these were among my favorite band mates. Long live your memory and forever your music Chet, go rest hihg on that mountain.
Bill Bailey

------------------

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 30 Jun 2001 4:43 pm

Bobbe
I broke the Rules a week or so back when I posted a Happy Birthday message to Chet and nobody said anything, so its an appropriate place. It was a damn shame that it only got a few responses. I would have never been a picker, if it hadn't been for Chet. Was my Hero along with Curly Chalker. This reminds me to make the most of what time have left.

Mike
That is a shock to me about Randy Hauser. A good guy and great Drummer, picked with him many times on Lower Broad in the 70's

------------------
John

Bill Fulbright · Post by **Bill Fulbright** » 30 Jun 2001 5:08 pm

Not only was Chet a legend, he was a hero, a leader, a pioneer, an inspiration, a rock of stability and accomplishment with integrity.

He set the benchmark from which genius and creativity is measured and seldom matched in the music and guitar world.

He launched so many careers, not to mention Earl Klugh, Lenny Breau, so many others who are/were guitar player's players. He was surely one of my icons and heros since I was a young teen. I also had a Chet Atkins Country Gentleman which I acquired in 1968, and foolishly let go only a few years later for a much more inferior guitar. o the folly of youth.

The loss of the magnitude of his very special presence will be felt as a void never to be filled..

So long, Chet... and thanks for sharing your gifts with us so generously.

------------------
Bill Fulbright
ICQ# 2251620
1998 Sierra U12 7x5; '74 Schecter Strat; Gibson ES-165; Peavey Classic 50-410, Line 6 POD 2.2

Austin A. Preston · Post by **Austin A. Preston** » 30 Jun 2001 5:54 pm

What can I say that has not already been said in the past few hours? Chet was my hero and I will miss him. His legacy will live on in all of us that loved him and his music. May God bless and strengthen his family in this dificult time.
Austin A. Preston and family

P.S Thanks Bobbe, for starting this most appropriate thread. Haven't met a steel player yet that doesn't appreciate "The Man"[This message was edited by Austin A. Preston on 30 June 2001 at 06:58 PM.]

Gary Dillard · Post by **Gary Dillard** » 30 Jun 2001 6:36 pm

Chet and the Nashville Superpickers. What a super album. Weldon did an outstanding job on this project as did the other session players. Thanks Chet for featuring the session guys. That album with Weldon truly influenced me.He WILL be missed.

Bob Carlson · Post by **Bob Carlson** » 30 Jun 2001 6:40 pm

If It had not been for Chet I would have been satisfied to just play rhythm, but he inspired me to learn to play lead which In turn made learning to play the steel much easier.
More people In County Music know the name Chet than any other. You don't have to put the Atkins on there.

Bob Carlson

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 30 Jun 2001 6:54 pm

John Floyd is in the same camp that I am. Chet was my first hero in the fifties and then along came Curly Chalker and the both of them dominated my music interest for many years. When Curly left us, it was a truly sad day for me and now another sad day for a giant man in my heart. We have their music but there is no more of it coming now that their instruments have gone silent. CA & CC, I miss you both, thanks, Gary

Jerry Bruner · Post by **Jerry Bruner** » 30 Jun 2001 7:18 pm

Technically, Janice (the Busgal) is correct when she thinks this should be moved over to the MUSIC folder........ after all he wasn't a steeler. However, his impact on country music is not to be ignored (even his de-countrification of the music in the late 50's) and I am sure a lot of steelers (simply because they are country musicians and fans) feel this loss deeply. Maybe this topic will eventually be moved after the shock wears off but I think that's really the moderator's call.

Chet WILL be missed.

Gary Walker · Post by **Gary Walker** » 30 Jun 2001 9:49 pm

Chet indeed tried his hand at the steel but never for the public. I talked to him once and he was cleaning his finger nails with a finger pick and I asked him if he dabbled with the steel and he said he had, case closed, Gary

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 30 Jun 2001 10:33 pm

I'm very saddened to hear of Chet's passing. He will always be one of my personal heroes.

I saw him a few years ago here in Santa Rosa, playing for a packed house at our local concert hall. I remember thinking that he put more music into two measures than you hear in whole songs on the radio. He was a true artist, in every sense of the word.

In the future, when people search for a post about Chet Atkins, they probably won't expect to find it in the area about "Steel Players and their Music". I'm moving this topic to the Music forum where it rightfully belongs.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Rick Barber · Post by **Rick Barber** » 30 Jun 2001 10:48 pm

I would like to express my sincere condolences to Chet's family. Chet was why I ever picked up a guitar.

I recently posted a picture of me and my pedal steel on his website www.misterguitar.com . I'm very proud to be there.

In the early 90's I took my entire family to go see Chet Atkins and Leo Kottke at the Circle Star Theatre in San Carlos California. I am so pleased that my wife and boys got to hear Chet play in person.

My all time favorite was to hear him play Yankee Doodle and Dixie together at the same time.

I was sitting hear in tears too just thinking about how important he was to me , and I will forever be his fan.

Sincerely,
Rick Barber
Morgan Hill , Calif.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 1 Jul 2001 3:54 am

Chet granted me a personal interview at Stanley Park, in Westfield, Ma. in 1985. I was a reporter for THE COUNTRY MUSIC RECORD NEWSPAPER. I have a rare taped copy of Chet giving me information about a steel guitarist who had no arms. He possessed knowledge of the entire music world. I did the interview as a cover story for C.M.R., and I have several copies, which I have kept for posterity. When Chet reached over and adjusted my recorder, and angled the mike, I quickly realized that his great abilities were not limited to the guitar. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. Bill H.