Born on This Day in 1925, the First Guitarist To Own a Telecaster, Who Played With Hank Williams and Wrote an Early Hit for Waylon Jennings

On this day (March 5) in 1925, Jimmy Bryant was born in Moultrie, Georgia. More than 100 years after his birth, Bryant has been all but forgotten by most modern music fans. However, his influence still echoes strongly throughout all of country music and beyond. He is credited as the first country guitarist to play a Telecaster, which remains one of the most popular guitars in the genre.

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Bryant, the oldest of 12 children, learned to play the fiddle from his father when he was five years old. Soon, he was playing on street corners to help his family make ends meet. According to Vintage Guitar, Bryant was only 13 years old when he chose to become a professional musician. He left Georgia for Florida, where he played fiddle for Hank Williams.

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While Bryant showed himself to be a prodigy at a young age, he wouldn’t truly come into his own as a musician until after serving in the United States Army. He enlisted at 18 and was soon fighting in the European Theater of World War II as part of General Patton’s Third Army. During his service, he was badly injured by a grenade.

Jimmy Bryant Switches Instruments

While recovering in a military hospital, Bryant heard Tony Mottola play guitar for the first time. This inspired him to take up the instrument, which he learned quickly. After recovering from his wounds, he joined the USO, playing fiddle and guitar for his fellow soldiers. When he left the Army, he spent his pay on music equipment and began touring.

Before long, Bryant relocated to Los Angeles, California. There, he met legendary pedal steel player Speedy West. The two struck up a fast friendship that led to multiple joint recordings. West also helped Bryant land a spot on Cliffie Stone’s Hometown Jamboree. Stone was also a talent scout for Capitol Records. He quickly signed Bryant, who also became an in-demand studio musician.

Bryant’s Far-Reaching Influence

Jimmy Bryant was the first musician to hold a Fender guitar on film. In the film In Old Amarillo (1951), he appears with a prototype Fender Broadcaster, which was assembled in Leo Fender’s garage. After some legal issues arose, Fender changed the instrument’s name from Broadcaster to Telecaster.

Bryant didn’t just introduce country music to its future instrument of choice. He also influenced and inspired generations of guitarists with his jazz-infused style. Guitar greats like Albert Lee, Ritchie Blackmore, and Steve Howe count him among their chief influences. Additionally, Chet Atkins, who is hailed as one of the greatest guitar pickers to ever set foot in Nashville, once said, “I could never get in his league,” about Bryant.

Bryant was also a songwriter and composer. However, many of his songs were instrumentals. Notably, he penned “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line.” Waylon Jennings took the song to No. 2 in 1968. It was his highest-charting single at the time.

Jimmy Bryant is truly an unsung hero. His influence spreads so far and wide that it is impossible to imagine modern music without his contributions.

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