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WESTERN SWING BANDS | A HISTORY |
It was "Spade" Cooley who, in the early 1940's, coined the term 'Western
Swing'. Before that, the music had been called everything from 'Hillbilly'
(a definite misnomer) to 'Texas Swing' (more correct). "Spade" had
everything going for him. He owned a 20 acre 'ranch' on Ventura Boulevard
in Los Angeles, a 15 million dollar fortune (in 1961), America's largest
Swing band, the longest running Television show, and he was probably the
most popular entertainer west of the Mississippi River. In 1961, it all ended for
"Spade" when he forced his young daughter, Melody, to watch as he murdered his
second wife (Ella Mae Evans) because he thought she was having an affair
with cowboy film star Roy Rogers. Eight years later, he died of a coronary
while still in prison (after being on release to play for a Sheriff's benefit
concert). During the heyday of Western Swing, there were thousands of bands
playing all over the West. Yet it was only a handful of bands, playing
predominantly in southern Oklahoma and Northeastern Texas that had formed
the 'genre'.
For most people, the word 'Swing' evokes memories of the great Big Bands
that played all over America in the late 1930's to 1950s. But to millions
of Americans, there was still another 'Swing'. 'Western Swing' was played in
the roadhouses, county fairs and dancehalls of small towns throughout the
Lower Great Plains. (Here's a photograph of such a typical rural dancehall.)
The music was strictly for dancing, and included mostly the simpler one and two step dances with quite a few foxtrots along with
both "cowboy" and "Mexican" waltzes. Vocals were handled by a group of the
sidemen, and most often was the leader's job. In fact, the popularity of
the Leader/singer usually determined the band's success. These local bands
could play the same music that the big bands were playing, but because of
the smaller instrumentation, and "local style", the music had a different
"feel", it wasn't a Big Band sound, it was much more ensemble playing,
often with guitar, or violin predominating. The folks who came to the
roadhouses were of course, all the 'locals', - everyone knew everyone else,
and their ages ran from the young folks to the old-timers, friends and
neighbors, husbands and wives, all could spend some time listening,
drinking and dancing the weekend nights away.
'String Bands' fathered the music which we now call Western Swing. It
originated in the Texas and Oklahoma lower Great Plains area. These early
String Bands often consisted of just a Mandolin, Banjo, a standard 6-string
Guitar, and a 4-string "tenor guitar" (a Baritone Ukulele - still popular in
the Southwest and in Mexico). By and large, the music (in a European
style) consisted of just instrumental "breakdowns" because vocalists could
not be heard clearly above the noise (microphones were not yet in wide
use). Folks who were either too poor to afford Dance Hall admissions, or
too far away from one, would hold weekly "house" parties where local bands
performed (very much like the "rent" parties of the 'Jazz Age' generation
in Chicago). They would roll up the rug, throw some cornmeal on the living
room floor, and invite every neighbor they knew, for a weekend-long party.
There were no admission charges, it was simply a form of low cost
entertainment.
The Southwest population consisted of a good sprinkling of German
Irish, English, and many French emigres. The music was representative of
an area's ethnic and economic background. At first, the songs and the
"Hot Licks" were passed along between just the neighborhood musicians. Even
the early radio and recording industry contributed to the "localization" of
the music. The recording company executives felt that playing records on
the air would hurt their sales. And so, during radio's golden era, much of
the music played was by live bands in the radio studios. Since the music was
heard only by people in the station's listening area, the region's musical
identity was thus codified. Later, mass marketing of Records and newer
radio broadcasting made the music and styles of all areas available to
musicians all over the West.
So we can say that continuing from the early and mid-1920s on, the music
which probably best reflected the local ethnicity, slowly began to resemble
first "Country" music, and finally mirrored the music that the Big Bands
were playing. It differed from the Big Bands in that the instrumentation
was not the same, and the style was more ensemble playing for the simpler 1
and 2 step dances. Following this same pattern, Western Swing would later
have elements of Bop and then Rock and Roll. The Western Swing we know
today evolved from this breaking down, via Records and Radio, of "Regional
Area only" entertainment.
There was a curious dichotomy to this new age of Recordings. On one hand,
it broke the racial, religious, and social barriers that had existed. But,
due to marketing techniques, new "artificial" boundaries were created.
Recording company executives felt that 'markets' existed for 'specialized'
music forms, and so, 'Race Records' (for Black listeners), 'Hillbilly'
records, and 'Western Swing' were newly formed market niches. There was an
unfortunate aspect to all this. Folks who didn't consider themselves to be
Black, or Hillbillies or Westerners tended to avoid buying such records.
Because of this, Western Swing never become very popular in the sophisticated
East Coast markets, but was. indeed, extremely popular throughout the West and
West Coast.
Probably the best known of the early Western Swing bands were Milton Brown
and his Brownies, and Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, but there were
hundreds more who managed to achieve a modicum of fame even if in just
their own regional area. In time, many of the 'old timers' died, but
Western Swing would survive. Some of Wills' sidemen, such as his guitarists
Tiny Moore and Eldon Shamblin, along with his fiddler Johnny Gimble,
continued the Western Swing tradition inspiring future generations. There
were such rock-era bands as 'Commander Coty's Lost Planet Airman'; Alvan
Crow's 'Pleasant Valley Boys', and 'Asleep At The Wheel'. In addition,
there was a great deal of "cross-over" performances. From the Jazz
world, Stan Kenton recorded with Tex Ritter, while Charlie "Yardbird" Parker
jammed with Ray Price's 'Cherokee Cowboys'. Jazz vibrophonist Gary Burton
and Bassist Steve Swallow went into RCA's Nashville recording studios. It
worked in reverse too. Such well known Jazzmen as Hank Garland and drummer
Joe Morello had their early band training with Paul Howard's Arkansas
Cotton Pickers. Other examples are Benny Golson's Killer Joe coming out of
Gimble and The Nashville Pickers; Vassar Clements cut two albums of
'Hillbilly Jazz', and Roy Clark formed his own big band.
Any listing of Western Swing, must include such bands as:
The 1950's were a very historical moment. A gap began to form between the generations. The Rock and Rollers wanted nothing to do with the musicians that had preceeded them. (A palpable sign of ignorance). 1951 saw the creation of a group called Bill Haley and The Saddlemen, which later became Bill Haley and The Comets. Still, Western Swing's influence was felt in the popular recordings of the day. In the 1960's, the acoustic folk music movement and 'Rockabilly' groups such as 'The Stray Cats' kept Western Swing alive. In the 1970's, there was still another resurgence of Western Swing. Austin, Texax became a major music center where the music of Bob Wills and Milton Brown was continued by men such as Willie Nelson (b.1933, Abbot. TX) and Waylon Jennings. The Austin scene is alive and well thanks to the annual 'South by Southwest' music festival. In the late 1980's, the band 'Asleep At The Wheel' (an earlier 1970's success) became hugely successful due to their Austin City Limits TV show, on which the band played the great Western Swing tunes, often featuring the old-timers of Western Swing. Today, the name 'Western Swing' still evokes nostalgic images of Cowboys with Fiddles, steel guitars, and Drums touring the countryside in buses and vans. Still, even though that era has ended, the influences of those early musicians can still be heard in today's Country and Pop music. And the Beat Goes On.
[ The Light Crust Doughboys ]
In the late 1920's, Barty Brown and his two sons, Milton and Derwood would often entertain their Fort Worth neighbors. It was Brown's first band, 'The Aladdin Laddies', that became the "Light Crust Doughboys". The 'Doughboys', a string band, formed in 1930, first consisted of Bob Wills (violin); Truett Kimzey (their announcer); Milton Brown (vocals), and Herman Arnspiger (guitar). The history of this band is inextricably bound up with the person of W. "Pappy" Lee O'Daniel (1890-1969). O'Daniels had been elected to the board of directors for Burris Mills Flours and he conceived the thought of sponsoring the band on a local radio station as a means of increasing the firm's sales of flour. O'Daniels' interest in the group was life-long. It lasted though the band's early years to his ownership of his own Flour Company, and on into his becoming Governor of Texas. Texans loved the Doughboys, and this admiration for the band rubbed off onto "Pappy" O'Daniels. They saw him as an entrepreneur who really cared for the 'common man'. O'Daniels later used this admiration to help him win the Texas Governorship. But the Public's image of O'Daniels as an entrepreneur who could be trusted by the 'common' folk, was quite different from reality. O'Daniels kept the Doughboys salaries below the poverty line, and was not at all liked by the bandsmen. The band was 'officially' formed in 1930, and O'Daniels placed them on local station KFJZ. It is safe to say that Milton Brown's vocalizing made the band an instant success. So, O'Daniels' bet that the band's popularity would increase Burris Flour sales had paid off. He then changed Radio Stations, going from KFJZ to KTAT, where O'Daniels secured the band's announcer job for himself, dismissing Truett Kimzey. Except for Brown's singing, no member of the band was permitted to speak 'on air', - just O'Daniels. Milton Brown, the band's talented singer, contributed greatly to the band's early success. He even brought in his (underage) younger brother Derwood as an unpaid guitarist. In 1932, he asked Pappy O'Daniels for a raise, or failing that to pay Derwood a salary. O'Daniels refused forcing Brown to resign. Milton and Derwood left the "Doughboys"; formed another band, and returned to KFJZ, where they became a powerful competitor to the Doughboys. O'Daniels brought in Tommy Duncan as Brown's replacement singer. The band's style now changed drastically. Bob Wills (1905-1975) started doing some comedic routines in between band numbers. He was a real crowd pleaser and a rivalry (decades long) between him and O'Daniels ensued (eventually landing them both in court). Duncan's singing (similar in style to Jimmy Rodgers - "The Blue Yodeler") was also very well received by the public. Eventually, Wills, and later, Hank Thompson also left and formed their own bands. The orchestras of Milton Brown and Bob Wills were the first 'Western Swing' bands. They set the patterns that others would follow. And O'Daniels became popular enough to become Governor of Texas. Another, later, member of the Doughboys, Hank Thompson, would form his own popular band and carry the tradition forward. [ The Southern Melody Boys ]
[ Milton Brown and his Brownies ]
Brown's pianist was Fred "Papa" Calhoun (b. Chico, TX, 1904) who was originally a drummer with his own 16 piece Jazz and Dance band. Calhoun switched to piano when the pianist left town. Calhoun loved the music of Earl "Fatha" Hines and listened incessantly to Hines' records. The band's bass player was Wanna Coffman. Originally, a baritone Uke (tenor guitar) player, he was surprised when Brown asked him to play the Bass Fiddle. It was only after Coffman realized that the 4 strong Tenor guitar and 4 string Bass Fiddle both share the same tunings did he agree. After months of practicing his "slaps", often with bleeding fingers, Coffman became a competent, and for Western string bands, innovative Bassist. But the best known of Brown's innovations was the use of the Lap Steel Guitar. He brought Bob Dunn into the band. Bob had invented the instrument, and was it finest player. Bob had a real passion for both the instrument and for booze. But, in later years he settled down, owned his own music shop in Houston, TX, and even received a degree in Music from the university. The band also began to feature Twin Fiddles (dueling fiddles), as did other Western Swing bands including The Tune Wranglers and The Southern Melody Boys. Near the end of his life, Brown's 18 year-old wife bore him a son, Buster. Just before his death, in a car crash in 1936, she divorced him, but kept his name for the rest of her life, even though she was to remarry several times (including twice to Bob Wills). At Brown's funeral, there were 3000 cars following the hearse in the cortege.
The 1934 'Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies' consisted of:
[ The High Flyers ]
The founding group consisted of Al Stricklen (who died Oct. 15, 1986, Cleburne, TX) piano; Elmer Scarborough, banjo/tenor guitar; Willie Wells, bass, guitar and vocals; Fred Dean on guitar; and Ocie Stockard on banjo. (Ocie later left to join the Brownies), In time, the band added Hardy "Jiggs" Harvey on sax, Homer Kinnard on drums, kpat Trotter on fiddle, and Landon Beaver who took over the piano chores when Stricklen joined Bob Wills band. During their first full year together, they played on Dallas radio KFJZ. Pianist Al Strictlen has said that the station put them on the air 3 times a day under different names, while at night, the band played the Cinderella Roof. In June 1937, they cut 7 records. Of the 14 sides, two were a Trio version of the band, and 5 were instrumentals. One of the sides was their hit "A Little Green Mill". Later that year, the group disbanded. Scarborough and Wells went to work for the famous Mexican radio station XEPN. In 1938, they did some recording as a "Pickup Group" but did actually reform, the next year in 1939 as a true band, making Oklahoma City and radio station KOMA their new home. In 1940, Western Swing was at it's peak of popularity. The High Flyers had helped to shape that sound, and remained instrumental in keeping the sound alive. Also in 1940, the band had another innovation. They had attached a microphone to the Mandolin. This was one of the earliest known 'electric' mandolins. But the advent of WWII ended this band, and so many others. [ The Tune Wranglers ], ca, 1935
Here's a photograph of the Tune Wranglers, near their beginnings in 1935 when Leader/singer/songwriter Buster Coward, Tom Dickey (fiddle); Charlie Gregg (bass), and Eddie Fielding (banjo) began touring the small towns of Northeast Texas. By 1936, they were recording for Bluebird Records (Feb. 27 & 28 - with their first big hit "Texas Sand") and playing regularly on San Antonio radio station WOAI. And, here's another view of the Wranglers. During the summer of 1936, Eddie Duncan, a steel guitar player and vocalist, joined the band as did pianist George Timberlake (replacing pianist Eddie Whitley who had gone over to Jimmy Revard and His Oklahoma Playboys). Duncan sang the 'Pop' tunes while leader Buster Coward handled the 'Blues' vocals. It's interesting to note that there was quite a bit of 'crossover' between the Tune Wranglers and Revard's Playboys. Eddie Whitely left the Wranglers to do the vocal honors on early Revard recordings, and when he left Revard to return to the Tune Wranglers, Curly Williams, who in turn had been recruited into the Tune Wranglers by Whitley, switched places with him taking over the vocal duties with Revard. (Art Francis - one time member of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra - also joined Revard as the pianist.) He was later replaced by another ex-Tune Wrangler, George Timberlake. Another interchange between the two bands saw Revard's fiddler, Ben McKay, replaced by Wrangler Leonard Seago. On October 24, 1936, they had their second recording session (cutting 16 sides and their 2nd big hit "The One Rose In My Heart"). In early 1937, they had their 3rd recording session, cutting 12 sides. In October of 1938, the band had it's final recording sessions, cutting - of all things - mostly Hawaiian numbers including "Hawaiian Honeymoon". Among the sidemen in the band at that time were Leonard Seago and Noah Hatley who handled the "dueling fiddles". The twins Neal (banjo) and Beal (reeds) added their own unique sounds to the band. One source (Rural Radio Magazine - May 1938) reported that the band was visiting over 200 different small towns, and traveling over 100,000 miles yearly. During the following two years,Tom Dickey died, and Bill Dickey retired to Kingland, Texas. Charlie Poss, went on to play piano for Adolph Hofner, in San Antonio. They disbanded, in common with most other bands, with the advent of World War 11, they disbanded. In private coorespondence, Ms Janelle Coker has advised us that her grandfather (her mother's dad):
Another of Ms Coker's wonderful memories was,
[ Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys ]
It was Wills and Brown who really set the pace in the early going. When Wills started his 13 piece band in the 1930's it was radical -a "Western" band with horns and drums! The musicians union in Tulsa, Oklahoma once refused to accept Bob Wills' players for membership on the basis that what they played wasn't music and, therefore, they weren't musicians. During his many recording sessions, he laid down such diverse tunes as Handy's "St. Louis Blues"; his own "Osage Stomp"; "Basin Street Blues"; "Trouble in Mind", the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Bluin' The Blues", and even "Mexicali Rose". He even had several hits on the 'Pop' Charts before becoming paralyzed from a cerebral Stroke. Nevertheless, he continued on with his career (from a wheelchair), and continued recording until 1973. In 1975, he suffered another, and this time fatal, stroke. Bob Wills was often called the 'King of Western Swing', but it should be noted that the title first belonged to Spade Cooley, and only went to Wills on Cooley's death. Originally the band was called 'Bob Wills and His Playboys', but Jimmy Revard, whose own group was called, Jimmy Revard and the Oklahoma Playboys, convinced Wills to rename his group the "The Texas Playboys". He was born on a small farm near Kosse, Limestone County, Texas. On the day Bob was born, his dad (a champion fiddler) is reputed to have said, "I'll make a fiddler out of you, son", and he did. By the time Bob was ten, he was playing guitar and mandolin accompaniment for his father, - even filling in for him at times. Wills left home at age sixteen and supported himself by doing everything from picking cotton to preaching, -with the fiddle always at his side. In 1931, he was part of a band that found success as 'The Light Crust Doughboys'. But by the next year, a rift developed between Wills and the band's sponsor, - W. Lee O'Daniel, who ran the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company (and eventually became governor of Texas). The break, when it came, was bitter, and O'Daniel eventually drove Wills out of Texas to Tulsa, OK. There Bob formed his 'Bob Wills and His Playboys' and continued to develop the music that became known as Western Swing. With vocals by Tommy Duncan and "hollers" by the cigar-chomping Wills, the Playboys (later called The Texas Playboys) combined jazz and stringband elements into danceable fun like "Take Me Back To Tulsa," "Right Or Wrong," "Bubbles In My Beer" and perhaps his biggest hit, "San Antonio Rose." Married and divorced five times between 1935 and 1942, Wills himself was
larger than life. Over the years, The Texas Playboys had: many different
versions (some as large as 22 men); hired more than six hundred musicians;
introduced more than five hundred songs, and had a repertoire of thirty-six
hundred tunes. They were seen in the movies and their records sold more
than twenty million copies. Still, on October 18, 1968 when Tex Ritter and
Roy Acuff announced his name as the newest member of the Hall of Fame,
Wills was not in his seat. He figured he was such a long shot to win the
honor that he was backstage chatting with his buddies. Felled by a series
of strokes, Wills died in Fort Worth, Texas on May 13, 1975. He had almost
single-handedly created what we today call "Western Swing".
[ Adolph Hofner and his San Antonians ]
The original San Antonians consisted of Adolph's brother Emil; Leonard Seago (formerly with the Tune Wranglers); Bert Ferguson, and Floyd Tillman, who later became a well known songwriter. During WW2, as with the other bands, some of his best men went into the Armed Forces. Still Hofner was able to find such replacements as former Tune Wrangler Eddie Duncan and Leonard Brown. He also began adding Brass players (fiddlers were becoming scarce). In 1945, when WWII had ended, Hofner moved to California where the band was employed on the Foreman Phillips Countyh Barn dances for two consecutive years. It was during this period that the band recorded their hit tunes "Sagebrush Shuffle" and "Alamo Rag" for the Columbia Label. In 1949, the band returned to San Antonia, TX where they have been employed by the Pearl Beer Company, and are now called The Pearl Wranglers, who at one time used both of Adolph's daughters as singers and drummers. Over his career, Adolph was Elected to the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame, Country Music Association of Texas Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame --Nashville, Washington Western Swing Hall of Fame, and was the Recipient of the Encore Award--Texas Music Association, as well as a Recipient of Western Swing Society Hall of Fame award. During his long and illustrious career, at one time or another, he was called "The Dean of Country Bandleaders," "The King of South Texas Swing", "The Sultan of Swing,", and "The Prince of Polka." Once, he was even billed as the "Bing Crosby of Country." [ Bill Boyd (1910-1977 ) and the Cowboy Ramblers ]
Bill's father owned a 320 acre combination cotton farm and cattle ranch in Fannin county, Texas. The 11 children grew up in a happy home, and helped out with the farm chores. In 1926, when Bill was just 16 years old, he and his 12 year old brother Jim, and two neighbors, brothers Howard and Bill Staley, formed a band and began performing on the Greenville TX radio station KFPM. They would have continued with their music except for Their father's sudden death ended this and the youngsters returned to help keep the family farm going. However, the great depression of 1929 forced the sale of the property, and Bill and Jim took up residence in Dallas, TX. Bill worked at whatever jobs (menial) he could find, while Jim became a student at the Dallas Technical High School. At this school, Jim became friends with another student, fiddler (mandolin/clarinet) Aubrey "Art" Davis, and the two would often play at school functions. In 1932, Bill, along with Red Perkins on Mandolin and O.P. Alexander on French Harp formed a trio that found work on station WFAA, remaining there for 2 years. Later in the same year, after his graduation, brother Jim joined the group, making it a quartet which was promptly named 'The Cowboy Ramblers'. August 1934 saw the group cutting their first recordings. But, in 1936, they began recording for the RCA Victor label, eventually cutting over 250 sides. At one time or another, the band had such sidemen as Bill's young brother John Boyd; Milton Brown Alumni Cecil Brower; Jesse Ashlock, and Fred Calhoun, while former 'Doughboys' Milton Montgomery and Kenneth Pitts were also with the band. Jack Adams, the Cowboy Ramblers' manager, was not only a film distributor, but also a 'Producer's Releasing Corporation' franchisee. With Jack's help, Bill Boyd became an overnight success as an actor, appearing in six PRC "B" cowboy films. Some of those films also featured Art Davis, who had earlier (1938) left the Ramblers so that he could work with famed Hollywood Cowboy star Gene Autry. During WW2, Bill entertained servicemen and helped in War Bond Sales. When WW2 ended, Bill and his brother Jim re-formed the Cowboy Ramblers which remained active until finally disbanding in the mid-1950's. [ Spade Cooley and His Orch. ]
In Los Angeles, Spade managed an introduction to Roy Rogers, and convinced Roy to help him get a job in the movies. Neither man could then see that someday, the meeting would cause Spade to murder his wife, and send him to jail, where he would die. During the day, Cooley did his film work, and during the evenings, he found jobs as a fiddler. One day, the manager of the Venice Pier Ballroom advised him to form a band. Spade did, and in a just few months became a phenomenal success. So much so, that he first leased his own club - the 8000 square foot Riverside Rancho, which proved to be too 'small' to hold the crowds. He then transferred the band to the Santa Monica Ballroom. Here's a photo of the Spade Cooley Band, with vocalist Carolina Cotton in the center and Cooley on her left side. Carolina Cotton sang with the band for awhile, and even appeared with them in a film, 'Outlaws of the Rockies'. Later, she left Cooley and went with Tex Williams at the time when he also left Cooley and formed his own band. In private correspondence, Carolina Cotton's daughter (Sharon Marie) has provided some further interesting history on her mother. "When she joined Spade's band in 1944, she was just known as 'Carolina'. Soon afterward the last name
Carolina made a few soundies (Scopitone videos) with both Spade and Deuce's groups. She had also made
Curiously, while Spade was finding public success, his marriage was coming apart at the seams. His first wife obtained both a divorce and custody of their son John. During this same time, he hired Ella Mae Evans to be his vocalist. She would later become his second wife, - the one he would murder because of an assumed affair. Here's a photo of the Spade Cooley Band with Ella Mae Evans In 1946, Cooley's "Western Swing" band started playing Rhumbas, Boogie Woogie, and even the Blues, all of which furthered his popularity. In 1949, he started his own Television show - that would last for more than 10 years. He had not only scored the music for several films, but he had also starred in some of them. He was immensely popular and had purchased some land in the Mojave Desert for an amusement park, when it all ended. On April 3, 1961, thinking his wife was having an affair with Roy Rogers, he murdered her, -in front of their daughter, Melody. His daughter's testimony help send him to prison where he eventually died of a massive coronary (his fourth). He had served 8-1/2 years of his 25 year sentence, and was scheduled to be released. [ Tex Williams (1917-1985) and the Western Caravan ]>
Of all the bands, it was The Western Caravan that carried on the true Western Swing traditions, -in their commitment to using string players primarily. Tex was on guitar, and the other pieces consisted of two more guitars; fiddle, stand up bass, electric steel lap guitar, vibes, accordion, and drums. The new band found work immediately after their formation with a job at a Roller Rink on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles. So popular was the group, that not only was the Rink jammed to capacity on the weekends, but there was also a very substantial crowd on weekdays. Even though Capitol Records also signed them immediately, they had to wait two long years before their first big hit "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette" went to the top of both the Country and the Pop charts, and earned the band a 'Platinum' record. [ "Texas" Jim Lewis and the Lone Star Cowboys ]
[ Hank Thompson (1925) and His Brazos Valley Boys ]
[ Bill Haley (1925-1981) and his Comets ]
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