Tommy Jackson (1926 to 1979) was the fiddler on hundreds of country records made in Nashville from the late 1940s into the 1960s. He played on Hank Williams sides, on Ray Price’s Crazy Arms, and on records by George Jones and Bill Monroe. Between the late 1940s and the 1960s he also cut a string of square dance albums under his own name for Mercury, Decca, and Dot. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in 2013.
Why Jackson matters
If you learned Arkansas Traveler or Soldier’s Joy from a record, there is a good chance the record was Jackson’s or copied from his. His square dance LPs put clean, danceable versions of the standards in living rooms across the country, and fiddlers studied them the way banjo players studied Earl Scruggs. On the country side, he showed how a fiddle intro and a short fill could sell a song without getting in the singer’s way. That is still the job description for a session fiddler.
Life and career
Thomas Lee Jackson Jr. was born on March 31, 1926, in Birmingham, Alabama. His family moved to Nashville when he was a baby. He was a child prodigy on the fiddle. As a teenager he toured with Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells and played the Grand Ole Opry with the Curley Williams and Paul Howard bands. In World War II he served as a tail gunner in the Army Air Forces.
Jackson came home in 1946. He toured with Whitey Ford, then joined Red Foley’s band at the Opry. He started session work with Jerry Byrd, Louis Innis, and Zeke Turner, a group later called the first Nashville A-team. He played on Hank Williams records of the late 1940s, including Lovesick Blues. In 1948 the group moved to Cincinnati as the Pleasant Valley Boys, playing the Midwestern Hayride on WLW and recording for King Records.
Jackson returned to Nashville in the early 1950s and became the busiest fiddler in town. He recorded with Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, Ray Price, George Jones, and Bill Monroe. His single-string fiddle on Ray Price’s 1956 hit Crazy Arms set a new template for honky-tonk fiddle, and he played on almost all of Price’s records into the mid-1960s. His fiddle is on Your Cheatin’ Heart, I Saw the Light, Kaw-Liga, Heartaches by the Number, and Under Your Spell Again.
Alongside the session work he made square dance albums under his own name. Dot Records released Popular Square Dance Music (Without Calls) in 1956, followed by Square Dance Tonight in 1958, Tommy Jackson’s Square Dance Fiddle Favorites in 1958, Square Dances Without Calls in 1959, two volumes of Square Dance Festival in 1960, and Square Dance Jamboree in 1964. Younger players took over the studios in the 1970s and his work dried up. He died in Nashville on December 9, 1979, at age 53.
Playing style
Jackson played for the song. His intros were short, catchy, and in tune, and his fills sat under the vocal instead of over it. His timing was exact, which is why producers called him first. On the square dance records he played the melody straight and clean at a steady dance tempo, with a shuffle bow that never rushed. That plainness is the point. He gave each tune a version you could learn from and dance to.
His single-string playing on Crazy Arms is his other trademark. Instead of the double stops that filled most country fiddle of the day, he played a lean single line that cut through the band. He played on almost every Price record for the next ten years, so the sound spread with the hits.
Influences and legacy
Jackson came up on the Opry beside Curley Williams and Paul Howard, then worked in the studio with steel player Jerry Byrd and guitarist Zeke Turner. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame compares his effect on the fiddle to what Earl Scruggs did for the banjo and Chet Atkins did for the guitar. The Encyclopedia of Country Music calls him one of the finest commercial fiddlers of all time. Session fiddlers who came after him, including Dale Potter and Buddy Spicher, worked in the space he opened. Fiddlers still cite his square dance records as the source for their versions of the standards.
Signature tunes and songs
Arkansas Traveler Soldier’s Joy Boil Them Cabbage Down Bill Cheatham Golden Slippers Ragtime Annie Grey Eagle Crazy Arms (with Ray Price).
Essential recordings
Popular Square Dance Music (Without Calls) (Dot, 1956) Square Dance Tonight (Dot, 1958) Square Dances Without Calls (Dot, 1959) Square Dance Jamboree (Dot, 1964)
Awards and honors
National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2013)
Watch and listen
Jackson plays Ragtime Annie from one of his square dance records. Listen for the steady dance tempo and the clean melody.
Jackson plays Grey Eagle, a contest standard, in his plain studio style.
What to learn from Jackson
Learn Arkansas Traveler from Popular Square Dance Music. His version is the plain one, the version a dance caller and a jam both want, and it is a good base before you add contest variations. The technique to steal is his restraint on a vocal number. Put on a Ray Price record and copy only the intro and the fills between lines. Play short phrases, land on chord tones, and stop before the singer starts. Most jam fiddlers play too much behind a singer. Jackson built a career on playing the right amount.
Sources
Tommy Jackson, National Fiddler Hall of Fame Inductees, National Fiddler Hall of Fame Tommy Jackson (musician), Wikipedia Tommy Jackson, Popular Square Dance Music (Without Calls), Discogs Tommy Jackson, Square Dance Tonight, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Nashville fiddlers. Dale Potter and Buddy Spicher followed Jackson into the Nashville studios. Howdy Forrester and Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith were Opry fiddlers of the same era.