Tommy Crook, a renowned Tulsa guitarist, died on Feb. 4 at the age of 81.

His fingerstyle guitar technique and virtuosity were praised by many, including Eldon Shamblin, Tuck Andress, Paul Benjaman and more. According to local lore, he also was revered by Chet Atkins, who saw Crook play at the Sheraton Inn-Airport hotel in Tulsa. When asked on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson if anyone played the guitar as well or better than him, Atkins responded by mentioning Crook.

As early as the age of 10, Crook was performing live. He’d soon join Porter Wagoner’s touring show and appear on both Hank Thompson’s show on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City and Leon McAuliffe’s show on KVOO-TV in Tulsa.

As a teenager, he played in bands with David Gates, Leon Russell, JJ Cale, Carl Radle and Jimmy Karstein, among others.

According to The Tulsa World, he joined USO tours in Asia when he was in his 20s, performing alongside Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, Pat Boone, Lou Rawls, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis.

But he largely chose to stay and raise a family in Tulsa, turning down opportunities to be a sideman or tour. The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame member instead took longtime local residencies at Sheraton Inn and Lanna Thai Restaurant.

Together with Paul McGhee, Crook released the album Mr. Guitar And Mr. Drums in 1968. He contributed to guitar compilations and released just a few more albums, including one with Shelby Eicher in 1991.

A service for Crook will be held on Feb. 14 at Rivercrest Cremation in Bixby, according to Eicher.

This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.