Jerry Byrd
b. 9 March 1920, Lima, Ohio, USA. One of country music's greatest steel guitarists, he first appeared on local radio in 1935. During the late '30s, he was featured on WLW Cincinnati's MID-WESTERN HAYRIDE and the RENFRO VALLEY BARN DANCE. In 1945, after a spell in Detroit, he moved to Nashville and worked on the GRAND OLE OPRY, where he played with both Ernest Tubb and Red Foley and also recorded several songs including Lovesick Blues, Mansion On The Hill and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry with Hank Williams. He rejoined WLW and the MID-WESTERN HAYRIDE in 1948 but in 1951, returned to Nashville and worked with many artists including George Morgan. He first recorded as a solo artist for Mercury in 1949 but later recorded for Decca, RCA, and Monument. He wrote and recorded Steeling The Blues, Steeling The Chimes and Byrd's Boogie. Originally attracted to the instrument by Hawaiian guitarists such as Sol Hoopi, Byrd has been the influence for many of the modern steel guitar players. He always refused to play any steel guitar fitted with pedals, which he believed took away the instrument's real identity. Between 1964-1968, he led the band on Bobby Lord's television show. In the early '70s, after many years of playing and working there, he tired of the Nashville scene and retired to Hawaii, where he worked as as a steel guitar teacher.