|
When Jimmy was a boy of 9, his father handed him a banjo and said "beat it"
- and he hasen't seen him since. It took a crash to get him going, the stock
market crash of 1929. This launched the career of one of the finest and
busiest banjo showman in the country.
At the age of 17, Jimmy joined a Vaudeville troup appearing in theaters from
Maine to Key West, Florida. In 1934, he joined Frankie Carle, pianist and
composer. Four years later he went to Chicago to the WLS National Barn Dance
where he appeared for 19 years as a banjo soloist and comedian.
With the close of the Barn Dance,
Jimmy decided to stay in the Chicago area. It wasn't long before he was
featured on television and in personal appearance throughout the Midwest. |
