Jimmy Bryant (March 5, 1925 – September 22, 1980), was a prominent American session guitarist. He was billed as "The Fastest Guitar in the Country".
Bryant was born in Moultrie, Georgia, the oldest of 12 children. During the Great Depression he played the violin on street corners to help the family buy food. After serving in World War II he began playing guitar in Los Angeles country music bars and moved into radio work. In 1950 Tex Williams heard his dizzying jazz/country style and brought him into the folds of Capitol Records, where he served as a busy session guitarist and solo artist during the 1950s. He often worked with steel guitarist Speedy West . One of his more unique and enduring appearances was in the Coleman Francis film Skydivers, where his cameo performance eclipsed an otherwise abysmal movie.
During the 1960s he shifted into music production, but retired in 1974 to Georgia, finally settling in Nashville in 1975. He played in bars and did some recording work. In 1978, in declining health, Bryant learned that his heavy smoking had resulted in lung cancer. He died in Moultrie in September, 1980 at the age of 55.
Jazz guitarist Barney Kessel once said, "Jimmy Bryant is the fastest and the cleanest, and has more technique than any other."
