Uncle Jimmy Thompson
Jesse Donald "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson (1848 – February 17, 1931) was an American old-time fiddle player. He is best remembered as the first performer to play on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (then called the WSM Barn Dance), appearing with founder and host George D. Hay on the evening of November 28, 1925. The positive response generated by Thompson's performance would be an important influence on the show's creative direction in its formative years. While Thompson made only a handful of recordings late in his life, his cantankerous and eccentric personality and his fiddle skills have made him one of the best-known icons of early country music.
Read more about Uncle Jimmy Thompson: Early Life, The WSM Barn Dance Years, 1925-1928, Later Career, Discography
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“Is it not ironic, oh my husband? Your wife an adulteress. Your mother an adulteress. Your uncle an adulterer. Your friend an adulterer. Do you not find that amusing, dear Nicholas?”
—Richard Matheson (b. 1926)
“Whar have you been for the last three year
That you haven’t heard folks tell
How Jimmy Bludso passed in his checks
The night of the Prairie Belle?”
—John Milton Hay (1838–1905)
“Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules, Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
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—Will Henry Thompson (1848–1918)