Shot Jackson

Harold Bradley "Shot" Jackson (September 4, 1920 – January 24, 1991) was an American country guitarist best known for playing Dobro and pedal steel guitar. He also designed and manufactured guitars under the name Sho-Bud.

Shot Jackson
Birth nameHarold Bradley Jackson
Born(1920-09-04)September 4, 1920
Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
OriginNashville, Tennessee
DiedJanuary 24, 1991(1991-01-24) (aged 70)
GenresCountry music
InstrumentsPedal steel guitar, dobro

Biography

Jackson moved to Nashville in 1944 to play on the Grand Ole Opry, in Cousin Wilbur Westbrooks' band. After a short stint in the Navy, Jackson joined the Bailes Brothers on KWKH's Louisiana Hayride program, playing steel guitar. After the Bailes Brothers left the Hayride, Jackson stayed behind, playing with artists like Webb Pierce, Jimmie Osborne, and Red Sovine.

From 1951–57, Jackson joined Johnnie Wright and Jack Anglin's Tennessee Mountain Boys, as their Dobro player. During this time, he also played on a number of Wright's wife Kitty Wells's early Decca recordings.

Jackson left the Tennessee Mountain Boys to play electric steel guitar for Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys. He designed a pedal steel guitar with Buddy Emmons, marketing it under the name Sho-Bud. Eventually Jackson left Acuff to devote more time to his burgeoning company, still finding time to play on records by Melba Montgomery, including her hit duets with George Jones. In 1962 he released a solo album, Singing Strings of Steel Guitar and Dobro, on Starday Records.

From 1964 until mid-1965, Jackson was back playing with Roy Acuff, but was badly injured (along with Acuff) in a serious car crash. After he recovered, Jackson started performing with his wife, Donna Darlene. Around the same time, he began to market a new guitar—a seven-string resonator called the Sho-Bro.

Jackson was also responsible for introducing Willie Nelson to his favourite lifelong guitar, Trigger.

His professional playing after that became sporadic, but included two albums with Roy Clark. He sold Sho-Bud to Baldwin-Gretsch in 1980, selling his instrument repair business three years later. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1986. Not long after suffering a stroke (his second in less than ten years), he died on January 24, 1991.

Discography
  • Singing Strings of Steel Guitar and Dobro (1962, Starday)
  • Bluegrass Dobro (1965, Cumberland)

Sources
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