Died On This Date (June 30, 2001) Chet Atkins / Country Music Icon
themusicsover Chet Atkins
June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001
Chet Atkins was one of the most influential musicians to come out of Nashville. And yet, he was much more than that. Atkins worked on the business side as well, spending some time as an artist manager as well as Vice President of RCA Records‘ country division where he remarkably signed Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Bobby Bare, Connie Smith and Jerry Reed to name just a few. As a producer, Atkins made hits for Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Waylon Jennings and many more. The sounds he created on record are credited as being one of the foundations of what would become known as the Nashville Sound. Atkins’ style of playing was itself influenced by the great Merle Travis and is one of the most difficult sounds to imitate, earning him the nickname, “Mister Guitar.” Over the course of his career, Atkins won fourteen Grammys, nine Country Music Association awards, and the Billboard Century award. He was also inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, invited to the White House to play for every president from Kennedy to Bush Sr., and had a stretch of highway in Georgia named after him. Atkins died of cancer on June 30, 2001.
What You Should Own
Bill Aucoin was a highly successful artist manager who, over the course of some 30 years, represented the likes of KISS, Billy Idol, Manowar, Billy Squier, and Starz, to name a few. After studying film in college, Aucoin was heading down a road to becoming a cinematographer when, in 1973, he discovered KISS and began managing them through the first decade of their career. His vision and the fact that he funded their first tour out of his pocket helped pave the way for the band’s massive success. They parted ways in the early ’80s, but worked together again on DVD packages in later years. Bill Aucoin died of complications associated with prostate cancer on June 28, 2010. He was 66.
Murry Wilson was a songwriter, musician, record producer, and most importantly, the father of 
Poodie Locke worked as Willie Nelson’s stage manager for the past 34 years. According to all reports, Locke was loved by all who met him due to his warm personality, bigger-than-life presence, and bear-like hugs. Besides being one of the brightest and strongest stars in the Willie Nelson world, Locke owned his own Austin-area bar and had his own line of barbecue sauces. Locke first met Nelson when he was just twelve years old and went on to work for him after he did a stint as a roadie for 
Tom Donahue was a ground breaking disc jockey who took a San Francisco foreign language station and transformed it into America’s first “free form” station which would become the model for FM album oriented stations across the country. Donahue started his radio career in South Carolina in 1949, but moved to the Bay Area after the payola scandal where he started a record label for the Beau Brummels who he discovered and managed. e also produced concerts and opened a psychedelic club. In 1972, he became the GM of KSAN and encouraged the on-air talent to dig deep into the albums, play songs from different genres and eras, and inject political commentary. The station became an instant hit with the counter-culture, so Donuhue and his wife, Raechel Donahue successfully brought his idea to Los Angeles stations, KPPC and future legend, KMET. Similar stations spread across the country through the rest of the ‘70s. Donahue suffered a fatal heart attack on April 28, 1975.