Marvin McCullough on Boyd

Marvin McCullough - Mayby My Baby (Boyd BB-3383), 1961

Tulsa has been a city full of music for long and it was especially a hot bed for western swing music since the 1930s, mainly due to the presence of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys and the various bands that developed out of it, led by Wills companions like his brother Johnnie Lee Wills or his former steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe. One of Tulsa's later stars was singer and DJ Marvin McCullough, who enjoyed great popularity in the area in the early 1960s.

McCullough was born on September 13, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama, and collected his first experiences in the radio business on Alabama stations WGAD out of Gadsden and on WANA in Anniston. Nothing else is known about this early stage in his career.

Probably his first recordings were made in the mid 1950s with the Acme record label from Manchester, Kentucky. Today, the label is best remembered for its traditional bluegrass, gospel, and country music releases and it is probable that McCullough's first sides were in a similar style. Acme #1210 was his first release and coupled "I Think I'm Falling in Love with You" with "I Can't Tell My Heart". It was followed by Acme #1215, two religious song performed with support by the Keck Brothers, "The Bible in Song" b/w "My Lord Is Coming Home from Heaven". Although these cuts seem to be McCullough's earliest recordings, no exact release date has been documented or can be traced as Acme releases are hard to date.

In 1950, McCullough joined the staff of KWHN in Fort Smith, Arkansas, near the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border. He remained with the station for five years but also had a very popular morning program in 1953-1954 on KFSA in Fort Smith. In 1955, switched to KRMG in Tulsa, which broadcast out of Leon McAuliffe's Cimarron Ballroom. By 1958, McCullough was appearing regularly with Gene Mooney's Westernaires, a local Tulsa western swing combo that was around for many years, appearing in Northeastern Oklahoma and Northwestern Arkansas. McCullough formed his own band in 1961.

By the early 1960s, McCullough had become the top country music DJ in town. By then, he performed western swing, the predominant style in that region. Billy Parker, steel guitarist and band leader himself, remembered that at one time in the early 1960s, McCullough had three shows daily: one in the morning, a lunchtime show (a slot he had taken over from Leon McAuliffe), and a midnight show. "People would come in as a studio audience and watch him when he was on the radio. The studio room probably had seats for 40 people, but there was never enough room. People would standing around against the walls. Even on his midnight show, he had a studio full," remembered Ira "Rocky" Caple, McCullough's steel guitarist and band leader in his own right, in a 1990s interview with John Wooley.

In 1961, McCullough began recording for local Oklahoma labels, first for Carl Blankenship's Razorback label from Muskogee, located near Tulsa. Blankenship had been a DJ on KWHN in Fort Smith, too (McCullough knew him likely through their mutual days at the station), and had booked Mooney and the Westernaires into several places during the late 1950s. McCullough and his band released "Bitter Tears", sung by Jimmy Hall, and "Sawed Off Shot Gun", an instrumental spotlighting the steel guitar skills of Rocky Caple. 

Billboard May 15, 1961, C&W review

His most popular record came that same year with a song called "Just for a Little While", which saw release in May on the Boyd label (#BB-3383) from Oklahoma City. Both the A side and the B side, "Mayby My Baby", were written by successful songwriter Eddie Miller. "Just for a Little While" was a top seller and saw national distribution by United Artists. Following the success, Boyd released another single by McCullough in 1961.

Billboard November 6, 1961

Capitol Records, which had a noteworthy country roster with the likes of Buck Owens, Ferlin Husky, Tommy Collins, Hank Thompson, Wanda Jackson, and many more, saw enough potential in McCullough to sign him to a recording contract. Though, only two records without significant success saw the light of day on the label. The first came out around September 1962, comprising "Just Inside Your Arms" and "Where Else Could I Go" (Capitol #4820) from a May or June 1962 session. A November session the same year remained unreleased and McCullough's next single was not released until August the next year, "Stranger In My Arms" b/w "'If' Is a Mighty Big Word" (Capitol #5030). For most of the material, McCullough relied on Eddie Miller's songwriting talents.

The unsuccessful run at Capitol seems to have stopped McCullough's career as a recording artist but he continued to work as a DJ. He began working for KFMJ (Tulsa) in 1968 and worked as the station's music director.

In 1971 or 1972, McCullough returned to Alabama and continued to work in radio. "I believe Marvin came to Anniston, Alabama, because his parents were retired there," remembered Fred Azbell, who was a 22 years young radio DJ in the early 1970s, and whom I found through my researches on McCullough. While Azbell was the nighttime announcer on the station, McCullough took over the afternoon shift. Azbell continued: "I got to know Marvin when I worked with him at WANA in Anniston [...]. He had a really wild lifestyle and could not maintain his pace without help from amphetamines. He made more money doing radio remote broadcasts than most people made all week in radio. He was a born entertainer. I was only about 21 or 22 in those days and I always got a kick out of his stories of working in Tulsa."

McCullough played ocassional gigs in Anniston but obviously had stopped recording. "He had lots of old recordings on the Capitol label. He would always claim they were a brand new release, though it was obvious that they were old," Azbell recalls. McCullough's life would take a serious turn, when he went to jail in 1975, as he had shot WANA morning announcer Randy Carter at a gas station between Anniston and Oxford late one night. Apparently, he did not spent too much time behind prison bars: "I have no idea how he beat that attempted murder charge. [...] He was definitely in jail for a while. I don't know the whole story but a mutual friend visited him in jail in Talladega and said he was in pretty bad shape," retells Azbell the story. "I have no idea where he went after that," he concludes.

McCullough was out already the following year and continued to work as a DJ. Though, he had to change stations and wound up on WKSJ in Mobile, Alabama. Though, this was probably for a short time only. Unfortunately, there is no documentation about how he spent the following years.

McCullough had a stroke in 1991, by then he was in his mid 50s. In the late 1990s, he had returned to his old stomping grounds, the Arkansas-Oklahoma border region, and hosted a gospel music radio show in Oklahoma. His turbulent life came to an end in 1998 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, just two weeks after his wife had died.

Discography

Acme 1210: Marvin McCullough and Band - I Think I'm Falling in Love with You / I Can't Tell My Heart
Acme 1215: Marvin McCullough and the Keck Brothers - The Bible in Song / My Lord Is Coming Back from Heaven
Razorback 45-113: Bitter Tears (with Jimmy Hall) / Sawed Off Shot Gun (with Rocky Caple) (1961)
Boyd BB-3383: Just for a Little While / Mayby My Baby (1961)
Boyd UA-345: Just for a Little While / Mayby My Baby (1961)
Boyd BB-111: Are You Still in Love with Me / Pillow To My Right (1961)
Capitol 4820: Just Inside Your Arms / Where Else Could I Go (But to Her Arms) (1962)
Capitol 5030: Stranger In My Arms / "If" Is a Mighty Big Word (1963)

See also

• Gene Mooney on Rocket

Recommended reading

• SecondHandSongs

Sources

• 45cat entry and 45worlds/78rpm entry

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Gospel Jubilee entry

• Discogs

• Praguefrank's Country Discographies entry

• Billy Parker, John Wooley, Brett Bingham: "Thanks -  Thanks a Lot" (Babylon Books), 2021
• Special thanks to Fred Azbell and John Strauss for providing their memories and recollections about Marvin McCullough.

Ronald Mansfield on Beam

Ronald Mansfield - Tell Me Pretty Words (Beam 707-45), 1957

Beam Recordings was a local Abilene, Texas, based label, that basically recorded country music in the 1950s and 1960s. This particular release by Ronald Mansfield is from 1957 and seems to be the first on the label. Note the publisher "Slim Willet Songs", which suggests Mansfield or the label had a connection with Willet, Abilene's country music stalwart. Although the matrix numbers indicate that "Tell Me Pretty Words" was the top side, the label indeed pushed its flip "Lonely" according to a promo sheet.

Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1958

Catalof of Copyright Entries, 1959

April 14, 1958, Billboard review

Ronald Mansfield was a TV repair man that had a few releases on Beam and Winston, the latter being Slim Willet's label. His "Someone Else's Arms" was also recorded by Ralph Edwards on Beam and  "Tell Me Pretty Words" was eventually recorded by Slim Whitman. Mansfield was probably not the songwriter and pianist of the same name that recorded with the Massachusetts based group the Dusters.

Billboard December 22, 1958, C&W review

Born Ronald Eugene Mansfield, his birth date was likely December 16, 1930, in the small town Chillicothe, Texas, as was his twin brother Donald. They were born to Clyde and Mary Mansfield. According to an Avalanche Journal newspaper snippet, both brothers were living in Abilene by October 1950.

Mansfield made his debut on the Beam label with the disc featured today, followed by another single on the same label, "Blue Am I" b/w "My Love" (Beam #708) the next year. A third Beam release likely came out in the late 1950s and a fourth not until the 1960s. Also in 1958, Mansfield came to the attention of Slim Willet and started recording for Willet's Winston label, also out of Abilene, which produced another two singles.

No more hints to Mansfield's music career can be found. His brother Donald passed away in 1977. Mansfield eventually lived in Dickinson, Texas, and died on February 26, 2002, at the age of 71 years. He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville, Texas.

Discography

Beam 707-45: Tell Me Pretty Words / Lonely (1957)
Beam 708-45: Blue Am I / My Love (1958)
Beam 709: ? / Someone Else's Arms
Winston 1023-45: Thank You / How I've Missed You (1958)
Winston 1028-45: The Ring Mother Wore / Life Sure Changes (As the World Rolls Around) (1958)
Beam 808: If This Is Living / Someones Elses Arms

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Entry at 45cat
• SecondHansSongs
• Entries for Mansfield and Beam Recordings on Discogs
• Rockin' Country Style entry for the Dusters
• Avalanche Journal (October 15, 1950), page 18
• Laurie E. Jasinski, Casey J. Monahan: "Handbook of Texas Music" (Texas State Historical Association), 2012

David & Darlene Robinson on Bejay

David & Darlene Robinson with the Eldon Valley Boys - Green Country (Bejay 1353), 1971

The "Green Country", about which David and Darlene Robinson sing, is the Northeastern part of Oklahoma. The term is used since the early 20th century but became well-known during the 1960s through a campaign initialized by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation. Sometimes, the term "Green Country" also refers to the Tulsa metropolitan area, which lies within Northeast Oklahoma.

The copy I bought carried a little handwritten note within the record sleeve, which gave me a little bit of info about the record. "Green Country" as well as the flip "If You Step On Her Hear, You're Walking On Mine" were recorded in June 1971 by David and Darlene Robinson and their band, the Eldon Valley Boys, for Ben Jack's Bejay custom label.  The session took place at Jack's recording studio in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was the Robinson's debut record, followed by two more releases on what was likely their own imprint, Big Green Country (pressed by Rimrock). One of these discs was solely credited to the Eldon Valley Boys. The Eldon Valley was likely a name for the small community of Eldon, Cherokee County, Oklahoma (in "Green Country"), located in the valley of Baron Fork of the Illinois River.

Unfortunately, I couldn't turn up any info on neither David and Darlene Robinson nor on Raymond "Ray" Robinson, the writer of both sides and likely a family member. I suspect all three to be siblings, however.

Discography

Bejay 1353: David & Darlene Robinson with the Eldon Valley Boys - Green Country / If You Step On Her Heart, You're Walking on Mine (1971)

Big Green Country BS 413: David & Darlene Robinson and the Eldon Valley Boys - Green Country / The House That We Live In (1974)

Big Green Country BS 414: The Eldon Valley Boys - It's His Spirit / I Am a Christian

Sources

• 45cat entries of David & Darlene Robison and Big Green Country Records

• "Green Country" Wikipedia entry

Wayne Edwards on Rimrock

Wayne Edwards / Ramblers - What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am) (Rimrock 253), 1968

Wayne Edwards had one release on Wayne Raney' Rimrock label, "What Kind of a Fool (Do You Think I am)" b/w "Please Tell Me (Where I Stand)". Accompanied by the "Ramblers", this is the kind of country music Rimrock became known for: traditional, unpolished, authentic. Released in 1968, both songs were composed by Edwards, about whom nothing else is known.

There are two more releases, one on the Houston, Texas based Ramada label (1970) and another one on the Two Hearts label (involving Nashville music business figure Wade Pepper), although I'm not sure if this is the same artist.

Sources
• 45cat entry for Wayne Edwards / Ramblers and Wayne Edwards (possibly different artists)

Roy Hogsed on Capitol

Roy Hogsed - I Wish I Wuz (Capitol F1721), 1951
(courtesy of Sean Hickey of Winslow, Arkansas)

Although Roy Hogsed's style and several of his recordings were historically significant, foreshadowing the rockabilly sounds of the mid 1950s, he remains a rather unknown figure - even among proficient collectors and scholars. Today, Hogsed is best remembered for recording "Cocaine Blues". Although his up-tempo version was not the first recording of the song, it set the pattern for following versions and helped making the song a minor country classic.

Roy Clifton Hogsed was born on December 24, 1919, in Flippin, North Arkansas, to Harles and Vida Hogsed. The couple had a total of six children and father Harles being a fiddler and banjo player, started teaching all of his kids instruments in order to establish a family band. This was in the early 1930s and young Roy was taught to play guitar by his uncle Clem. When the band was ready, it included guitars, fiddles, and mandolins, and began playing local dances. But their family act soon performed at school houses and then also traveling tent shows and fairs. Finally, they traveled around in a self-built Ford mobile home, playing wherever they could. They became known as the "Arkansas Hillbillies". Their constant life meant dropping out of school, having no formal education, although their father engaged a black woman to teach his children.

By the late 1930s, the family band started to fell apart. The eldest sister Fleeta married and young Roy dropped out of the band, too. His other siblings went back to school, while he worked as a butane truck driver. Hogsed met Willie Marie Gilliam, whom he married in 1940 in Flippin. In the following years, he worked various jobs in Texas and Oklahoma, then served a year in the US Navy during World War II but was discharged due to health issues.

Following the war, Hogsed worked for a couple of months with a band called the Dixieland Troupers at WJDX in Jackson, Mississippi. But soon, like so many Arkies and Oakies during the 1930s and 1940s, Hogsed set out and moved to California, hoping to find better living conditions. These immigrants brought their music tothe west coast as well, and when Hogsed settled in the San Diego area in 1946, he found a lively country music scene.

Roy Hogsed promo picture, late 1940s or early 1950s

In San Diego, he first worked as a bus driver but soon, joined Wayne Williams' Happy Cowboys as a guitarist. This job did not last long either and Hogsed founded his own group with Casey Simmons on bass and Dutch born Jean Dewez on accordion. They became known as the Rainbow Riders or simply as the Roy Hogsed Trio. Simmons was soon replaced with Rusty Nitz and the trio worked club dates in the area. Only being a trio without a drummer, it was hard for Nitz to keep the beat strong in the loud clubs, and therefore developed a heavy slap bass, which became a trademark of the trio's sound.

Billboard June 7, 1947

In May 1947, Hogsed and the boys started making records for Charles Washburn's Coast label. Their first release came out in June that year with  "Daisy Mae" b/w "Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume" (Coast #261). Four more releases followed on Coast till April 1948 and it was already his second release on the label that featured "Cocaine Blues". It was one of three versions that appeared in 1947 (along with W.A. Nichols' Western Aces with Red Arnall on S&G and a slightly different version by Billy Hughes). Hogsed's version was not the first; in fact, the song was based on the folk song "Little Sadie" and was recorded as early as 1934 by Riley Puckett as "Chain Gang Blues". Today, the song is best remembered through Johnny Cash's versions, who first recorded it as "Transfusion Blues" and performed it live in 1968 at Folsom Prison, which was released on the memorable "Live at Folsom Prison" album.

Hogsed's Coast records came to the attention of Capitol Records, the west coast's only major label back then, and when Coast folded, Capitol signed Hogsed to a contract. The label re-released "Cocaine Blues" in May 1948 (#40120) and the song reached #15 on Billboard's C&W charts. Ken Nelson, Capitol's A&R chief, remembered the furor the song stirred when Hank Thompson insisted to record it some ten years later. With explicit references to drug abuse, the song was still extraordinary back then. More records followed on Capitol, though Hogsed's first releases on the label were drawn from older Coast sessions. Hogsed, Nitz, and Dewez recorded their first session for Capitol on July 20, 1949, at the Capitol studio in Hollywood.

Today's selections were recorded on June 19, 1951, at Capitol Recording Studio in Hollywood with a band consisting of Hogsed's brother Jasper on guitar or fiddle, Denny Drazkowski on accordion, Rusty Nitz on bass, and Thomas Mills on drums. Released on Capitol F1721a month later but it didn't chart. Billboard and Cash Box both reviewed the single on August 4, 1951, and while Cash Box was fond of "I Wish I Was", Billboard called "Free Samples" "mediocre" and "I Wish I Was" a rendition that "doesn't do it justice".

Although Hogsed recorded several fine and style-wise noteworthy recordings like "Snake Dance Boogie", none of them were hits and by 1954, Capitol had lost faith in Hogsed and dropped him from its roster. This brought an end to Hogsed's rather short-lived career as an recording artist.

Hogsed and his band, which featured a completely different line-up already by 1953, continued to work live dates in San Diego during the 1950s and 1960s. The fact that Hogsed made his home base in San Diego and not in Los Angeles, west coast's own country music capital, may have been a reason that Hogsed never broke through nationally. In 1962, he suffered severe injuries after hitting a light pole with his car. Curiously enough, he had been chased by a police car since he had run four red lights and drove too fast.

Nevertheless, Hogsed continued to work as a musician until around 1969 when he quit the business altogether. He took a day job afterwards, working as a welder for San Diego Gas and Electric until his untimely death. Hogsed committed suicide on March 6, 1978, at his home in Vista, California, leaving his five children and his wife Willie, who passed away a year later in Texas.

Sources
• Wikipedia entry
• Roy Hogsed on Bear Family
• Hillbilly-Music.com
• Discogs
• SecondHandSongs.com
• Entry on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm
• Entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Alden Holloway on Dixie

Alden Holloway - Blast Off (Dixie 45-2020), 1959
This record ranks among the more expensive 45s, if you find it on ebay, a collector fair or something like this. Lucky are those who found it left alone in a box of other 45s at a flea market. The highest price I saw was 455 USD. However, the late and great Alden Holloway died at the very beginning of this year and gone is the chance now to interview him about his musical career.

Born Alden William Holloway on January 26, 1925, in Moko, Arkansas, he was interested in music already as a child. He had his first appearance at the age of five years on the counter of a local store. In addition, he also sang in the church choir. Holloway became an accomplished musician and played guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and steel guitar.

By 1944, Billboard reported he was a DJ on KNET in Palestine, Texas. Why and when he came to Texas is not known. Back in Arkansas, Holloway had met his future wife Polly at Salem High School. When Polly and her family moved way up north to Washington State, Holloway followed his high school sweetheart and they were married in September 1944.

By the  early 1950s, he had his own band and appeared on local radio stations such as KPKW (Pasco, Washington) and KWIE (Kennewick, Washington) as "Shorty" Holloway. Already in 1951, he released what became his debut record on the 4 Star custom label Northwest Records (in 4 Star's "Other People" series). Based in Richland, Washington, this was likely also Holloway's home at that time. The disc featured "I'm a Married Man" and "If I Can't Be Your Lover" (Northwest #OP-118). Until 1956, four more discs on the Northwest label followed, making it a total of four discs. The first three of them were manufactured in the 78rpm format but when Holloway released "Beaumont Blues" and "Rabbit Ears" (Northwest #OP214) in 1955, the 78rpmm format had become outdated, therefore Holloway issued this and its follow-up "Woodpecker Love" b/w "Red Rose of Arkansas" (Northwest #OP-263) on 45rpm discs.

The late 1950s saw Holloway releasing the records he is best remembered for today. Being previously a stone hard country musician, he now tried his hand at rock'n'roll. Holloway and his band, now called Tri City Boys, cut "Loving Is My Business" (written by Holloway) and "Chiquita" probably in 1958 in their home state Washington. They sent the tapes again to a custom pressing service, this time Starday Records in Houston, Texas. It was released on Starday 714 around June 1958 and I assume, there weren't much more than 1.000 copies pressed. His next single definetly became Holloway's claim to fame, at least in the rockabilly collectors scene. "Blast Off" b/w "Swinging the Rock" (Dixie 45-2020) are two great guitar driven rockers from 1959. The lead guitarist on both songs was to all acounts Holloway.

For the next decades, Holloway kept on performing in the Tri-City area of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland with personal gigs as well as radio and TV appearances. Nevertheless, to suppot his family, he held down regular day jobs, for example working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Alaska pipelines. He appeared with such stars as Little Jimmy Dickens, Porter Waggoner, among others and also continued to record. He had his own recording studio in the basement of his house and in the second part of the 1960s, he released two 45s on the Big Sound label.

Holloway's talents as a musician surfaced in different ways. Apart from recording and personal appearances, he would also host countless jam sessions at his house. Though he played different string instruments, the guitar became his main instrument. He played different double neck guitars and one of them was displayed in 2015 during an episode of PBS' "Antiques Roadshow".

On the private side, he had two children with his wife. In 2022, Polly Holloway was still living in the Tri-City area.

On January 1, 2013, Alden "Shorty" Holloway passed away at Kadlec Medical Center. He was 87 years old. Holloway is buried at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Richland, Washington.

Discography

Northwest OP-118
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders
I'm a Married Man (Holloway) / If I Can't Be Your Lover (Let Be Your Pet) ()
OP-153 / OP-154
1951

Northwest OP-149
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders
Cotton Pickin' Boogie (Holloway) / Why Can't I Go Back (Holloway)
OP-124 / OP-215
1953

Northwest OP-201
Shorty Holloway and his Prairie Riders
I Want to Squeeze You (S. Holloway; C. Tucker) / Pray Pray (S. Holloway)
OP-326 / OP-327
1955

Northwest OP214X45

Shorty Holloway & his Prairie Riders

Beaumont Blues (Alden Holloway; C. Tucker) / Rabbit Ears (Bert Wells)

OP-360 / OP 361

1955

Northwest OP-263-45
Alden Holloway and his Prairie Riders
Woodpecker Love (Alden Holloway) / Red Rose of Arkansas (Alden Holloway)
OP-470-H / OP-471-H
1956

Starday 45-714

Alden Holloway and his Tri City Boys

Chiquita (Floyd Hogien) / Loving Is My Business (Alden Holloway)

A / B

1958

Dixie 45-2020

Alden Holloway

Blast Off (Alden Holloway; B.R. Thomas) / Swinging the Rock (Alden Holloway)

2953 / 2954

1959

Big Sound No.#

Alden Holloway

Walking the Blues Away (Polly Holloway) / Oklahoma Sweetheart (Polly Holloway)
20949 / 20950 (Rite)

1967

Big Sound U-23849M
Shorty Holloway (and the Variety)
You've Gotta Live It Right (Dewey Long) / Count Me Out (Dewey Long)
A / B

There are a couple of more songs which Holloway recorded, including "Butterflies in My Heart" and "Telephone Blues", which cannot be traced back to a certain release.

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Hillbilly-Music.com
• Obituary at Hillbilly-Music.com
• Entries at 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

Wayne Raney

Wayne Raney - King of the Talking Harmonica

"The Living Legends" was the title of one of Wayn Raney's later albums - a project he had done with his old pal Lonnie Glosson. The title was apt, Raney enjoyed great popularity during the 1940s and was especially popular in his home state Arkansas - even during his later years. He is one of those musicians that were responsible for popularizing the harmonica as an instrument, along with his aforementioned partner Lonnie Glosson or such performers as DeFord Bailey.

During the 1940s, Raney was part of the Delmore Brothers' band but also found success as a recording artist in his own right, scoring a big hit with "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me". While his earlier recordings were heavily influenced by the Delmores and therefore blues- and boogie-tinged, predominantly of secular content, he later switched to country gospel music. Raney was also a successful businessman, selling harmonica instruction books as early as the 1940s and later operating his own record pressing plant, recording studio, and record label called "Rimrock" in Concord, Arkansas.

Early Years in Arkansas
Wayne Raney was born on August 17, 1921, in a log cabin on a farm near Wolf Bayou, a tiny place in Cleburne County, north-central Arkansas. His parents, William Frank and Bonnie Cumie Raney, had a total of five children and at least his father's family lived in Arkansas since the 1850s. Times were hard in these isolated area of Wolf Bayou and work on the farm exhausting. However, young Wayne Raney was freed from heavy labor due to a foot deformity. Doctors expected he would spent his life in a wheel chair but Raney mastered it without even needing a cane.

Raney was drawn to music at an early age and became interested in the harmonica after watching a street musician playing the instrument. Since 1931, the Delmore Brothers from Alabama increased in popularity both over radio and on records and they soon became musical heroes for Raney. A year later, at age eleven, Raney traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to meet the Delmores in person. While being in Atlanta, Raney got the chance to record for Bluebird, RCA's low-budget label, but his two solo numbers "Fox Chase" and "Under the Double Eagle", remained unreleased due to poor sound quality.

First Steps and Rambling Years
He returned to Wolf Bayou but at age 13 (the exact year is unclear), the traveling bug bit him again and he made his way to the Texan-Mexican border town Eagle Pass, Texas, where powerful radio station XERP was located. Raney had been a steady listener of the station when he arrived in the city. He performed in a pool hall when the station manager head and hired him. Raney went on to work for XEPN and also recorded several transcriptions for it. From that point on, Raney traveled throughout the United States for much of the 1930s and 1940s, earning his living with radio work and life shows, being not only a harmonica wizard but also a talented singer. 

According to Raney, he worked in almost every single state during this time but always found time to return home and spend some time with his family, working odd jobs for a brief time, then taking off again. In 1937, Raney took a job with radio KWK in St. Louis, Missouri, where he met another proficient harmonica player, Lonnie Glosson. They soon teamed up and found themselves soon in Little Rock, Arkansas, to perform over KARK. This was the beginning not only of a lifelong relationship business and musical wise but also of a friendship. As business partners, they would establish a mail-order business for harmonicas and instruction books, which was boosted in popularity by airing on powerful border-town radio stations.

Their affiliation with KARK didn't last long, though, and Raney was back in St. Louis by 1939, performing with Cousin Emmy's show on KMOX. That same hear, he also frequently appeared on KMBC's Brush Creek Follies stage show in Kansas City, Missouri. During the late 1930s, Raney also worked the west coast and appeared on KFWB in Los Angeles with Stuart Hamblen. He even appeared in two short Warner Brothers western movies. In the early 1940s, he remained in the four-state radius Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee, working live stage shows with the Wilbur Brothers, a brother duo also from Arkansas.

Meeting the Delmores
In 1941, Raney married Loys Oleta Sutherland, a 16 years old girl from Drasco, Arkansas. The couple went on to have three children: Wanda, Zyndall, and Norma Jean. Loys and the children followed the family's patriarch and traveled with him across the country. By the time of their marriage, however, the Raneys where living in Covington, Kentucky, where Raney worked across the Ohio River at WCKY Cincinnati. It was during this time that he met the Delmore Brothers again and as they wanted to expand their act to a band, Raney joined them on vocals and harmonica. 

The connection to the Delmores proved to be fruitful as Raney began recording with them, the first time since the early 1930s. Although the exact date and place are disputed, it is likely that their first joint recording session took place in the fall of 1946 at either E.T. Herzog's studio in Cincinnati or in Chicago, and produced a wealth of recordings, including the Delmores' noteworthy "Freight Train Boogie". Raney was given the chance to record a song with him on lead vocals, "The Wrath of God", which saw release under the Delmores' name, however.

Wayne Raney, ca. 1940s

More sessions followed through 1947 and 1948, some of them under his own name but he was also recording as part of Lonnie Glosson's Railroad Boys for Mercury and as part of Grandpa Jones' backing group. In very late 1947, on December 1947, Raney held a session at KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas, with the support of the Delmore Brothers and the Luma sisters. This session produced some of his best and most well-known material, including "Jole Blon's Ghost" and "Lost John Boogie". The latter reached #11 on Billboard's country & western charts in 1948 and the same year, "Jack and Jill Boogie" placed #13.

By that time, Raney and the Delmore Brothers were living in Memphis, airing live over WMC. The Delmores had always been living in different cities, moving on from town to town where they found work and during this time, Raney would move with them. Therefore, recording sessions took place in different cities at different venues. The sound of Raney's King recordings was identical to the cuts released as by the Delmore Brothers, as the line-up normally consisted of Alton and Rabon on guitars and vocals (plus additional musicians such as Lonnie Glosson).

Raney's Way to the Top
On May 6, 1949, a session took place in Cincinnati (either at Herzog's studio or at King studio) that yielded several songs that were released either under the Delmores' name or under Raney's name on the King label. Among these songs was Raney's biggest hit, "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me", co-written by Raney and Glosson. The line-up included Raney on vocals, Alton and Rabon Delmore on guitars, Zeke Turner on guitar, Don Helms on steel guitar, Lonnie Glosson on harmonica, and possibly Louis Innis on bass. Released in June that year on King #791 with  "Don't Know Why" on the flip side, the song reached the #1 spot in Billboard's country & western charts, where it remained for several weeks.

"Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" sheet music

The success of "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" propelled Raney into the first row of country music stars. He made appearances on both the Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry and was booked for an extended Opry tour with such stars as Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, and Lonzo & Oscar. An offer to join the Opry as a steady cast member was turned down by Raney, a fact that likely prevented him from super stardom and a move that "may have been a mistake", as he later admitted.

The year of 1950 brought more sessions for Raney, both as a supporting musician and for his own releases. He held several sessions that year at Jim Beck's studio in Dallas, Texas, supported by the Delmore band, that resulted in a wealth of sacred material, which expressed Raney's great love for gospel music. Some of these recordings were released on London Records under the pseudonym "Lonesome Willie Evans". In October, he was back at King's recording studio in Cincinnati to record more secular material but a second hit eluded him, unfortunately.

Struggling with Rock and Roll
Raney would work with the Delmores for radio, live, and studio work until Rabon Delmore's untimely death in December 1952 from lung cancer. By then, their momentum as a country music top act had passed. Raney continued to record for King until 1955 and in November 1953, worked a couple of sessions with Lefty Frizzell as part of Frizzell's backing band. His last session for King took place on March 21, 1955, supported by a young pianist from Arkansas named Teddy Redell. Redell, who appeared frequently with Raney during the course of 1955, would later find acclaim as a rockabilly artist.

Also in 1955, Raney hosted his own TV show on KRCG in Jefferson City, Missouri, which also included his newly formed band (including Redell, Johnny Duncan, and Kinky King, among others). In late 1956, at the height of the rockabilly trend, Raney, who paved the way for rock'n'roll with his country boogie numbers, held a rockabilly tinged session for Decca that included "Shake Baby Shake", a song that later found its way onto several rock'n'roll reissues. In the years to come, Raney would concentrate on religious influenced material and a 1957 session, held at radio WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, with the Osborne Brothers, marked the beginning of this era in his career.

We Need a Whole Lot More Gospel
In 1957, Raney returned to WCKY in Cincinnati and continued to sell song books and harmonicas on air successfully. That same year, Raney decided to switch sides and established his own Wayne Raney Studio in nearby Oxford, Ohio, operating the Poor Boy, New American, and Down Home labels out of it. In late 1957, Raney recorded "We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (and a Lot Less Rock and Roll)" and "Don't You Think It's Time", which saw release on Poor Boy #100 the following year and the former became a hit in the gospel hit. "We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus" was also recorded by several other artists in the years to come and became a minor standard.

Wayne Raney harmonica course, ca. late 1950s

Ironically, the second release on his Poor Boy label, which he ran with guitarist Jimmie Zack, was a rock'n'roll release by Norman Witcher, "Somebody's Been Rockin' My Boat" b/w "Wake Me Up", which became a favorite among rockabilly collectors. The next years saw Raney and his family recording numerous gospel songs at his Oxford studio, released on his own labels as well as on Starday.

Rimrock Records - "Arkansas's First and Only Record Mfg. Company"
However, by 1961, Raney decided to pack up things and move back to Arkansas. He discontinued his mail order business, the small labels he had established previously and bought a 180 acre farm near Concord, Arkansas, not far away from his birth place. On his farm, Raney raised Black Angus cattle and it seemed, he had turned his back on the music business. But his occupation as a full-time farmer only lasted for a brief time, as he built the Rimrock recording studio on his property the same year. The first session was held with his family shortly afterwards, recording a couple of gospel standards for one of his Starday EPs.

Raney recorded a great wealth of material over the next years, which saw release on Starday, his own Rimrock label (which he established at some point after 1961) and other small labels. He established Rimrock not only as a vehicle to produce his own recordings but released countless country music artists through his label, including recordings by Connie Dycus, Larry Donn, Teddy Redell, Walt Shrum, the Armstrong Twins, among many others. He leased out the studio to artists to record their material and custom-pressed it with his own pressing plant, the only one that ever existed in Arkansas. Raney manufactured records well into the 1970s for artists from Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri. He also founded his own publishing company Oleta, named after his wife.

In 1974, he sold his pressing plant to the struggling Stax Records company, which closed it not too long afterwards, and Raney moved to Drasco. He appeared on the popular TV show Hee Haw several times during the 1970s and often performed his his old friend Lonnie Glosson (with whom he had also recorded regularly throughout the previous decade).

In 1990, Raney published his autobiography "Life Has Not Been a Bed of Roses" and that same year, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which costed him his voice following a surgery. Wayne Raney passed away January 23, 1993, at the age of 71 years. He is buried at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Old in Ida, Arkansas. His wife followed in 2019. Raney was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1993.

Recommended reading

• SecondHandSongs

• Echoes of the Ozarks: Up with Jesus, Down with Rock'n'Roll

Sources

• Biography on Official Delmore Brothers Website

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas

• Country Radio Seminar

• Find a Grave entry

• Entries on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

• Rockin' Country Style entry 

• Praguefrank's Country Discographies entry
• Wayne Raney chart singles

Bobby Chandler on OJ

Bobby Chandler and his Stardusters - I'm Serious (OJ 1000), 1957

It is hard to tell why Bobby Chandler is overlooked and forgotten so largely, although he even had a chart hit in the mid 1950s. Many of his contemporaries, recording less with even lesser success, are remembered better than Chandler and his vocal group, the Stardusters.

Robert Harold "Bobby" Chandler was born on August 3, 1937, in Little Rock, Arkansas to Horace and Valeria Chandler. He had a brother, Billy, and a sister, Betty, who played piano and with whom he had a very close relationship. Chandler was influenced by all kinds of music, listening to country music, gospel, jazz, big band, and pop music.

While at Little Rock Central High School, Chandler formed a vocal group called the "Stardusters", patterned after the Platters. The line-up included Chandler, Bill Sharp, Bobby Blount, Bill Glasscock, and Bill Detman on guitar. The group performed at school events and other local Little Rock venues. About a year later, the Stardusters were discovered by Bill Biggs and Red Mathews, who operated Old Judge Music Publishing in Memphis and set up their own record label, OJ Records, in 1957. They chose Chandler and the Stardusters to be the first group on the label. They recorded "I'm Serious", a Quinton Claunch and Bill Cantrell penned song, and "If You Love'd Me", released around April 1957 on OJ #1000.

The success came unexpected and the disc sold well locally and "I'm Serious" made the Billboard pop charts a short time later, peaking at #38. The group went out on the road and appeared regularly in their home town Little Rock, becoming frequent guests at Steve Stephens' TV show on KTHV. "Any time he wanted to come on the show, I said, ‘Sure, come on down.’ I’d always make space available for him," Stephens, who was especially fond of Chandler's voice and talent, later recalled. They also performed on Wink Martindale's "Dance Party" TV show in Memphis. The group became so popular in Little Rock that when Ray Charles, already one of the top names in music by then, played the Robinson Auditorium in April 1957, the main spot was given to the Stardusters and Charles became the opening act.

"I'm Serious" was covered the same year by the Hilltoppers and saw release in various European countries in this version. Chandler and the Stardusters recorded a follow-up to their hit, "Shadows of Love" b/w Me and My Imagination" (OJ #1005), which couldn't repeat the success of its precursor. After a third disc for the label, their association with OJ ended. Though, among the many artists that recorded for the label, Chandler and the Stardusters were the most prolific and successful.

Chander cut one more record for Hi Records in Memphis, a label that had been in business for about a year by the time Chandler's record was released. However, success eluded this disc again and by 1959, he had grown tired of being constantly touring. "He was just a hometown boy, always was," remembered his sister Betty. When Chandler settled in Little Rock, marrying his high school sweetheart Kate Smith, he brought an end to the professional career of the Stardusters. However, they would reunite every year for the high school reunion.

Chandler went on to work for the City of Little Rock for the next 30 years, limiting his singing to a hobby. When he retired, however, he took up performing professionally again, though mostly in Little Rock and other Arkansas areas, and recorded a total of eight albums for Blue Chair Records.

Bobby Charles died unexpectedly from lung cancer on April 6, 2012, at the age of 74 years at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.

See also

• The OJ label

Sources

• Find a Grave entry

• 45cat entry

• Short Bio and Discography at Doo-Wop Groups

• 501Life Magazine: "Bobby Chandler - Remembering an Icon"

Russ Thompson on Blue Bird

Russ Thompson and the Arkansas Blue Birds - My Arkansas Baby (Blue Bird BBS 601), unknown year

I was introduced to Russ Thompson's unique records years ago through the blogs of a record collector who called himself "Red Neckerson" or "Howdy" (see 45blog and Frances' Favorite 45s). Since then, Russ Thompson has caught my attention but I was never able to unearth any information on him. When I was given the possibility to purchase both of his 45s recently, I jumped at the chance.

From what I remember Red told me that Russ Thompson and his wife Paula were local Little Rock country music singers. His Blue Bird disc, probably Thompson's own label, was pressed by Wayne Raney's Rimrock plant in Concord, Arkansas, in the 1960s or 1970s. This release became a little underground favorite among collectors since it was posted by Red as "My Arkansas Baby" features a hot band. The other one, on Thompson's Russ, Paula imprint, was self-released by him and pressed by Monarch in 1969. It featured both songs from the Blue Bird release plus his version of the country classic "Wreck of the Old '97".

Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1970

The address on both records, 3901 East Broadway in North Little Rock, seems to have been Thompson's home at that time. The address houses a hardware store today.

If anyone has more information on Russ Thompson, feel free to leave a comment.

Discography

Blue Bird BBS 601: Russ Thompson and his Arkansas Blue Birds - Beautiful Arkansas Waltz / My Arkansas Baby
Russ, Paula RPR 101: Russ Thompson and his Harmonica: Wreck of Old 97 / My Arkansas Baby / Beautiful Arkansas Waltz (August 1969)

See also
• Blue Bird and Russ, Paula on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources
• Russ Thompson on Discogs

Lance Roberts on Sun

Lance Roberts with the Gene Lowery Singers - The Good Guy Always Wins (Sun 348), 1960
For the last decades, Lance Roberts has been an unknown and mysterious name in rock'n'roll history. As Bear Family researchers put it, "nearly all the men and women to record for Sun have been documented exhaustively, but Lance Roberts remains murky" - until now. I don't want to claim to have unearthed his whole story but I managed to bring a little light into the shadowy career of Roberts.

He was born Kenny Arlyn Roberts on November 12, 1939, in Norman Park, Colquitt County, Georgia. At least his father's family had been living in the same South Georgia area since the early 19th century. Roberts' parents' first child died as an infant in 1935 but the couple were blessed with two more children, Kenny in 1939 and his sister Jane in 1941. Other details about Roberts' early life still have to be discovered.

Roberts' way into music business and his stroke of luck to record his debut for a major label are more riddles to solve. In 1959, Roberts, who had changed his name for performing purposes to "Lance Roberts" by then (possibly to avoid confusion with popular east coast country musician Kenny Roberts), recorded a total of four songs for Decca Records, all from the pen of the songwriting husband-and-wife duo Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. Roberts' first session took place on February 1, 1959, at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville, probably with a line-up consisting of top Nashville studio musicians but details escape us on this issue, unfortunately. The results of this session, "You've Got Everything" and "Why Can't It Be So", were released in spring that same year on Decca #9-30891. Billboard was pleased with the "good, spirited style" of the songs and the disc saw also release in Italy on the Fonit label the following year. Noteworthy success eluded it, however.

Lance Roberts promo picture, 1950s

A second session was arranged for Roberts on June 11, 1959, at the same location, which produced "What Would I Do" and the song he is maybe best remembered for, "Gonna Have Myself a Ball" (Decca #9-30955). While his first disc was on the soft teen sound side of rock'n'roll with Roberts' vocal similar to Elvis Presley's, he turned to strong rock'n'roll on his second effort, especially for "Gonna Have Myself a Ball". The pair was released around August 1959 but again, sales were likely disappointing.

Since May that year, Roberts was under contract of Acuff-Rose's new management and promotion firm ARAC (Acuff-Rose Artists Corporation), headed by Dee Kilpatrick. He was in good company there, as the firm also managed several Grand Ole Opry stars like Roy Acuff, Don Gibson, Billy Grammer, as well as newcomer Roy Orbison and Boudleaux Bryant, with whom Roberts had already made acquaintance.

Billboard April 27, 1959, pop review

Billboard August 10, 1959, pop review

After Decca had dropped Roberts from its roster, he found his way to Memphis, where he managed to convince the studio executives of Sun Records of his talent. As Sun's owner Sam Phillips had resiled from recording work, it is likely that one of his producers saw enough potential in the young singer from Georgia to invite him to a session in the fall of 1960. In Phillips' new studio on Madison Avenue, two songs were produced on Roberts, "The Good Guy Always Wins" and "The Time Is Right", with vocal support by the Gene Lowery Singers. The latter song was co-written by now legendary Memphis figures Charlie Feathers, Quinton Claunch, and Jerry Huffman, who had performed in a band togther, and the top side was from the pen of Arkansas songwriter Bill Husky, who later operated Jakebill Records.

The songs were released on Sun #348 around October 1960. At the time of release, Roberts was still based in Norman Parks as Sun documents reveal that his contract was sent to an address there. The songs were promising productions in commercial terms, being on the edge of rock'n'roll and pop, but Sun Records' heyday had already passed and the disc sunk without much notice.

Billboard October 24, 1960, pop review

We lose track of Roberts for the 1961-1962 period but on January 19, 1963, Billboard reported that Lance Roberts had been signed to recording and management contracts by United Southern Artists, Inc., a record company based in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Likely spotted by the firm's A&R manager Carl Friend, Roberts cut his fourth single for the label that year, although details remain sketchy. Issued on United Southern #5-131, the disc comprised "It Was Fun While It Lasted" plus an unknown B side. An original copy of this release has yet to be found.

Roberts retained his connection with Carl Friend as more than a year later, both became heads of Joey Sasso's new Music Makers Promotion office in Nashville. This is the last hint we find on Roberts' career. At some point in his life, he changed trades and became a farmer. He married Patricia Wells in 1976, with whom he had five children.

We can say with some certainty that Roberts remained a lifelong resident of Colquitt County, Georgia, where he died on March 14, 2011, at the age of 71 years.

Discography

Decca 9-30891: Lance Roberts - You've Got Everything / Why Can't It Be So (1959)
Decca 9-30955: Lance Roberts - Gonna Have Myself a Ball / What Would I Do (1959)
Fonit SP 50216: Lance Roberts - You've Got Everything / Why Can't It Be So (1960, Italy)
Sun 348: Lance Roberts with the Gene Lowery Singers - The Good Guy Always Wins / The Time is Right (1960)
United Southern Artists 5-131: Lance Roberts - It Was Fun While It Lasted / ? (1963)

See also
• The United Southern Artists label

Sources
• 45cat entry
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• Find a Grave Entry
• Bear Family Records
• Fonit single on Popsike
• Entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

Bob McKnight & his Ranch Boys

Country Music from the Mid-South
Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys

Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys at WMC, 1940s
From left to right: Freddie Burns, Jimmie Smith, Bob McKnight, Ray Martin, Slim Sullie,
Herman "Horsehair" Buggfuzz

Among the Memphis country music acts of the 1940s, Bob McKnight's Ranch Boys were one of the few to make commercial recordings, although being not under McKnight's leadership by then. The Ranch Boys were a long lasting act from the 1930s until the 1950s but in contrast to such bands as the Snearly Ranch Boys, the Buckaroos, or the Memphis Four, the group never trained young aspiring musicians that later became rock'n'roll pioneers. Though, the band was well-known in the Mid-South due to their reguar broadcasts on WMC and likely influenced a lot of the region's future generation of singers and guitar pickers.

Byron Burton "Bob" McKnight was born September 20, 1908. He likely hailed from the small community of Tutwiler, Northwest, Mississippi. The town is also known for being the birthplace of blues legends Sonny Boy Williamson II and John Lee Hooker, although it is likely that Williamson was born elsewhere in Mississippi. McKnight possibly knew at least Hooker, as they were of nearly the same age (Hooker likely born in 1912). May it as it be, McKnight was blind already since his childhood days, although it is not known if he was born blind or if he lost his sight afterwards.

McKnight was born to Frank and Belle McKnight. the couple had a total of five children: James, Jewel, Byron, Mabel, James W., Francis, and Mildred being the youngest. The family lived in adjacent Sunflower County by 1920 (Tutwiler is located on the border of Tallahatchie and Sunflower counties) but had moved back to Tallahatchie County by 1930.

McKnight learned to play guitar as well as harmonica and, beginning in 1928, hitchhiked to Memphis on Saturdays to play harmonica on local radio. At some point in the early or mid 1930s, McKnight made the move to Memphis and around 1935, married Mary Cathleen Conn, who was born in 1917 in Koscuisko, Mississippi. When Wold War II reached the United States, Uncle Sam called. Although there exists an army draft card for McKnight, it is very likely he was rejected due to his blindness.

By then, McKnight had made the connections with other local musicians and at some point in the 1930s, he founded a group which became known as the "Ranch Boys". Exact founding date and original members are lost to time but probably by the advent of the 1940s, the group consisted of McKnight (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass), Fred "Freddie Boy" Burns (guitar), Jimmie Smith (vocals, saxophone, fiddle, and other instruments), Ray Martin (accordion and other instruments), Slim Sullie (fiddle), and Ivey Peterson (bass), who also doubled as comedy character "Herman 'Horsehair' Buggfuzz".

McKnight and the Ranch Boys had found their way onto WMC as early as 1942 (according to a Billboard article), doing live shows over the station. WMC was a local Memphis outlet that had been in business since the late 1920s. It is possible that McKnight's shows were carried out to other stations through a regional network in the Mid-South. By 1946, the group was a cast member of the station's "Plough Dixie Jamboree", a live stage show which also included other local artists such as Rex Griffin, Billie Walker and the Texas Longhorns, Chick Stripling, and others. Other details on the show unfortunately escape us.

Peterson later left the group, switching to WSB'S Barn Dance in Atlanta, and was replaced by "Sneezeweed" and his horse Pinto. Jimmie Smith took over the bass part for the group. McKnight, since its founding leader of the group, left the music business in 1946. A member of the Memphis Lions Club since the early 1930s, McKnight established the Memphis Lions Club Sight Service, the first sight service for blind persons in Tennessee. He was already well-known during his musician days in the Mid-South but especially rendered outstanding services to blind person's acceptance from the 1940s onwards.

In the 1960s, McKnight worked for the Memphis Workshop for the Blind, an organisation connected with the city's government. In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, McKnight's name appeared in FBI documents, as a suspicious conversation between McKnight and another person had been overheard by a man, who in turn reported the content of the conversation to the autorities. Alledegly, McKnight said that Martin Luther King "would not going to carry that march because he knew a boy from Northern Mississippi who would stop him [...]."

The sneaking suspicion was apparently laid to rest by the authorities, although further details on this issue escape us, too. McKnight continued his work for blind people and became the Downtown Lions Club's first blind president in 1972. Bob McKnight died on December 21, 1985, at age 77 after an illness that had lasted for months. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis. In 2015, McKnight's daughter Maddie Stanford organized a tribute variety show, "Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys Old Time Radio Show", in Cedar Grove, Tennessee.

When McKnight left the Ranch Boys in 1946, Freddie Burns took over leadership of the band and guided them into the 1950s. Fred Lee Burns was born on February 1, 1914, in Booneville, Mississippi, to John Green and Sadie Isabel Burns. The Burns family was a big one as Freddie Burns had seven siblings and five half-siblings. By 1920, the family still lived in Prentiss County but by the outbreak of World War II, Burns was living in Memphis according to his draft card. In contrast to McKnight, Burns probably served his country during the war. At which point Burns joined the Ranch Boys is not documented.

Billboard February 18, 1950

Burns transferred the Ranch Boys to WHBQ, another Memphis station. This happened in late 1949 or early 1950. Shortly afterwards, in February 1950, the Ranch Boys cut their only commercial recordings, an eight track session that probably took place at WHBQ for Star Talent Records of Dallas, Texas.

Two 78rpm discs appeared in 1950, carrying four of the eight recorded sides. By then, the line-up had changed drastically. At that time, the group consisted of Burns, Jimmie Smith, Ray Martin, Speedy McNatt (steel guitar), Pee Wee Wamble (piano), who had been a member of Memphis' Swift Jewel Cowboys before the war and joined the Ranch Boys following the war's end, and other unknown musicians. The first record on Star Talent appeared in May 1950 with "I'm Just a Poor Unlucky Dog" b/w "You're Gone" (Star Talent #752). Featuring the harmony singing of Burns and Smith as well as Smith's mandolin work, especially the A side was a nod to the Delmore Brothers' style, who had been active in Memphis since the late 1940s. The second disc followed in late 1950 with "Juke Box Boogie" and the romping instrumental "Two Piano Boogie" (Star Talent #762). The later featured both Ray Martin and Pee Wee Wamble on piano.

Burns and the Ranch Boys possibly continued to play in and around Memphis during the 1950s but no activities could be found so far. Burns continued to be active as a musician and lived up to be 102 years old. Still at age 98, he could be found in a nursing home, pulling out his guitar and singing a song. He passed away April 29, 2016, and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis.

Discography

Star Talent 752: Freddie Burns and his Ranch Boys - I'm Just a Poor Unlucky Dog / You're Gone (1950)
Star Talent 762: Freddie Burns and his Ranch Boys - Juke Box Boogie / Two Piano Boogie (1950)

Sources
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• Find a Grave entries for Bob McKnight and Freddie Burns
• Several Photos of the Ranch Hands on Flickr
• 45worlds 78rpm entry
• Official documents for Bob Knight and Freddie Burns accessed through Ancestry.com
• The Jackson Sun: "Old Time Radio Show at Cedar Grove Opry on Saturday"
• Adam Komorowski: "Rockin' Memphis" (Proper Records), 2008, liner notes