pickin at the jockey crib
Every good fiddler worth his salt knows the story of ol' Uncle Jimmy Thompson, the lovable, hard-livin', hard-drinkin' old coot whose fiddlin' launched an entertainment icon: th' Grand Ole Opry. But not too many folks know that there is a man behind Uncle Jimmy's legend; so Old Man Fiddler figgered he might as well set ye straight about that tight-fisted ol' fiddlin' devil, so's ye kin tell yer friends that what ye heard was th' absolute truth!
Jesse Donald Thompson was born in 1848, in the town o' Baxter, near Smith County, Northern Tennessee. He had at least 2 brothers, neither of whom distinguished themselves musically. Little is known about the rest of Jimmy's family, short of the fact that they were somewhat Scottish in origin. Shortly before the Civil War, the family moved to Texas, where Uncle Jimmy's two brothers eventually settled; and where he himself often visited from time to time. Though he was too young a whippersnapper to have actually taken part in the Civil War itself, by age 17 he had mastered a unique repertoire o' fiddle tunes, includin' his personal favorite, Flyin' Clouds. He kept on a-learnin' fiddle tunes, some o' 'em from men who'd not only fought in the Civil War, but also had a memory's worth o' tunes in 'em, stretchin' as far back as pre-Colonial Era days.
Basically a farmer by trade, young Jimmy Thompson travelled widely during his teens and early 20s, eventually returnin' t' Smith County, where he met and later married his first wife, Mahalia Elizabeth Montgomery. The resultin' union spawned two sons, Jess and Willie Lee; and a daughter, Fanny. Fanny's sister, Sally, died in infancy. By 1902, Uncle Jimmy had made his first return trip to Texas, settlin' thar near the town of Bonham, close to the Texas-Oklahoma border. Though he continued to farm, little by little he began to devote more time to fiddlin' in public. In 1907, some 6 years after he'd put down roots in Bonham, he took part in that 8-day fiddler's marathon contest that he'd so vividly describe on that night he would toss his fiddlin' across the Amerikey, as he often put it. Little is known as to who his opponents were, but just knowin' that Uncle Jimmy won the durned thing at all tells us that he'd picked up a lotta that 'longbow' style which most Texas fiddlers are accustomed t'.
Around 1912, Uncle Jimmy, now aged 64, and his 3 children all grown, returned again to Tennessee --- this time, to the village of Hendersonville, where he tenderly cared for Mahalia while she underwent the horror of the cancer that would subsequently kill her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Eva Thompson Jones --- his niece, who would play the piano to accompany his fiddlin' on that first night --- had begun teachin' music therapy in rural schools across Tennessee. In 1915, a chance meeting between Eva and Uncle Jimmy's son Willie Lee led to young Willie gittin' hitched t' Miss Katherine Womack. As husband and wife, Katherine, who played banjo, assisted Willie, who played guitar, as back-up musicians for Uncle Jimmy.
At the ripe ol' age o' 68, Uncle Jimmy decided to tie th' ol' knot again. He chose fer his second bride Miss Elly Manners, from nearby Wilson County --- and, as you Good People often say, 'twas a marriage made in heaven! For Auntie Elly, as she'd later be known, was as high-spirited and as full o' life as Uncle Jimmy himself. Whether it was buck-dancin', er guzzlin' a jug er two of good ol' Wilson County white lightnin', er even chasin' one another 'round their own house wi' their own loaded guns, Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Elly were prob'ly the wildest couple in th' whole o' Tennessee! Afore long, they settled down in the town o' Laguardo, where they remained fer th' rest o' their lives.
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