I met him when he was playing at the Fender hospitality suite during the winter NAMM show in the late 70’s with Maurice Anderson (steel) and Billy Carter (guitar). He was a real gentleman and always smiled as though he was remembering an inside joke (the two fingers of whiskey he always had handy probably helped - lol).
Back in 1981 I was the SPJST lodge south of Temple, Texas. Johnny Lyon and the Country New Notes were playing. Johnny called me up on stage to sing a few songs. I was going to sing THE FIREMAN and Johnny said “Hang on a minute. We’ve got someone else joining us tonight. Everybody make welcome Mr. Johnny Gimble.” I couldn’t believe it. I sang two songs and he played the fiddle on both of them. And he was probably the fiddle player on George Strait’s studio version of THE FIREMAN so he sure made me sound good.
After I sang my songs I told him I had once met Smokey Dacus, Bob Wills’ drummer. He asked “Where’s old Smokey these days.”
I told him “He manages a radio station in Rogers, Arkansas.” I have to say it’s one the proudest moments of my life in the music biz.
A few years back he made the statement “Since my stroke I can’t do some of the runs I used to could.”
A very good fiddle player in Dallas said “Now you know how the rest of us feel.”
RIP.
Best fiddler ever! Rest in Peace Mr. Gimble.