Jimmie Skinner

By all accounts a fringe character in the pantheon of country music, Jimmie Skinner held many hats during his lifetime, including DJ, songwriter, performer, label owner, and record salesman. As a DJ in the early '40s, Skinner began fooling around with songwriting and had some early success with a composition called "Doin My Time" in 1941. By 1950, Skinner had moved to Knoxville, TN, and gained a reputation as a pretty good songwriter for bluegrass pickers and performers who favored traditional country styles. Jimmy Martin, for example, had a hit with Skinner's "You Don't Know My Mind." In 1957, Skinner was signed to Mercury Records where he quickly scored two hits, "I Found My Girl in the U.S.A." and "Dark Hollow." Chalk it up to beginner's luck, however, because a decade more of performing and recording for a half dozen labels Skinner never scored another major hit. The dry spell led him to move to Ohio where he formed his own Vetco label, as well as Jimmy Skinner music, a mail order record store that he operated until his death in 1979.