Jimmy Arnold was first introduced to myself and the guys that I ride with by a good friend of ours named Tom Marchione. You see even though Jimmy was trying to turn his life around he was having a hard time with things and luckily he ran into to Tom and they became friends. Tom helped Jimmy stay away from the things from his past that would harm him.Tom new that even though Jimmy was active in church and had gave his life to the Lord that Jimmy still had a need to be around people that he could relate to so he decided to introduce Jimmy to us. I was told the stories about Jimmy and his background in music , his fall into drugs , his being sent to prison and now his finding GOD and cleaning up his act. To be honest with you I didn't give the guy much thought due to the fact that this is a story that I had heard about many people over the years and they usually were not sincere in cleaning up or their commitment to the Lord. Anyway Tom decided to bring Jimmy out to one of the parties that we were throwing at our bar and try to get him to get on stage and play but it seemed that Jimmy had reservations about coming out to a biker bar and being around people that were drinking and partying feeling that he may fall back into his old habits. He also had not played for a crowd lately except the Pentecostal church that he belonged to. Tom let Jimmy know that there would be no pressure put on him to drink and that he should just come out and meet some good people and if he felt comfortable then he could get on stage and sing a song or two. Tom brought Jimmy to the party and made his rounds introducing him to the guys. Jimmy was a sight. He had short hair and was wearing a suit but had several tattoos on his face and neck that were visible. He would have fit right in except for the suit which thru a few people off. Jimmy hung around for a little while listening to the bands play and socializing with some of the guys. It was after he had been there a while that Tom asked if it was OK if Jimmy got on stage and played a couple of songs. The way I figured it was why not it's free entertainment. Jimmy was reluctant to say the least but finally made the choice to give it a shot. What happened next will go down as one of my fondest memories. Jimmy grabbed a guitar and started to play. The crowd just stopped along with the band that had been playing and focused on Jimmy and his playing and singing. It was as if he had everyone under his spell. He finished his songs to the sound of applause from everyone there. The smile on Jimmy's face was evidence that he liked what he had found.
Jimmy started coming around on his own just to say hello and to build on the new friendships that he had found. We talked about his past problems and what he had planned for the future. He eventually started playing on Friday and Saturday nights at the bar. He did this because he loved to play and the extra cash would help him out. This caused a problem with some of the church folks at the church he had joined but he let them know that this is what he wanted to do and was going to do it. When Jimmy played you new that you were hearing music from his heart. At the end of every evening he would end his set with Amazing Grace and this would transform a bar full of rowdy people into a complete silent group that would stop what they were doing and pay 100% attention to Jimmy and his song. I watched many grown men and women along with myself cry while he would perform this song.
Over time I brought people in to see Jimmy play and also got to be good friends with him. He had shared with me his interest in getting a motorcycle and riding with us. He also shared the fact that he wanted to open a tattoo shop. We were going to get together after the first of the year in 1993 and try to do this. I had brought some of my relatives out on Christmas Eve 1992 to hear Jimmy play. Jimmy had not shown up at the time we expected and we got worried. Soon someone called us and let us in on the news that Jimmy had passed away that evening.
In 1993 I opened a tattoo shop / motorcycle shop and named it after Jimmy's album Southern Soul. This was done in remembrance of Jimmy and the future plans that we had together. While we have closed the dorrs to the tattoo shop the motorcycle shop is still running full steam . We offer Jimmy's CDs at our store and will always have fond memories of our friend and brother.

Rest in Peace Jimmy.

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Below is a story about Jimmy that ran in a local paper .