|
| |
|
Blast from the Past
To Pages
         
 
ROGERS, ROY
Give Name: Leonard Franklin Slye
Date of Birth: November 5, 1911
Place of Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio
Date of Death: July 6, 1998 |
 |
Marital
Status: 1. Arlene Williams (dec’d.) 2. Dale
Evans (m. 12/31/47)(dec'd 2/7/01)
Children: Roy "Dusty", Jr., John (dec’d.),
Robin Elizabeth (dec’d.), Cheryl Darlene, Linda
Lu, Marion, Mary, Little Doe, Deborah Lee (dec’d.)
[all except Roy, Jr. and Robin, adopted]
Musical Syle: Singing Cowboy
Talents: Singer, Songwriter, Guitar,
Mandolin, Fiddle
Recommend Record Albums:
"Sweet Hour of Prayer" (Capitol)(1957)
[Re-released by Stetson UK in the original
sleeve (1988)] [With Dale Evans] "The Country
Side of Roy Rogers" (Word)(1970) [Re-released by
Stetson UK in the original sleeve (1989)] "Happy
Trails to You" (20th Century-Fox)(1975) "King of
the Cowboys" (Bear Family Germany)(1983) [With
the Sons of the Pioneers] "Roy Rogers (Columbia
Historic Edition)" (Columbia)(1984) "Roy Rogers
Tribute" (RCA)(1991) "Sons of the Pioneers with
Leonard Slye" (Vim Japan)
Biography:
For most kids who went to watch the Westerns,
you were either a Gene Autry or a Roy Rogers
fan. To a Rogers’ follower, he always was and
always will be the "King of the Cowboys." With
his beloved palomino Trigger (now mounted at the
Rogers museum in California) and his dog Bullit
(also mounted), Roy was the personification of
the hero in the white hat, who rid the West of
the bad guy in the black hat. He found it
somewhat ironic to be working in the late 80’s
with Clint Black, a good guy in a black hat. Roy
was born into a musical family on a farm near
Duck Run, Ohio. He was influenced by his father
and performed locally, while also having several
jobs, including, working in a shoe factory in
Cincinnati. In the late 20’s, he appeared with
his cousin, Stanley Slye, as the Slye Brothers.
In 1930, the family moved to California and Roy
worked as a peach picker and truck driver.
However, he was determined to make it as a
performer. In 1931, he and Stan got on KMCS
Inglewood, without much success. Roy was offered
a job as singer with the Rocky Mountaineers on
KGFJ. Because he lacked confidence as a solo
singer, Roy suggested they add another singer,
and Bob Nolan answered his advertisement.
Shortly after "Slumber" Nichols joined them, and
soon after Bob left and Tim Spencer joined. In
1932, Roy, Slumber and Tim joined the
International Cowboys, led by Benny Nawahi.
However this didn’t work out, and they formed
the trio, O-Bar-O Cowboys and they toured
without success. However, Roy did meet his first
wife on the tour. He joined the International
Cowboys while rehearsing with Nolan and Spencer,
and then Bob and Tim also joined the group. In
1933, they formed the Pioneer Trio. Spencer was
working at the time as a manager in a Safeway
food store, and hadn’t wanted to leave and Nolan
had been discouraged by the earlier attempts to
make it in the music business, and had not been
in a hurry to return. However, along with Hugh
Farr and then his brother Karl, the group, Sons
of the Pioneers was formed in 1934. They made
their movie debut in 1935 in The Old
Homestead and then went on to appear in the Gene
Autry movie, Tumbling Tumbleweeds and the "Three
Mesquiteers" series. They then appeared in
Rhythm on the Range and another Gene Autry
movie, The Big Show, the following year. In
1936, they were signed to appear in a series of
Columbia Westerns starring Charles Starrett and
the Gene Autry film, The Old Corral. Roy left
the group to spend a year on a ranch in Montana
to learn to shoot and ride. He had brief parts
in the movie, Wild Horse Rodeo as "Dick Weston."
The following year, Roy, finding out that
Republic Pictures were looking for a new singing
cowboy to act as a threat to Gene Autry, got a
screen test, singing Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and
on October 13 was signed to the company. Roy
made one final movie with Autry, the 1938
picture, The Old Barn Dance, playing a not so
bad "baddie" who has to fight Autry. He now
became "Roy Rogers." His first starring role,
Under Western Skies, had originally been planned
as a Gene Autry vehicle entitled Washington
Cowboy, but when Autry had his showdown with
Republic, he was out and Roy was in. When Autry
returned from suspension, Roy found that he was
relegated to second place. During the rest of
1938 and 1939, Roy appeared in Billy the Kid
Returns (1938), Frontier Pony Express, The
Arizona Kid and Days of Jesse James (1939). From
1939, he acquired George ("Gabby") Hayes as a
humorous sidekick. Many people were surprised by
Roy’s ability to act and his appearance in John
Wayne’s Dark Command in 1940, was a revelation.
During that year, Roy also made the movies, The
Carson City Kid, The Trail From Music Mountain
and Young Buffalo Bill. In 1941, Roy made the
movie, Red River Valley. In 1942, on Autry
entering the armed forces, Roy was promoted into
big-budget movies and given the sobriquet, "King
of the Cowboys." This led to the start of the
famed fancy outfits and silver-plated guns.
During 1941, Roy made the movie, Robin Hood of
the Pecos. Roy teamed up with Dale Evans, as his
leading lady, in 1944 and they appeared in The
Cowboy and the Senorita, Yellow Rose of Texas,
Man from Music Mountain, San Fernando Valley
(all 1944) and Along the Navajo Trail (1945),
Night Time In Nevada (1946) and My Pal Trigger
(1946). All of Roy and Dale’s movies were
notable for their strong music content, provided
by the Sons of the Pioneers, Spade Cooley or Foy
Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. In
all Roy and Dale made twenty-five movies
together in seven years. As the interest in
musical Westerns diminished in the late 40’s, so
the plots of his movies seemed to get darker.
The fist fights got more brutal and the harmless
plots of earlier movies were replaced by more
meaningful ones. In the 50’s, Roy made the
movies, Pals of the Golden West and South Of
Caliente (1951) and appeared in features such as
Son Of Paleface, which starred Bob Hope and Jane
Russell. At this point, Roy decided to quit
making movies. He had now made 91 of them. He
and Dale moved on to hosting an NBC radio
series, the Roy Rogers Show and then the
nationwide Roy Rogers Show on NBC-TV (1952-54)
and the Chevy Show, with the Sons of the
Pioneers. He appeared in just one more movie in
1976, Mackintosh And T.J.. In the late 80’s Roy
and Dale hosted The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
Theater on TNN and Roy appeared with Gene Autry
as joint hosts for several Western movie
introductions. Unlike Gene Autry and Tex Ritter,
Roy never had a major recording career. As a
member of the Sons of the Pioneers, he first
recorded for Decca in 1934. Although his first
solo hit was Hi-Yo Silver, in 1938. During the
40’s, Roy recorded for Victor, and he chalked up
hits at the end of the decade with A Little
White Cross On The Hill (1946), My Chickashay
Gal (1947) and Blue Shadows on the Trail/Pecos
Bill (1948, featuring the Sons of the Pioneers).
In 1950, again supported by the Pioneers, he had
a major hit with Stampede. During the mid and
late 50’s, Roy and Dale recorded religious
material for RCA Victor and RCA-Bluebird and in
the 60’s and 70’s, they did the same for
Capitol, and in addition, Roy recorded solo
albums for both Capitol and Golden. This was
quite a velvet patch for Roy as regards chart
singles. He chalked up four hits between 1970
and 1972, Money Can’t Buy Love (Top 40, 1970),
Lovenworth (Top 15, 1971), Happy Anniversary
(Top 50, 1971) and These Are The Good Old Days
(Top 75, 1972). By 1974, he was with 20th
Century Records and had a major cross-over hit
with Hoppy, Gene And Me, which charted Top 20
Country and reached the Top 70 on the Pop list.
He appeared in the Country charts in 1980, with
Ride Concrete Cowboy, Ride, which was taken from
the movie, Smokey and the Bandit II. Roy made a
guest appearance along with Rex Allen on Rex
Allen, Jr.’s 1982 album, The Singing Cowboy.
RCA released the album, Roy Rogers’ Tribute,
which featured Dusty Rogers, the Kentucky
Headhunters, Randy Travis, Clint Black, K.T.
Oslin, Restless Heart, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Van
Shelton, Kathy Mattea, Lorrie Morgan, the Oak
Ridge Boys, Willie Nelson and Dale Evans. A
single from the project, Hold On Partner, with
Clint Black, gave Roy a 1991 Country Top 50
single. Roy Rogers is the only performer to be
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame
twice. First, as a member of the Sons of the
Pioneers, Roy was inducted in the Country Music
Hall of Fame in 1980 and as an individual, he
gained that honor in 1989. He was honored by the
Cowboy Hall of Fame in a special ceremony at the
Gene Autry Museum in 1993. As a matter of
trivia, Trigger appeared in 87 films and 101 TV
shows. It was said that he knew 100 tricks and
at one time received 1,000 fan letters per week.
His saddle and bridle were decorated with 130
ounces of gold, 1,400 ounces of silver and 1,500
rubies and was insured for $50,000. Roy bought
Trigger for $80 and refused offers of $150,000
for him. At his most popular, Roy was earning
more than $1 million per year. In later years,
Roy launched the Roy Rogers chain of fast-food
eateries, and spent his time making personal
appearances and looking after his business
interests that include the Roy Rogers Western
Museum in Apple Valley, California. Roy Rogers,
"King of the Cowboys", died on July 6, 1998 at
the age of 86 from congestive heart failure.
His wife, Dale Evans, died on February 7, 2001.
Ivan M. Tribe/Barry McCloud
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
DALE, KENNY
Give Name: Kenneth Dale Eoff, Jr.
Date of Birth: October 3, 1951
Place of Birth: Artesia, New Mexico
|
|
Marital
Status: 1. Kay (div.) 2. Judy
Children: Kimberly, Kara, Kelly
Musical Syle: Straight-Ahead Country
Talents: Singer, Songwriter, Drums, Guitar
Recommend Record Albums:
"Bluest Heartache" (Capitol)(1977) "Red Hot
Memory" (Capitol)(1978) "Only Love Can Break a
Heart" (Capitol)(1979) "When It’s Just You and
Me" (Capitol)(1981)
Biography:
During the late 70’s and early 80’s, Kenny Dale
was one of the most popular Country music
singers around. His producer, Bob Montgomery,
once described him as "a sleeping giant" and
although Kenny didn’t get the elusive No.1 hit,
he still managed to achieve some giant
successes. Although born in New Mexico, Kenny
was raised in Texas. He was interested in music
from an early age and his mother told him that
he used to rock his high chair in time with the
music he heard. He started playing drums at age
10 and played in his first group, Dougie Poo and
the Punks, when 14, playing Top 20 material from
a pawnshop. Kenny played in various bands and
then in 1971, he met Fiddlin’ Frenchie Bourke at
the Western Club in Houston. Kenny asked to go
on stage to sing with Bourke’s group, the
Outlaws. However, he got on stage and forgot the
words because of stage fright. He did redeem
himself and played with the band, Bourke being
the major influence in moving Kenny’s style
towards Country music. That year, Kenny met
Terry Tyler while playing at the Cactus Club in
Houston and joined Tyler’s group, Terry and the
Rounders, staying with them until 1973. Kenny
decided to go solo and formed Love Express. It
was in 1973 that he cut his first single,
Patches, for his own Express Records. In
1975, Kenny recorded Somebody Help Me Get to
Houston, for Earthrider Records. While playing
in Bay City, Kenny was approached by Bea
Rittersbacher, who liked what he was playing and
asked if she could help in any way. This led to
her financing Kenny’s next recording, Bluest
Heartache of the Year, also on Earthrider. The
single was produced by A.V. Mittelstedt, who
would play a continuing role in Kenny’s record
career. When the single started to take off,
Capitol Records licensed the master and during
the spring of 1977, it reached the Top 15 on the
Country chart. Capitol signed Kenny to the label
and their faith was paid back when Shame, Shame
on Me (I Had Planned to Be Your Man) also went
Top 15 during the fall. At the end of the year,
Kenny made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry, an
event that caused a flow of nerves when he saw,
as he put it, "the little box with WSM on it."
He never became a member because his booking
agency, United Talent, felt it would tie down
his career, a situation that Kenny regrets. The
following year, Kenny’s hits were Red Hot Memory
(Top 20), The Loser (Top 30) and Two Hearts
Tangled in Love (Top 20). In 1979, Bob
Montgomery began producing Kenny and the year
started with the Top 20 hit, Down To Earth Woman
and then Kenny hit the Top 10 with Only Love Can
Break A Heart, which had been a Pop hit for Gene
Pitney, 17 years earlier. He wrapped up the year
with another Top 15 hit, Sharing. 1980 was to be
his final year with Capitol and his successes
that year indicated a falling off with Let Me In
going Top 20 and Thank You, Ever-Lovin’ and When
It’s Just You and Me, both peaking in the Top
40. While with Capitol, Kenny received 5 ASCAP
awards and a SESAC award for his rendition of
Loretta Lynn’s I Don’t Feel Like Living Today.
He also received a Gold Record from New Zealand
for his album, Greatest Hits of Kenny Dale.
Kenny had his next chart entry on Funderburg, a
version of Hank Williams’ Moanin’ the Blues,
which reached the Top 70, in 1982. The following
year, Kenny signed with Republic and in 1984, he
charted with his self-penned Two Will Be One,
which was a minor success. This was followed by
Take It Slow and that was also a low-level
entry. The following year, he moved to Saba,
where his song, Look What Love Did to Me was
another minor success. In 1986, Kenny reached
the Top 70 with I’m Going Crazy on San Antonio
label BMG. In 1989, Kenny recorded for Axbar,
releasing four singles, When I Be Five, Perfect
Angel (both self-penned), I’m Getting Better and
You Have My Heart. Kenny's Greatest hits Album
also went Platinum while on his first New
Zealand Tour 2004 with Tour Promoters Gary
Bradshaw/Joy Adams. He is currently writing a
lot and working with A.V. Mittelstedt on a new
CD. He gigs around the San Antonio area with his
wife, singer Judy Dale.
|
_______________________________________
WAKELY, JIMMY
Give Name: James Clarence Wakely
Date of Birth: February 16, 1914
Place of Birth: Mineola, Arkansas
Date of Death: September 23, 1982 |
|
Marital Status: Inez
Miser
Children: Deanna, Carol, Linda, John
Musical Syle: Singing Cowboy
Talents: Singer, Songwriter, Guitar,
Piano, Bass, Harmonica, Actor
Recommend Record Albums:
"Santa Fe Trail" (Decca)(1956) "Enter, Rest and
Pray" (Decca)(1957) "Slipping Around" (Dot)(
1966) "I’ll Never Slip Around Again"
(Pickwick/Hilltop)(1967) [Capitol masters]
"Heartaches" (Decca)(1969) "A Cowboy Serenade"
(Tops) "Now and Then" (Decca)(1970) "Big Country
Songs" (Vocalion)(1970) "Jimmy Wakely Country"
(Shasta)(1971) "Blue Shadows" (Coral)(1973)
"Jimmy Wakely Family Show" (Shasta)(1973) "Jimmy
Wakely on Stage" (Shasta)(1974) "The Jimmy
Wakely CBS Radio Show" (Shasta)(1975) "The
Singing Cowboy" (Shasta)(1975) "Western Swing
and Pretty Things" (Shasta)(1975) "The Early
Transcriptions" (Danny)(ca. 1980) "The Very Best
of Jimmy Wakely" (Vareses)(1998)
Biography:
Jimmy Wakely ranks as one of the best vocalists
among the Hollywood singing cowboys. Wakely also
had some of the earliest and most successful
crossover hits in the post-WWII era. His duets
with Pop songstress Margaret Whiting also
started a brief trend in pairing Country and
popular artists on record. Born poor and raised
in Arkansas and Oklahoma, Jimmy learned to love
the music of Jimmie Rodgers and then Milton
Brown. He developed both piano and guitar skills
and sang both in Pop and Country styles. For
some time in early adulthood, Wakely operated a
service station and worked various part-time
musical jobs in and around Oklahoma City.
Finally, he landed a position at radio station
WKY with the Bell Trio, ultimately composed of
Johnny Bond, Scotty Harrell and himself. In May
1940, Wakely, Bond and Dick Reinhart went to
California, where they went to work on Gene
Autry’s Melody Ranch
network radio show in September. Over the next
five years, Wakely had some thirty-four sides
released on the Decca label, including initial
waxings of I Wonder Where You Are Tonight,
Cimarron (Roll On), a fine cover of Elton Bitt’s
There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere
and in 1944, his first record on the Country
charts, I’m Sending You Red Roses (Top 3). In
the meantime, Wakely appeared in small film
roles ranging from backup musician in various
cowboy movies, starting with Saga Of Death
Valley, in 1939, with Roy Rogers, to a bigger
one in Slim Summerville’s low-budget hillbilly
comedy I’m From Arkansas. He and his band
appeared with Johnny Mack Brown and Charles
Starrett as Jimmy Wakely’s Rough Riders and with
Brown, William Boyd and Charles Starrett as the
Jimmy Wakely Trio (with Johnny Bond and Dick
Reinhart. Reinhart left in 1942 and was replaced
by Scotty Harrell). These bit parts paved the
way for his own starring series at Monogram
beginning with Song Of The Range in January
1945. The Wakely Westerns ran to twenty-eight
titles and lasted for five years. Former Grand
Ole Opry and minstrel comedian Lee "Lasses"
White served as sidekick in the first twelve and
future Hee Haw funny man Dub Taylor in the
remainder. Both critics and Wakely considered
Song Of The Sierras, in 1945, his strongest
picture. He later believed that a misguided
attempt to downplay the music and upgrade the
action proved harmful to the series. Still, in
the final count, only Autry, Rogers and Ritter
starred in more musical westerns. In 1947, Jimmy
Wakely switched over to Capitol for his
recordings and most of his hits came out on that
label. He returned to the Top 10 with Signed,
Sealed And Delivered in 1948. He then
followed-up with two of the most successful
records of the post-war decade. His version of
Eddie Dean’s One Has My Name (The Other Has My
Heart) reached No.1 for 11 weeks out of eight
months on the Country chart and crossed over to
the Pop Top 10. This was followed to the top by
the Floyd Tillman song I Love You So Much It
Hurts, which stayed in that position for five
weeks and crossed to just below the Top 20 on
the Pop lists. He closed the year with the Top
10 single Mine All Mine. His solo hits in 1949
were the Top 10 singles Forever More and Till
The End Of The World, the Top 5 release I Wish I
Had A Nickel and the flip-side, Someday You’ll
Call My Name, which went Top 10. A few months
later his cover of Tillman’s Slipping Around,
done in duet with Margaret Whiting, spent 17
weeks at the top and become No.1 on the Pop
lists as well. The flip-side, Wedding Bells,
also went Top 10 on the Country chart and Top 30
on the Pop list. They finished the year with
I’ll Never Slip Around Again, which reached the
Top 3 on the Country chart and Top 10 Pop.
Jimmy’s solo successes in 1950 were Peter
Cottontail and Mona Lisa, while his chart duets
with Margaret Whiting were the double-sided Top
3 release Broken Down Merry-Go-Round/The Gods
Were Angry With Me and the Top 3 Let’s Go To
Church (Next Sunday Morning). Their other Top 10
single was A Bushel And A Peck. Jimmy’s final
chart singles were in 1951 and were the Top 10
My Heart Cries For You and a composition of his
movie fiddler Arthur Smith, Beautiful Brown
Eyes, on which he was joined by the Les Baxter
Chorus and which went Top 5. Jimmy also had his
final successes with Margaret Whiting and they
were When You And I Were Young Maggie Blues (Top
10) and I Don’t Want To Be Free (Top 5). Wakely
signed with Coral Records in 1953 and in 1955 to
its parent label, Decca. Although he had no more
major hits, his material continued to do well,
especially an excellent album of cowboy songs
cut in 1956. Except for a pair of albums for Dot
in 1966, he recorded for Decca through 1970.
Wakely remained active in personal appearances
throughout this period, even developing a fine
nightclub act. As his friend Wesley Tuttle once
observed, Jimmy had a voice similar to Bing
Crosby’s, which made him appealing to a broad
audience. From 1952 until 1958, he also had a
CBS network radio program, one of the last of
its type. In later years, Wakely started his own
record company, Shasta. Although he cut some new
material, the preserved tapes from his radio
programs provided a valuable repository from
which to draw. In addition to several of his own
albums, Shasta released material by other
Western performers including Eddie Dean, Tex
Ritter, Rex Allen, Johnny Bond, and Merle
Travis. Jimmy also did some radio programming
for foreign markets in his later years. His son,
John Wakely, also had something of a singing
career, cutting an album for Decca in 1969.
Ivan M. Tribe
|
_______________________________
| Patsy Cline’s House Listed On National
Register
Star Staff Report
Patsy
R&M Music Recording
Patsy at the Opry
RICHMOND — The
house country music star Patsy Cline lived
in while
forging her musical destiny has been placed
on the National Register of
Historic Places.
The home in
Winchester, where Cline lived with her
mother and two
siblings, was listed on the Virginia
Landmarks Register by the Historic
Resources Board of the Virginia Department
of Historic Resources at the
Sept. 14 meeting. Word has just been
received that the house has now
been placed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
Cline lived in the
home from ages 16 to 21, the years 1948
until 1953,
when she married her first husband, Gerald
Cline. Thereafter, she
resided at the house intermittently until
1957, the year her career
soared after she won a competition on Arthur
Godfrey’s Talent Scouts
national television show singing “Walkin'
After Midnight.”
“The family home
was a foundation and a springboard for
Patsy’s
ambitious dreams of becoming a country music
star,” according to a
document prepared by the Department of
Historic Resources for nomination
to the VLR. “These were the formative,
seminal years in Patsy Cline’s
musical career and personal life,” the
document states.
Many other sites in
Winchester associated with Cline — the music
store
where she recorded her first demo, the drug
store where she worked the
soda fountain, and the clubs and the
drive-in where she performed — have
been either razed or significantly
remodeled.
“Only 608 S. Kent
St. retains much of its character as the
girlhood home
of Patsy Cline, and remains as the place
where she lived the longest,”
according Dr. Douglas Gomery, a professor of
media history at the
University of Maryland, who assisted state
officials in preparing the
register nomination.
The dining room
where Cline’s mother, Hilda Hensley, sewed
the young
singer’s signature cowgirl dresses and
nightclub outfits remains
relatively unchanged from its appearance in
the 1950s.
The back yard — its
landscaping, limestone steps, and a side
yard fence
— appears much as it did in photographs of
Cline decorating a
convertible for Winchester’s annual Apple
Blossom Festival parade, an
event she participated in as a rising star.
Even the
working-class neighborhood where the
mid-19th century-era house
is located retains elements of its historic
fabric.
Cline was the first
solo female singer to become a member of the
Grand
Ole Opry in 1960. Although her career was
cut short when she died in a
plane crash in 1963, her recordings continue
to sell and inspire new
generations of vocalists such as k.d. lang
and Reba McEntire.
Her life story has
inspired numerous plays, biographies, and a
popular
Hollywood film, and for the past 10 years
she has been on Billboard
Magazine’s Top Country Album List.
“Crazy,” one of
Cline’s best-known songs, penned by Willie
Nelson,
continues to be the number one jukebox hit
of all time.
Among her many
honors, Cline was the first woman to be
inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame, and the first
solo female country star
commemorated on a stamp by the U.S. Post
Office.
Born Virginia
Patterson Hensley in 1932 in Winchester,
Cline is buried
at Shenandoah Memorial Park, a few miles
south of Winchester.
In early September,
an historical highway marker highlighting
Cline’s
career and the home at 608 S. Kent St. was
dedicated during a ceremony
at the house.
Originally
Published In The Winchester Star On November
19, 2005
|
________ _________
|
Town Hall Party
KXLA
Compton, CA
Year Started: 1951 |
|
|
|
Town Hall Party
The Town Hall
Party went on the air in the
fall of 1951. It was broadcast
over radio station KXLA out of
Pasadena, California. It aired
from 9:00pm to 9:30pm on Friday
nights. On Saturdays, it was
also on from 8:30pm to 9:30pm
over the NBC network. In
addition, it was shown over KTTV,
channel 11 from 10:00pm to
1:00am on Saturday nights and by
the time we found an article
about it in 1954, they were
thinking it was the longest
running live talent show on tv.
The Town Hall
Party was held at the Town Hall
which was at 400 Long Beach
Boulevard in Compton,
California. They drew in excess
of 2,800 paid admissions each
Friday and Saturday and they
said that the attendance records
they set were more interesting
considering that they evidently
charged more than other shows
for admission.
The show was
more than just the artists on
stage entertaining the audience.
The theater sat about 1,000
folks in front of the stage, but
at the same time about another
1,200 or so would be dancing in
the rear of the huge ballroom.
When history
steps back to look at those who
were part of this show's cast,
it sees many legendary
performers. We can start with
Johnny Bond, who was the write
for the show. Wesley Tuttle was
the show's musical director.
Producing the show was Bill
Wagnon.
In a 1954
article, Wesley Tuttle was
quoted as saying:
"Each show
has a theme and we give the
theme of the following
week's show to our cast on
Friday. They tell us the
numbers they would like to
do. On Monday, Johnny and I
get together and routine the
musical portion of the show.
Then, Johnny takes the
material to his office and
writes the script."
Later, Johnny
Bond tells of his routine in the
same article:
"I try to
keep down the talk and make
the songs and artists the
main feature. Aside from the
dialogue introducing the
artists and their songs, we
have two talk spots on the
show. These are comedy spots
handled by Merle Travis,
Texas Tiny and myself, with
Merle, Tex Williams, Tex
Ritter and myself
alternating as straight man
for Tiny."
Johnny would
finish the scripts for the show
on Wednesday, then there would
be a meeting between Johnny, Wes
and Bill Wagnon to talk over the
radio and TV scripts before they
got turned into the network and
station script departments.
Thursdays were
their day off - before the
hectic pace of Friday and
Saturday kicked in.
When Fridays
came around, rehearsals were at
7:00pm and went for about an
hour while Johnny was timing the
script and Wes timing the music.
On Saturdays, their routine was
to run through rehearsal around
5:00pm.
As Wesley
mentioned before, each show had
a theme. Some of the themes
included subjects like "Hank
Williams Night", "State Nights",
"Veteran's Nights", "Jimmie
Rodgers Night" and on it went.
The emcee of
the show was Jay Stewart.
Heading up the ten-piece Town
Hall band was Tex Williams. The
band included such folks as
Billy Hill and Fiddlin' Kate.
But it bears
repeating some of the cast
members the show had during its
time:
- Tex
Ritter
- Tex
Williams
- Fiddlin'
Kate
- The
Collins Kids
- Rose Lee
and Joe Maphis
- Johnny
Bond
- Freddie
Hart
- Wesley
and Marilyn Tuttle
- Merle
Travis
- Les
"Carrot Top" Anderson
- Texas
Tiny
|
 |
Fiddlin'
Kate
Les
'Carrot Top' Anderson
Freddie
Hart
Eddie
Dean
Joe
Maphis
Gary
Williams
Johnny
Bond
|
| |
|
Credits &
Sources
- Country Song Roundup, Issue
No. 33, August 1954,
Published by American Folk
Publications, Derby, CT
|
|
|
_________________________________
THE COLLINS KIDS
When Larry and Lorrie Collins of the Collins
Kids stepped onstage at Hemsby-On-Thames in May 1993
before some three thousand raving British rockabilly
fans, the brother-sister duo were returning to rock
and roll for the first time since they were quite
literally children. But the legend of the Collins
Kids only grew in their absence. Their '50's
recordings were reissued with a startling
regularity, culminated by a 1991 Bear Family boxed
set from Germany, "Hop Skip & Jump." Bootleg tapes
of their TV appearances circulated hotly on the
video underground.
As teenagers, the two siblings appeared
regularly on "Town Hall Party," a weekly Los Angeles
television show hosted by country star Tex Ritter,
where the beautiful brunette Lorrie belted out the
rock and roll with the authority and audacity of
someone twice her age and her exposed nerve younger
brother twanged and trilled the double-neck Mosrite
guitar with a ferocity equally belying his own age.
Born and raised in Pretty Water, Oklahoma,
their father and mother sold the farm and the cows
to move to California so the two talented children
could pursue their show business destinies. Within a
year, the two joined the cast of the weekly country
music showcase on Los Angeles television in 1954. It
was on "Town Hall Party" that teen idol and TV star
Ricky Nelson first saw Lorrie Collins. Before long,
she became his first steady girlfriend.
The Collins Kids appeared on national TV
shows like Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen and toured
with country music stars of the day like Johnny Cash
and Carl Perkins before Lorrie's teenage marriage
interceded. By 1962, the duo even stopped recording,
while Lorrie concentrated on motherhood and Larry
turned his skills to songwriting.
Larry Collins experienced considerable success
as the author of "Delta Dawn" and "You're the
Reason God Made Oklahoma," both nominated for Grammy
awards, and he recorded his sister singing duets
with longtime friends and associates like Merle
Haggard and Willie Nelson (who teamed with Lorrie
Collins on the unreleased sequel to Larry's hit,
"Daughter Of Delta Dawn"). Larry even recorded his
own material in the headquarters of Southern soul,
Muscle Shoals, before he remarried and settled in
Reno, Nevada, where his sister was also living.
After the enormous success at the Hemsby
rockabilly festival, the Collins Kids returned
to the States and played sold out dates at both San
Francisco's Bimbo's and Hollywood's Palamino
nightclubs. Producers Scott Mathews and Joel Selvin,
the team behind the extraordinary comeback of surf
guitar king Dick Dale, contacted the Collinses about
recording and, with a top flight crew of Bay Area
rock musicians, set about returning the Collins Kids
to the contemporary rock scene, recording a
selection of songs by songwriters such as Marshall
Crenshaw and Dave Alvin.
Larry and Lorrie Collins
may never have
achieved the massive stardom the '50's promised
them, but their work managed to endure, spreading
the word to fans as far-flung as Elvis Costello and
Richard Thompson, who both offered to write songs
for any forthcoming Collins Kids comeback. Oddly
enough, more than thirty years after their last rock
and roll record, the Collins Kids' time may have
finally come.
TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
Steve Allen Show
Ed Sullivan Show
Dean Martin Show
Perry Como Show
Merv Griffin Show
Johnny Cash Show
Tony Bennett Show
Dinah Shore Show
Johnny Carson Show
Ozzie and Harriet Show
Art Linkletter's House Party
Hollywood Palace
Ranch-Party Series
Town Hall Party
Star-Route Series (with Glen Campbell)
Grand Ole Opry
Jackie Gleason Show
Love of the Common People, (Waylon Jennings Special,
script and score written by Larry Collins)
PERSONAL APPEARANCES:
Harrah's - Reno and Lake Tahoe
Stardust - Las Vegas
Sahara - Las Vegas
Madison Square Garden
New York State Fair
Michigan State Fair
Hawaii State Fair
Edmonton Exhibit
Calgary Stampede
4 European Tours
4 Far East Tours
RECORD LABELS:
Bear Family Records - GMBLT
RECENT RE-ISSUES:
"Rockin' Rollin' Collins Kids,"
Bear Family Sales (CBS)
"Rock-A-Billy Stars of the 50's"
Epic Records (CBS)
"Rockin' Rollin" Larry Collins and Joe Maphis"
Bear Family Sales (CBS)
"The Collins Kids - Volume 11"
Bear Family Sales (CBS)
"Hop Skip and Jump" - The Colins Kids
Bear Family Records BCD15537
SONGWRITING: 1981-1982 - You're The
Reason God Made Oklahoma, Artists: David Frizell,
Shelly West, From: "Any Which Way You Can",
soundtrack (Clint Eastwood)
1981 - Acapulco, Artist: Johnny Duncan, From:
"Any Which Way You Can" soundtrack (Clint Eastwood)
1980 - Pecos Promenade, Artist: Tanya Tucker,
Glen Campbell, From: "Smokey and the Bandit 11"
soundtrack (Burt Reynolds)
1980 - Red Eye Special, Artist: Larry
Collins, From: "Every Which Way But Loose",
soundtrack (Clint Eastwood) 1979 - Tulsa
Turnaround, Artist: Kenny Rogers, Triple
platinum album
1972 - Delta Dawn, Artist: Helen Reddy, Tanya
Tucker
OTHER ARTISTS WHO HAVE RECORDED LARRY'S
SONGS:
Helen Reddy
Bette Midler
Waylon Jennings
Mac Davis
Three Dog Night
Henry Mancini
Willie Nelson
Lacy J. Dalton
Lou Rawls
Gary Pucket
Sonny James
Alex Harvey
Nancy Sinatra
Merle Haggard
Ann Margaret
AWARDS
1982 - Academy of Country Music Song of the Year
for You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma.
1982 -
Nashville Songwriters Association, Intl.
Song of the year for You're The Reason God Made
Oklahoma.
Screenwriting: Delta Dawn - Treatment
development by Paramount Pictures, Producers: Loran
Dreyfus and Larry collins, Music: Larry Collins.
Historically credited as one of the originators of
"Rock-A-Billy" music in the mid 50's, at the
age of eight and ten, Tulsa, Oklahoma born Larry and
Lorrie Collins, entertained audiences around the
globe as "The Rockin' Rollin' Collins Kids".
It was an auspicious beginning for the next twenty
years of successful music making as a duo. In the
70's, Larry turned his attention to songwriting. He
produced an impressive list of hits including two
Grammy nominations, "Delta Dawn" and "You're The
Reason God Made Oklahoma", maintaining his
status over the next two decades in the
entertainment industry. Today their "unique", high
energy sound has catapulted this dynamic duo into
the "Rock-A-Billy" Hall of Fame.
The Collins Kids Website
Rockabilly
Intl.
Personal Appearances
April 12th, 1998, Viva Las Vegas
May 1998, Hemsby, Great Britain
Rockabilly International, Inc.
"Collins Kids"
316 California Avenue, Suite 1955
Reno, Nevada 89509 U.S.A.
|
To Pages
 
Western Heart Promotions
Gary, Ginny, Sherry, Roger, Breanna
Bradshaw
4557 West Bloomfield Rd.
Glendale, Arizona 85304
1-602-889-8023 Off (YAK PHONE)
(602) 896-9910 Home
(602) 896-9919 Fax
(480) 221-7505 Cell
Email: gbradshaw3@cox.net
Web: www.gbww.com
WHP/TKO Compilation CD, $175.00
WHP/TKO Compilation CD $150.00
(PalTalk Members Only)
PalTalk Internet Radio:
www.paltalk.com
Then Rooms, Music, Western Heart Promotions
Palcast:
http://download.paltalk.com/palcast/westernheart.htm
| |
|