Uncle Jimmy Thompson

"Uncle" Jimmy Thompson (born January 1, 1848 in Baxter , Tennessee as Jesse Donald Thompson , † February 17, 1931 in LaGuardo , Wilson County , Tennessee) was an American old-time musician . With him the WSM Barn Dance, the forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry, was born .

Life

Childhood and youth

Uncle Jimmy Thompson was born in Smith County . Not much is known about his extended family, other than that Thompson had two brothers and that his parents or their ancestors were from Scotland . Shortly before the American Civil War , the family moved to Texas , where the two brothers stayed. However, Thompson did not take part in the war because he was too young. At that time he already had an immense repertoire of old fiddle pieces.

As a teenager he roamed the country, while he earned his living as a farmer. When he returned to his birthplace, Smith County, he met Mahalia Elizabeth Montgomery, his future first wife. He should have three children with her, Jess, Willie Lee and Fanny. A fourth child, Sally, died as a toddler.

Life before celebrity

Around 1902, Thompson settled in Texas, near the Oklahoma border . There he worked again as a farmer, but now also appeared publicly as a fiddler. In 1907 he won his first local fiddle competition. Around 1912 he changed his place of residence again and moved to Hendersonville , Tennessee , near Nashville , where he cared for his cancerous wife until her death.

At the age of 68, Thompson married a second time, this time Elly Manners, later known as Aunt Elly. Uncle Jimmy Thompson loved to travel, which he did in old age. He traveled through Texas and Tennessee with his self-made "mobile home", a truck with a converted mobile home on the loading area, and stayed wherever he wanted. In an interview with The Tennessean newspaper , he once said: “I just drive the old car to the nearest place and stay there all night. I then sat down on my bed and got my fiddle out! ”( I'd jus 'drive the ol' camper on into the first open place I could find by the road, and then ask to stay the whole night. Once they said yep, I'd jus' drive the thing on in, fix up the bed, and then get out my fiddle! ).

Career

Then, in the mid-1920s, Uncle Jimmy Thompson got on the radio. As part of a tour of the WSM building, his wife said that he could play a little on his fiddle (which he always had with him) for entertainment. What Thompson didn't know, however, was that the transmitter's microphone was on and his fiddle play was broadcast. WSM's program director, George D. Hay , heard this and invited Thompson to another audition.

On November 28, 1925, the 77-year-old Uncle Jimmy Thompson gave birth to the WSM Barn Dance Show , the forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry . The evening after the show, the WSM broadcaster's office was overwhelmed by enthusiastic telegrams. The sprightly old man with the white beard had become the first star of the radio show. And his age didn't stop him from competing in fiddle competitions across the southern states . Thompson even made recordings with his family.

At the beginning of 1927 his radio appearances gradually waned as he had previously suffered a stroke that left him blind in one eye. In addition, he had to drive the 30 mile distance from his then home Laguardo to Nashville every weekend, which was recently draining his health, after all, Thompson was already 79 years old. However, he still performed publicly in his hometown and traveled around the country in his truck.

Uncle Jimmy Thompson died on February 17, 1931 of pneumonia at the age of 83.

Discography

year	title	Record company
1927	Billy Wilson / diamonds	Columbia Records
192?	Uncle Jimmy's Favorite Fiddlin 'Piece / Lynchburg	Conqueror Records

Web links

• Uncle Jimmy Thompson on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• Uncle Jimmy Thompson in the All Music Guide
• Biography ( Memento from July 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive )