Jimmy Pruett

Jimmy Pruett (born May 27, 1925 in Los Angeles , California ) is an American country musician . Pruett was among other things pianist in the ensemble of the live country show Town Hall Party .

Life

Childhood and youth

Jimmy Pruett grew up in Los Angeles and learned to play the guitar as a child . Since he is blind, he developed his own style and also learned the piano . At the age of nine, Pruett was discovered by Stuart Hamblen , a country great on the west coast, and from then on he could be heard regularly on Hamblen's show on KMJ in Fresno .

Career

After that, Pruett joined Jimmy Walker's band, which at the time was performing at Old Casa Manana in Culver City, California. Walker was also a country star whose sphere of activity was around Los Angeles and also appeared as an actor. Pruett soon worked as a background musician for T. Texas Tyler , Merl Lindsay , Les "Carrot Top" Anderson and Spade Cooley and accompanied them on their recordings. First TV appearances on local and regional television followed. Pruett's Water Baby Blues was particularly popular with the audience.

From 1952 Pruett played in Red Kirds Band, with whom he appeared on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Town Hall Party from the Town Hall in Compton . He was later hired as a pianist for the show's house band and stayed there until the late 1950s. He played with artists like Gene Vincent , Bob Luman , the Collins Kids and a few more. Pruett can also be seen in many TV recordings of the Town Hall Party, which have been re-released on DVD by Bear Family Records .

Pruett continued to work as a musician and in 1964 as a pianist for Hank Thompson, among others . In 1963 he released his first album on Capitol Records , on which he interpreted pop classics.

Discography

• 1963: Good Time Piano! (Capitol)

Web links

• Jimmy Pruett on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)