Southern Folklife Collection transcription discs, 1940-1968.

Wills, Bob, 1905-1975

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James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade Cooley self-promoted the moniker "King of Western Swing" from 1942 to 1969). He was also noted for punctuating his music with his trademark "ah-haa" calls. Wills formed several bands and played radio stations around the South and West until he forme...

Autry, Gene, 1907-1998

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Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League Baseball team from 19...

Arnold, Eddy, 1918-2008

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Country music performer. Born May 15, 1918. Career active 1940s-1980s. Joined Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys as a featured singer in 1940. Began a solo career in 1943. Career record sales number in the millions. Notable hits include "Bouquet of Roses" (1948), "Cattle Call" (1955), "What's He Doing in My World" (1965), and "Make the World Go Away" (1965). Member, Country Music Hall of Fame. From the description of Oral history interview with Eddy Arnold; 2000 September 12; intervi...

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

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Duke Ellington (b. Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, Washington, DC–d. May 24, 1974, New York, NY) was a composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader. He began piano lessons at 7 and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag", in 1914. Ellington became a more serious piano student as a teenager after hearing poolroom pianists in Washington, DC. Ellington moved to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s. He began a regular booking at the Cott...

United States. Armed Forces Radio Service

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The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) was an agency created in 1942 by the United States government to produce radio shows for broadcast to troops fighting overseas in World War II. Created mainly by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee, the AFRS produced and aired a wide variety of programs - comedy, informational, and dramatic programs, among others. The AFRS also aired edited versions of popular commercial radio programs. The service was first centered in New York, but soon...

Dean, Jimmy

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Wells, Kitty, 1919-2012

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Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossov...

Atkins, Chet, 1924-2001

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Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang. Atkins's signature picking style was inspired by Merle Travis. Other major guitar influenc...

King, Pee Wee, 1914-2000

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Country music performer, bandleader, and songwriter. Born February 18, 1914. Died March 7, 2000. Real name: Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski. Career active late 1930s-1960s. Bandleader of the Golden West Cowboys, a popular Grand Old Opry act during the late 1930s-1940s. His songwriting credits include "Tennessee Waltz," and "Slow Poke." Star of ABC Television's The Pee Wee King Show during the late 1950s. Member, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Member, Country Music Hall of Fame. F...

Robison, Carson.

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Williams, Tex, 1924-2008.

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Cash, June Carter, 1929-2003

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Dean, Eddie, 1907-1999

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Western singer and film star. Born July 9, 1907. Died March 4, 1999. Real name: Edgar Glosup. Career most active 1930s-1950s. Stage performer, songwriter, recording artist, and motion picture "singing cowboy." Appeared on the WLS National Barn Dance during the 1930s, and on Town Hall Party during the 1950s. Songwriting credits include "On the Banks of the Sunny San Juan," "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)," and "I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven." From the description of Oral h...

Cooley, Spade, 1910-1969

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Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the April 1961 murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans. On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to parole Cooley on February 22, 1970. He had served less than nine years of a life sentence and was in poor health from heart tro...

Hawkins, Hawkshaw, 1921-1963

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Prairie Ramblers

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Riders of the Purple Sage

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Smith, Carl, 1927-2010

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Carl Milton Smith (March 15, 1927 – January 16, 2010) was an American country singer. Known as "Mister Country", he was one of the genre's most successful male artists during the 1950s, scoring 30 top-10 Billboard hits (21 of which were consecutive). Smith's success continued well into the 1970s, when he had a charting single every year but one. In 1952, Smith married June Carter, with whom he had daughter Carlene, the couple divorced in 1956. His eldest daughter Carlene was also the stepdaughte...

Cass County Boys (Musical group)

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Uncle Henry's Original Kentucky Mountaineers.

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Penny, Hank

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Sons of the Pioneers

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The Sons of the Pioneers was one of the leading vocal and instrumental groups in Western music. They were especially known for their harmonies, songwriting, and musicianship. In addition to their creative success, the Pioneers were among the longest lasting groups in the history of country music, celebrating 65 years of continuous performances in 1998. Over the years, the members of the group included Pat Brady, Ken Carson, Ken Curtis, Tommy Doss, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, Shug Fisher, Luther Nallie...

Keene, Hank

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Texas Playboys

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Bond, Johnny, 1915-1978

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Country & western performer. Born June 1, 1915. Died June 12, 1978. Real name: Cyrus Whitfield Bond. Successful songwriter, radio and television performer, and recording artist. Career most active 1940s and 1950s. Wrote "Cimarron" in 1938. Popular cast member of the Melody Ranch radio show and the Town Hall Party television show. Member, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Member, Country Music Hall of Fame. From the description of Oral history interview with Johnny Bond; 1968 Ju...

Ford, Tennessee Ernie, 1919-1991

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Ernest Jennings Ford was born on Feb. 13, 1919 in Bristol, TN; attended Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, 1939; became a headliner at the London Palladium, beginning in 1953; hosted The Tennessee Ernie Ford television show, 1955-61, and later had a daytime television program, 1962-65; as a singer, was a recording artist for Capitol Records, 1949-76; received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1984; inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990; died on Oct. 17, 1991. From the ...

Lewis, Texas Jim

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Harmoneers Quartet

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Husky, Ferlin

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Desmond, Johnny

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