Johnny Gimble obit

Legendary fiddler Johnny Gimble dies at 88

 

 He was not on the list.

Johnny Gimble, one of the greatest and most influential fiddlers to ever pick up a bow, died Saturday morning in Dripping Springs, Texas, due to complications from several strokes he had suffered in recent years. He was 88 years old and had played on recordings by everyone from Bob Wills to George Strait.

John Paul Gimble was born May 30, 1929, in Tyler, Texas. He learned to play the fiddle and mandolin as a boy, and drew inspiration from a number of influences, including jazz violinists Stuff Smith and Svend Asmussen. In his early teens, Mr. Gimble performed on area radio stations; as a young man, he played with Jimmie Davis, who'd become the governor of Louisiana. Following his military service during World War II, Mr. Gimble returned to the United States and country music. In 1949, he began playing with the king of Western Swing, Bob Wills; three years later, Mr. Gimble fiddled on Marty Robbins' debut single, "I'll Go on Alone," which topped the country charts.

After leaving Wills' Texas Playboys in the 1960s, Mr. Gimble became involved in a number of different endeavors, including finding work as a barber, before moving to Nashville later in the decade. In Music City, Mr. Gimble became an in-demand session musician. He appeared on now-classic recordings like Connie Smith's "If It Ain't Love," Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" (and a Bob Wills tribute record, "A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World"), Chet Atkins' 1974 album "Superpickers" and George Strait's version of "Right or Wrong." From 1979-1981, Mr. Gimble also toured with Willie Nelson.

Over his 60-plus years in music, Mr. Gimble won five Instrumentalist of the Year Awards from the Country Music Association and Fiddler of the Year Awards from the Academy of Country Music. In 1994, he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Elana James of Western Swing/jazz trio Hot Club of Cowtown, who knew Mr. Gimble for nearly 20 years and admired him for even longer, cites him as one of her major musical inspirations.

"Johnny is the first fiddle player I really ever heard play Western Swing," James said. "His tone, his humor, the easy elegance and energy in his playing was all there from the first breath. I immediately thought that if someone who played like that, with that level of depth and grace, had devoted himself to Western Swing, it was OK for me to devote my love and time to it. … The way he would phrase his solos was what I have always aspired to and dream of for my own playing."

Though he had a stroke in December 1999, Mr. Gimble continued making music well into his 80s, living up to the advice he gave James and anyone else who asked: "Play every chance you get and be real lucky."

He appeared multiple times on "A Prairie Home Companion" and "Austin City Limits," and, in 2010, released his final album "Celebrating with Friends," a collection of collaborations with artists like Nelson, Haggard, Ray Benson, Dale Watson, Vince Gill and others.

Mr. Gimble has left a lasting influence on country music and, while numerous young fiddlers have attempted to mimic his style over the years, James recalls one of Mr. Gimble's frequent sayings: "If you try to play like someone else, who will play like you?"

Funeral arrangements are not known at this time.