Harold Bradley "Shot" Jackson (September 4, 1920 ; January 24, 1991) was an American country guitarist best known for playing

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

and

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

. He also designed and manufactured guitars under the name Sho-Bud.

Biography

Jackson moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1944 to play on the ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

'', in Cousin Wilbur Westbrooks' band. After a short stint in the Navy, Jackson joined the Bailes Brothers on KWKH's '' Louisiana Hayride'' program, playing

. After the Bailes Brothers left the ''Hayride'', Jackson stayed behind, playing with artists like Webb Pierce, Jimmie Osborne, and Red Sovine. He met Johnnie & Jack, & Kitty Wells at KWKH as well as Paul Warren, Fiddle. Paul went with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs a couple of years before Jack Anglin Died in March 1963 of a car accident. From 1949–62, Jackson joined Johnnie Wright and

Jack Anglin Jack Anglin (May 13, 1916 – March 8, 1963) was an American country music singer best known as a member of the Anglin Brothers, and later Johnnie & Jack with Johnnie Wright. Younger Years Anglin was born on a farm in Franklin, Tennessee to J ...

's Tennessee Mountain Boys, as their Dobro player. During this time, he designed the first pedal steel guitar (modified Fender lap steel) and played behind Wright's wife Kitty Wells on early Decca recordings with a pedal steel, not the Dobro. Jackson left the Tennessee Mountain Boys to play steel guitar for

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

's Smoky Mountain Boys. He designed a

with

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known by ...

, 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 whom was with Roy Acuffs' band, from 1960-1962. Including her hit duets with George Jones from 1962-1964. In 1962 Shot 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 head-on car crash that Acuff caused by passing without assured clear distance as they were late for a show. 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 favorite lifelong guitar, Trigger. His professional playing after that became sporadic, but included two albums with

Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted ''Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influen ...

. He sold Sho-Bud to

Baldwin Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend". People * Baldwin (name) Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...

- Gretsch in 1980, selling his instrument repair business three years later. He was inducted into the

Steel Guitar Hall of Fame The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame is an organization established in the United States in 1978 to recognize achievement in the art of playing the steel guitar. The organization's stated purpose is: In 1984, the organization was incorporated as a nonprofi ...

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 Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

)

Sources

* Bear Family Records 1992 BCD15553

External links

Jackson Steel Guitar Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Shot 1920 births 1991 deaths People from Wilmington, North Carolina American musical instrument makers American country guitarists American male guitarists Steel guitarists Specialty Records artists 20th-century American guitarists American session musicians Pedal steel guitarists Resonator guitarists Country musicians from North Carolina 20th-century American male musicians