Sails

Performer: Chet Atkins
Artist: Earl Klugh; Mark Knopfler; Billy Joe Walker; Jim Horn; David Hungate; Terry McMillan
Engineer: John Mills
Producer: David Hungate; Chet Atkins
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Chet Atkins (banjo); Mark Knopfler, Earl Klugh, Billy Joe Walker, Paul Yandell, Millard Green (guitar); Baba Ram Dave (sitar); Aristotle Onassid (bazoki); Terry McMillan (harmonica); Jim Horn, Mike Haynes (horns); Mike Lawler, Darryl Dybka, Clayton Ivey, Randy McCormick (keyboards); David Hungate (bass); Larrie Londin, Bob Mater (drums); Mark Hammond, Dave Humphries (programming). Recorded at CA Workshop, Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee. Personnel: Chet Atkins (guitar); Mark Knopfler, Billy Joe Walker (guitar); Earl Klugh (acoustic guitar). Chet Atkins' 1987 instrumental release SAILS finds the guitarist in a pop/jazz setting. Blurring the lines between his country roots and a jazzy sensibility, Atkins creates music that's both ethereal and introspective. There's a slick patina of sound supported not only by Atkins' guitar but also by keyboards, strings, horns and percussion; the result is a rich and diverse layering of chords and rhythms combined with Atkins' lyrical guitar work. Standout tracks include the reflective ballad, "Love Letter," and "Laffin' at Life," the latter of which features Atkins' trademark fingerpicking style.

Among fingerstyle country guitar players, perhaps only Merle Travis can rival Chet Atkins, whose distinctive sound defined an entire generation of Nashville country. Atkins has played an equally important role as a record producer. As RCA's chief Nashville producer in the '50s and '60s, Atkins oversaw sessions for Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Jim Reeves, Don Gibson, and countless others. He was one of the chief architects of the polished country style that came to be known as the "Nashville sound," but his own productions were more tasteful and appealing than those for which the genre is frequently lambasted. Atkins remained active into the '90s, but succumbed to cancer in 2001.

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