Ok, Google. Search: Jim Boyd.

About 6,970,00 results in 0.20 seconds and the first ten are for Jim Boyd, the television news anchorman; Jim Boyd, the insurance agent; Jim Boyd, the musicain (born in 1956); and Jim Boyd, the member of the Florida House of Representatives.

Not those Jim Boyds.

Try again, Google. Search: Jim Boyd guitarist Roy Newman and His Boys.

About 285,000 results in 0.48 seconds and the very first one is a link to the YouTube video for “Hot Dog Stomp.”

Bingo.

A little further down and there are links, via Google Books, to The Encyclodia of Country Music, 2nd Edition (2012), Compiled by the Staff of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum; Country Music, USA, 2nd Revised Edition (2002) by Bill C. Malone; and the website Hillbilly-Music.com.

Here’s what I found out from those sources about Jim Boyd, the man who played the electric guitar – Spanish, not Hawaiian – on the first recordings to feature that instrument.

Jim Boyd was born on September 28, 1914 in the town of Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas.

By the time he was 12 years old, Jim and his 4-years-older brother, Bill, were good enough musicians to perform Country music live on the radio in  Greenville, Texas.

In 1929, Jim and Bill moved to Dallas, Texas. By 1932, they’d found work there at radio station WFAA and then at radio station WRR.

Also in 1932, the Boyd brothers formed The Cowboy Ramblers, a Country music group that started recording in 1934 and stayed together in one form or another until 1951. Jim played upright bass for The Cowboy Ramblers and Bill played guitar. Of the 300-plus recordings they made, one of The Cowboy Ramblers’ most famous and popular sides was the 1935 instrumental “Under The Double Eagle,” featuring Bill Boyd on guitar and fiddler Art Davis.

Besides his work with The Cowboy Ramblers, Jim Boyd had a long and very busy musical career as a performer and recording artist.

From 1934-1938, he played electric guitar for Roy Newman and His Boys. He played upright bass for The Light Crust Doughboys from 1938-1941. From 1949-1951, he fronted his own group, Jim Boyd & His Men Of The West. All of these groups were based in Dallas, Texas, performed and recorded extensively and were very influential in the developement of the style of music that is now known as “Western Swing.” 

Jim Boyd was inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame on April 21, 1990.

According to Hillbilly-Music.com, “Jim was a humble person, he gave his brother credit for any success he found in the music business.”

Jim Boyd passed away in Dallas, Texas on March 11, 1993.