Editing Chet Atkins (section)

===Later career===
In the 1970s, Atkins became increasingly stressed by his executive duties. He produced fewer records, but could still turn out hits such as [[Perry Como]]'s 1973 pop hit "[[And I Love You So (song)|And I Love You So]]". He recorded extensively with close friend and fellow picker Jerry Reed, who had become a hit artist in his own right. A 1973 diagnosis of [[colorectal cancer|colon cancer]], however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA Records, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed or even Jethro Burns from Homer and Jethro (his brother-in-law) after Homer died in 1971.<ref name="mamg" /> Atkins would turn over his administrative duties to [[Jerry Bradley (music executive)|Jerry Bradley]], son of Owen, in 1973 at RCA.

Atkins did little production work at RCA after stepping down and in fact, had hired producers at the label in the 1960s, among them [[Bob Ferguson (musician)|Bob Ferguson]] and [[Felton Jarvis]]. As a recording artist, Atkins grew disillusioned with RCA in the late 1970s. He felt stifled because the record company would not let him branch into jazz. He had also produced late '60s jazz recordings by Canadian guitarist [[Lenny Breau]], a friend and protege. His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, [[Les Paul]], ''[[Chester and Lester|Chester & Lester]]'' and ''[[Guitar Monsters]]'', had already reflected that interest; ''Chester & Lester'' was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career. At the same time, he grew dissatisfied with the direction Gretsch (no longer family-owned) was going and withdrew his authorization for them to use his name and began designing guitars with [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]]. In 1982, Atkins ended his 35-year association with RCA Records and signed with rival [[Columbia Records]]. He produced his first album for Columbia in 1983.<ref name="RollingStone" />

Atkins had always been an ardent lover of jazz and throughout his career he was often criticized by "pure" country musicians for his jazz influences. He also said on many occasions that he did not like being referred to as a "country guitarist", insisting that he was "a guitarist, period." Although he played [[Playing by ear|by ear]] and was a masterful improviser, he was able to read music and even performed some classical guitar pieces. When [[Roger C. Field]], a friend, suggested to him in 1991 that he record and perform with a female singer, he did so with [[Suzy Bogguss]].<ref name="mamg"/>

Atkins returned to his country roots for albums he recorded with [[Mark Knopfler]] and Jerry Reed.<ref name="mamg" /> Knopfler had long mentioned Atkins as one of his earliest influences. Atkins also collaborated with Australian guitar legend [[Tommy Emmanuel]]. On being asked to name the ten most influential guitarists of the twentieth century, he named [[Django Reinhardt]] to the first position, and also placed himself on the list.<ref name="OfficialSite">{{Cite web |date=December 17, 1999 |title=Chet names the century's most influential guitarists |url=http://www.misterguitar.com/news/chetsten.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080712192238/http://www.misterguitar.com:80/news/chetsten.html |archive-date=2008-07-12 |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Chet Atkins: Mister Guitar}}</ref>

In later years, he returned to radio, appearing on [[Garrison Keillor]]'s ''[[Prairie Home Companion]]'' program, on [[American Public Media]] radio, even picking up a fiddle from time to time,<ref name="mamg" /> and performing songs such as [[Bob Wills]]'s "[[Corrina, Corrina (song)|Corrina, Corrina]]" and [[Willie Nelson]]'s "[[Seven Spanish Angels]]" with Nelson on a 1985 broadcast of the show at the [[Bridges Auditorium]] on the campus of [[Pomona College]].