Born 100 Years Ago Today in Texas, the Country Music Hall of Fame Fiddler Who Played With Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard

One of the most influential fiddlers of the Western swing movement, John Paul “Johnny” Gimble, was born in Tyler, Texas, on this day (May 30) in 1926. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018 as a member of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, Gimble also backed Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and George Strait.

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Johnny Gimble Once Turned Down a Job in Politics to Serve His Country

Growing up in the small East Texas community of Bascom, he formed the Rose City Swingsters with brothers Gene and Jerry while still a teenager.

The trio played area radio shows and dance halls until Johnny Gimble moved to Louisiana to perform with Jimmie Davis’ successful campaign for governor. At 18, he turned down a job in Davis’ administration to voluntarily enlist in the U.S. Army, returning to Texas after his World War II service ended.

In 1948, Gimble made his first recording with Buck Roberts’ Rhythmairs in Corpus Christi. A year later, Bob Wills recruited the Lone Star native for his Texas Playboys, and he spent most of the next decade playing fiddle and electric mandolin.

During his time as a Playboy, Gimble cultivated his famous five-string playing style, achieving a lower, rounder sound than the typical four-stringed instrument.

Afterward, he worked in Dallas with Al Dexter and Dewey Groom while playing numerous sessions at Jim Beck’s recording studios with Marty Robbins, Ray Price, and others.

A Second Act

Toward the end of the 1950s, however, as swing music’s popularity began to fade, Johnny Gimble moved to Waco, Texas, where he split time between music and making his living as a barber.

In Waco, he hosted Johnny Gimble & the Homefolks, featuring an up-and-coming bass player named Willie Nelson. Then, in 1968, Gimble moved his family to Nashville at the urging of his peers. There, he became an in-demand session musician, recording with  Chet Atkins, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty and Dolly Parton.

You can hear his work on George Strait’s chart-topping 1983 album Right or Wrong, among others. Gimble also toured with Willie Nelson from 1979 to 1981, appearing in the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose starring the Red-Headed Stranger.

[RELATED: Country Time Machine: A Young George Strait Performs His First No. 1 With a Legendary Texas Fiddler]

Johnny Gimble’s career extended well into the 21st century, recording with Vince Gill and Tanya Tucker, and performing with Carrie Underwood at the 49th annual Grammy Awards in 2007.

On May 8, 2015, Johnny Gimble died due to complications from multiple strokes in Marble Falls, Texas. He was 88 years old.

Featured image by Andrew Putler/Redferns