Born 100 Years Ago, the Original Nashville A-Team Fiddler Who Shaped the Country Fiddle Sound and Played With Hank Williams, Faron Young, and Ray Price

On this day (March 31) in 1926, Tommy Jackson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. His family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, while he was still a baby. Just a few years later, he would be playing his fiddle in Music City bars. More importantly, he was well on his way to becoming a legend. Jackson was one of the most in-demand fiddle players of his era and can be heard on thousands of classic recordings.

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Jackson spent his early years listening to the Grand Ole Opry. That’s where he discovered his love for the fiddle. More specifically, it is where he heard George Wilkerson of the Fruit Jar Drinkers and Arthur Smith of the Dixieliners. Those musicians made him realize he wanted to take up the instrument. While he didn’t grow up in a musical family, his father supported the young boy’s passion. As a result, he was earning nickels and dimes in Nashville bars by the time he was seven years old. Five years later, he was on the road with Kitty Wells.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1947, Hank Williams Recorded a Single That Would Be the Blueprint for Songs That Made Him an Icon]

In 1943, when Jackson was 17, he joined Curly Williams’ band, the Georgia Peach Pickers. This allowed him to perform on the Grand Ole Opry regularly. Then, according to Native Ground, he joined Paul Howard’s band and continued to play on the Opry. Unfortunately, he had to put his career on hold when he joined the Army Air Corps a little more than two weeks after he turned 18.

Tommy Jackson’s Road to Legendary Status

Jackson returned to Nashville in 1946 and picked up where he left off. Soon, he was touring with several Opry mainstays. However, it didn’t take him long to realize how little he liked being on the road. This led to him performing on a pair of radio shows on WSM. The first was with Milton Estes. Then, he joined Red Foley’s as a member of the Cumberland Valley Boys.

The Cumberland Valley Boys featured Zeke Turner, Jerry Bird, Louis Innis, and Tommy Jackson. They soon became Nashville’s original A-team. They became in-demand session musicians who recorded with some of the biggest names in the business.

Notably, Jackson played on some of Hank Williams’ biggest hits. His first recording with Williams was “My Love for You (Has Turned to Hate).” He also played on “Lovesick Blues” and his first major hit, “Move It on Over.” Jackson also created the iconic fiddle intro on Williams’ “I Saw the Light.”

He also played on recordings from Red Foley, Grandpa Jones, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Ray Price, and Faron Young. Notably, he can be heard on Price’s “Crazy Arms,” the song that forever changed honky tonk music.

The King of Square Dance Music

Tommy Jackson wasn’t just an in-demand session player and touring sideman. He also recorded a series of solo albums. His solo recording career began in 1948, when he moved with the rest of his band to Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he was playing on a session for cowboy singer Rex Allen when producer Murray Nash approached him.

Nash was the son of a fiddler who enjoyed fiddle music. As a result, he asked Jackson to record “Black Mountain Rag” and “Fire on the Mountain” for him. The resulting recordings were so good that Nash couldn’t keep them to himself.

The discs sold well, which led Jackson to record several more singles. Then, in the early 1950s, square dancing became popular, and Jackson’s music was the perfect soundtrack. As a result, he recorded 11 LPs, most of which were marketed to the square dancing audience.

Tommy Jackson May Have Been Too Good

Tommy Jackson might be the most influential fiddler in the history of country music. Up-and-coming fiddle players studied his innovative style before making their way to Nashville in hopes of breaking into the industry. As a result, there were so many fiddlers in Music City by the early 1970s that he had trouble finding work.

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