West Coast Scene

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The singing cowboys did not have the monopoly on country music on the silver screen, although it was their breed that first caught Hollywood’s attention. By the time the 1940s rolled around, several of Nashville’s top stars found that they could expand their careers by bringing their talents to the vast new audiences. Singing Stars In the earlier decade Gene Autry – generally credited as the first singing cowboy – brought his ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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Although one tends to think of Nashville as the primary source for country music, many other regions contributed to this music’s growth, especially the West Coast, where migrant workers from Oklahoma, Texas and other regions of the Southwest played a vital role in putting California on the country-music map. With Los Angeles as its focal point, the Golden State’s country-music scene blossomed. This was due to a number of factors: the ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, comedian, author, 1919–91) A native of Bristol, Tennessee, Ernest Jennings Ford began his career on the West Coast as a dj after military service, catching the attention of Cliffie Stone, who made him a regular on the Hometown Jamboree radio and television shows. He began recording for Capitol in 1948 and initially made his name with a series of fast country boogies, enhanced by the musicianship of guitarist Merle Travis ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Musician, bandleader, 1924–2000) Merle Haggard called him the ‘Grandpappy of Bakersfield’ and, during his 14 years leading The Orange Blossom Playboys at the town’s hottest honky-tonk, the Blackboard, he employed both Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who were to define the Bakersfield Sound. A Texan by birth, he perfected his musical skills by entertaining fellow workers in the San Francisco shipyards and, later, played in both the Bob Wills and Tommy ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, songwriter, steel guitar, b. 1929) An integral contributor to the West Coast scene of the post-war years, Billy Mize hosted a variety of radio and television shows, including his own Chuck Wagon Show (with songwriting partner and musician Cliff Crawford) where, purportedly, 16-year-old Merle Haggard made his television debut. He was also a featured steel guitarist on the long-running Town Hall Party, and, in 1966, received the ACM Award as ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, 1932–2006) One of the Bakersfield Sound’s few females, Owens began her career singing with Buck Owens in Mesa, Arizona, and married him in 1948. Three years later they moved to Bakersfield, where she worked as a singer and waitress at the Clover Club, and made her recording debut with ‘A Dear John Letter’ (1953), on which she dueted with Fuzzy Owen. Later she recorded ‘Just Between The Two Of Us’ ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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Although Bakersfield had already played host to a number of country-music artists, it was Buck Owens (1929–2006) who not only put it on the map, but also spread its name around the world. So great was his impact, some even called it ‘Buckersfield’. The Road To Bakersfield Hailing from Sherman, Texas, and born Alvis Edgar Owens on 12 August 1929, his family moved to Mesa, Arizona, when he was a child. There ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, yodels, 1925–97) Although she might only be a footnote in country-music history, Arkansas-born Carolina Cotton was a prolific entertainer in the West Coast’s post-war era. Known as the ‘Yodelling Blonde Bombshell’, she first gained attention working with Spade Cooley’s Orchestra, then furthered her western-swing association by touring with both Hank Penny’s and Bob Wills’ bands. She was featured regularly on radio, television shows and soundies, and appeared in over two ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, comedian, record producer, bandleader, 1917–98) Native Californian Cliffie Stone – the son of country comedian Herman the Hermit (a.k.a. Herman Snyder) – was a West Coast, one-man industry during the 1940s. Hard to pinpoint any particular activity, he began to get his name known on Stuart Hamblin’s Covered Wagon Jamboree before establishing his own radio shows in the early 1940s. He joined Capitol Records later that decade in an A&R ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, actor, 1907–99) Not as famous as his singing-cowboy compatriots, Eddie Dean nevertheless had starring roles in over 20 westerns during the 1940s, as well as his own television series The Marshall Of Gunshot Pass (1950). Beginning his career on radio, and one-time member of the WLS (Chicago) National Barn Dance, he possessed one of the finest voices of all the cowboys and, as a songwriter, penned the classic ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Singer, comedian, dj, actor, b. 1927) One of the first Bakersfield entertainers, Missouri-born Ferlin Husky moved to the town after serving in the Merchant Marines and first found work as a dj before signing with Four Star and recording as Terry Preston. Cliffie Stone put him on the Hometown Jamboree (as a replacement for ’Tennessee’ Ernie Ford) and secured him a deal with Capitol. ‘A Dear John Letter’ (1953), a duet ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
109 Words Read More

(Vocals, songwriter, b. 1926) A regular on the Town Hall Party, Alabama-born Freddie Hart arrived in Los Angeles following a troubled childhood, a couple of years in the Marines (enrolling when he was only 15), and travelling across the nation. His 1950s association with Capitol and Columbia resulted in some fine, though overlooked, country and rockabilly recordings. His return to Capitol resulted in the double CMA award winner ‘Easy Loving’ (1971), ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Songwriter, vocals, guitar, 1929–2002) Harlan Howard, inspired by Ernest Tubb, first began reaping his songwriting rewards in the late 1950s. ‘Pick Me Up On Your Way Down’ (1958) was his first hit when recorded by Charlie Walker, followed by ‘Heartaches By The Number’ (1959), which covered country and pop by Ray Price and Guy Mitchell respectively. More huge successes came with ‘I Fall To Pieces’ (Patsy Cline, 1961), ‘Busted’ (1963, Johnny ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Vocals, guitar, actor, 1914–82) The Jimmy Wakely Trio was first heard on Oklahoma radio before securing a regular spot on Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch CBS network radio show. Then the door to Hollywood opened and Wakely starred in 28 movies for Monogram during a five-year period (1944–49). He was also an immensely successful singer, with some two dozen hits on Capitol – the biggest of which was ‘Slipping Around’ (1949), a ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
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(Guitar, vocals, 1921–86) Known as ‘king of the strings’ for his ability to play virtually any string instrument, Joe Maphis was an active session musician, a cast member of Town Hall Party, and his inventive skills on the double-neck Mosrite inspired many, including a young Larry Collins (of The Collins Kids). He sang with his wife, Rose Lee (b. 1922), scoring their biggest hit with the self-penned ‘Dim Lights, Thick Smoke ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen
107 Words Read More
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