Is this Jimmy Day with CC & the Lost Planet Airmen?

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 7 Jun 2020 7:32 pm

https://images.app.goo.gl/bM18b9Jwk3aotvm3A

I know he played with them for about two weeks....

Thanks

scott murray · Post by **scott murray** » 7 Jun 2020 8:25 pm

never knew that. it's definitely him in that photo

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 7 Jun 2020 8:43 pm

Winnie Winston once wrote of Jimmy:
" He got a job for a while playing steel for Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. He was too weird for them-- and THAT is going some."

SH

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 7 Jun 2020 9:00 pm

Winnie Winston once wrote of Jimmy:
" He got a job for a while playing steel for Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. He was too weird for them-- and THAT is going some."

Yeah, George(The Commander) told me that he was too wild even for them..which I find funny...he was going through a rough time with his wife maybe and would start drinking at 9 in the morning...while on tour they left him at the motel and that was the last they saw himðŸ˜•. Thatâ€™s when Ernie Hagar stepped in.

I would love to hear Jimmy with them...he was one of my favorites, I bet it sounded great

scott murray · Post by **scott murray** » 7 Jun 2020 11:12 pm

I wouldn't be surprised if some tapes exist. do we know the exact dates of Jimmy's employment?

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 8 Jun 2020 12:43 am

I think that they recorded a "Midnight Special"TV show with Bearded Jimmy,I was close to Jimmy when I was first introduced to him backstage at the Opry House in Austin I told him that I had heard a lot of stories about him...He said that some of them were true,at the time he was married to Cheryl,they had a few little kids.Travis Rivers who used to be Tracy Nelson&Mother Earth's manager told me that one time Jimmy had played with them at the "Watkins Glen"festival concert that also featured the Band that Jimmy played a solo that was so incredible that the whole crowd went Nutz...He had that kinda power in his playing,He could also hurt you singing with an acoustic guitar,and he wrote great songs.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 8 Jun 2020 4:32 am

He could also hurt you singing with an acoustic guitar

Yeah, I still canâ€™t get over Jimmyâ€™s vocal performance of Eleanor Rigby.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tfFTqIP ... e=youtu.be

Would love to here more of him singing as well..

Dz

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 8 Jun 2020 4:40 am

Dave:

Fish around on Youtube for Willie Nelson singing "I Didn't Sleep A Wink".

I'm pretty sure it's actually Jimmy, apparently some sort of clerical error causing it to be issued as by Willie Nelson on various Willie Nelson LPs in the 1980s---probably recorded much earlier.

I guess he had 4 or 5 singles under his own name as a vocalist.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 8 Jun 2020 4:57 am

"I Didn't Sleep A Wink":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8RWu_AzfaQ

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 8 Jun 2020 6:15 am

Dave:

Fish around on Youtube for Willie Nelson singing "I Didn't Sleep A Wink".

Ha! Thanks...I just found it and was gonna post it but Greg beat me to it! I love it! What a soulful cat!

Thanks!

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 8 Jun 2020 6:32 am

Stu Schulman wrote:He could also hurt you singing with an acoustic guitar,and he wrote great songs.

I can't believe he never bothered to record his "My Eyes Are Jealous"....stupendous song. Knockout version by Gene Watson over 50 years ago when Gene was just an unknown in Houston.

I wonder if he ever sang it at personal appearances? I saw him only once and spoke to him for 30 seconds before he went on and now wish I had urged him to do a vocal or two. He did "Sleepwalk", saying "it's only one string".

I read a couple of hours ago in the Danville Virginia newspaper from 1965 that his wife Barbara Ann was alleging in divorce proceedings that she had co-written it and wanted some of the royalties---it was on the flip side of Dickens' "May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose".

Edit: I just re-read the article. It says Jimmy also wrote "May The Bird Of Paradise...". Didn't know that and assume it's true?

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 8 Jun 2020 6:46 am

Never hear "My Eyes Are Jealous" before.

Gene Watson version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrLeGy82ikA

Jimmy Dickens version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNb1H3d1Bis

Comments from Jimmy Day's daughter:

Debbie Helderman
3 months ago
"My dad wrote this song when I was a little girl it was good to hear it my dad was Jimmy day"

Jimmy Day's son also made a YouTube comment on the other song above!

Abe Levy · Post by **Abe Levy** » 8 Jun 2020 6:56 am

Wow. Iâ€™ve never heard Jimmy sing before. Truly a soulful cat as Dave said. Thanks!

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 8 Jun 2020 9:33 am

Stu Schulman wrote:Travis Rivers who used to be Tracy Nelson&Mother Earth's manager told me that one time Jimmy had played with them at the "Watkins Glen"festival concert that also featured the Band that Jimmy played a solo that was so incredible that the whole crowd went Nutz.

Wow, Stu! I attended the Watkins Glen Music Festival, but I don't remember that.

There's probably a few other things about it that I don't remember.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 8 Jun 2020 10:09 am

I wouldn't surprised if some tapes exist. do we know the exact dates of Jimmy's employment? Cool

I think that they recorded a "Midnight Special"TV show with Bearded Jimmy,

That would be June 1973 according to this:
http://www.tv.com/shows/the-midnight-sp ... ms-205418/

Also the Watkins Glen Festival was July 1973 so the the dates line up.

Steve Cattermole · Post by **Steve Cattermole** » 8 Jun 2020 11:14 am

I saw CC in the 70's just to hear Bobby Black. Turns out he couldn't do the gig so they had West Virginia Creeper filling in,and I thought he looked like the guy in your photo,but then again I can barely remember yesterday.I guess Herb Steiner is the guy to ask about Jimmy Day

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 8 Jun 2020 11:56 am

Stu Schulman wrote:He could also hurt you singing with an acoustic guitar,and he wrote great songs.

On the Reunion: The Offenders album--"Can't Get the Hell Out Of Texas"--(Willie, Jimmy, Johnny Bush, and David Zettner) there's a great ballad he wrote, "I Know I Love You", and although the CD liner credits Johnny Bush with the vocal, it would be the most un-Johnny Bush performance ever. Especially being Jimmy's song, and Jimmy being the producer of the session, it's got to be Jimmy singing. He plays beautiful steel on it (no surprise). Great steel all over the album.

He did "Sleepwalk", saying "it's only one string".

On that same album he does "Sleepwalk". Gorgeous.
I don't know why Bear Family has let that album go out of print.

I just re-read the article. It says Jimmy also wrote "May The Bird Of Paradise...". Didn't know that and assume it's true?

Wikipedia says "May the Bird..." was written by Neal Merritt.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 8 Jun 2020 12:34 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LOqrilY4vE
I guess that's him on this Roy Head cut, not sure although.

joe long · Post by **joe long** » 8 Jun 2020 5:29 pm

On the Roy Head cut it would be Emmons.
That LP has Emmons all over it and is one of my favorite LP.

Dave Magram · Post by **Dave Magram** » 8 Jun 2020 8:32 pm

Joachim Kettner wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LOqrilY4vE
I guess that's him on this Roy Head cut, not sure although.

That sounded like Buddy Emmons to me.
Then I remembered I had this LP, so I dug it out...
The liner notes say "Steel guitar: Buddy Emmons"

- Dave

Don Euton · Post by **Don Euton** » 9 Jun 2020 4:59 pm

Was that Jimmy playing on the Jimmy Dickens and Gene Watson versions?

Don Euton

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 14 Jun 2020 2:17 am

Wow! What a vocalist. I guess it makes sense. A soulful singer makes for a soulful steel guitarist.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 17 Aug 2021 5:41 pm

Jimmy played with the Cody crew in early 1974, Bobby Black wrapped up his first stint around the end of 1973, not long after the Airmen recorded their first official live album.

There was a temp player in between Jimmy joining and Bobby quitting, that was David Wright, then Jimmy joined for a month or more, although his heavy drinking made him somewhat problematic for touring. Jimmy was replaced by Ernie Hagar in March of 1974.

The Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen appearance on the June 1973 edition of Midnight Special featured Bobby Black, he and the full band appear in official photos taken at the show which can be seen at the Getty Images archive.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 17 Aug 2021 5:44 pm

Great info Jason, nice to see you here posting!

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 17 Aug 2021 7:49 pm

Just a few random thoughts and/or comments from the above posts, because Jimmy was a good friend to me, and I was to him.

First, Stu Schulman is quite correct about Cheryl... I knew her quite well. She was an unguided missile and a royal PITA. After her marriage to Jimmy she went back to Tennessee and somehow got involved with the governor of the state and a scandal that damaged his political career. I don't know the particulars other than that. That she was impossible to deal with is my lasting impression of her. Jimmy met Marilyn Green later and their marriage was a definite improvement on his life situation, if not his happy-go-lucky lifestyle.

Jimmy did write "I Know I Love You"... "and I know you love me." At his funeral, those in attendance in the chapel before the service started (over 400 there. It was an amazing funeral) Jimmy's recorded instrumentals were playing over the PA as background music, and all the folks there were reminiscing, greeting old friends, chatting about everything, you know. Then Jimmy's voice singing "I Know I Love You and I know you love me" came on the PA. Instantly the whole place went silent, totally silent, listening to Jimmy's soulful, plaintive voice. He was a blues singer, and he showed it.

At that moment the song ended, the Reverend Dave Rich (who Jimmy had recorded with back in the 1950's when Dave was a country singer and before his conversion) got up to the microphone and quietly said "Let's have a big hand for Jimmy Day."

The entire audience erupted into the biggest ovation I've ever heard. Lynn Owsley was with me and nodded when I said "Jimmy is here and he's loving this."

Rev. Dave gave an incredible eulogy. He talked about how, despite Jimmy's lifestyle, he was a believer, played at his (Dave's) church, and not to worry about his soul; Jimmy's future is secure. Dave knew the congregation he was preaching to; musicians with questionable lifestyle choices, but not to worry about our futures, because God knows what we as pickers go through, our temptations and tribulations, but that He loves us regardless and will welcome us when our times arrive.

That day was very significant to me; I carried Blue Darlin' behind the casket as the pall bearers took Jimmy to Lynn's bus, which took him to the gravesite. It was a simple Mullen D-10, but was the heaviest steel guitar I think I've every carried.

"My Eyes Are Jealous" was the flip side of Jimmy Dickens' "Bird of Paradise" single, which was on every freakin' jukebox in the country during the 1960's. Jimmy was owed many thousands of dollars for mechanical royalties on that song, but never lifted a finger to recoup the money that he was owed. Such was his naivete' about the music business.