AM 1070 The Ranch Classic Country

Home The Ranch Hands News and Stories Dugg's Corner of the World Country Music & Western Heroes Western Swing News The Ranch Online Tradin' Post Map E-Mail Western Swing News Dugg's Facts. Thanks to Dick Shuey/Twangtown for assistance PUBLICATIONS ABOUT WESTERN SWING WESTERN SWING MONTHLY 205 SUNSHINE DRIVE GEORGETOWN, TEXAS 78628 From humble beginnings, Barbara Martin has turned this into the primo Western Swing Publication of today. Barbara visits all the Western Swing events, featuring pictures, stories, play dates and other exciting news about your favorite entertainers. She is a great lady, with a great love for our kind of music. Do yourself a favor and get started reading this great publication soon. Subscription rates, for a twelve month subscription are as follows. $35.00 U.S. - $45.00 CANADA - $50.00 EUROPE Click here to E-Mail Western Swing Monthly -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTERN SWING ORGANIZATIONS YOU MAY WISH TO JOIN SEATTLE WESTERN SWING MUSIC SOCIETY A non profit organization formed in November 1983 by a group of musicians and enthusiast for the purpose of preserving, promoting and performing Western Swing Music. For an application and more information, contact..... Western Swing Music Society P.O. Box 1052 Renton, Washington 98057-1052 Click here to e-mail CLICK HERE TO VISIT WEB SITE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WESTERN SWING MUSIC SOCIETY SOUTHWEST A Texas, Non-Profit Corporation founded in 1998 for the purpose of promoting and preserving Western Swing Music. This one is a little closer to home, with many events within driving distance of Wichita. Featured events are their annual Hall of Fame Awards and many great jam sessions and get togethers by very talented Western Swing musicians. It's a fun organization. For more information concerning membership, contact.... WSMSS P.O. Box 22185 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73123 Phone: 405-495-3166 Click here to e-mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Wills -Western Swing's True King James Robert Wills Born March 6, 1905 in Kosse, TX Died May 13, 1975 in Fort Worth, TX Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with Western Swing. Although he did not invent the genre singlehandedly, he did popularize the genre and changed its rules. In the process, he reinvented the rules of popular music. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were a dance band with a country string section that played pop songs as if they were jazz numbers. Their music expanded and erased boundaries between genres. It was also some of the most popular music of its era. Throughout the '40s, the band was one of the most popular groups in the country and the musicians in the Playboys were among the finest of their era. As the popularity of Western Swing declined, so did Wills's popularity, but his influence is immeasurable. From the first honky tonkers to Western Swing revivalists, generations of country artists owe him a significant debt, as do certain rock and jazz musicians. Bob Wills was a maverick and his spirit infused American popular music of the 20th century with a renegade, virtuosic flair. Bob Wills was born outside of Kosse, Texas, in 1905. They left Limestone County in 1913 and moved 500 miles to Hall County, hauling everything they owned in wagons to start a new life. They settled near the County seat of Memphis, Texas and later moved down between the rivers near Turkey, Texas. The community of Turkey honors Bob Wills each year, the last weekend in April, as Bob Wills Day. People come from all across America and some foreign countries for this event each year. Bob always made reference to this part of the country as his home. From his father and grandfather, Bob learned how to play mandolin, guitar and, eventually, fiddle and he regularly played local dances in his teens. In 1929, he joined a medicine show in Fort Worth, where he played fiddle and did blackface comedy. At one performance, he met guitarist Herman Arnspiger and the duo formed the Wills Fiddle Band. Within a year, they were playing dances and radio stations around Fort Worth. During one of the performances, the pair met a vocalist called Milton Brown, who joined the band. Soon, Brown's guitarist brother Durwood joined the group, as did Clifton "Sleepy" Johnson, a tenor banjo player. In early 1931, the band landed their own radio show, which was sponsored by the Burris Mill and Elevator company, the manufacturers of Light Crust Flour. The group rechristened themselves the Light Crust Doughboys and their show was being broadcast throughout Texas, hosted and organized by W. Lee O'Daniel, the manager of Burris Mill. By 1932, the band were stars in Texas but there was some trouble behind the scenes O'Daniel wasn't allowing the band to play anything but the radio show. This situation led to the departure of Milton Brown; Wills eventually replaced Brown with Tommy Duncan, who he would work with for the next 16 years. By late summer 1933, Wills, aggrivated with a series of fights with O'Daniel, left the Light Crust Doughboys and Duncan left with him. Wills and Duncan relocated to Waco, Texas, and formed the Playboys, which featured Wills on fiddle, Duncan on piano and vocals, rhythm guitarist June Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin, who played steel guitar and bass. For the next year, the Playboys moved through a number of radio stations, as O'Daniel tried to force them off the air. Finally, the group settled in Tulsa, where they had a job at KVOO. Tulsa is where Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys began to refine their sound. Wills added an 18 year-old electric steel guitarist called Leon McAuliffe, pianist Al Stricklin, drummer Smokey Dacus, and a horn section to the band's lineup. Soon, the Texas Playboys were the most popular band in Oklahoma and Texas. The band made their first record in 1935 for the American Recording Company, which would later become part of Columbia Records. At ARC, they were produced by Uncle Art Satherley, who would wind up as Wills's producer for the next 12 years. The bandleader have his way and they cut a number of tracks which were released on a series of 78s. The singles were successful enough that Wills could demand that steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe who wasn't on the first sessions due to ARC's abundance of steel players under contract was featured on the Playboys' next record, 1936's "Steel Guitar Rag." The song became a standard for steel guitar. Also released from that session was "Right or Wrong," which featured Tommy Duncan on lead vocals. Toward the end of the decade, big bands were dominating popular music and Wills wanted a band capable of playing complex, jazz-inspired arrangements. To help him achieve his sound, he hired arranger and guitarist Eldon Shamblin, who wrote charts that fused country with big band music for the Texas Playboys. By 1940, he had replaced some of the weaker musicians in the lineup, winding up with a full 18-piece band. The Texas Playboys were breaking concert attendance records across the country, filling out venues from Tulsa to California and they also had their first genuine national hit with "New San Antonio Rose," which climbed to number 11 in 1940. Throughout 1941 and 1942, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys continued to record and perform and they were one of the most popular bands in the country. However, their popularity was quickly derailed by the arrival of World War II. Tommy Duncan enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor and Al Stricklin became a defense plant worker. Late in 1942, Leon McAuliffe and Eldon Shamblin both left the group. Bob enlisted in the Army late in 1942, but he was discharged as being unfit for service in the summer of 1943, primarily because he was out of shape and disagreeable. Duncan was discharged around the same time and the pair moved to California by the end of 1943. Wills revamped the sound of the Texas Playboys after World War II, cutting out the horn section and relying on amplified string instruments. During the '40s, Art Satherley had moved from ARC to OKeh Records and Wills followed him to the new label. His first single for OKeh was a new version of "New San Antonio Rose" and it became a Top Ten hit early in 1944, crossing over into the Top 15 on the pop charts. Wills stayed with OKeh for about year, having several Top Ten hits, as well as the number ones "Smoke on the Water," and "Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima." After he left OKeh, he signed with Columbia Records, releasing his first single for the label, "Texas Playboy Rag," toward the end of 1945. In 1946, the Texas Playboys began recording a series of transcriptions for Oakland, California's Tiffany Music Corporation. Tiffany's plan was to syndicate the transcriptions throught the Southwest, but their goal was never fufilled. Nevertheless, the Texas Playboys made a number of transcriptions in '46 and '47, and these are the only recordings of the band playing extended jams. Consequently, they are close approximations of the group's live sound. Though the Tiffany Transcriptions would turn out to be important historical items, the recordings that kept Wills and the Playboys in the charts were their singles for Columbia, which were consistently reaching the Top Five between 1945 and 1948; in the summer of 1946, they had their biggest hit, "New Spanish Two Step," which spent 16 weeks at number one. Guitarist Eldon Shamblin returned to the Playboys in 1947, the final year Wills recorded for Columbia Records. Beginning in late '47, Wills was signed to MGM. His first single for the label, "Bubbles in My Beer," was a Top Ten hit early in 1948, as was its follow-up, "Keeper of My Heart." Though the Texas Playboys were one of the most popular bands in the nation, they were beginning to fight internally, mainly because Wills had developed a drinking problem that caused him to behave erratically. Furthermore, Wills came to believe Tommy Duncan was demanding too much attention and asking for too much money. By the end of 1948, he had fired the singer. Duncan's departure couldn't have come at a worse time. Western Swing was beginning to fall out of public favor, and Wills's recordings weren't as consistently successful as they had been before he had no hits at all in 1949. That year, he relocated to Oklahoma, beginning a 15-year stretch of frequent moves, all designed to find a thriving market for the band. In 1950, he had two Top Ten hits "Ida Red Likes the Boogie" and "Faded Love," which would become a country standard; they would be his last hits for a decade. Throughout the '50s, he struggled with poor health and poor finances, but he continued to perform frequently. However, his audience continued to shrink, despite his attempts to hold on to it. Wills moved throughout the Southwest during the decade, without ever finding a new home base. Audiences at dance halls plummeted with the advent of television and rock & roll. The Texas Playboys made some records for Decca that went unnoticed in the mid-'50s. In 1959, Wills signed with Liberty Records. Before recording his first sessions with Liberty, Wills expanded the lineup of the band again and reunited with Tommy Duncan. The sessions with Tommy Duncan, which produced three albums, were produced by the legendary Joe Allison. Tommy Allsup produced an album on Wills Called "Bob Plays and Sings." The results were a success, with "Heart to Heart Talk" climbing into the Top Ten during the summer of 1960. Again, the Texas Playboys were drawing sizable crowds and selling a respectable amount of records. In 1962, Wills had a heart attack that temporarily debilitated him, but by 1963, he was making an album for Kapp records. The following year, he had a second heart attack which forced him to disband the Playboys. After the second heart attack, he performed and recorded as a solo performer. His solo recordings for Kapp were made in Nashville with studio musicians and were generally ignored, though he continued to be successful in concert. In 1968, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Bob Wills and the following year the Texas State Legislature honored him for his contribution to American music. The day after he appeared in both houses of the Texas state government, Wills suffered a massive stroke, which paralyzed his right side. During his recovery, Merle Haggard the most popular country singer of the late '60s recorded an album dedicated to Bob Wills, A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player, which helped return Wills to public consciousness and spark a wide-spread Western Swing revival. In the early 60's, Ray Price did a tribute album to Bob Wills called "San Antonio Rose," almost ten years prior to the Haggard tribute. In 1972, Wills was well enough to accept a citation from ASCAP in Nashville, as well as appear at several Texas Playboy reunions, which were all very popular. In the fall of 1973, Wills and Haggard began planning a Texas Playboy reunion album, featuring Leon McAuliffe, Al Stricklin, Eldon Shamblin, and Smokey Dacus, among others. The first session was held on December 3, 1973, with Wills leading the band from his wheelchair. That night, he suffered another massive stroke in his sleep; the stroke left him comatose. The Texas Playboys finished the album without him. Bob Wills never regained consciousnesss and he died on May 15, 1975 in a nursing home. Wills was buried in Tulsa, the place where his legend began. His grave is marked with a plaque that reads, "Deep Within' My Heart Lies A Melody."His Texas Playboys with Leon Rausch, still tour today, keeping the music alive. As long as folks wants to dance to great music, the name of Bob Wills will never die. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Light Crust Doughboys - W.Lee O'Daniel Formed 1931 Group Members Milton Brown, Herman Arnspiger and Bob Wills One of the original Western swing bands, the Light Crust Doughboys once featured the combined talents of Western swing's two most renowned figures, Bob Wills and Milton Brown. That lineup was unfortunately short-lived, due in large part to issues with the group's overly controlling manager, W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (who would later become governor of Texas). However, even after all three of those figures were gone, the Light Crust Doughboys soldiered on, becoming one of the most popular pre-war Western swing bands in Texas; versions of the group continued to perform, off and on, right up to the turn of the millennium. The group that became the Light Crust Doughboys was formed in 1929 as the Wills Fiddle Band, when Bob Wills joined up with guitarist Herman Arnspiger in Fort Worth, TX. The duo began playing dances and radio shows, and hooked up with singer Milton Brown in 1930. Brown's brother Durwood soon joined the band as a second guitarist, and banjoist Clifford "Sleepy" Johnson arrived not long after. The group landed a regular radio gig in Fort Worth sponsored by the Aladdin Lamp Company, and accordingly changed their name to the Aladdin Laddies. That didn't last long, however; in 1931, the band landed their own morning show on a rival station, sponsored by Burris Mill, the makers of Light Crust Flour. Pappy O'Daniel managed the company at the time, and he convinced them to adopt Light Crust Doughboys as their new name. Still, O'Daniel disliked the group's music, dismissing it as "hillbilly"; he attempted to cancel the show after just two weeks, but popular demand kept the group on the air (as well as a deal with O'Daniel whereby the band members agreed to work in the flour mill). With their regular radio show and wide-ranging musical repertoire (country, blues, jazz, pop, gospel, and more), the Light Crust Doughboys became one of the most popular and widely exposed bands in Texas. Musicians like singer/yodeler Leon Huff, steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe, and banjoist Johnnie Lee Wills began playing with the group. Realizing he had a good thing on his hands, O'Daniel became the Doughboys' manager and sometime songwriter as well as the show's announcer; he first moved the Doughboys to a new station, and then landed their show on a syndicated radio network that spread their sound across the Southwest. But his refusal to allow the band to play gigs outside the radio show was frustrating to its members, who felt they weren't seeing enough money. Wills, Johnson, and the Brown brothers recorded a single for Victor in 1932 under the name the Fort Worth Doughboys, which was a precursor to Milton Brown leaving the group several months later. Wills replaced him with Tommy Duncan, but clashed frequently with O'Daniel, and wound up leaving himself in the summer of 1933, taking Duncan with him. Undeterred, O'Daniel reorganized the Doughboys and brought them to Chicago later in the year for a recording session with Vocalion. However, his days with the band were numbered as well; disputes with the Burris Mill Company led to his being fired in 1935. O'Daniel put together a new band called the Hillbilly Boys, and thanks to his radio exposure, he made a successful run for governor of Texas in 1938. Meanwhile, the Light Crust Doughboys' new lineup had solidified by 1937: fiddle players Kenneth Pitts and Clifford Gross (plus Cecil Brower on occasion), banjoist Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery (who would remain with the group right up to his death in 2001), lead guitarist Muryel Campbell, rhythm guitarist Dick Reinhart, pianist John "Knocky" Parker, and bassist Ramon DeArman. This lineup's recordings were among the biggest selling in their hometown, and were quite popular across the region thanks in part to their continued radio exposure, which now reached over 170 stations. Their success continued right up to World War II, at which point most of the members joined either the Army or the defense industry. The Doughboys' radio show was thus canceled in 1942; Burris Mill attempted to mount a new version of the program in 1946, featuring Jack Perry as the leader of the band (a post Smokey Montgomery took over in 1948). But despite a series of new recordings for King, interest had dissipated, and the radio show was canceled for good in 1950. While Montgomery kept the band going in some form, off and on, during the remainder of his life, the first large-scale revival of the Light Crust Doughboys took place during the '60s, featuring Montgomery (now on guitar as well as banjo), guitarist Billy Hudson, fiddler Johnny Strawn, bassist Artie Glenn, and steel guitarist Paul Blount. During the '90s, when the band began recording again, the lineup featured Montgomery, guitarist Jerry Elliott, bassist Art Greenhaw, fiddlers John Walden and Jim Baker, and pianist Bill Simmons. Montgomery passed away on June 6, 2001, after a bout with leukemia. Steve Huey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Milton Brown Born September 8, 1903 in Stephenville, TX Died April 13, 1936 in Crystal Springs, TX Milton Brown was one of the fathers of Western Swing, a vocalist and bandleader who was one of the first to fuse country, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid. Along with Bob Wills who he performed with at the beginning of this career Brown developed the sound and style of Western Swing in the early '30s and for a while he and his band, the Musical Brownies, were just as popular as Wills and his Texas Playboys. Tragically, Milton Brown's career was cut short in 1936 when he died in a car accident, just as he was poised to break into national stardom. Born in Stephensville, Texas in 1903, Milton Brown moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1918. After graduating from high school in 1925, he worked as a cigar saleman, but he lost his job when the Great Depression hit in the late '20s. Brown began his musical career in 1930, when he happened to meet Bob Wills at a local Fort Worth dance. The Wills Fiddle Band was performing at the dance and Brown joined the group on a chorus of "St. Louis Blues." Wills was impressed with Brown's voice and immediatelly asked him and his guitarist brother, Derwood, to join the band. The Wills Fiddle Band played medicine shows around Texas and landed a regular radio spot on WBAP, where they played a show sponsored by Aladdin Lamp Company, who had the band change their name to the Aladdin Laddies. In early 1931, the group was hired by the Light Crust Flour Company which was run by Burrus Mill and Elevator Company to appear daily on the radio station KFJZ. The company, which was managed by W. Lee O'Daniel who also hosted the radio shows, had the group rename themselves the Light Crust Doughboys. The Light Crust Doughboys were an instant success, and soon O'Daniel moved them first to another radio station, then syndicated the program statewide. The Doughboys were playing cowboy songs, jazz, blues, and popular songs a repertoire so diverse that the band's audience continued to expand. In February of 1932, they recorded a single for Victor under the name the Fort Worth Doughboys. The band was playing dance music and they wanted to play at dances, but O'Daniel was reluctant to let the group play outside of their radio shows. He also was hesitant to pay them much money, which greatly angered Milton Brown. In September of 1932, Brown left the band after he had a argument about money with O'Daniel. After leaving the Light Crust Doughboys, Brown formed the first Western Swing band, the Musical Brownies. The first incarnation of the Brownies featured Brown, guitarist Durwood Brown, bassist Wanna Coffman, Ocie Stockard on tenor banjo, and fiddle player Jesse Ashlock. Shortly afterward, pianist Fred Calhoun and fiddle player Cecil Brower (who replaced Ashlock) joined the group. Like the Light Crust Doughboys, the Musical Brownies played a mixture of country, pop, and jazz, but the Brownies had a harder dance edge than their predecessors. Almost immediately, Brown and His Musical Brownies were a huge success. The group had a regular spot on the radio station KTAT and drew large crowds at Texas dances. In April of 1934, the band recorded eight songs for Bluebird; they recorded another ten for the label in August. Toward the end of 1934, the Brownies added an electric steel guitarist called Bob Dunn the first musician to play an electric instrument in country music. In January of 1935, the band signed with Decca records and recorded 36 songs for the label. Released as singles over the course of 1935, the songs helped establish the band as the most popular Western Swing band in Texas. In March of 1936, the Brownies travelled to New Orleans to record their second set of sessions for Decca. By this time, fiddler Brower had been replaced by Cliff Bruner. At these sessions, the Brownies cut about 50 songs, which were issued throughout 1936 and 1937. In April of 1936, Brown suffered a major car accident. Although he wasn't killed on impact, he died five days after the crash, from pneumonia. Following Milton's death, Durwood Brown kept the Musical Brownies together for two years, recording a dozen sides for Decca in 1937. At the time of his death, Milton Brown rivalled Bob Wills in popularity. Although he never became as famous as Wills, he was equally important in the development of Western Swing without him, the genre as we know it wouldn't exist. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speedy West-The One and Only Born January 25,1924 in Springfield, MO Instruments Guitar (Steel), Pedal Steel One of the greatest virtuosos that country music has ever produced, Speedy West bridged the western swing and rockabilly eras with eye-popping steel guitar. Besides contributing to literally thousands of country sessions, West cut many of his own instrumentals, as a solo act and with his guitarist partner Jimmy Bryant. In 1951, Speedy signed to Capitol Records and made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. That year he enjoyed his first single record, "Stainless Steel/Railroadin'," and in 1954, the album "Two Guitars, Country Style," with Jimmy Bryant.It is estimated that Speedy played on over 6,000 recording sessionsduring the fifties with 177 vocalist. These included sessions with Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Phil Harris, Dinah Shore, Ernest Tubb, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Horton and Jim Reeves. In 1960, he produced the first record on Loretta Lynn, "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl." Adept at boogie, blues, and Hawaiian ballads, West played with an infectious joy and daring improvisation that, at its most adventurous, could be downright experimental. It's doubtful whether anyone could collect all of Speedy's solos under one roof, but it was his sessions of the 1950s and early '60s especially those with Jimmy Bryant that found his genius at its most freewheeling and dazzling. In 1975, Speedy got together with Jimmy Bryant, after having not worked together in sixteen years and recorded an album which released in 1990 as "For The Last Time." In 1981, Speedy was struck down by a stroke which made it impossible for him to play again. He contemplated suicide, but then considered all the positive things that had happened in his life and decided to put up with the pain.Through the 90's, he was emceeing and talking on music, althoughin retirement in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His son Gary plays steel as Speedy West Jr around the Oklahoma area. To quote Speedy, "I used to get high, higher than a kite, just playing my guitar. You don't have to use drugs and drink if you love your instrument enough." Speedy was inductedinto the STEEL GUITAR HALL OF FAMEin 1980. He spends his time with wife Mary and despite his illness, remains chipper and is a wealth of information. He remembers, with affection, his year in music.There were several copy-cat players, but none ever really duplicated the great Speedy West style. - Dugg Collins -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laura Lee McBride Laura Lee Owens was the daughter of Tex Owens and niece of Texas Ruby. While in her teens, she sang on Kansas City's Brush Creek Follies. After an early marriage to guitarist Herb Kratoska and a stint with The Oklahoma Wranglers, she joined Bob Will's Texas Playboys at the end of 1943 and became Wills featured vocalist. She was best known for her yodeling and her signature tune, "Betcha My Heart." She married Wills guitarist Cameron Hill and when Hill entered the Army in 1945, Laura relocated to Houston, Texas, where she would meet and later marry Dickie McBride. The duo toured some with Bob Wills and worked in California in 1948 and 1949. They recorded as a team and also recorded separately. They were popular TV, radio and dance performers in Houston during the 1950's. Dickie died in 1971. Laura Lee died in 1989. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buddy Emmons - Mr. Steel Guitar Born Jan 27, 1937 in Mishawaka, IN Buddy Emmons was among Nashville's elite as one of the finest steel guitar players in the business. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana, he first fell in love with the instrument at age 11 when he received a 6-string lap steel guitar as a gift. As a teen, he enrolled at the Hawaiian Conservatory of Music in South Bend, IN, and began playing professionally in Calumet City and Chicago at age 16. In 1956, Emmons went to Detroit to fill in for Walter Haynes during a performance with Little Jimmy Dickens and soon afterward he was invited to join Dickens' Country Boys. He appeared with them a few times on the Grand Ole Opry and recorded a few singles that included "Buddy's Boogie" (1957). He also recorded a pair of solo singles for Columbia, "Cold Rolled Steel" (1956) and "Silver Bells" (1957). In the late '50s, Emmons began playing occasionally with Ernest Tubb's band on Midnight Jamboree. In 1963, he began a five year stint with Ray Price and his Cherokee Cowboys, and in 1965 teamed up with fellow steel player Shot Jackson to record the LP Steel Guitar & Dobro Sound. This led the two to create the Sho-Bud Company, which sold an innovative steel guitar that used push-rod pedals. In 1969, Emmons joined Roger Miller's Los Angeles-based band as a bass player. When not touring with Miller, he did session work for a variety of artists. He quit Miller's band in 1973 and signed a solo contract, releasing several albums in the late '70s. After 1978, Emmons began playing for a number of small labels, where he and Ray Pennington occassionally collaborated with some of Nashville's finest side men as the Swing Shift Band. In 1993, Emmons began touring with the Everly Brothers. Throughout the '90s, he continued to do session work. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tommy Duncan-Mister Western Swing Born January 11, 1911 in Hillsboro, TX Died July 25, 1967 in Tulsa, OK As the lead singer for the classic lineup of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, Tommy Duncan was the definitive western swing vocalist. Crossing the smooth croon of Bing Crosby with the twang of Jimmie Rodgers and the bluesy inclinations of Emmett Miller, Duncan had a warm, distinctive and welcoming voice that helped the Playboys crossover to a wider audience. Not only was he a wonderful, trend-setting vocalist, Tommy also wrote many of the Texas Playboys' biggest hits, including "Time Changes Everything," "Stay A Little Longer," "Take Me Back to Tulsa," "New Spanish Two Step," and "Bubbles in My Beer." Throughout the '30s and '40s, he was remained with Wills, leaving in 1948 when tensions between the two musicians became too great. Following his departure, Duncan launched a solo career that resulted in one major hit single, "Gamblin' Polka Dot Blues." Throughout the '50s, he sang both as a solo artist and a member of the Miller Brothers Band. In 1960, he and Wills patched up their differences and recorded several albums. Following his reunion with Wills, he began touring as a solo artist, and he remained on the road until his death in 1967. Tommy Duncan was hired by Bob Wills in 1933 to fill the vacant spot left in the Light Crust Doughboys by vocalist/pianist Milton Brown, who had left the band when W. Lee O'Daniel, the sponsor of the group's radio show, refused to let the band play dances. Wills auditioned a total of 67 singers before hiring Duncan. Later that year, Wills was fired from the radio station by O'Daniel for showing up drunk, Duncan chose to join Bob's new band, the Texas Playboys, instead of staying with the Lightcrust Doughboys. Once the Texas Playboys settled in Tulsa in 1934, Duncan moved to permanent lead vocalist, leaving the piano to Alton Stricklin. Over the next eight years, the group had a regular show on Tulsa's KVOO and recorded a number of hit singles for the American Recording Company, including "Right or Wrong" and "New San Antonio Rose." In 1942, Duncan left the band to join the Army and fight in World War II. Tommy's departure began a wave of defections from the Playboys, as many of the members enlisted in the service. The Playboys' popularity crumbled with the absence of so many key musicians, yet they bounced back up the charts once Duncan and several other members rejoined following the end of the war. Duncan stayed with Wills until 1948, when the fiddler fired the singer, believing that Tommy was commanding too much attention. Upon leaving the Playboys, Duncan formed a Western swing band with several former members of the Texas Playboys and signed to Capitol Records. "Gamblin' Polka Dot Blues," his debut single, was a hit upon its summer release in 1949, peaking at number eight on the charts. After touring with the band during 1948 and 1949, Duncan joined the Miller Brothers Band in the early '50s. Over the course of the early '50s, he recorded with the Miller Brothers on Intro Records, as well as solo for Coral. During the latter half of the decade, Tommy recorded for a variety of small labels, including Cheyenne, Fire, and Award. Despite his constant touring and recording, Duncan failed to have much success, primarily because western swing had fallen out of favor with many contemporary country fans. Wills and Duncan patched up their differences and reunited in 1960, recording a number of sessions that were released as albums and singles over the next two years. One single, "The Image of Me," became a minor Top 40 country hit in early 1961. Following his brief reunion with Wills, Tommy continued to tour as a solo artist throughout the rest of the decade, usually employing a house band as his supporting group. In 1966, Duncan released his last single, "I Brought It On Myself" / "Let Me Take You Out," on Smash Records. The following year, he suffered a major heart attack and died in July, leaving behind a legacy of classic recordings and songs. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chubby Wise Born Oct 2, 1915 in Lake City, FL Died Jan 6, 1996 Most closely associated with Western swing and early bluegrass, Chubby Wise was one of the greatest fiddlers in country music. Born Robert Russell Wise in Lake City, Florida, he didn't begin playing the fiddle until age 15, and got his start working night clubs in Jacksonville before becoming a full-time musician in 1938, when he joined the Jubilee Hillbillies. In 1942, he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and began playing at the Grand Old Opry. He performed and recorded with the band through 1948, and also worked with other performers such as Clyde Moody, with whom he co-wrote the "Shenandoah Waltz." He and Moody worked together until late 1949, when Wise returned to the Blue Grass Boys for another brief stint. Later, Wise performed with the York Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, and Connie B. Gay's band. In 1954 he went to Nashville and joined Hank Snow's Rainbow Ranch Boys on the Opry, remaining with the band through 1970. When not touring, Wise did session work with such performers as Mac Wiseman, Red Allen and others, and began recording solo fiddle albums in 1969. He also played at the occasional bluegrass festival. In 1984, he moved to Florida and cut back on his workload, although in 1992 recorded with the Bass Mountain Boys. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon McAuliffe Born William Leon McAuliffe March 1, 1917 in Houston, TX Died September 20, 1988 in Tulsa, OK During the heyday of western swing, the immortal words "Take it away, Leon" nearly became a household phrase in the south. Spoken by Bob Wills, they referred to Leon McAuliffe, one of the best and most famous steel guitarists in the world; though most associated with Wills' Texas Playboys, he also had a respectable solo career. A native of Houston, Texas, McAuliffe began playing both Hawaiian and standard guitar at age 14. He began appearing on a local radio station as part of the Waikiki Strummers in 1931. Two years later he joined Lee O'Daniel's Light Crust Doughboys, with whom he recorded on ARC in Chicago. He learned to electronically amplify his National resonator guitar from Houston's Bob Dunn, a member of Milton Brown's Brownies. Jesse Ashlock invited the 18-year-old McAuliffe to join the Texas Playboys in 1935. He remained with the band for a number of years, recording many classic songs before moving to California, where he appeared in a few motion pictures. His signature song was "Steel Guitar Rag," a tune he adapted from Sylvester Weaver. During World War II, McAuliffe was a flight instructor. After the war he founded a big band, the Cimarron Boys. By this time western swing was all the rage, so he combined the styles to create something new and unique. After working on a Tulsa radio station he and his band began recording; one of his most famous tunes, "Panhandle Guitar," became a Top Ten hit in 1949. By the 1960s, western swing had fallen out of vogue and McAuliffe began only playing locally. He also recorded a couple of albums, and later in the decade he purchased radio station, KAMO in Rogers, Arkansas. Western swing music was rediscoverd in the early 1970s and in 1971 he and Wills made a reunion recording. After Wills died a few years later, McAuliffe occasionally staged reunions of the Texas Playboys. He also recorded a few solo albums. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moon Mullican Born March 29, 1909 in Corrigan, Polk County, TX Died January 1, 1967 in Beaumont, TX A piano-pounding honky tonk man born and raised deep in the heart of east Texas, Aubrey "Moon" Mullican is said to have had a significant musical influence on Jerry Lee Lewis, among others. Throughout the Depression and war years, he cut his ivory teeth on Western swing, most notably as the vocalist and piano player in Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers. In 1946, he signed with the emerging independent powerhouse King Records. A performer of wide-ranging tastes, Mullican was comfortable singing straight country, treacly pop, or white-boy boogie. Indeed, many of his King sides, cut with black producer Henry Glover, jumped to the beat of hardcore R&B. Dan Cooper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spade Cooley - Self Proclaimed "King Of Western Swing" Born: Donell C. Cooley Born December 17, 1910 in Grand, OK Died November 23, 1969 in Vacaville, CA A musician and actor whose often sordid private life tended to overshadow his career as an entertainer, Spade Cooley was the self-proclaimed King of Western Swing, an innovator who at his peak led the largest band ever assembled in the annals of country music. The product of a multi-generational family of fiddle players, Donnell Clyde Cooley was born in Oklahoma in 1910, and at the age of four, his family moved to Oregon. Despite his impoverished background, Cooley was a classically trained fiddler, and by the time he was eight years old, he was performing professionally at square dances with his father John. In 1930, Cooley (who received his nickname thanks to his poker skills) moved to Los Angeles, playing with a number of western-oriented acts. By the mid-'30s, he was working as an actor, with bit parts in several Westerns; for Republic Studios, he served as Roy Rogers' stand-in. He also toured with Rogers as a fiddle player, and handled vocal duties with the Riders of the Purple Sage. Cooley did not begin a recording career until 1941, when he entered the studio while a member of Cal Shrum's band. A year later, he took control of bandleader Jimmy Wakely's group, the house band at Santa Monica, CA's Venice Pier Ballroom, and their Western swing music began attracting thousands of fans each Saturday night. The densely populated band, home to as many as three vocalists and fiddlers at a time, featured singer Tex Williams and guitarists Joaquin Murphey and John O. Weis. In 1945, Spade Cooley & His Orchestra's first single, "Shame on You," lasted nine weeks atop Billboard's country charts. The first in an unbroken string of six Top Ten singles (including "Detour" and "You Can't Break My Heart"), "Shame on You" would remain Cooley's theme song for years to come. Also in 1945, he married his second wife, Orchestra backup singer Ella Mae Evans. Ultimately, the Orchestra's success led to the dissolution of its most popular lineup; by 1946, Williams, the vocalist on all of the group's hits, was demanding more money, and Cooley refused to pay it. As a result, Williams quit, taking much of the Orchestra with him to form the Western Caravan. In 1947, Cooley began a career in television, hosting a program in Los Angeles titled The Hoffman Hayride. The show's popularity grew quickly, and within months an estimated 75 percent of all televisions in the L.A. area tuned into the show each Saturday night. He also resumed his film career, this time with much higher visibility; in addition to significant roles in a number of Westerns, he also starred in two 1949 short subjects, King of Western Swing and Spade Cooley & His Orchestra. Throughout the early '50s, Cooley continued to record, but the group's popularity waned as public tastes changed; after a time, he even fired the Orchestra to replace its members with an all-female band. A heavy drinker, Cooley descended into alcoholism as his career declined, and he suffered a series of minor heart attacks. Furthermore, he was facing financial ruin as a result of problems with a planned water theme park to be located in the Mojave Desert. In 1961, his wife Ella Mae left him; after an argument on April 3, he stomped her to death while the couple's 14-year-old daughter Melody looked on in horror. The resulting trial, a media circus during which Cooley suffered another heart attack, culminated in a sentence of life imprisonment. Throughout his term, he was a model prisoner, and thus was allowed to perform at a sheriff's benefit in Oakland, CA, on November 23, 1969. After playing in front of a crowd of over 3,000, Cooley returned to his dressing room, suffered yet another heart attack, and died. Jason Ankeny -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEX WILLIAMS - A GIANT OF HIS ERA Tex Williams Sol Williams Born Aug 23, 1917 in Ramsey, Fayette County, IL Died Oct 11, 1985 Although not nearly as well known as figures like Bob Wills, the Maddox Brothers, and Merle Travis, Tex Williams was an important western swing performer. Like all of the aforementioned musicians, he helped develop country music from its rural, acoustic origins to a more danceable, citified, and electrified form with a much wider popular appeal. At his peak in the late '40s, he also recorded some of the most enjoyable country swing of his time, distinguished by his talking-blues vocal delivery. Much of his style can be heard in the western swing-influenced recordings of revivalists like Asleep at the Wheel, Commander Cody, and Dan Hicks. The singer and guitarist caught his first big break after moving to Los Angeles in 1942. At that time California was populated by many former Texans and Oklahomans working in the defense industry, creating a need for western swing entertainment in a region not noted for country music. One of the musicians on this circuit was fiddler Spade Cooley, who employed Jack Williams as his singer, nicknaming him "Tex" to ensure easy identification by the many Texans in their audiences. Several of Cooley's mid-'40s Columbia singles featured Tex on vocals. Capitol offered a contract to Williams as a solo artist, which strained the relationship between Tex and the tempestuous Cooley to the breaking point. Cooley fired Williams in June 1946, a move which backfired badly, as most of Cooley's band opted to follow Tex rather than remain with their difficult boss. Cooley achieved his greatest subsequent notoriety when he was convicted of beating his wife to death in a drunken fit in 1961. Tex's renamed backing band, the Texas Caravan, was one of the best units of its kind. Numbering about a dozen members, it attained an enviable level of fluid interplay between electric and steel guitars, fiddles, bass, accordion, trumpet, and other instruments (even occasional harp). At first they recorded polkas for Capitol, with limited success. They found their true calling when Williams' friend Merle Travis wrote most of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" for him, emphasizing Tex's talking-blues delivery and heavier boogie elements. The song was a monstrous commercial success in 1947, and indeed one of the biggest country hits of all time, making #1 on the pop charts. That set the model for several of Williams' subsequent hits: hot western swing backup, over which Tex would roll his deep, laconic, easygoing narratives of humorous, slightly ridiculous situations. As enjoyable as these were, they were just one facet of the Texas Caravan's talents. The outfit were also capable of generating quite a heat on boogie instrumentals and more straightforward vocal numbers in which Williams actually sang rather than spoke. Williams' commercial success began to peter out in the early '50s, and he left Capitol in 1951. He continued to record often in the 1950s, mostly for Decca, without much success; in 1957, the Western Caravan disbanded. He pressed on, however, returning to Capitol in the early 1960s, and recording a live album that included Glen Campbell on guitar. He had one final country hit, the memorably titled "The Night Miss Ann's Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down," which entered the Top 30 in 1971. Richie Unterberger -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOHNNIE LEE WILLS-ONE OF THE BOYS Johnnie Lee Wills Born September 2, 1912 in Jewett, TX Died October 25, 1984 in Tulsa, Oklahoma Fiddler Johnnie Lee Wills led the most popular pre-war Western swing band around the Oklahoma area that is, after older brother Bob moved his Texas Playboys to California in 1940. He was born in Jewett, TX on September 2, 1912, the second of four musical sons and seven years behind Bob. Johnnie Lee learned about music from his father, and began playing banjo with Bob when the Texas Playboys moved to KVOO-Tulsa in 1934. He formed the Rhythmairs in 1939, but returned to the fold the following year when Bob split the Playboys into two groups. Johnnie Lee took over the second unit (switching from banjo to fiddle), with younger brother Luther Jay on bass. A few months later, Bob moved to California and left Johnnie with his own band, christened Johnnie Lee Wills and His Boys. The brothers remained close though, and when Bob needed a substitute as leader, he called Johnnie. Johnnie Lee Wills and His Boys signed with Decca in 1941, and recorded ten initial sides. The group played on another session when a recording ban was lifted after World War II, but moved to Bullet Records in 1949. Wills' Bullet recordings proved to be the most popular of his career. Early in 1950, "Rag Mop" spent five weeks at the number-two spot in the Country charts, and crossed over to the Popular Top Ten though a version by the Ames Brothers did even better. Later that year, "Peter Cotton Tail" also hit the Country Top Ten. He moved to RCA Victor in 1952, but none of his recordings sold very well. Western swing's popularity was declining, though Wills' regional fame remained unchanged and he continued to appear regularly on KVOO until 1958. Wills recorded several albums for Sims in the early '60s, but his band broke up in 1964. He continued to work occasional shows and dances, and opened a Western clothing store in Tulsa with his son, John Thomas Wills. By the late '70s, the Western swing revival took notice of Johnnie Lee Wills, and releases of his early-'50s material appeared on Rounder and Bear Family. He also recorded reunion albums for Flying Fish and Delta, with many former Texas Playboys. John Bush -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MR.WESTERN SWING-LEON RAUSCH Born Oct 2, 1927 in Springfield, MO Singer/songwriter Leon Rausch found fame as a member of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys. He was born and raised in a musical Missouri family and began playing guitar with his father at local dances when he was a child. Following a military stint, he worked at several odd jobs and played with local bands until moving to Tulsa in 1955. The following year he began appearing on Louisiana Hayride, and in 1958 he joined the Texas Playboys as a replacement for vocalist Glynn Duncan. He left the Playboys during the early '60s to play with Johnnie Lee Wills' band on two albums, then went on to form his own Fort Worth-based band, the New Texas Playboys. In 1968, they appeared on Cowtown Jamboree. They released a few singles during the late '60s such as "The Winner Gets the Dime." In 1973, an ailing Wills contacted Rausch about rejoining his Texas Playboys as a vocalist and bass player for his final record; sadly, Wills suffered a stroke before the album, For the Last Time, was finished. Following Wills' death in 1975, Rausch and the original Texas Playboys appeared on Austin City Limits, and from 1976 through 1979 he had six minor solo hits, including 1979's "Palimony." He was also among the group that became the Playboys II in 1983, and in 1993, he appeared on the album Asleep at the Wheel's Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A SALUTE TO BILL BOYD Born September 29, 1910 in Fannin County, TX Died December 7, 1977 in Dallas, TX For true fans of Western swing music, Bill Boyd rates with his contemporary Bob Wills, even though the two utilized very different styles; whereas Wills and his Playboys often used horns and recorded songs from a variety of genres, Boyd remained true to his western roots, using only a string-band, the Cowboy Ramblers. Born on a ranch near Ladonia, Texas, Boyd grew up as a working cowboy, learning the traditional songs from the impromptu campfire jam sessions of the ranch hands. Both he and his younger brother frequently sang with the cowboys, as did their parents. The boys got to be pretty good and in 1926, made their debut on KFPM in Greenville. The family moved to Dallas in 1929, where Boyd played in a band that included fiddler Art Davis. By this time, Boyd knew he wanted a career in music, first joining a band on WFAA and then the first incarnation of the Cowboy Ramblers in 1932 on WRR. Included in Boyd's new band was his brother Jim on bass, Davis on fiddle, and Walter Kirkes on tenor banjo. When not actually performing, Boyd was out recruiting new sponsors and in this way managed to survive the Depression. In 1934, he and the band moved to San Antonio to record for Bluebird, cutting hits including the standard "Under the Double Eagle," and "Going Back to My Texas Home." In the late '30s, their membership increased to ten; among their better known members was fiddler Carroll Hubbard, piano player Knocky Parker, and steel guitar player Wilson "Lefty" Perkins. During their long association with RCA, Boyd and the Ramblers recorded over 229 singles; in the early 1940s, they appeared in six Hollywood films, including Raiders of the West and Prairie Pals. The popularity of live radio in Dallas began fading in the 1950s, causing Boyd to become a deejay. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A SALUTE TO THE GREAT NOEL BOGGS Noel Boggs was one of the finest steel guitarist in country music history. He incorporated jazz influences from his friend Charlie Christian into Western Swing on his over 1000 sideman credits.Born in Oklahoma City November 14, 1917, he began playing guitar as a teenager and by the time he graduated high school, he was playing on three different radio stations around Oklahoma City. Boggs toured with Hank Penny's Radio Cowboys during 1936-37, but he was back in Oklahoma City by 1937.He worked with Wiley & Gene and Jimmy Wakely during the late 30's and formed his own band by 1941. By 1944, he joined the King of Western Swing Bob Wills. He replaced Leon McAuliffe in the Wills band and played for two years, appearing on many of the Tiffany Transcriptions and several Columbia sessions. Boggs left Wills in 1946 to work for Spade Cooley. He was on the Cooley band until 1954, but suffered a heart attack just one year later. He couldn't play for three months, but formed the Noel Boggs Quintet in 1956. The band recorded several albums for Repeat Records during the 60's, but heart trouble limited Bogg's energy to record and tour. His glory days were certainly those spent with Spade Cooley and appeared on just about every hit the band had and worked as a studio player on a lot of the pop hits of the day as well.Noel Boggs died in 1974, but left behind a great legacy of music for us to enjoy today. A CD of his work has just been released and available at your favorite record shop. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4200 North Old Lawrence Road Wichita, KS 67219 Phone: 316-838-9141 Fax: 316-838-3607 Lobby Hours: M-F 8:00 - 5:30 Studio Line - 436-1070