Vince Gill Plays Jabbo Arrington’s Guitar During Little Jimmy Dickens Tribute
*This video has been removed at the request of the Grand Ole Opry.
During an Opry celebration of Little Jimmy Dickens' life, Vince Gill played a special guitar. Before singing 'Go Rest High on That Mountain' with Carrie Underwood, Gill told the story of the instrument and why picked it for that night.
Gill made sure the Opry audience knew how everyone around Dickens always "marveled" at the talent that the late legend played with. He was always surrounded by incredibly talented guitarists, one of those talented musicians being Jabbo Arrington.
"Jabbo, unfortunately, passed away as a young man and [that] crushed Jimmy," Gill shares. "Sixty years later I get a phone call from a family that I don't know and they said, 'We're the Arrington family and one of our family members, Jabbo, played with Jimmy ... and we have his old guitar and we wondered if you would be interested in it.'"
Needless to say, Gill was very interested. He met the family and tried out the guitar, letting the Arringtons know how honored he was that they thought of him. The family had one request for the guitar: they wanted it to be played on the Opry stage on more time. Gill obliged, asking Dickens if he could join him on stage for a song with the important guitar. That was the last time and Dickens played together on the iconic stage.
Gill thought it fitting and important to play the guitar once again to send Dickens "home."
See Pics of Little Jimmy Through the Years