Johnny Gimble's Fingers
Another Fiddle Hero
I first heard of Johnny Gimble as a mandolin player with Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys. Then I discovered his fiddling on his solo album called Fiddlin’ Around. He and Vassar Clements were two of my fiddle heroes….such great players and songwriters too! In the summer of 2016 I found myself out at Junior’s Motel studio in Otho, Iowa, working on some songs with my musical guru Denny Osburn. I was lamenting the fact that no matter how much I practiced the fiddle my fingers would never sound like Johnny Gimble. While driving back into Fort Dodge I got the idea for this song and wrote it out that evening….July 29. A couple days later Denny and I started working on a recording of the tune in my home studio, Big Blue Sound. Denny added piano, bass, snare drum, and a jazzy twin five string mandolin part. Denny has done more than anyone to help spruce up my original songs with his talents as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, and graphic artist. ( See my previous Substack posts for One Step Ahead Of The Blues, Half My Life, Northern Geese & The Gift Of Song. )
Stylized image created by master musician Denny Osburn
Soon after that I sent the track off to my fiddlin’ friend Kenny Putnam in Rapid City, South Dakota. Kenny has had a huge impact on my songs too…starting way back in 1978 when he joined Vassar Clements on my song The Nitehawks. ( See my previous Substack posts for The Nitehawks, The Gift Of Song and Fiddles Down In Florida. )
Kenny added an amazing fiddle part which nicely captures Johnny Gimble’s style on 5 string violin. When Denny mixed it in it sounded like this:
I met a man from Hindustan, that north Indian nation
He said to me his specialty was reincarnation
It’s all about the way you act, and how your karma lingers
Well bring me back the way I am with Johnny Gimble’s fingers
Johnny Gimble played the fiddle with the Bob Wills band
He had the smoothest tone of any fiddler in the land
Everybody listened….especially the singers
They heard the magic underneath Johnny Gimble’s fingers
Johnny liked to hum along, when he played a solo
He’d take you where you’d never been, on those notes down below
He played that five string fiddle, and never made no zingers
Just classic Western Swing came from Johnny Gimble’s fingers
I met a man from Hindustan, that north Indian nation
He said to me his specialty was reincarnation
It’s all about the way you act, and how your karma lingers
Well bring me back the way I am with Johnny Gimble’s fingers
Bring me back to this old world with Johnny Gimble’s fingers
© 2016 Shadric Smith All Rights Reserved Supposed To Be Music
I suppose I should close out this post with an apology to Johnny Gimble and his relatives for even imagining that I could borrow his fingers. Johnny passed away on May 9, 2015, leaving behind a wonderful collection of amazing recordings and video performances. Here are a few links I love:
Thank you Johnny for all your great music! I will keep practicing! Thanks to all of you who have read this far and listened to my song. In 2022 I released it as a digital single to all the streaming services via DistroKid. Hopefully it will make more folks aware of the musical legacy Johnny Gimble has left us. Please feel free to like, leave a comment, and share with all your cyber pals.