Clips from old syndicated country shows (Pet Milk Opry, etc.)

Johnny Cash - "Big River"

 

Johnny Cash does imitations. Well, one anyway.

 

You know those super-creepy album covers threads?

I'd love it if there were obscure shows dug up where those creepy people on those creepy covers sing some of their creepy songs.

 

creep

 

Roger Miller ~ "Trouble on the Turnpike" (1962)

 

I wish I could see one of those surviving episodes. Their in-house singers became The Love Generation

 

George Jones - "The Love Bug".

From the obscure film Forty Acre Feud (1965). That's Johnny Paycheck on the left. Their nights on the town after the show must've been something,

 

"The Young Sheriff", Faron Young - 'I'm Gonna Live Some Before I Die' (1957)



prompted by -
Dust-to-Digital (@dusttodigital) | تويتر

 

The Country Show (1957)

An Al Gannaway TV production, starring Ernest Tubb & The Texas Troubadours, June Carter, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jean Shepard, The Jordanaires, and the rockabilly duo Jimmy & Johnny.

 

Looks like this was just taken from the color films series done by Gannaway starting roughly in 1955 — repackaged for syndication perhaps with new titles and breaks for commercials.

We're so lucky to have these, and luckier still that they were originally shot in beautiful color.

 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_Hayride

Midwestern Hayride, sometimes known as Midwest Hayride, was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from radio station WLW and later from television station WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950s it was carried nationally by NBC and then ABC television. The program featured live country music (performed mainly by local musicians but on lesser occasions by national stars) and what was then called "hayseed" comedy, much of which was the inspiration for the later TV series Hee Haw. It is credited as the first country music program regularly broadcast by a national network.​

Bonnie Lou - "Love's Gonna Live Here Again"

 

Manchester, New Hampshire?!?



Hillbilly-Music.com - News, Events & Press Releases

Clyde Joy, an old-time singer who helped popularize country music in New England and performed on WMUR for decades, passed away early yesterday morning. He was 92.

Joy, who performed alongside Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr., was at the forefront of country music as it developed a presence in New England. In the 1960s, he built the Circle 9 Ranch in Epsom, which became one of New England's most popular venues for country music.

"He's one of the real pioneers of country music up here," said Gordy Brown, who founded the New England Country Music Historical Society.

Joy was known as the "Grand Daddy of New England Country Music." Before him, nearly every country performance in the Northeast was a visiting act. "He was one of the ones who picked up," Brown said, "and made local country music something."​

 

Kirksville, Missouri-Ottumwa, Iowa

 

Leon McAuliffe became celebrated as the steel player for Bob Wills. Here he is on Town Hall Party in 1959:



Leon had his own show in Tulsa for awhile

 

Dolly Parton - "Dumb Blonde" (The Bobby Lord Show, 1967)

 

Midwestern Hayride aided Cincinnati in becoming a country music mecca

Midwestern Hayride aided Cincinnati in becoming a country music mecca

“It’s sad to say, but it probably wouldn’t work today. It was unabashedly corny. No one was trying to be hip. We were just trying to be entertaining. That’s OK. Now you have to be hip.” – Rob Reider on the Midwestern Hayride, Cincinnati Enquirer, 2007​

“Unabashedly corny” is probably putting it mildly, but for over two decades WLW’s Midwestern Hayride was a main source of entertainment for families across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and beyond. The homespun weekly TV show was a precursor to Hee-Haw, showcasing regional country music stars, square dancers and corn pone humor.

The Midwestern Hayride’s story began in 1938 with WLW’s Boone County Jamboree. The Jamboree borrowed its name from Boone County, Ky., a rural area just across the river from Cincinnati. The show’s intent, according to a 1941 music folio, was to “radiate sincere friendliness; feature the simple, tuneful melodies of rural communities, southern mountains and the western plains – a program which would lighten the workday cares of the great mass of people, both old and young, to many whom modern dance did not appeal.”

Patterning itself after the Renfro Valley Barn Dance (Kentucky), the Boone County Jamboree boasted of nearly 100 performers – including Merle Travis, Grandpa Jones and the Delmore Brothers. Other performers included Pa and Ma McCormick, Lulu Belle and Scotty and Curly Fox and Texas Ruby.

The stars of the Jamboree were often the main attraction at fairs and in theaters throughout the Midwest, holding all-time attendance records for many of the events. In 1941, WLW reported that members of the program had made personal appearances before 1 million fans. That same year, WLW received the Peabody Award in recognition of its efforts in delivering country-targeted programming to rural listeners nationwide.

In 1945, Jamboree adopted a new name, the Midwestern Hayride. In April 1948, Hayride made its television debut with Willie Thall at the helm as master of ceremonies. The show kicked off with the square dancing troupe, The Midwesterners, each Saturday night during the summer months at 6:30 p.m.

In 1951 the show was picked up by NBC as a replacement for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” and subsequently became a nationwide hit. According to a 2011 Cincinnati Enquirer article, “NBC or ABC viewers saw Hayride as a summer series with stars seen year-round on WLW’s sister stations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Indianapolis.”

Among the stars of Hayride were Bonnie Lou, Charlie Gore and the Rangers, Zeke Turner and the Pleasant Valley Boys and the Hometowners with Kenny “The Round Mound of Sound” Price.

An August 1954 edition of Hamilton, Ohio’s Daily News-Journal reported, “Midwestern Hayride is now at an all-time high in popularity. The WLW radio and television group is playing before the largest crowds in its fabulous history, and is booked for more than ever before. The talent roster of ‘Hayride’ has been enlarged and virtually everyone is a star in his own right. Midwestern Hayride, because of its ‘down-to-earth’ folksy type music, dancing and humor, has become a part of ‘Americana.’ The name ‘Midwestern Hayride’ itself is now synonymous with fun and enjoyment. It has long been considered the finest hillbilly show in this section of the country.”

By 1966, Hayride became syndicated to 90 markets, picking up appearances by major performers along the way. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Tex Ritter would all appear on Hayride in the late ‘60s.

Ratings began faltering when Henson Cargill, the singer behind the 1968 #1 hit “Skip A Rope,” was hired on as Hayride host. Kenny Price would host the final season, from 1971-72.

From the early days of the Boone County Jamboree to the Midwestern Hayride’s nationwide fame, the program’s 34-year ride left an indelible mark on country music culture. The show brought fame to an untold number of regional plowboys and a lifetime of memories to its hardworking, rural audience.

Just ask anyone over the age of 60 about Willie Thall and his floppy-brim hat or Bonnie Lou and the “Tennessee Wig Walk.” Perhaps inquire as to who the real Sheriff of Boone County is. Their expression alone will tell the story of Americana’s golden years. – M.H.​

 

A clip from the very rare Spade Cooley Show in 1957.

Features Kay Cee Jones and some other ladies whose names I couldn't catch.



San Francisco Bay Area Country Singles & EPs: Ode To Spade

Tommy Graham, real name Graham Steffen, was a fellow prison inmate of Spade Cooley at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California. With a shared interest in country music, they sang together when not working.

From Spade Cooley wikipedia entry: On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to parole him on February 22, 1970. Cooley had served nearly nine years of a life sentence, and was in poor health from heart trouble. On November 23, 1969, he received a 72-hour furlough from the prison hospital unit at Vacaville to play a benefit concert for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County at the Oakland Auditorium (now known as the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center) in Oakland. During the intermission, after a standing ovation, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack backstage. He is interred at Chapel of the Chimes cemetery in Hayward.​

Spade Cooley with Red Murrell at his last performance



Graham upon hearing the news of Cooley’s death wrote a tribute to Spade. The Prolif label of Fairfield, California released it in September, 1970.

 

Country Carnival host Del Reeves join Mel Tillis on an under-rehearsed "Detroit City"

 

Bobby Bare takes a shot at it (The Bobby Lord Show, 1963)

 

Live in Oslo, Norway, 1964