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By PETER COOPER
Staff Writer

Grady Martin, the guitar wizard who helped fashion the sounds of such stars as Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash, died Monday.

One of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant session musicians in country music history suffered an apparent heart attack at his Lewisburg, Tenn., home. He was 72.

Mr. Martin, like his cohorts in Nashville's famed A-Team of studio musicians, remains unclaimed by the Country Music Hall of Fame. But many of country's most legendary artists point to Mr. Martin's contributions as invaluable and unprecedented.

''Grady realized, though he never bragged about it, that he was special,'' said Merle Haggard, who grew up idolizing Mr. Martin and came to use his guitar work on songs including What Am I Gonna Do (With The Rest Of My Life), A Place To Fall Apart and No Reason To Quit. ''He understood some things about music that nobody else understood. And when he'd put that down on your record, it was like a gift.''

''He was my friend, he was one of the greatest guitar players ever, and I will miss him,'' Nelson said on learning of Mr. Martin's death.

In surveying Mr. Martin's career, his peers remain incredulous that one man could envision — let alone execute — the stylistically disparate guitar parts for which he is known.

''He didn't use one recognizable sound,'' said Bob Moore, a lifelong friend of Mr. Martin's who played bass with him on thousands of recording sessions. ''What he did was so varied, but the things he came up with were always outstanding, no matter the style. I think he's the single greatest guitar player we've had here in Nashville.''

Mr. Martin's delicate, nylon-string guitar graces Marty Robbins' El Paso, and his thrusting, fuzz-toned guitar solo churns through Robbins' Don't Worry (the latter probably was the first of its kind, influencing generations of distortion-happy guitarists). His fiery rockabilly solos helped bring Johnny Horton songs, including Honky Tonk Man and Cherokee Boogie, into popular favor. And his melodic leads may be heard on recordings by Nelson, Cline, Orbison, Baez, Jim Reeves, Carl Smith, Elvis Presley, Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee and numerous others.

''I'm broken-hearted today,'' said Lee, who was a child when she and producer Owen Bradley began using Mr. Martin on sessions for songs including I'm Sorry and Break It To Me Gently. ''I first met Grady when I was about 9 years old, and he was such a bear of a man and so stoic that he scared me to death. Later on, I learned what a big teddy bear he was.

''I wouldn't do a session without him. Owen knew not to even call a session if Grady couldn't do it. Grady could switch gears so quickly. He could play something that'd make you weep, and then the next minute play something that'd make you jump for joy.''

In addition to his guitar prowess, Mr. Martin was proficient on bass and fiddle. He grew up in Lewisburg and began playing recording sessions when he was 15. In 1946, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut, performing with the Bailes Brothers Band. His late 1940s and early 1950s work included backing Little Jimmy Dickens hits such as Country Boy and Hillbilly Fever, recordings that featured innovative twin-guitar lines he constructed with fellow guitar wizard Jabbo Arrington.

While most of his legacy was built as a sideman, Mr. Martin recorded instrumental singles and LPs for Decca Records and Monument Records, and he participated in several Decca albums as a member of Nashville pop band Slew Foot Five.

Throughout the 1960s, Mr. Martin reigned as a Nashville guitar virtuoso with an irascible, no-nonsense attitude. Producers often designated him the ''session leader,'' meaning that he oversaw the musicians and directed the instrumental arrangements for many songs.

''He had a big reputation to live up to,'' Haggard said of Mr. Martin's role on Music Row. ''He was like Wyatt Earp down there, man. He was everybody's hero.''

Having worked on sessions with everyone from Red Foley to Kris Kristofferson, Mr. Martin eventually returned to live performance. After a stint with Jerry Reed, he began what would become a 16-year-long string with Willie Nelson, recording Always On My Mind and On the Road Again. Mr. Martin was reportedly the model for the character played by Slim Pickens in the movie Honeysuckle Rose, starring Nelson and loosely based on his career.

In 1983, Nelson played host to a Grady Martin tribute, and he also performed in Mr. Martin's honor in April 2000 at Ryman Auditorium, when Mr. Martin was given a Chetty award for significant instrumental achievement. The award was given during Chet Atkins' Musician Days, which celebrated musicians of importance.

Monday evening, Mr. Martin suffered what family members think was a heart attack. He was taken by ambulance to Marshall Medical Center and was pronounced dead on arrival.

''I think Grady never got his due, maybe because he was a bit of an outlaw,'' Haggard said. ''He drank a little of this, did a little of this and that, and could be cantankerous. But he was one of the greatest guitar players that ever lived. He'd lay out something that you'd wish you'd thought of, and people would copy him later.

''I remember when Grady played a guitar part on a song of mine called A Place To Fall Apart. He took one whack at it, and (acclaimed guitarist Roy Nichols) was there with me at the soundboard. We knew what he played was great, but I looked at Roy and said, 'Roy, I believe me or you might could have played that?' Roy said, 'Maybe now we could, but not until after that (guy) played it. 'Cause he just showed us how.' ''

Lawrence Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Chapel Hill is in charge of the funeral. Arrangements for a memorial service have not been completed.

Survivors include 10 children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Noted works of Grady Martin

Peter Cooper writes about music for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 259-8220 or at pcooper@tennessean.com.