from this week's Austin Chronicle
JIMMY DAY, 1934-1999
If the death of Austin blues guitarist T.D. Bell
on January 9 was a hard blow for the Central
Texas music scene, the loss of steel guitar
player Jimmy Day must be measured in even
larger terms -- its impact resonates on a
national, even worldwide scale. Buda
resident Day died of cancer Friday, January
22 at the age of 65.
There are a select few musicians whose talent
is so highly regarded that their names literally
become synonymous with their instrument --
Jimi Hendrix on the guitar, John Coltrane and
Charlie Parker on the saxophone, Miles Davis on the trumpet. In the
world of
steel guitar, those names were Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day.
Of course, Jimmy Day never received the fame of those other names -- he was
primarily a sideman, rather than a band leader -- but like all sidemen,
he helped
make the sounds that made the stars famous. Day's r�sum� alone is
mind-boggling; name a country music hall of famer from the Fifties or
Sixties, any
one, and chances are, he played with them. And there's a reason he
hooked up
with so many great musicians -- they sought him out.
But Day also played with some smaller names as well, which must be seen
as a
measure of their talent. When you're the guy who laid down the opening
licks of
Ray Price's "Crazy Arms," you don't have to play with also-rans. Clay
Blaker,
Alvin Crow, and Don Walser are among the Central Texas regional talents who
received the Jimmy Day stamp of approval and benefited from his talents.
Day was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on January 9, 1934, and grew up in
Louisiana. He heard Shot Jackson playing the steel guitar in 1948 and
fell in love
with the instrument, developing a friendship with Jackson (Day,
Jackson, and
Emmons together manufactured their own brand of pedal steel, the Sho-Bud,
beginning in 1957). He quickly mastered the instrument and was soon among
heady company; the same year he graduated from high school, 1951, Day
auditioned for The Louisiana Hayride, the Shreveport radio show which
at the
time rivaled the Grand Ole Opry in importance, and backed Webb Pierce and
Red Sovine. That same year, he recorded with Pierce on "Don't Do It
Darlin',"
which went to number one.
From there, there are just too many highlights to mention. Day moved
among the
upper echelons of country royalty until the late Seventies, when
Nashville began its
attempts to destroy country music, often dropping the steel guitar from
recordings
altogether. Day returned to Central Texas in 1978 and sought out
audiences who
still appreciated true country. Among his gigs were the now-legendary
Monday
nights with Don Walser's Pure Texas Band at Henry's Bar & Grill. He
moved to
Nashville in 1991 for some session work when Nashville rediscovered the
steel,
but then settled down in Buda again shortly thereafter.
As said, the best way to understand the impact of Jimmy Day is to look
at his
r�sum�, so here it is (no, we're not making this up): Webb Pierce, Red
Sovine,
Hank Williams, Jim Reeves, Lefty Frizzell, Elvis Presley, Ray Price,
Ernest Tubb,
Willie Nelson, Johnny Bush, Ferlin Husky, George Jones, Tracy Nelson &
Mother Earth, Sammi Smith, Leon Russell, Commander Cody, Clay Blaker, Alvin
Crow, Don Walser, Skeeter Davis. -- Lee Nichols
