Joe Zinkan
Musician · Indianapolis, Indiana
Best known for
Bass
Joe Zinkan was an Indiana-born bassist who anchored Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys for fifteen years before becoming one of Nashville's most-recorded session bassists, his precise country shuffle and slap-bass technique laying foundations for hundreds of country and bluegrass records.
- Born Joseph Scudder Zinkan on December 16, 1918 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Joined Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys in 1943, filling "Pap" Wilson's chair while Lonnie Wilson served in the U.S. Navy; remained through 1957.
- Regular Grand Ole Opry sideman for more than 25 years; known for a precise 4/4 country shuffle and upright slap-bass technique.
- Toured with Johnnie & Jack and Kitty Wells before transitioning to full-time studio work in 1959.
- One of Nashville's most in-demand session bassists, recording with Cowboy Copas, Elvis Presley, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, and Tammy Wynette.
- Praised by fellow Nashville A-Team bassist Bob Moore as "the best slap bass player I have ever heard."
- Retired from music in 1980.
- Died January 15, 2003 in Nashville of congestive heart failure; buried at Sumner Memorial Gardens, Gallatin, Tennessee.
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Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys
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Mac WisemanPlayed on recordings with Mac Wiseman
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Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain BoysPlayed on recordings with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
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Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass BoysPlayed on recordings with Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys
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Brother OswaldPlayed on recording with Brother Oswald