Joe I personally want to say Thank You for the Jimmy Day piece. Also I
would like to add I have never met anyone who left such an impression on me
as you did when I was first introduced to you in Austin this past summer at
the Arc of Austin benefit. Again, thank you RW Shamy WDVR-FM
-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Gracey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: passenger side <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thursday, January 28, 1999 11:56 AM
Subject: Jimmy Day
>Amy Haugesag wrote:
>
>> The prospect of a new Kimmie record and our own Sir President Joe Gracey
>> Sir back amongst us is almost too much good news to take in at once.
>> Luckily, there's no heat in my apartment (er, that is, the one room of my
>> apartment that's habitable), so I can't get *too* happy all at once.
>>
>> Welcome back, Joe. You've been missed.
>>
>> --Amy
>
>did you say "dissed"?
>
>It is currently 95 degrees in Austin.
>
>God-damn, I had forgotten about the pedal steel guitar. Yesterday at
>Jimmy Day's funeral (made fragrant by the odor of band bus fumes wafting
>through the room when the doors would open, fittingly) I remembered.
>Jimmy Day, possibly the greatest steel player of all time, was buried
>yesterday in a little town south of Austin. There were a bunch of people
>there, overflowing out into the front yard, a testament to how much love
>and respect he engendered.
>
>Jimmy and I went back to the early seventies when he was in Willie's
>band and I was a progressive-country DJ and music writer. I remember the
>first time I noticed him much; Willie played at a Ford dealer's here (in
>return for a new station wagon so they could get around) and I suddenly
>noticed what a beautiful sound he created around Willie's voice. I
>subsequently became a producer and used him every chance I could on
>sessions. Kimmie and I brought him into our Texas Swing band for several
>years, then he turned around and started a band and pretty soon we were
>in it, traveling around Texas doing gigs. We'd play a dance hall down in
>Bandera that Wills and Willie and Bush had consecrated, turn around and
>drive back home at 4 AM and Kimmie would be up two hours later to go to
>her job in town.
>
>Having Jimmy in your band was pure joy. He was always the one you could
>turn to to give you a rock-solid intro, even if he had only heard the
>song one time three years before. You could always lean on him for a
>great solo, with a perfect handoff into the chorus. His pickup notes
>would be cues to everybody else in the band so they all knew where it
>was headed next.
>
>Sessions were the same. He defined "pro". He came on time, sober, didn't
>talk about his problems, kept his mouth shut unless asked for his
>opinion, and played totally useable, brilliant stuff, normally on the
>first take. He wouldn't write a chord chart; he would just play through
>the song a couple of times, memorize it (no matter how tough the changes
>might be) and nail it. He said he learned his studio chops doing demos
>at Tree Music, where they got paid ten dollars per demo. This encouraged
>speed and not screwing up, since the more songs you got cut in a session
>the more money you got paid.
>
>Later I got to record several records for him. They turned into great
>projects, with guests like Johnny Bush and Willie and Rodriquez. One of
>them transmogrified into a Willie Nelson record because Willie came in
>to sing a song and stayed for four days. Not long after that Willie and
>I recorded "Spirit", so I have Jimmy to thank for that. I considered him
>to be a soul brother, something far beyond a professional relationship.
>If I was still a hippie I'd say I'd known him for a thousand lifetimes.
>
>There is debate, of course, on who is the best. I have worked with Tom
>Brumley (Buck Owens, Rick Nelson), Buddy Emmons (Ernest Tubb,
>everybody), Leon McAuliffe (Bob Wills), Herb Remington (Bob Wills), and
>a lot of other players, including getting to watch Lloyd Green do a
>session with Gene Watson, and to my way of thinking Jimmy had the
>ability to project more of his spirit into his playing than anybody.
>Obviously all of those guys could play their asses off, and most people
>probably give Emmons the nod as to technical proficiency, but for pure
>searing blue soul, it was Jimmy for me.
>
>Jimmy's Blue Darlin' steel and amp were set up and turned on next to the
>casket, ready to be played, at the funeral. This was pretty tough, but I
>was OK. But then they started to play some of his famous records- Crazy
>Arms, Patsy Cline stuff, Willie, George Jones, and finally some of the
>stuff we did together for his last sessions. The enormous depth of
>feeling in his playing hit me harder than ever before and I couldn't
>help but cry like an idiot then. Man, steel is such an emotional
>instrument in the right hands. (Sometimes when people would say
>something about how great his steel sounded, he'd hold up his long,
>beautiful hands and say "These help..." as a gentle, humourous reminder
>that it was the driver, not the hardware. He was not falsely modest, nor
>did he hold forth on himself. He just recognized that he was a
>single-purpose instrument and he had accomplished what he was supposed to.)
>
>I am glad that Jimmy Day played on our most recent recordings. He played
>on every record that Kimmie and I have made. We recorded one of his
>songs, "Home John", on "West Texas Heaven". I almost wish I could die
>right now just to hear Jimmy Day play steel with Bob Wills and Hank
>Williams. I am honored to have known him and loved him and recorded his
>otherworldly art. Sometimes when I question my daily existence I
>remember that I was the man lucky enough to be at the console to put his
>music on tape and that is reason enough for me.
>
>Smoke 'em if you got 'em, boys and girls. They don't last forever.
>
>Thanks, Jimmy.
>
>
>--
>Joe Gracey
>President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
>http://www.kimmierhodes.com
>
