On This Day in 2005, We Said Goodbye to the Hall of Fame Steel Guitarist Who Played With Hank Williams and Helped Kickstart Dolly Parton’s Career

While you may have never heard his name, Jerry Byrd played a key role in the history of country music. The steel guitarist master played with legendary musicians like Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, and Red Foley. He was also instrumental in the early career of Dolly Parton, offering her a publishing deal at Combine Publishing shortly after she moved to Nashville. Today, we’re remembering Jerry Byrd, who died on this day (April 11) in 2005.

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Byrd passed from complications of Parkinson’s disease at age 85 in Honolulu, Hawaii, a place he had called home for 30 years. He was survived by wife Kaleo Wood and two daughters.

Born March 9, 1920 in Lima, Ohio, Jerry Byrd became enamored with the steel guitar after seeing a “tent show” at age 12. He was a quick study, playing in bars by age 15.

In his 2003 autobiography It Was a Trip, On Wings of Music, he wrote of his first time hearing the island’s music, which came in 1933 when a then 13-year-old Byrd came across a troupe of touring Hawaiian musicians.

“[You’ couldn’t have captured my attention any more if you hit me in the head with a hammer,” he wrote. “But it was the sound of the steel guitar that captivated me the most.”

While his heart truly lay with Hawaiian music, it was country radio that gave Byrd his start. He performed at stations in Cincinnati and Detroit before signing with Ernie Lee’s Pleasant Valley Boys in 1944. He remained with Lee for two years until forming his own group, the Jay-Bird Trio. That lasted another two years before Byrd joined Red Foley’s band.

Jerry Byrd Was the First-Ever Hall of Fame Steel Guitarist

Although his focus shifted back to Hawaiian music over the years, Jerry Byrd remained active on the country music scene. He featured on such timeless Hank Williams classics as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, “Lovesick Blues” and “A Mansion on the Hill.”

Wanting to share his craft, Byrd also gave steel guitar lessons to blues-rock musician Jimmie Vaughn and Grateful Dead co-founder Jerry Garcia. In 1978, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame as its first member.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1964, Buck Owens Released This Future No. 1 Hit That Inspired Jerry Garcia To Learn the Steel Guitar]

Ten years earlier, in 1968, Byrd had decided to exit country music for good, focusing instead on the Hawaiian tunes that had first sparked his passion. In fact, he moved to the island in the early 1970s, giving lap steel lessons to young musicians in an effort to maintain the instrument’s role in Hawaiian music.

Byrd worked with Hawaiian musicians including Danny Kaleikini, Melveen Leed, and Don Ho.

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