# Born 96 Years Ago Today in Arkansas, the Country Guitarist Who Grew Up Down the Road From Johnny Cash and Later Played With Hank Williams

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/born-96-years-ago-today-in-arkansas-the-country-guitarist-who-grew-up-down-the-road-from-johnny-cash-and-later-played-with-hank-williams/
- Published: 2026-10-28T09:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-28T10:50:43+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/born-96-years-ago-today-in-arkansas-the-country-guitarist-who-grew-up-down-the-road-from-johnny-cash-and-later-played-with-hank-williams/
- Topics: Business, Entertainment, Markets, Music

## Key points

- Tommy Tomlinson was born 96 years ago in Arkansas.
- He played on major Johnny Horton hits, including “The Battle of New Orleans”.
- After losing a leg in a 1960 crash, he returned to touring.

## Summary

Country guitarist Tommy Tomlinson was born in Arkansas on 28 October 1930, near the farm where Johnny Cash grew up. He later became a regular player with Johnny Horton, contributing to several of Horton’s best-known recordings, including the number-one hit “The Battle of New Orleans”.

Tomlinson began playing professionally as a teenager and joined Shreveport’s Louisiana Hayride after serving in the Korean War. He was seriously injured in the 1960 car crash that killed Horton, and doctors amputated one of his legs four months later; he returned to touring within a year. He also played with Johnny Cash and wrote songs recorded by Dolly Parton and Norma Jean, before dying of heart failure in 1982, aged 51.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.