I wrote this piece in October of 1998. A friend of mine in Fort Smith, Arkansas, named Barney Hector, collects guitars. He had a black and white photograph of the torso of a man holding the "Grandpa Guitar". I asked him about it and he said he didn't know what it was. If you can believe that! I told him that I certainly knew exactly what it was and I wrote this for him to frame and hang beside the photo on the wall of his guitar museum which he has since closed.

I am not sure that the man in the photo holding the guitar is Jimmy since only his mid-torso is visable but the hands to not look like Jimmy's hands. It has occurred to me that it might be an old photo of Neal Morris. Anyway, I certainly am able to identify the instrument.

JIMMY'S GUITAR

"Pop, what's that thing you're foolin' with???"
"Son, this here's a gee-tar!"
"Pop, this thing I got right here is a gee-tar, and it don't look nothin' like that!"
"Son, this here's a HOMEMADE gee-tar!"

And that's how I met Jimmy Driftwood. I didn't know on that September morning over thirty years ago, that this old man was a three time Grammy winner, former member of the Grand Ol' Opry, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the writer of such songs as "Tennessee Stud", "Long Chain On", and the "Battle of New Orleans". He told me he was a teacher, and in retrospect, "Teacher" probably says it all.

What riveted my attention that morning was the guitar. Almost 150 years ago Jimmy's Granddaddy whittled the box out of HIS daddy's old bedstead and used a fence rail for a neck! The result was a primitive instrument that produced sounds as sweet as a thrush in a thicket on the banks of the Sylamore, or as loud and raucous as a gang of crows on an Ozark Mountain November morning. Whoever could imagine that a "piece of wood and steel" crafted by some Hillbilly around the time of the Civil War would one day produce hit records.

Jimmy checked out of this hotel called Earth and moved into his Eternal Home on July 12, 1998 at the age of 91. It's no tragedy when a man dies at the end of his life. Jimmy was a fortunate man and through his music was able to overcome anything life tossed at him. He lived well and died well and left a great legacy. He bequeathed his guitar and archives to the University of Central Arkansas at Conway where he received his teaching degree many years ago. Soon the public will be able to see his life, his instruments, and over 6,000 songs that he wrote: The history of the Teacher…..a true "Hero of the Ozarks".

c. 10-27-98 by Daniel W. Merry III (fingerpik)   fingerpik@hotmail.com

God Bless Jimmy Driftwood!

www.jimmydriftwoodlegacyproject.com.....check it out