Paul Atkinson of The Zombies: 1946 to 2004

The great Paul Atkinson, guitarist of The Zombies, died on April 1 after a long standing battle with cancer. In an era which spawned guitar heroes, Atkinson was a model of self restraint and taste, allowing Rod Argent to be the melodic focus on keyboards on hits like "Tell Her No", "Time of the Season" and "She's Not There". His masterful rythym and sometimes lead guitar work was propulsive and always appropriate on every track. He was a key member of a band whose members individually and collectively were extraordinary players, exceptional singers and outstanding, bar setting songwriters.

If you haven't heard this before, please...please, if you enjoy what we write about on Fufkin, go buy The Zombies: Zombies Heaven (Big Beat) box set. It is expensive but worth every penny. It is a treasure in modern music. On every track, you can hear Atkinson's brilliance in his subtle, understated manner. A good analogy to Atkinson's importance would be to describe Ringo's importance: each blended their talents putting their ego aside to exponentially better the end result.

Atkinson made a successful transition to music industry executive. He signed ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Michael Penn, Judas Priest and Patty Smyth. We'll forgive him for Judas Priest because of his signing of ABBA and, to a lesser extent, Michael Penn. Penn still has a great record in his future.

Atkinson lived in Los Angeles for the past 20 years. In January, he reunited on stage briefly with Blunstone and Argent.

Mr. Atkinson is survived by his wife Helen, their two children, James and Lucy, and son Matt by a previous marriage.

Atkinson deserves the highest praise, respect and honor as an artist. Atkinson was important in a real sense from his contributions as an artist to his contributions as a music executive. I personally wish to thank Mr. Atkinson posthumously for giving me some of the most joyous moments in my life listening to his music. We at Fufkin extend our most sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans from around the world.

Note that some of the biographical information in this piece is derived from liner notes to The Zombies: Zombie Heaven by Alec Paleo, maybe the greatest liner notes of all time.

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