Little Shoe

Little Shoe (center) and her Cowboy Sweethearts, ca. 1946
at KLRA (Little Rock, Arkansas)
Source: Red Neckerson

Little Shoe - A Pioneering Female Country Music Singer in Arkansas

The female country music singer and band leader known as "Little Shoe" was a pioneering figure in Arkansas country music and radio history, as she organized one of the earliest country music live stage shows in the state. Her "Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance" ran from 1946 until the ending of the decade or even until the beginning of the next one - no assured information on its further history are documented, unfortunately.

She was born Alma Crosby on January 26, 1910, and it is mentioned by author Ivan M. Tribe that she was a niece to Cousin Emmy, another pioneering female country music artist. Little Shoe, like her aunt, learned to play banjo to accompany her singing.

In the 1930s, she was part of Frankie More's Log Cabin Boys and Girls that were cast members of the famed WWVA Jamboree out of Wheeling, West Virginia - her aunt Cousin Emmy was also briefly a member of this group. It is likely that she got her name "Little Shoe" around that time. More came to WWVA in 1936 and stayed there until 1941 and Tribe mentions in his book "Mountaineer Jamboree" that Little Shoe stayed full five years in the group (probably the longest serving member of all), which means she was with the group in the same time frame. From there, Little Shoe went to different radio stations across the country, including KMOX in St. Louis, Missouri, and then KMBC in Kansas City. During these years, she developed the idea of establishing her own live stage show but none of the radio stations she auditioned for believed in her concept.

Along the way, she founded a group that became known as the "Cowboy Sweethearts". The group included her future husband Charlie Dial, who was a singer in his own right. At some point during these years, the group also featured a young Wayne Raney. Around the mid-1940s, Little Shoe and the Cowboy Sweethearts were heard over WJBC in Bloomington, Indiana, but soon, they moved south to Little Rock, where radio station KLRA liked her idea of a live stage show.

Billboard January 26, 1946

The Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance premiered in January 1946. In addition to the Saturday night live version, Little Shoe and her band also did three studio version each day over KLRA. She and her husband Charlie Dial also hosted a children show on the station around the same time.

Little Shoe left KLRA in the late 1940s and it is likely that with her leaving, the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance also came to an end. She also divorced from Charlie Dial at some point. Dial would go on to be a popular radio performer in the Memphis and West Memphis regions.

Alma "Little Shoe" Crosby died on August 12, 1988. If anyone has more information on her or Charlie Dial, please feel free to pass it along.

See also
• Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance

Sources
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• various Billboard news items
• Ivan M. Tribe: "Mountaineer Jamboree - Country Music in West Virginia" (The University Press of Kentucky), 1996, pages 49-50

Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance / Barnyard Frolic

Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium in Little Rock, Arkansas,
where both the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance and the Barnyard Frolic
staged from 1946 until 1960

Live from the Rock

Barn Dance Shows from Little Rock, Arkansas

Of the few known country music live stage shows airing out of Arkansas, the "Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance" was one of the better known examples. The show originated out of Little Rock and enjoyed some years of success in the 1940s. It was the creation of female country music singer Alma "Little Shoe" Crosby, who was responsible for the show in its early years. Later on, the Barn Dance was replaced by another show of the same format, the "Barnyard Frolic".

Little Shoe was already a veteran performer by the time she set up the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance. Born in 1910, Crosby had worked with Frankie More's Log Cabin Girls and Boys before founding her own group, the Cowboy Sweethearts. Like many other country music performers of her era, Crosby moved from radio station to radio station during the 1930s and 1940s. By 1946, she had performed on such stations as KMBS in Kansas City, KMOX in St. Louis, WJBC in Bloomington, Indiana, and WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia (where she also appeared on WWVA's famed Jamboree).

Billboard April 6, 1946

Crosby and her band came to KLRA in Little Rock, Arkansas, likely in late 1945. She had the idea of directing a live stage show in mind for some time by then but none of the stations she had appeared on or auditioned for saw enough potential in it. Then, she persuaded the KLRA executives and on January 1, 1946, the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance premiered at the Robinson Auditorium. The show was held on Saturday nights and portions of it aired live on radio at 10:30 pm. In addition to the Saturday night live shows, Crosby also hosted a weekday studio version on KLRA. Cast members of the show included Crosby, who also acted as emcee, and the Cowboy Sweethearts, the Armstrong Twins, the Union County Boys, Frank Dudgeon, the Stamp Baxter Rainbow Quartet, the Crystal Mountain Boys, among others.

Around 1949, Crosby left KRLA. She died in 1988. If the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance came to end or if it was continued is not known to me. By late 1954, KRLA had a replacement entitled the Barnyard Frolic, which was staged at the Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock. Chick Adams produced the show while Sammy Barnhart, who had already performed with his own band and with the Cowboy Sweethearts on the Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance, served as the shows' emcee. It seems that there was also a TV version of the Frolic.

Billboard September 10, 1955

The Barnyard Frolic lasted until 1960 and apart from local talent, also included many better known names such as Sandy and Alvadean Coker, "Texas" Bill Strength, Tommy Trent, Nita Lynn, Lonnie Glosson, the Venables, and others. Also, many of the Memphis rockabilly artists made guest appearances on the show, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Sonny Burgess, Slim Rhodes, and Lloyd McCollough. Reportedly, Presley's performance was received so badly by the rural audience that he had to stop performing and leave the stage.

Most of the information of the "Barnyard Frolic" came from Arkansas record collector Gary Corry, who was based in Little Rock and did some research on the show's history.

Sources

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Little Shoe Hillbilly-Music.com entry

Tommy Trent

The Dixie Fun Barn Dang at WAGA (Atlanta, Georgia), ca. 1947
with Tommy Trent (next to the microphone on the left)

Tommy Trent - Little Rock's Forgotten Star

Although Tommy Trent was a native Tennessee boy and made various stops during his early career, his biggest impact probably came when he settled in the early 1950s in Little Rock, Arkansas. There, he became one of those all-around music entrepreneurs - operating a record label, a live music venue, and performing in his own right.

Thomas Francis "Tommy" Trent was born March 8, 1924, in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. He was one of seven children of Dyo M. and Alice C. Trent and came into a musical inclined family. Trent would eventually learn to play guitar as well as bass and found also he had a talent for singing. His father died in 1935, when Trent was still a child.

Trent started his career in 1943 in nearby Knoxville, where he joined Mel Foree's Victory Boys and as part of this group, could be heard on the city's popular radio program "Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round". Knoxville was a tinsmith for future country music stars, including such as Chet Atkins, Red Kirk, and Don Gibson, but Trent did not stayed too long there and set out on the road. He spent about three months with Paul Howard's Arkansas Cotton Pickers in 1944, performing on the famed Grand Ole Opry with this group, but soon left again.

By the summer of 1945, he travelled with a tent show and a short time later, he performed with a group known as the Dixe Fun Barn Gang on WPDQ in Jacksonville, Florida. This same group, including Trent, then moved to Atlanta, where they were heard on WAGA from September 1946 until December 1948 and also performed one-nighters in the surrounding areas. They had a show called the "Dixie Fun Barn", which centered around Trent, and was heard several days a week and was one of the most popular country music shows on the station at the time, according to author and Atlanta country music expert Wayne W. Daniel. After leaving WAGA, the group had a rather brief engagement at WQAM in Miami before they would return to Atlanta to perform on WGST for a couple of months (October 1949 until January 1950). During this brief stint, Trent also appear on the station's Georgia Jamboree live show.

Billboard November 29, 1947

During the next two years, Trent founded a new band and managed to land a spot on the famed Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. Apart from the regular Saturday night broadcasts over KWKH, Trent took also part in the Hayride's tours across the south and appeared alongside such stars as Hank Williams. Along with Tommy Hill and Webb Pierce, he also hosted a nightly DJ program right after the Hayride.

In 1952, Trent and an unknown group of back-up musicians, which might have been his own band, went into KWKH's studio in Shreveport to record two songs: "Paper Boy Boogie" and "Sweetheart I Am Missing You". These recordings were, possibly with the help of record shop owner and talent scout Stan Lewis, released on Chess' subsidiary label Checker Records (#761) in September 1952. Lewis was an important personality in Shreveport's music scene and had placed such acts as Jimmy & Johnny with Chess, so it's eligible to assume this also happened with Trent.

Although Trent's record debut did not make the national charts, it must have been a promising release as Texas Bill Strength covered "Paper Boy Boogie" for Coral the same year. Trent performed these songs also on his personal appearances and Hayride live recordings of both have survived in the show's archives. Trent was also captured live on the show singing Louis Innis' "No Muss, No Fuss, No Bother".

During his tours, Trent passed through many different places, including Arkansas, and in 1952, finally settled down in the Natural State's capitol, Little Rock. He began hosting a three-hour DJ show on local KTHS, a station that had moved from Hot Springs to Little Rock shorty before, and opened his own Hillbilly Park in the city around 1953. This live music venue, modeled after country music parks in the northeastern states, featured performances by country stars throughout the summer. By 1955, portions of those concerts also aired over KTHS under the name of "Arkansas Hayride". Local talent on these shows included such acts as Shelby Cooper and Gene Davis.

Billboard September 3, 1955

By late 1954, Trent and his band had introduced a show also on KATV, Little Rock's local television station. At that time, the band consisted of Trent on vocals and guitar, comedian Les Willard on vocals and rhythm guitar, Cotton Nixon on fiddle, J. D. Raley (later replaced by Leroy Brannon) on steel guitar, Max Fletcher on bass, Don Taylor on "solos" (as reported by Billboard, whatever that means). A short time later, Trent's brother Coy also joined the group, which was initially known as the Dixie Mountaineers and by April 1955 as the Country Playboys. Apart from performing and doing radio work, Trent also pursued other business interests and opened up a restaurant in May 1955, "Tommy Trent's Chuck Wagon".

Tommy Trent had not recorded since his Shreveport debut session in 1952 but he changed this four years later. With a band that included prominent Arkansas western swing fiddler Kinky King (who alternated between drums and fiddle) and soon-to-be rockabilly pianist Teddy Redell, Trent recorded "It's My Turn to Cry Over You" as well as "Truck Drivers Roll" at the KTHS studio. On the latter, Virginia Brannon took over lead vocals. Brannon was a member of Trent's band and went on to be his wife. Both songs were released in 1956 on the Little Rock based Camark label. This was still pure country music, although by 1956 times had changed, and although Trent was a bit late, he would change his music style on recordings to a more hard-etched sound later on.

In the early 1960s, Trent contiued to record for independent labels. His first record for Dan Mechura's Allstar Records, a label from Houston, Texas, that specialized in country music, was recorded in the spring of 1959 at KTHS and released the same year. The recordings featured his wife Virginia as well as Delores King on harmony vocals, Bill Dixon on lead guitar, possibly Bobby Pearl on steel guitar, Kinky King on fiddle, Teddy Redell on piano, and Mex Fletcher on drums. The results, "Just for Tonite" and "Storm of Love", were released on Allstar #7184. The A side was penned by Vriginia Trent, while the flip was a composition of background singer Delores King.

A second session for Allstar was cut in spring 1960 at KTHS with the same line-up, produced "A Mile to the Mailbox" and "Love Me" (Allstar #7198). The A side was a "medium-beater" (as Billboard put it) rock'n'roller, while its flip was a pure country side. Billboard placed the disc, which appeared around March 1960 in its "medium sales potential" review section and it's likely that it didn't sell better than the magazine predicted.

In 1962, KTHS was sold and became KAAY, which urged Trent to switch to KXLR, also based in Little Rock. Around the same time, he gave up his spot on KATV for a show on KTHV. By then, he had given up his Hillbilly Park in favor of a new live venue, Tommy Trent's Fun Barn, which was located on Pike Avenue in North Little Rock (previously known as "The Juroy"). This place featured regular live performances by local talent as well as top names on Saturday nights and was a popular spot during the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the names that appeared on these shows included locals such as Bobby and his Buddys, sisters Peggy & Patty Kuske, Robert "Bob Holladay, George Lyle & Laura Glenn, Bobbie Holdcraft, among others. The stars who passed through Trent's Fun Barn reads like a who's who of Nashville, including Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, the Carter Family, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, the Osmons, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Grandpa Jones, Little Jimmy Dickens, Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Marty Robbins, Jim Ed & Maxine Brown, Conway Twitty, Roy Acuff, String Bean, and probably a lot more.

The Fun Barn live shows as well as Trent's TV shows were very popular in Arkansas. Testimony to that are countless people who remembered the shows fondly: "My mother Clarice Brannon Lawrence and Tommy Trent’s wife Virginia Brannon Trent were cousins and my parents took us kids to the Tommy Trent Fun Barn in North Little Rock, Arkansas, nearly every weekend to hear all the country singers and new talents that would play and sing there," recalled Lavonda Lawrence Roberts. Betty Holbrook remembered: "I remember watching and listening to Tommy Trent sing in the '50s." And Charles Jackson added: "As a small boy in Conway, Arkansas, in the early '50s, our family always listened to Tommy as he deejayed his radio program." These valuable memories came from French collector Xavier Maire, whose blog sadly went offline.

Trent re-recorded one of his aforementioned Allstar songs as "I Walk a Mile (to the Mail Box)" along with "This Week End", released in 1965 on the T Bar T label. T Bar T was likely Trent's own company and I assume the name stood for Trent's initials (T bar T = T-T = Tommy Trent). He also recorded Carolyn Dixon and Olen Bingham for his imprint.

Trent retired from the music business in 1970. He was the president of a Little Rock publishing firm in the 1980s. Tommy Trent died on July 5, 2003, at the age of 79 years in Bryant, Arkansas, a suburb of Little Rock. He was what I call a local music entrepreneur. Memphis had Eddie Bond, Abilene had Slim Willet, and Little Rock had Tommy Trent.

Discography

Checker 761: Tommy Trent - Paper Boy Boogie / Sweetheart I Am Missing You (1952)
Camark 501 Virginia Brannon / Tommy Trent Band - Truck Drivers Roll / Tommy Trent and Mountain Valley Trio - It's My Turn to Cry Over You (1956)
Allstar 7184: Tommy Trent - Just for Tonight / Storm of Life (1959)
Allstar 7198: Tommy Trent - Love Me / A Mile to the Mailbox (1960)
T Bar T 665T-0962: Tommy Trent - I Walk a Mile (to the Mail Box) / This Week End (1965)

See also
• T Bar T discography on Arkansas 45rpm Records

Sources

• Hillbilly-Music.com entry

• Find a Grave entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies

• 45cat entry

• Xavier Maire: Tommy Trent - From Paper Boy Boogie to A Mile to the Mail Box (Wayback Machine)

• Picture of Trent and the Dixie Fun Barn Gang at WAGA

• Dixie Fun Barn Gang at WFMU Boss Radio 66 blog

• Directory of Little Rock/North Little Rock theaters past and present

• various Billdboard news items

• Wayne W. Daniel: "Pickin' on Peachtree" (University of Illinois Press), 2001, pages 167-168, 185

North La. Hayride

The North La. Hayride, ca. 1960s
Tom Ruple (drums), Brian Ritter (steel guitar), Governor Jimmie Davis (vocals),
Coy Bohannon (guitar)

Rural Entertainment in Louisiana

The North La. Hayride

My record collecting friend from Southwest Arkansas, Mark Keith, has brought the spotlight to another local stage show. After he brought the Columbia County Hayride and the Arkansas Hayride to my attention, we now spotlight the North Louisiana Hayride (always spelled North La. Hayride) from Homer, Lousiana. Mark, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and still plays shows today, started playing the North La. Hayride in the late 1970s.

The show was started by musicians Coy Bohannon, Durwood Gathright, and Omar Volentine and its first show staged at the American Legion building in Homer in November 1962. By then, the original Louisiana Hayride from Shreveport, which is actually also located in the northwestern corner of Lousiana, had ended. For the North La. Hayride's first show, country music star Margie Singleton was brought in as a special guest. Singleton's aunt was living in Homer then and through her, the show's management was able to book Singleton.

The show featured music from a variety of acts every Saturday night. The first portion of the show featured the stage show, lasting for an hour to an hour and a half. After a break, during which the chairs were removed, a dance began which usually lasted until midnight. "There was no drinking, it was a family show," remembers Mark. "I only saw one fight there and it was people in their 70s - and it was wild," he adds with a grin.

Carl Lowe on stage

About a year after its inauguration, Volentine left the show and was replaced by Theron "Chief" Deloach, who became the emcee and booking agent. Coy Bohannon functioned as the house band's leader, a position he held for about 24 years. The early line-up of the house band included Carl Lowe on bass, whose family was a regular act on the show from 1964 until the late 1970s. Mark Keith started playing the Hayride in 1977 and appeared with the show on and off until its end. Carl Lowe quit playing bass the same year, followed by Kenny Shelton, who in turn was replaced by Mark in 1978. In the 1970s up to the 1990s, the house band consisted of musicians like Wayne Mattox, Sammy Lawrence, Jerry White (all three piano), David Butler and Larry Taylor (both on saxophone), Perry Moses, Brian Crittenden, and Shelia Lynn (all on drums), Brian Ritter (steel guitar), Larry Mozingo, Benny Shelton, and Tom Ruple.

Regulars and guest artists throughout the early years included Bill Bohannon, Ray Langston, Ginger Kelley, Ray Frushay, Gene Wyatt (of "Lover Boy" fame), Joe Stampley (drawing a crowd of approxiamtely 1,200 people), and Johnny Russell . Performers during later years included Jackie Martin, Cathy Denmon, Benny Shelton and the Shelton family, Angela Allen, Ken Lewis, among others. Regarding Johnny Russell's appearance on the show, Mark recalls: "Years ago, I interviewed Johnny Russell and I asked him if he remembered playing it [the North La. Hayride]. He said he sure did. He said the guy that booked him, 'Dearwood Gaythright' (that's how he pronounced it) told him 'now nobody will come in until I go out and sing a couple of songs'. Russell said there was virtually no one inside but Durwood sang and people poured in!"

Larry Monzingo, Billy Lowe, and Coy Bohannon
on stage

Although the Hayride never hit the airwaves, it was a major source of entertainment in the area and popular not only among the artists but also among the audiences. "It was a big deal. It was a step up from the Columbia County Hayride and it was a going Jessie. I played in the staff band from 1978 to 1980, then played with someone else, came back and played from 1982 to 1989. Then, after I joined the Sounds of Gold in 1990, we played there every four to six weeks until Claiborne Country opened in 1995. It was a major part of my life."

In 1972, local entrepreneur Dooley Peterson decided to built a hall for the North La. Hayride and rented it out to the show's management. Deloach retired from managing the show in the early or mid 1980s, a few years prior to his passing, and Coy Bohannon left in 1986 or early 1987, leaving Durwood Gathright as the sole manager of the show. He operated it during the show's last ten years of existence.

In 1994, a snow and ice storm damaged the roof of the show's building so much that it couldn't be used anymore. Gathright moved the North La. Hayride into the American Legion building in Minden, a little southwest of Homer. Dooley Peterson was reluctant to reconstruct the building but gave in in the end. It then featured shows known as "Claiborne Country" for some time, becoming a rival to the Hayride, which ended its run finally in 1995. The original building in Homer is abandoned nowadays.

Sources
• Thanks to Mark Keith for sharing his memories, information and photo material for this post.

Paul & Roy on Mercury

Paul & Roy, the Tennessee River Boys - Spring of Love (Mercury 6374-X45), 1952
When I first posted this record in 2012, I had no idea who the duo of Paul & Roy were. The internet was no help back then and it's still not today. This duo seems to be forgotten, although they recorded a slew of singles throughout the 1950s, the majority of them even for the big Mercury record label.

Paul & Roy were blind singer/guitarist Paul Boswell and mandolinist/singer Roy Pryor. They performed together for at least over a decade, starting likely in the late 1940s. They went on tour with Cowboy Copas through Canada around that time and it seems that they were quite cross-linked in the Nashville music scene. Philip Pryor, son of Roy Pryor, remembered so many now famous musicians that hung around with his father, it is astonishing the duo remained so obscure. Musicians like Benny Martin and Little Jimmy Dickens or radio personality/producer Noel Ball were only some of those names. Boswell also worked as a session musician.

Paul & Roy gained a recording contract with Mercury in 1951 and their first disc comprised "Every Dog Must Have His Day" b/w "You're All Alone, Tonite" (Mercury 6360). I once compared their sound to those of popular duo Johnnie & Jack, whose bluegrass-country-gospel melting was successful and influential as well. It is no surprise that Pryor and Boswell were friends with one of their brothers.

From their second release for Mercury, we feature their own composition "Spring of Love" from early 1952. This is another fine example of their sound and songwriting talent. Apart from writing most of their own material, Pryor also wrote or co-wrote songs performed by other artists. Country comedy duo Lonzo & Oscar used to sing Pryor's "Mama's on a Diet" at the Grand Ole Opry until they were told to omit the song as Pryor was not in the Musicians' Guild at that time. Pryor also co-wrote "I'll Keep Your Name on File" with George McCormick, who recorded it for MGM in 1957.

Paul & Roy continued to record for Mercury until 1953, releasing a total of six discs over two years. They would not record until 1959 when they made ties with Nashville entrepreneur called Mr. Pace, who was originally active in the pinball machine business, before starting out as a record label and publishing firm owner. Paul & Roy's two releases for Pace were two of the label's earliest releases but also remained their last sides.

Pryor and Boswell drifted into obscurity in the 1960s and only few seem to remember their recordings now. The British Archive of Country Music has released a CD in 2013 comprising their complete recorded output.

Discography
Mercury 6360: Every Dog Must Have His Day / You're All Alone, Tonite (1951)
Mercury 6374: Spring of Love / You’ve Been Cheating on Me, Darling (1952) 
Mercury 6406: Only Pretending / The Shape My Heart’s In (1952)
Mercury 70027: You Made the Break / The Way You Lied to Me (1952)
Mercury 70121: Don’t Ever Tell Me / Wicked Love (1953)
Mercury 70197: The Flower of Old Tennessee / I'm Lost Without You (1953)
Pace 1003: Meet the Lord Half Way / There Will Be No Disappointments (1959)
Pace 1004: Free, Twenty-One and Ambitious / I Wish You’d Be a Country Girl (1959)

See also

• BACM CD on Bear Family

Sources

• Thanks to Roy Pryor's son, to Paul Boswell's son and to Bob for sharing their knowledge and memories with me.

• Entries on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

Music Mountain Jamboree

Music Mountain Jamboree cast, 1980s or 1990s
From the autographs, I can only read Ron Castleberry
(possibly a relative of Hot Springs singer Leo Castleberry?)

The Music Mountain Jamboree in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was one of many, local, family-friendly music shows that were held all around the United States. Following the golden age of radio and the demise of big live stage shows that aired over radio, many smaller shows emerged. These were often operated by a single person or a family, often held at small theaters, and were not broadcast over radio. One of those later shows was the Music Mountain Jamboree in Hot Springs.

The actual founding and persons behind the shows are unclear to me. There was Ted Mullinax, entrepreneur and politician, who claims to have founded the Music Mountain Jamboree in 1982. Also, there were Tony Rex and Geraldine Crabtree from Hot Springs, a couple who also dabbled in various business affairs, who claimed to have opened the Music Mountain Jamboree. It is unclear to me at the moment, who of them were the first or if these were even separate shows.

There are several hints to artists that appeared on the Jamboree. David Ray Altom, "Granny" Messenger, Bruce Allen Smith, Ronnie Neighbors, and Ted Mullinax himself pop up as musicians that have performed on the show. The theater was located on 1555 East Grand Avenue (U.S. Highway 70) in Hot Springs.

According to Mullinax, he operated the show for two decades, which means it came to an end around 2002. If anyone has more info on the Music Mountain Jamboree or can set things straight, feel free to leave a comment!

Sources
• Obituaries for Geraldine Crabtree and Tony Rex Crabtree
• Interview and article on Ted Mullinax
• David Ray Altom obituary
• Ronnie Neighbors obituary
• Bruce Allen Smith obituary
• Granny Messenger Find a Grave entry

Jim Atkins on Coral

Jim Atkins and the Pinetoppers - I'm a Ding Dong Daddy (from Dumas) (Coral #64147), 1953
(courtesy of Western Red of If That Ain't Country podcast)

Jim Atkins' "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy (from Dumas)" is one of my all-time favorite "hot country" songs with its twangy lead guitar, fast pace, and catchy tune. There has never been a comprehensive overview of Atkins' career, so I thought I'd change this. Although Atkins had a long run in the music industry, and with his brother Chet Atkins an even more famous relative, there were likely different men of the same name active in the business and it is sometimes hard to tell them apart. Therefore, as I went deeper and deeper into Atkins' life and career, there appeared mentions of men named Jim Atkins where it is not clear if it's the same man or simply another musician of the same name.

James "Jim" Atkins was born as the oldest son of James Arlie Atkins, a Tennessee native, and grew up in Luttrell, Tennessee. He and his wife had three more children, Nancy Niona (born 1918), Lowell Sylvester (born 1921), and Chester Burton "Chet" (born 1924). It was of course Atkins' younger brother Chet, who rose to fame as a guitarist and later as a producer and music industry giant, being one of the persons making Nashville what it is today. Their parents divorced at some point and married other partners, both giving birth to several half-siblings of Jim and Chet.

While their brother Lowell lived a civilian life, operating his own electric motor repair shop in Kokomo, Indiana, for many years, "Jim was the first to 'make it' in the music business," as Chet later recalled. Jim Atkins got his start as a professional musician in the mid 1930s on Chicago's WLS station and its famed National Barn Dance. Although he started out as a country music performer - old-time or mountain music, as it was then rather called - he was no stranger to other music genres. In 1939, still being based in Chicago, Atkins teamed up with guitar maestro Les Paul and Atkins became part of Paul's jazz trio, playing rhythm guitar on Paul's nationwide network broadcasts. He later also had a radio show with another guitar legend: Leo Fender.

Probably starting in the late 1930s, Atkins was the featured vocalist with Fred Waring's dance orchestra and remained with that group for about ten years. During World War II, the orchestra performed countless war bond rallies and entertained troops across the country. In addition, Atkins was heard on Waring's Chesterfield Time radio show that was broadcast widely through different networks. In the 1940s, Atkins also had his on radio show on WNEW in New York City.

Though, Atkins returned to country music and we find Atkins recording as part of his brother Chet's group in November 1947. Two sessions were recorded for RCA-Victor that month. Atkins would accompany his brother again in September 1951 during a session in New York City. A certain Jimmy Atkins recorded for the independent Continental label in 1949. If this is the same Jim Atkins is unknown to me at the moment.

By 1954, Atkins had moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked for radio WBRC, sometimes billing himself as "Uncle" Jim Atkins and accompanied by an all female group known as the "Barnyard Sweethearts". During his time in Birmingham, Atkins wrote several songs and was part of many country music shows, playing alongside such Alabama veteran performers as Jack Turner, Hardrock Gunter, or Happy Wilson.

Previously, Atkins had signed a recording contract with Decca's subsidiary Coral Records and his first disc for the label had appeared in 1950, featuring "T-E-X-A-S" b/w "When Evening Shadows Fall" (Coral #60136). It was not until March 1953 that his next release appeared. It coupled covers of Lattie Moore's "Juke Joint Johnnie" and Jay C. Flippen's "I'm a Ding Dong Daddy (from Dumas)" (Coral #64147). Although this was "hot" music, at least for country music terms, Billboard wasn't too pleased with the performances and they passed without much notice and it became Atkins' last disc for the label.

Billboard C&W review March 7, 1953

In October 1954, Billboard reported that Atkins had become associated with Fairway Music Corporation and further, Atkins set up his own record label, Alfa Records. The first and only release comprised Atkins' recording of his own "This Doggone Fiddle" backed by "Two Ton Mama" by Tex Dixon, a singer that appeared on Atkins' radio show during this time. The record apparently sold well enough, at least in the Birmingham area, to prompt Coral to resign Atkins. In February the following year, it was announced that his recording of "That Doggone Fiddle" along with "You Can't Help Being Ugly" was scheduled for release on Coral but in the end, the release was cancelled to unknown reasons. Coral discontinued its country series that same year, which may have been a reason.

Billboard October 23, 1954

Atkins remained with WBRC in Birmingham at least until late 1955. Then, suddenly, Billboard stops to mention his name in its "Folk Talent & Tunes" column. By 1957, we find mention of Atkins working at WARF in Jasper, Alabama (just a little northwest of Birmingham). He had discovered a young singer named Hoyt Johnson, began managing him and connected Johnson with record producer Marshall Ellis in Memphis, Tennessee. Johnson went on to record for Erwin and RCA-Victor but the big success eluded this young singer. Atkins and Johnson even wrote songs together ("It's a Little More Like Heaven (Where You Are)", later recorded by Hank Locklin and, differently, by Johnny Cash as "You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven"). 

Atkins was probably also involved in bringing Tex Dixon to Marshall Ellis' attention. Dixon, an Alabama native, was part of Atkins' radio show at one time and recorded for several Memphis based labels during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. 

There was a Jim Atkins, spinning records for WAPE in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1958, who was possibly the same Jim Atkins that operated Arlingwood Records in Jacksonville. In May 1959, there appeared a Jimmy Atkins on a recording by Barry Etris on the Atlanta based Leo's label plus a certain Jimmy Atkins on the Verve label in 1967. However, I found no evidence that any of these men were the same Jim Atkins.

Atkins recorded again with brother Chet in 1958 and an album was planned to be released the following year on RCA-Victor, which didn't happen though. The recordings saw release in 1963 on a Canadian RCA Camden album entitled "The Guitar Genius", which was reissued by Sundazed eventually. The recordings were also included on Bear Family's large Chet Atkins box set.

What seems to be secure information is that Jim Atkins left the performing side of the music business but remained active with radio work. He surfaced in Denver, Colorado, in the 1960s, where he worked as program director of KOA as early as 1963. He retired in 1968 and not too long afterwards, an interesting record appeared on the Mountain of Colorado label in Denver featuring Big Jim with support by Jimmy Atkins' Hustlers. Coincidence? I'm not sure. The record seems to have been pressed around 1968/1969.

However, following his retirement, Atkins moved to Nashville in 1969 in order to work with his brother Chet again. In the spring of 1971, Jim Atkins was co-founder of FAME, "Famous American Musicians and Educators, Inc.", a company dealing with music education that introduced a special guitar teaching system. While Chet served as a chairman, Jim Atkins was named vice president of the company. The company lasted at least until 1973 and one of the last mentions we find of Jim Atkins is from October 1974, when Billboard reported that Atkins had appeared on the "Sunday Down South" show in Nashville. In March 1975, the Country Music Hall of Fame conducted an interview with Atkins, speaking about his career in music.

Jim Atkins died on January 6, 1977, from a heart attack while visiting his son in Denver. He was 64 years old. 

Discography

This discography shows records credited to "Jim Atkins" or "Jimmy Atkins". However, it is not assured that all of them are by the same artist. 

Continental C-1253: Scotty MacGregor - It's Santa Claus / Jimmy Atkins - Auld Lang Syne (1949)
Continental C-5115: Jimmy Atkins - An Old Christmas Card / Auld Lang Syne (1949)
Continental 11002: Jimmy Atkins with the Billy Mure Trio - (The Gang That Sang) Heart Of My Heart / On the Old Spanish Trail
Continental 11005: Jimmy Atkins - Engagement Waltz / One Raindrop Doesn't Make a Shower
Rainbow 50022: Jimmy Atkins - You Can't Take It with You / Gone Fishin' (1950)
Coral 60136: Jimmy Atkins with the Mullen Sisters - T-E-X-A-S / When Evening Shadows Fall (1950)
Coral 64147: Jim Atkins and the Pinetoppers - Juke Joint Johnny / I'm a Ding Dong Daddy (from Dumas) (1953) (also released in Canada)
Alfa 102/2: Jim Atkins and Dixie Range Riders - This Doggone Fiddle / Tex Dixon and Dixie Rangers - Two Ton Mama (1954)
Leo's 20011/2: Barry Etris / Jimmy Atkins - guitar, Uncle John Patterson, guitar - I've Met My One and Only / Faded Rose (1959)
Verve VK-10528: Jimmy Atkins with Johnny Smith Quartet - Land of the Velvet Hills / Shenandoah (1967)
Mountain of Colorado 1050: Big Jim with Jimmy Atkins & the Hustlers - Sunset Horizon / One Mistake Too Late (1968/1969)

Recommended reading

• Country Music Hall of Fame

Sources

• Secondhand Songs

• Discogs entry

• Hilllbilly-Music.com entry

• Hoyt Johnson biography on Blackcat Rockabilly Europe
• various entries on 45cat and 45worlds/78rpm

• Adam Komorowski: "From Boppin' Hillbilly to Red Hot Rockabilly" (2006), liner notes, Proper Records
• The Tennessean: "Jim Atkins, 64, Brother of Chet Atkins, Dies" (January 7, 1977)

• Unknown author: "The Guitar Genius" (1963), liner notes, RCA Camden Records

Roy Acuff on Capitol

Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys - Whoa Mule (Capitol F2738), 1954

We won't go into detail on Roy Acuff's career and biography as well as his efforts in and importance for country music's history. Rightfully, he is known as "The King of Country Music". Between 1953 and 1955, Acuff's recordings were released by Capitol, the only major label based on the west coast, and Acuff's name and rather old-fashioned style of country music is not really associated with this label. However, he recorded numerous sides for the label in Nashville, beginning in February 1953.

Billboard February 28, 1954

"Whoa Mule" comes from Acuff's December 2, 1953, Capitol session, which took place at the Tulane Hotel in Nashville. He was accompanied that day by Lonnie Wilson and Jess Easterday on guitars, Brother Oswald on banjo/dobro/vocals, Howdy Forrester on fiddle, Jimmy Riddle on harmonica, and Joseph "Joe" Zinkan on bass. Capitol released it with "Rushing Around" from the same session on #F2738 in February 1954. By then, Acuff's days as a hit maker were gone but nevertheless, his discs still must have sold decently, as he recorded steadily during the 1950s and Capitol even promoted this particular discs with ads in Billboard. The song was also included in Capitol's album of Acuff recordings "The Voice of Country Music" (1965) and even had seen release previously in Germany on a Capitol EP in 1963.

"Whoa Mule" is a traditional song/tune known throughout the whole south, mid-western states and even southwestern states. Many artists have recorded it since the 1920s, the first being Riley Puckett's version for Columbia from September 1924. Since then, countless versions have appeared and "Whoa Mule" also made the transition from an old-time tune into bluegrass band repertoire. It is also known as "Kickin' Mule", "Buckin' Mule" or "Johnson's Old Grey Mule".

Recordings
The following list contains historical recordings which I chose to include here. The list is incomplete - additions are appreciated.

• Riley Puckett, Whoa Mule (Columbia #15040-D, Silvertone #3258, Harmony #5147-H), rec. September 11, 1924, rel. October 1925 (Columbia), 1926 (Silvertone, as Fred Wilson)
• Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, Whoa, Mule (Brunswick #2811, Silvertone #3050), rec. November 21, 1924, rel. March 1925 (Brunswick), rel. 1926 (Silvertone)
• The Hill Billies, Whoa! Mule (OKeh 40376), rec. January 1925, rel. June 1925
• Chubby Parker, Whoa Mule Whoa (Gennett #6120, Champion #15260, Silvertone #5011, #25011, Supertone #9189), rec. April 11, 1927, rel. June 1927 (Gennett)
• Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, Whoa, Mule (Brunswick #179), rel. 1927
• Leonard G. Fulwider, Whoa, Mule, Whoa (Victor #V-40270), rel. July 1930
• Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, Whoa, Mule, Whoa (Bluebird #B-5591), rel. August 1934
• Al Clauser & his Oklahoma Outlaws, Whoa, Mule, Whoa (Melotone #7-08-63), rel. August 1937

• Hinson, Pitts and Coley, Whoa, Mule, Whoa (Bluebird #B-7438), rec. January 24, 1938, rel. February 1938
• Prairie Sweethearts, Whoah Mule Whoah (Silvertone acetate), rec. January 17, 1942

• Dickie Goodman, Whoa Mule (Rori -R-601), rel. September 1961
• The Bootleggers, Whoa, Mule (Autogram AEP 173 [Germany]), rel. 1971
• Gwyn Biddix & Toe River Valley Boys, Whoa Mule Whoa (Mayland #MA 006), rel. 1973
• Stonecreek, Whoa Mule (Ca Va #S261 [UK]), rel. 1978
• Narvis Reptile, Whoa Mule Whoa (Thrust #RUFF 4 [UK]), rel. July 1982
• Rosebud Band, Whoa Mule Whoa (Blackvinyl #BV-414), unknown date

Sources
• 45cat entry

• various further entries on 45worlds/78rpm and 45cat on "Whoa Mule" recordings
• Traditional Tune Archive
• Secondhand Songs (more versions)
• Praguefrank's Country Music Discography entry

Hank Smith on Gilmar

Hank Smith / The Nashville Playboys - Heartbreak Hotel (Gilmar RX 120), 1956

How George Jones Became Starday's Elvis

By 1956, George Jones had landed his first hit in the country music charts, "Why Baby Why", and was Starday Records' rising star. He had recorded for the label since early 1954 but was still building his career. At the same time, rockabilly and rock'n'roll were taking America's music scene by storm. However, Starday had been mainly a country music label and Jones a country boy at heart as his producer and Starday co-owner Pappy Daily was. Though, Daily recognized the potential rock'n'roll was bearing, especially sales-wise.

In 1956, Dixie Records was introduced as a subsidiary of Starday and eventually served for custom recordings, potential original material and, beginning in January 1956, as a mail-order budget soundalike label. Daily coaxed several of his Starday recording artists into the idea of recording covers of the hits of the day, mostly country music but also some rockabilly songs. Jones was no exception and called into the studio. Short of money, he agreed to throw himself into a cover of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", which was released in late January 1956 and became an instant #1 rock'n'roll hit. Jones cut the song shortly afterwards, in March, at Gold Star Studio in Houston, Texas, and his version bears some raw power, much more primitive and energetic than Presley's original, with great support by Starday house musicians Doc Lewis on piano, Hezzie Bryant on thumping bass, and Hal Harris performing an aggressive lead guitar solo.

The recording first saw release on Dixie EP #502 (as an edited, shorter version) under the name of "Thumper" Jones. To say Jones didn't like to record rock'n'roll would be an understatement - he hated it. That's why Daily came up with the name "Thumper" - in order to hide Jones' real identity. Other songs from that EP were credited to Thumper Jones, too: "Blue Suede Shoes", which was in fact recorded by Leon Payne, and "Folsom Prison Blues", which had been cut by Benny Barnes. The longer version of "Heartbreak Hotel" was eventually leased to other budget companies and therefore appeared on a plethora of labels, including Tops, Gilmar, Record-Of-The-Month-Club, and probably some more.

Daily encouraged Jones to cut his own rockabilly songs and shortly after the session for Dixie took place, Jones was back at Gold Star in March to lay down "Rock It" and "How Come It", which were released in May 1956 on Starday #240 (again credited to "Thumper" Jones). These powerful rockabilly performances later became favorites among rock'n'roll music fans but remained a dark spot for Jones and didn't sell well back then, mainly because Starday, which was strictly a country label, didn't know how to promote it properly.

George Jones promo picture, late 1950s

Although Jones never recorded songs as frantic as his rockabilly performances for Starday, he cut a slew of other rockabilly songs that, in some cases, even cracked the charts. He did more sessions for Dixie that produced cover versions, including a rendition of Johnny Horton's rockabilly hit "I'm a One-Woman Man", and later cut rockabilly for Mercury, such as "White Lightning" (a #1 hit for Jones) or "Who Shot Sam" (#7).

In later years, Jones used to dismiss his 1950s rockabilly recordings and rumour goes that he cracked a copy of Starday #240 a fan handed him to sign. The songs, however, are still in circulation on countless rockabilly compilations and several reissues that gather Jones' rockabilly songs.

Sources

• Hank Smith entry on 45cat

• Dixie Records on 45cat

• George Jones Rockin' Country Style entry

• Starday Rockin' Country Style entry

• Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies entry

• Nathan D. Gibson: "The Starday Story - The House That Country Music Built" (University Press of Mississippi), 2011, page 34-36

Paul Howard

Paul Howard and his Arkansas Cotton PickersWestern Swing's Forgotten Visionary

Paul Howard's name, largely forgotten today and only remembered by hardcore western swing fans, should be listed in the Country Music Hall of Fame but unfortunately is not. His band, the Arkansas Cotton Pickers, was the first western swing orchestra to appear regularly at the Grand Ole Opry and brought the swinging, modern sounds to the Opy's listeners. The management of the show was as conservative as it gets, ignoring trends and changing styles in country music largely but Howard was given a spot nevertheless. Many musicians passed through his band - and some of them would develop into the genre's leading session musicians.

Paul Jackson Howard was born on July 10, 1908, on a farm near Midland, Arkansas, a small town not for away from the Fort Smith metropolitan area. Although raised on traditional old-time music and a fan of Jimmie Rodgers' blues drenched version of it, Howard was one of the first rural musicians to welcome the swinging sounds of western swing that came out of Texas in the 1930s. Jon Hartley Fox called Howard a "music visionary" in his book "King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records". Howard became not only a great fan of Bob Wills but also called him a friend eventually.

At age fifteen, Howard ran away from home and moved in with his sister in Kansas. For the next two years, he worked as a construction worker in Kansas, as a coal miner in Oklohoma and finally as a copper miner in Arizona. It was in Bisbee, Arizona, where he met a black man who taught him the first chords on the guitar. This led Howard to becoming seriously interested in music and he bought a guitar and an instruction book soon after. He started out as a performer in 1931, being heard on KOY in Phoenix, Arizona. However, he returned to Oklahoma in 1933 to work as a coal miner again to earn a living. Music was still on his mind and he soon landed a steady job with a movie theater in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he performed as a Jimmie Rodgers clone during intermissions and after the movies had ended.

Billboard July 20, 1946

Following his engagement in Fort Smith, Howard hit the road, working as a traveling salesman and a radio performer at once. In 1940, he stopped in Nashville and auditioned for George D. Hay and Jack Stapps, program director of WSM, and as a result, was given not only a spot on WSM but also on the Grand Ole Opry. He was still a solo singer at that time, which likely appealed to the conservative Opry management better than a large country dance band. At that time, the Opry had become the leading country music radio show in the United States and became manifest by the early 1940s. In 1941, Howard founded a band, the "Arkansas Cotton Pickers", which became probably the first western swing outfit that regularly played the Opry and featured as much as ten musicians at some point.

During the 1940s, many musicians that later became top names in Nashville went through the Arkansas Cotton Pickers. Guitarists Billy Byrd, Hank Garland and Grady Martin, bassist Bob Moore, steel guitarists Little Roy Wiggins and Sunny Albright, vocalist Nita Lynn - all of them and many more excellent musicians performed with Howard's band and gathered important experiences.

Billboard March 2, 1946

Howard remained the only western swing act during the 1940s' Opry and became a favorite with the listeners, though he began recording not until 1946 for the independent Liberty label from North Hollywood. The session took place in early 1946 and apart from Arkansas Cotton Pickers mainstays like Jabbo Arlington (guitar), also featured a young Billy Byrd and Owen Bradley on piano. "(You Left) A Red Cross on My Heart" b/w "I've Been Lonesome Since You Went Away" (Liberty #6) were two songs Howard later re-released by King Records.

The Liberty release brought Howard to the attention of Columbia Records and his first release for the label appeared at the tail end of 1946, "Oklahoma City" b/w "Somebody Else's Trouble" (Columbia #37204). Over a stretch of two years, Columbia released a total of six singles but none of them became a national hit. In 1949, Howard signed with King and recorded another ten songs for the label from Cincinnati, although these releases did not sell better either.

In 1949, while still recording for King but frustrated with the situation, Howard decided it needed a change and moved from Nashville to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he became a steady member of the Louisiana Hayride, the Opry's competitor that was much more open for modern and innovative country music sounds. His last recording session took place in Shreveport at radio KWKH, which was released on King. Howard stayed with the Hayride until around 1951 but could not find success there either.

Billboard March 2, 1957

During these years, Howard and his band toured extensively through Louisiana, Texas, as well as Arkansas and could be heard over different radio stations. In 1956, he went into promotion, though he continued as a performer as well. He returned to Arkansas, where he fronted a band and toured the state during the 1950s and 1960s. He disbanded his band in 1973 and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1981, where he continued to book shows and to work with with a bluegrass band. He also returned to Nashville once a year for the Old Timers show and was also a member of the Country Music Association.

Paul Howard died June 19, 1984, in Little Rock, Arkansas, of heart failure. He was 75 years old. That same year, German Cattle Records released an LP with a collection of his recordings. Two CDs followed in 2010 on the TRG label and in 2013 by the British Archive of Country Music.

Sources
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• 45worlds.com/78rpm entry
• SecondHandSongs
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Entry at Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies
• Steel Guitar Forum
• Find a Grave entry
• Jon Hartley Fox: "King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records" (University of Illinois Press), 2020, pages 80-81
• Max M. Cole: "Western Swing at its Best" (liner notes), Cattle LP 57

Sources for Arkansas Cotton Pickers members
• Sunny Allbright
• Jimmy Byrd
• Bob Moore
• Nita Lynn
• Little Roy Wiggins
• Grady Martin
• Hank Garland
• Rollin Sullivan