On this day (February 17) in 1931, Uncle Jimmy Thompson died of pneumonia at his Laguardo, Tennessee, home at the age of 83. He was an old-time fiddler who had hundreds of songs in his expansive repertoire. However, he only made a handful of recordings in his short career. He is best remembered as being the first performer on what is now the Grand Ole Opry. His fiddle was part of the show’s 100th anniversary celebration.
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Thompson was born in Smith County, Tennessee, in 1848. When he was 12 years old, his family relocated to Texas. There, he picked up his first fiddle. Before long, he was learning old-time fiddle tunes from veterans who had survived the Civil War. In 1907, when Thompason was 59 years old, he gained regional fame when he won an eight-day fiddle contest in Dallas.
A few years later, Thompson returned to Tennessee, this time landing in Hendersonville, according to Old Man Fiddler’s Cabin. There, his first wife died. Thompson married his second wife in 1912. Four years later, they relocated from Hendersonville to Laguardo, Tennessee. At this time, he was 68 years old. So, instead of trying to work a farm, he bought a Ford truck, outfitted it with a camper, and the couple took their act on the road. He played the fiddle while his wife, Ella, clogged, keeping time with her feet.
At the age of 75, Thompson traveled back to Dallas and won the eight-day fiddle contest for a second time.
Uncle Jimmy Thompson and the Grand Ole Opry
Two years after Uncle Jimmy Thompson won his second major fiddle competition in Dallas, big things began happening in Nashville. According to the Grand Ole Opry website, the National Life and Accident Insurance Company founded WSM. It was the first radio station in Nashville strong enough to reach a regional audience.
The station went live for the first time in October 1925. A month later, the station hired George D. Hay, the radio personality who hosted the National Barn Dance on Chicago’s WLS. He adapted his show’s format for the new station and launched the WSM Barn Dance on November 28, 1925. Thompson was the first to perform on the show that would become the Grand Ole Opry a little more than two years later.
Thompson continued to make appearances on the show for the next two years. However, the show’s format began changing, and his role shrank. He made his final Grand Ole Opry performance in 1928.
Featured Image by Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images
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