The latest YouTube video from iHonkyTonk (Ryan Cook), "I Found The Lost Jimmy Day Album', is trying to solve a mystery: "Did Jimmy Day play 6-string guitar on a 1974 "Romantic Guitar" LP album?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVAZ3hmhgM
iHonkyTonk writes: "I found the lost 1974 Jimmy Day album which is quite the mysterious album. Recorded in Sydney, Australia, produced by legendary Australian producer Spencer Lee. After analyzing the phrasing and "fingerprints" of the playing, I'm shocked by what I discovered: Is their a "Phantom" Jimmy Day? Is this the lost Jimmy Day acoustic session, or a case of mistaken-identity?"
I read somewhere that a young Jimmy Day played 6-string standard guitar before getting into lap steel as a teenager, but I have no idea if he continued playing 6-string standard guitar as an adult--and in this case, "easy listening jazz".
Take a listen to iHonkyTonk's YouTube video where he plays samples from "Romantic Guitar", and perhaps you can help him solve this Jimmy Day musical mystery...
I'd say "no", for several reasons. First, there's no record of Jimmy Day ever going to Austrailia. Second, the playing on that album is very basic stuff, and not really that impressive. And lastly, It doesn't sound like the way Jimmy was playing in the 1970's. I will admit that it's a little reminiscent of his early '60s playing style, though.
I was around Jimmy off and on from the mid-70s until he died in 1999, except for a short period when he lived in Joelton TN, but I can't place the decade he did that. Anyway, I never heard of such an album or of him being in Australia. He would accompany himself occasionally on guitar when he'd sing a song.
Who might know would be his nephew Charlie Day, since they occasionally lived together in those days. I don't know if Charlie is on the Forum. I think he's on Facebook, though.
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?
Taylor Kropp wrote: 26 Jan 2026 2:12 pm
I haven’t listened to this album or seen the youtube video but Donny are you saying this probably isn’t even a Jimmy Day album?
There are probably lots of musicians named "Jimmy Day", even some in Australia.
It's just my opinion, but I think it's wrong to assume (based on the scant evidence) that this is the same one we're all familiar with.
First of all I doubt that posted LP has anything to do with American steel guitarist Jimmy Day. That's what used to be called a "cash-in" or "catalog" record.
Second, and I'm surprised nobody mentioned it after this thread being open for week now, I did see Jimmy Day sing and play "standard guitar" at one of Scotty's shows. So long ago that it was at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Talking to a couple guys who I knew were at the same show we all agreed that it was a show that had Al Petty and his "Steelguitorchestra", or whatever it was billed as, on the same program. Not having any convention programs on hand and relying on decades-old memories we sort of narrowed the time frame to 1979, 1980, or 1981. Those are just educated guesses. But we all agreed that one of the tunes he did was a BB King number that was NOT "The Thrill Is Gone", and the guitar used was a Fender Coronado or the Antigua finish version of the Coronado. A poor choice in my opinion as it was a fully hollow thin line with no center block, single-coil pickups, and a bolt-on neck. Very prone to feedback and lacking in sustain. Four decades plus back in time so that's all I've got.
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