Roy Nichols
| Roy Nichols | |
|---|---|
Roy Nichols
|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roy Earnest Nichols |
| Born |
October 21, 1932 Chandler, Arizona, U.S. |
| Died | July 3, 2001 (aged 68) |
| Genres | Country, western swing, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, harmonica |
| Years active | 1932–1987 |
| Labels | Various |
| Associated acts | Merle Haggard |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Telecaster | |
Roy Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for country music legend Merle Haggard for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix of fingerpicking and pedal steel-like bends, usually played on a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Nichols is considered one of the founders of the country music subgenre the “Bakersfield Sound,” which includes such notable country artists as Haggard, Buck Owens, Don Rich, Dwight Yoakam, and Brad Paisley.
Roy Ernest Nichols was born in Chandler, Arizona, to Bruce and Lucille Nichols, where he was the first born of seven children. The Nichols family moved to Fresno, California, when he was 2 where they owned a camp for migrant farm workers. Sometimes a traveling Gypsy band would stay at the camp and the young Nichols would hide and watch them play. His father Bruce was also a musician, playing upright bass at local dances on the weekends in the San Joaquin Valley. Nichols was drawn to his father’s music. He learned some basic chords from his father and began playing in his father's band on the weekends when he was only 11. By age 14, Nichols began playing weekends with Curly Roberts and the Rangers where he earned $25 a week.
Shortly before his 16th birthday, Nichols met Fred Maddox, of the Maddox Brothers and Rose, a colorful hillbilly band, who heard Nichols playing guitar on Fresno DJ Barney Lee's Saturday-morning radio program. Nichols, still only 16 yeard old, was earning $90, a considerable amount at the time. “He could play anything,” remembers Rose Maddox. “He was good at all of it. Every guitar picker in the country wanted to play like him, but none of them ever compared. He was one of a kind. But the music aside, he was like any 16-year-old kid - feisty, causing us trouble. But my mother brought him under.” At a Maddox show in Mesa, Arizona, a teen-age couple sat in front row: Buck and Bonnie Campbell Owens, who found themselves fascinated with Nichols' playing. The Maddox Brothers toured out of state for extended periods, so Fred Maddox became Nichols' legal guardian while his brother, Henry Maddox, became the young musician's tutor. While in Las Vegas, although warned by Lula Maddox not to do so, Nichols began sneaking away to gamble, an activity that soon let to the guitarist being fire from the group. In his 18 months with the group, Nichols appeared on records for over 100 songs and played almost every evening.
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