RIVERS, JIMMY (1926-2003)
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Despite his relative obscurity, Jimmie Rivers was one of the great western swing guitarists, with a near-unparalleled ability to construct exciting, melodic solos in the vein of Charlie Christian. Born Walter James Fewell on Feb. 12, 1926 in Hockerville, Oklahoma, and later changing his name to Jimmy Rivers, he passed away peacefully in his home in Placerville, California on August 29, 2003. Jimmy Rivers was an extraordinary man; a gifted musician who picked up his first instrument, a fiddle, at age four. His father, a coal miner and hoedown fiddler, bought him his first guitar at age six. Jimmy served in the Navy where he became an accomplished pilot and paratrooper. The music of Bob Wills gave the youth his first influence, in particular the twin electric |
guitar arrangements of Leon McAuliffe and Eldon Shamblin. In high school, he also played trumpet before his family moved west to Oakland in the early ‘40s. Although Rivers' style had largely matured by the time he was a late teenager, it was in Oakland that he received his greatest musical instruction. Sitting in with a jazz combo one evening, he met a pianist named Don Burke, who introduced him to the music of the great electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian. (Amazingly, although Rivers' guitar playing was already saturated with be-bop stylings, the youth had never heard of Christian; rather, he had absorbed the technique of Barney Kessel, another Christian fan.)
After two years in the Navy, in 1946 Rivers moved to Corpus Christi, TX and formed a trio called the Gadabouts. His reputation as a guitarist was growing, bringing job offers from both Spade Cooley and Bob Wills. Rivers, however, declined, as by this time he was making more money on his own than either bandleader could promise.
In 1954, he moved back to Oakland and took work as a DJ at KVSM. Before his first broadcast, he was re-christened “Jimmie Rivers" by a local man who expressed distaste for the name Fewell. (Rivers, who was half-Indian, had explained that his original family name was “Two Rivers.") Soon after, he formed a western swing group called the Cherokees, who began appearing on the California Hayride television show dressed in Indian headdresses. The Cherokees also cut some records for the Cavalier label and frequently backed Tommy Duncan on his solo recordings. In 1958, the group took up residence at the 23 Club in Brisbane, CA.
That same year, Rivers hooked up with ex-Billy Jack Wills steel guitarist Vance Terry, and in 1959 Terry joined what would become the definitive Cherokees lineup. They played the 23 Club for six years, before Rivers disbanded the group in 1964.
He came to the Sacramento area in 1961 and became involved in western swing music and jazz. He was a Gold Card Member of the Sacramento Jazz Society and was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame. He performed at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for many years, first with Bob Ringwald and the Fulton Street Jazz Band, later with his own Jimmy Rivers Jazz Band.