Atkins's shy personality worked against him, as did the fact that his sophisticated style led many to doubt he was truly " country.

Atkins's first hit single was " Mr. Sandman ", followed by " Silver Bell ", which he did as a duet with Hank Snow.

His award was presented by Marty Stuart and Brian Setzer and accepted by Atkins's grandson, Jonathan Russell.

During the penalty phase of the trial, the defense presented Atkins's school records and the results of an IQ test carried out by clinical psychologist Dr. Evan Nelson confirmed that he had an IQ of 59.

The state's witness, Dr. Stanton Samenow, countered the defense's arguments that Atkins was mentally retarded, by stating that Atkins's vocabulary, general knowledge and behavior suggested that he possessed at least average intelligence.

His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, Les Paul, Chester & Lester and Guitar Monsters, had already reflected that interest ; Chester & Lester was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career.

Doubts concerning Atkins's testimony were strengthened when a cell-mate claimed that Atkins had confessed to him that he had shot Nesbitt.

Although Atkins's case and ruling may have saved other mentally retarded inmates from the death penalty, a jury in Virginia decided in July 2005 that Atkins was intelligent enough to be executed on the basis that the constant contact he had with his lawyers had intellectually stimulated him and raised his IQ above 70, making him competent to be put to death under Virginia law.

Atkins's trademark " Atkins Style " of playing uses the thumb and first two — sometimes three — fingers of the right hand.

A 1973 diagnosis of colon cancer, however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed or even Homer & Jethro's Jethro Burns ( Atkins's brother-in-law ) after Homer died in 1971.

His love for numerous styles of music can be traced from his early recording of stride-pianist James P. Johnson's " Johnson Rag ," all the way to the rock stylings of Eric Johnson, an invited guest on Atkins's recording sessions who, when Chet attempted to copy his influential rocker " Cliffs of Dover ," led to Atkins's creation of a unique arrangement of " Londonderry Air ( Danny Boy ).

At the age of 13, jazz guitarist Earl Klugh was captivated watching Atkins's guitar playing on The Perry Como Show.

Little credibility was given to Atkins's testimony in general, as it frequently contradicted known facts.

In Susan Atkins's grand jury testimony, she stated that on the night of August 8, 1969, while in the car, Watson told the group they were going to a home to get money from the people who lived there and to kill them.

The New York Times writes that it was PCRM who in 2004 passed Dr Robert Atkins's medical report to the Wall Street Journal.

As a result, Atkins's death sentence was upheld.

Eileen Atkins ' London stage debut was as Jaquenetta in Robert Atkins's staging of Love's Labour's Lost at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park.

She appeared in the pilot, but when Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, a regular from the original, opted to return, Atkins's character was written out.

The film marks Atkins's third appearance with Barbeau.

From Fred Dekker, writer of House ( 1986 film ) and director of The Monster Squad ( 1987 ), Night of the Creeps ( 1986 ) is Atkins's best loved film.

Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when ( while still living in Georgia ) he heard Merle Travis picking over WLW radio.

Whereas Travis's right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.

Banjo players often use the three-finger picking style made popular by Earl Scruggs.

Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as " parking-lot picking " are too important to be ignored, it is touring musicians who have set the direction of the style.

Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style.

Starting in 1920, Miró developed a very precise style, picking out every element in isolation and detail and arranging them in deliberate composition.

His busy and unusual guitar style includes flat and finger picking, and " chording " with the back of his hand and his elbow.

His usual style of playing bass is with a pick, although he also has been seen finger picking during certain songs.

" Vaughan owed part of his enduring style — especially his use of tremolo picking and vibrato — to Mack.

He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar ; his style is marked by the use of alternative tunings ( notably CGCDGA ), and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody.

Although Maybelle herself had first picked up this technique from the guitarist Lesley Riddle, it became widely known as Carter Family picking, an indication of the group's pivotal role in popularizing the style.

John Bhengu was the first major Zulu guitarist, earning a reputation in 1950s Durban for his unique ukupika style of picking ( as opposed to traditional strumming ).

His preferred style was alternate picking, but on the fifth Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor, he started to employ downpicking because " with this kind of music, you need the consistency and percussive sound you get from playing with downstrokes.

Kottke learned to play trombone and violin before trying the guitar and developing his own unconventional picking style.

In the early 1980s, Kottke began to suffer from painful tendonitis and related nerve damage caused by his vigorous and aggressive picking style ( particularly on the 12-string guitar ).

As a result, he changed his picking style to a classical style, using the flesh of his fingertips and increasingly small amounts of fingernail rather than fingerpicks, and changing the positioning of the right hand to place less stress on the tendons.

However, the method ranges from basic ( picking from comparable players who are grouped in boxes ) to complicated ( i. e. ' auction ' style ).

Merle Travis, originator of the influential guitar style known as Travis picking, was born and raised in Muhlenberg County.

* Continental knitting, a style of knitting also known as picking

When he ventured out into " nearby mill towns, picking up partners on location ," he found that there were White girls who were " mill-town ... lower class " and could dance and move " in the authentic, flowing style ".

Most are played using a two or three finger picking style and the tuning of each instrument is unique to that instrument.