Willie Nelson’s beloved guitar, Trigger, has almost as many miles on it as its 92-year-old owner. In 1969, Nelson paid $750 for the Martin classical guitar after a drunk audience member stepped on his Baldwin. Today we remember the life of the man who introduced the two—Harold “Shot” Jackson, who died on this day (Jan. 24) in 1991 at age 70.
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Born Sept. 4, 1920, in Wilmington, North Carolina, Harold Bradley Jackson moved to Blackshear, Georgia as a child. At some point, his parents bestowed upon him the nickname “Buckshot,” eventually shortened to “Shot.” By the time he made his mark on Nashville, few of his fellow musician friends knew his real name.
In loving memory of Harold Bradley "Shot" Jackson (Guitarist/Dobroist/Pedal Steel Guitarist/Guitar Designer/Manufacturer (Sho-Bud); Associated Acts: Tennessee Mountain Boys, Roy Clark, Melba Montgomery, and George Jones)
— Raylene – Undercover Indie ® (@UndercoverIndy) January 24, 2023
September 4, 1920 ; January 24, 1991 RIP 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/M2bTP5B0V2
Learning guitar at 17, Jackson moved to Nashville in 1944 to join Cousin Wilbur Westbrooks’ band at the Grand Ole Opry. Following a brief stint in the U.S. Navy, he lined up with the Bailes Brother and their West Virginia Home Folks as a sideman, following them to Shreveport, Louisiana, for the start of the famed Louisiana Hayride program. He stayed even after the Bailes Brothers left, playing with the likes of Webb Pierce, Jimmie Osborne, and Red Sovine.
[RELATED: Willie Nelson Has Played One Guitar Since 1969: The Story of “Trigger”]
Harold “Shot” Jackson Designed Guitars, Too
During his time in Louisiana, Harold “Shot” Jackson met Johnnie Wright and Jack Anglin, who brought him aboard their group The Tennessee Mountain Boys as a Dobro player. That’s when he designed the first pedal steel guitar (a modified Fender lap steel), and accompanied Wright’s wife Kitty Wells on her first hit, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels.”
Eventually, Jackson left the Tennessee Mountain Boys and accepted a steel guitar position in Roy Acuff’s band, the Smoky Mountain Boys. Along with Buddy Emmons, he developed pedals on a double neck steel and a seven-string Dobro with pedals, which he dubbed the “Sho-Bud.”
Harold “Shot” Jackson also ran a guitar sale and repair shop near the Grand Ole Opry, where he introduced Nelson to his trusty guitar, “Trigger.”
Featured image via Facebook
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