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Artist
Benny Thomasson
12+ albums
about
Benny Thomasson (April 22, 1909–January 1984) was an American fiddler in the Texas style of old-time fiddling. Thomasson was born in Runnels County, Texas and raised in Gatesville, one of 10 children in a family where music was not only encouraged, it was a key ingredient of life. His parents were Lucas "Red Luke" and Sarah Elizabeth Wright Thomasson. The elder Thomasson played fiddle, as did his brother Ed, Benny's uncle. Thomasson began fiddling at age three, from as soon as he could hold the instrument up without dropping it. His father wrote the well-known fiddle tune titled "Midnight on the Water". The boys were influenced by renowned fiddlers such as Eck Robertson and Lefty Franklin, friends of the Thomasson family. Thomasson entered his first fiddle contest in the late 1920s, at age 19, and was disappointed when he did not place among the top contestants. He decided he needed to be different than the others, and began to work on different interpretations of tunes, so he would stand out at contests. Thomasson worked hard and took home many trophies. He won several contests multiple times, including the Texas State Championship 15 times, the World Championship three times in a row (1955, 1956 and 1957), and the National Old-time Fiddlers Championship. He improved and improvised on many simple traditional tunes. He practiced and developed controlled improvisation, keeping the tune true to its melody while embellishing and expanding that melody. Benny had a brief brush
top songs
albums
Legendary Texas Fiddler
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Country Fiddling from the Big State
Legendary Texas Fiddler: Recordings From 1966-1969
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Say Old Man, Can You Play That Fiddle
GUF: Armar Tarmar
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Legendary Texas Fiddler 1966-69
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Texas Hoedown Revisited
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Teddy Ray Country Music Anthology Vol 2 Old Time
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Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle
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The Fiddler's of Country Music, Vol. 8
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Hornpipes 1967
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Benny with Omega Burden