The Chetboard

On September 4 2002, we lost one of the best guitarists to ever walk the planet. A virtuoso's virtuoso: Tommy Jones.

Last year, after watching a couple of hours of Tommy's videos, I felt like I should write a tune to honor him. Although there are at least 100,000 pickers who could do a better tribute to Tommy than I can, I still felt obligated to do a tune for him. He continues to be an inspiration for me.

The tune is on YouTube, and is entitled Tribute to Tommy Jones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy8UjEB7DuY

I have been pleasantly surprised by the reception this tune has received. It has had about 600 views, with 14 likes. That's a pretty decent like-to-view ratio (it's my highest), and even beats the 1228 views and 8 likes of Tommy's own video of him playing Yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-knesIn4Y1c&NR=1

I hope you will watch Tommy's video ... it puts chills in me. What an incredibly imaginative and technical perfect rendering of Yesterday. And, after you view it, Please hit the Like button, so he gets more Likes showing up. (I'm not convinced that YouTube captures all of the Likes.)

If I were to practice 10 hours a day for the rest of my life, I would never come close to having the technical skills and the creativity that Tommy demonstrated with every performance. He truly was one of the best, and it's no wonder that Chet thought so highly of Tommy.

R.I.P. Tommy ... we miss you!

(PS: I know this is a day early, but I thought more people would see it on a Saturday than on a Sunday. Either way, I hope you enjoy it and I hope you take some time to reflect on this fine young man who left us when he was only 48.)

Bruce, I really enjoyed your Tribute to Tommy Jones. I always enjoyed his playing at the C.A.A.S. on his VHS videos, the various TV shows he appeared on the Nashville Network, and on the cd Chet Presents Tommy Jones. Your song really captured his spirit and I thank you for posting it. The video of Tommy playing Yesterday was amazing. He did such a great job of arranging it and his playing was wonderful and moving. I think it says a lot that Chet formed CGP records to put out the Chet Presents Tommy Jones cd.
Thanks again for the post.
Ray

Ray Bohlken wrote: ... I think it says a lot that Chet formed CGP records to put out the Chet Presents Tommy Jones cd.
Thanks again for the post.
Ray

I think you are right about Chet forming CGP records to promote Tommy. I had never thought of that, but on the couple of videos in which I say Chet introduce Tommy, you could tell he really thought of lot of Tommy. It almost came across as if he was introducing a son.

Thank you for all the nice words, Ray.

Hi Bruce,

That was a nice tribute. Of course, you know my own history with Tommy. There's a lot I could say. He always gave me a copy of his newest LP, in the vinyl days. He sent me a copy of the master tape that was used in putting together his CD "Chet Presents.....". I've sat up with him playing late nights in his hotel room. He slept in my daughter's bed when I had him do a show for one of the schools where I taught. I spent an entire week with him in Nashville and went to work with him every night when he played at Boots' club. I've spent a lot of time with him in Florida and recorded videos and audio tapes. I got to watch him fall off a stool as it broke during a performance of "Black Mt. Rag" and got him laughing on tape. I rode with him 4-wheeling through the hills around Nashville and we watched "Blue Thunder" together with Roy Scheider when it came out. I studied every move while he played and he was physically gifted as well as how he thought musically. He left me in awe. I learned a lot but also realized the huge difference in our abilities. He left me with a lifetime of awareness of such a high standard to shoot for that I know I wasn't blessed enough to achieve. We lost him just short of turning 48 and on the 8th of next month he would have been 57.

By the way, we lost Steve Irwin "Crocodile Hunter" exactly 4 years later......to the day.

Thank you, Rande.

When I saw your mention of the date of Tommy's passing as September 8, I did some more digging. I have found a couple of web pages that are relevant, with one stating that he died on Sep 4 and one stating that it was Sep 8.

The one stating Sep 4 is a MisterGuitar.com entry: http://www.misterguitar.us/news/jonesdies.html

The one stating Sep 8 is on the page of a music company that is promoting one of Tommy's albums: http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/tommy_jones

I could not find the source that I actually used for the Sep 4 date (it was not the MisterGuitar page, because as many times as I have read it, I did not notice the date until today, even when I intentionally looked for the date.)

I do think it would be nice if we had some sort of proof, one way or another, but I don't really want to start a hoopla about it. I just want him to be honored.

I have focused on Tommy's technical skills when talking about him, and it was nice to see you focus on his "humanness" and how much fun it was to be around him. Several of his friends (Kirk Sand, John Knowles, ...) have stated before how much they miss him as a person, not just as a guitarist (though they miss his talents, too, of course).

Anyway, thanks again.
Bruce

Hi Bruce,

I tried to find where I ever said that Tommy passed away on Sept. 8 and somehow couldn't. I've always known that it was the 4th in 2002, just like Steve Irwin passed away on Sept. 4, 2006. I was fairly close to his mother. She let me know on Sept. 4, 2002. She would have turned 90 in May of 2009 but passed away in March, just 2 months earlier. I also got to know his father, Otis and have both of them on VHS tape. What you may have caught me saying somewhere is that Tommy was BORN on Oct. 8, 1954. That's the only "8" that I'm aware of related to him. Thanks for trying to check it all out though. I don't know of any "informal" sources either.

Hi Rande,

I went back and read your post and could find no reference to where you said or inferred that Tommy died on Sep 8th. I sure thought I saw it initially, but I've learned that our minds play tricks on us sometimes. I believe you are right that I looked at October 8 and "saw" September 8, probably because, for obvious personal reasons, September is heavily on my mind.

Sorry for the sidetrack caused by my mistake. It distracted from a tribute to a guitarist that we admired (and still do).

All my best
Bruce