Terry Morris (1956 to 1988) was a Texas contest fiddler whose breakdowns, waltzes, and swing tunes are still copied on contest stages. He won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville in 1976 at age 20, won the Texas state title at Hallettsville, and took the Crockett world championship five times. He died in 1988. The Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame inducted him in 1989 and the National Fiddler Hall of Fame in 2016.
Why Morris matters
Morris took the Texas style that Benny Thomasson built and made it faster, smoother, and more daring. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame calls him a fiddle player’s fiddler, and that is the right phrase. Contest fiddlers who never saw him play still learn his variations of Sally Goodin and Dusty Miller from tapes. He is the link between the Thomasson generation and the players who came up in the 1980s and 1990s.
Life and career
Terry Joe Morris was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 6, 1956, the youngest of six children. He grew up near Decatur in a musical family, started singing at two, and took up the fiddle soon after. He played with his brothers Dale and Kenneth. A jam session with Benny Thomasson set his course. After that he traveled the state, staying with fiddle friends and learning from the master players of the Texas style.
On his 18th birthday in 1974 his family gathered to hear him play fiddle for Jean Shepard on the Grand Ole Opry, where Roy Acuff introduced him and wished him a happy birthday. In June 1976 he recorded A Texas Jam Session Featuring Four World Champion Fiddlers at Starday Studios in Nashville with Thomasson, Texas Shorty Chancellor, and a teenage Mark O’Connor. The same year he won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, following O’Connor, who had won it the year before. He also won the Texas state championship at the Fiddlers’ Frolics in Hallettsville, the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association title, and the world championship at Crockett five times. An album from the Bar D Chuckwagon billed him as world champion fiddler for 1975, 1976, and 1977.
He recorded Fiddle Classics for Stardust Records of Decatur in 1981 with his brother Kenneth on guitar, and Texas Fiddlin’ in 1983. He played several times at Panther Hall in Fort Worth. He died in 1988. His brother Dale Morris Sr. and nephew Dale Morris Jr., a two-time Grand Master champion, carried the family’s fiddling forward.
Playing style
Morris played the Texas style at its most refined. His breakdowns were driving and creative, with long bowed variations that moved a tune up the neck and back without losing the dance pulse. His waltzes were smooth, with a singing tone and slides that stayed in tune. His swing tunes had real rhythm, and he played them with the chord tones of a western swing fiddler rather than as fiddle tunes in disguise.
The recordings from Hallettsville in 1987, a year before his death, show what fiddlers still copy: a relaxed right arm, a clean shuffle that never gets ragged, and a habit of building each pass so the last one lands hardest. He also played mandolin and guitar and sang.
Influences and legacy
Morris learned from Benny Thomasson and from the master fiddlers he sought out across Texas, a world that included Major Franklin, Louis Franklin, Vernon Solomon, and Norman Solomon. He recorded beside Thomasson, Texas Shorty, and Mark O’Connor on the 1976 jam session album. His family carried the style on through Dale Morris Sr. and Dale Morris Jr., who won the Grand Master title in 1988 and 1991. Later Texas champions such as Ridge Roberts and Mia Orosco play in a line that runs through him.
Signature tunes and songs
Sally Goodin Dusty Miller Billy in the Low Ground Bill Cheatham Beaumont Rag Liberty.
Essential recordings
A Texas Jam Session Featuring Four World Champion Fiddlers, with Benny Thomasson, Texas Shorty, and Mark O’Connor (Mark O’Connor Productions, 1977) Fiddle Classics (Stardust, 1981) Texas Fiddlin’ (1983) Bar D Chuckwagon Presents Terry Morris: World Champion Fiddler 1975, 1976, 1977 (Corwin)
Awards and honors
Grand Master Fiddler Championship (1976) Texas State Championship, Fiddlers’ Frolics, Hallettsville World Champion Fiddler, Crockett, Texas (five times) Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association champion Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame (1989) National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2016)
Watch and listen
Morris plays Sally Goodin at Hallettsville in 1987. Listen to how many variations he gets from one tune without losing the beat.
Morris plays Dusty Miller at the same contest. Watch the right arm stay loose through the fast bowing.
What to learn from Morris
Learn Sally Goodin from the 1987 video. It is the tune every Texas fiddler is judged on, and his version gives you a set of variations in the order a contest round should build. The technique to steal is his shuffle. He keeps the bow pattern steady under every variation, so the tune dances even when the left hand is up the neck. Play the plain melody with his shuffle for a week before you add a single variation.
Sources
Terry Morris, National Fiddler Hall of Fame Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame, Fiddlers’ Frolics Past winners, Grand Master Fiddler Championship A Texas Jam Session Featuring Four World Champion Fiddlers, Discogs Terry Morris, Fiddle Classics, Discogs Bar D Chuckwagon Presents Terry Morris, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more. Morris learned from Benny Thomasson and recorded beside Mark O’Connor. Vernon Solomon won the first Grand Master title, and Dick Barrett and Herman Johnson held it in the years just before him.