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National Barn Dance
''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other similar programs, in part because the clear-channel signal of WLS could be received throughout most of the Midwest and even beyond in the late evening and nighttime hours, making much of the United States (and Canada) a potential audience. The program was well received and thus widely imitated. ''National Barn Dance'' ended its broadcast in 1968. History ''National Barn Dance'' was founded by Edgar L. Bill. To him goes the credit for arranging to have a program of "down-home" tunes broadcast from radio station WLS, of which Bill was then director. Having lived on a farm, he knew how people loved the familiar sound and informal spirit of old-fashioned barn dance music. The first broadcast was an impromptu sustaining program. An avalanche o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barndance
A barn dance is any kind of dance involving traditional or folk music with traditional dancing, occasionally held in a barn, but, these days, much more likely to be in any suitable building. The term “barn dance” is usually associated with family-oriented or community-oriented events, usually for people who do not normally dance. The caller will, therefore, generally use easy dances so that everyone can join in. A barn dance can be a ceilidh, with traditional Irish or Scottish dancing, and people unfamiliar with either format often confuse the two terms. However, a barn dance can also feature square dancing, contra dancing, English country dance, dancing to country and western music, or any other kind of dancing, often with a live band and a caller. Modern western square dance is often confused with barn dancing in Britain. Barn dances, as social dances, were popular in Ireland until the 1950s, and were typically danced to tunes with rhythms.Vallely, F. (1999). Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Foley
Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the genre, selling more than 25 million records. His 1951 hit, "Peace in the Valley", was among the first million-selling gospel records. A Grand Ole Opry veteran until his death, Foley also hosted the first popular country music series on network television, ''Ozark Jubilee'', from 1955 to 1960. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which called him "one of the most versatile and moving performers of all time" and "a giant influence during the formative years of contemporary Country music." Biography Foley was born on a farm in Blue Lick, Kentucky, and grew up in nearby Berea. He gained the nickname Red for his hair color. He was born into a musical family, and by the time he was nine was giving impromptu concerts at his father's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Peabody
Edwin Ellsworth Peabody, known as Eddie Peabody (February 19, 1902 – November 7, 1970) was an American banjo player, instrument developer and musical entertainer whose career spanned five decades. He was the most famous plectrum banjoist of his era. Early years Born in Reading, Massachusetts,DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 212. Peabody taught himself to play the violin, mandolin, guitar and banjo while very young. Military service In March 1916, at age 14, Peabody enlisted in the U.S. Navy by lying about his age, and served in World War I on an S-14 submarine. During this period he received the nicknames "Happiness Boy" (for his ebullient personality, especially when performing) and "Little Eddie" (a comic reference to his short stature). Career After Peabody's 1921 discharge from the Navy, he began a long career in show business, beginning with Vaude ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smiley Burnette
Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who is reported to have played proficiently over 100 musical instruments, sometimes more than one simultaneously. His career, beginning in 1934, spanned four decades, including a regular role on CBS-TV's ''Petticoat Junction'' in the 1960s. Biography Lester A. Burnett (he added the final "e" later in life) was born in Summum, Illinois, on March 18, 1911, and grew up in Ravenwood, Missouri. He began singing as a child and learned to play a wide variety of instruments by ear, yet never learned to read or write music. In his teens, he worked in vaudeville, and starting in 1929, at the state's first commercial radio station, WDZ-AM in Tuscola, Illinois. Burnette came by his ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoosier Hot Shots
The Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid-1930s into the 1970s. The group formed in Indiana where they performed on local radio before moving to Chicago and a nationwide broadcasting and recording career. The group later moved to Hollywood to star in western movies. Members The Hot Shots' core personnel were multi-instrumentalists, playing brass band instruments as well as their standard instrumentation of guitar (Ken), clarinet (Gabe), string bass (various), and a strange, homemade instrument known both as the "Wabash Washboard" and "the Zither," played by Hezzie. It consisted of a corrugated sheet metal washboard on a metal stand with various noisemakers attached, including bells and a multi-octave range of squeeze-type bicycle horns; Hezzie Trietsch constructed this instrument himself. Hezzie also played slide whistle on which he was able to play melodies and variations in addition to eff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The DeZurik Sisters
The DeZurik Sisters (also known as The Cackle Sisters) were a country-music duo. They were two of the first women to become stars on both the ''National Barn Dance'' and the ''Grand Ole Opry'', largely a result of their original yodeling style. Background Born and raised on a farm in Royalton, Minnesota, Mary Jane (February 1, 1917 – 1981) and Carolyn DeZurik (December 24, 1918 – March 16, 2009) were part of a family of seven. Their father Joe played fiddle, their sisters sang, and their brother Jerry played accordion and guitar. Inspired by their family and the sounds of the animals and birds around them, they developed an astonishing repertoire of high, haunting yodels and yips that soon had them winning talent contests all over central Minnesota. Career In 1936, the DeZurick Sisters signed a contract to appear regularly on Chicago radio station WLS-AM's ''National Barn Dance'', and were hired in 1937 to perform on Purina Mills' ''Checkerboard Time'' radio show, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arkansas Woodchopper
Arkansas Woodchopper, or Arkie (b. Luther Ossenbrink, March 2, 1906 - June 23, 1981) was an American country musician. He was born in the Ozarks near Knob Noster, Missouri, to a family who owned a farm and a general store. He taught himself to play guitar and fiddle so he could play at local square dances, and his first job in music was performing on radio in Kansas City on KMBC in 1928. He started at WLS in 1930, performing on their ''National Barn Dance'', and became one of the show's most popular performers, continuing there until 1959. During this time he also released records for Columbia Records and Conqueror Records. Book of sheet music 'THE ARKANSAS WOODCHOPPER'S WORLD'S GREATEST COLLECTION OF COWBOY SONGS WITH YODEL ARRANGEMENT' copyright 1931 published by M.M. Cole Publishing House, Chicago contains 35 songs, 64 pages. He once performed with Al Trace's orchestra with the song "Why Go Home?" and although his recordings for Columbia, Gennett Records, American Record Cor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted ''The Andy Williams Show'', a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, along with numerous TV specials. ''The Andy Williams Show'' won three Emmy Awards. He sold more than 45 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States. Williams was active in the music industry for over 70 years until his death from bladder cancer in 2012, at the age of 84. Early life and education Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, to Florence (''née'' Finley) and Jay Emerson Williams, who worked in insurance and the post office. While living in Cheviot, Ohio, Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Williams Brothers
The Williams Brothers featuring Andy Williams were a singing quartet formed in the mid 1930s. They initially entertained on radio stations and later appeared in four musical films in the 1940s. After recording with Bing Crosby led to a nightclub act backing Kay Thompson, they broke up in the early 1950s and went their separate ways. The second generation of Williams Brothers, twins Andrew and David (Andy's nephews) began as teen idols and a musical duo in the 1970s performing extensively on radio, television and in movies and nightclubs. History The four Williams Brothers—Bob, Don, Dick and Andy Williams—formed a singing quartet in the mid-1930s in Wall Lake, Iowa. Their father, Jay Williams, managed and promoted the group. They entertained on radio stations, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati, before they moved to Los Angeles in 1943, where they were under contract with the MGM film studio. The Williams Brothers appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gobel
George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 1959 on NBC, and on CBS from 1959 to 1960, (alternating in its final season with ''The Jack Benny Program''). He was also a familiar panelist on the NBC game show ''Hollywood Squares''. Early years He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, on May 20, 1919. His father, Hermann Goebel, who was then working as a butcher and grocer, had emigrated to the United States in the 1890s with his parents from the Austrian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire."The Fourteenth Census of the United States: Population—1920" digital i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Buttram
Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994) was an American character actor. Buttram was known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the television series ''Green Acres''. He had a distinctive voice that, in his own words, "never quite made it through puberty." Early life Buttram was born on June 19, 1915, in Addison, Alabama, to Wilson McDaniel Buttram, a Methodist minister, and his wife Mary Emmett Maxwell. He had an older brother, Augustus McDaniel Buttram, and five other elder siblings. When "Pat" Buttram was a year old, his father was transferred to Nauvoo, Alabama. Buttram graduated from Mortimer Jordan High School, then located in Morris, Alabama, then entered Birmingham–Southern College to study for the Methodist ministry. Career Buttram performed in college plays and on a local radio station, then became a regular on the ''National Barn Dance'' broadcast on WLS (AM) in Chicago. He also had his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lulu Belle And Scotty
Myrtle Eleanor Cooper (December 24, 1913 – February 8, 1999) and Scott Greene Wiseman (November 8, 1909 – January 31, 1981), known professionally as Lulu Belle and Scotty, were one of the major country music acts of the 1930s and 1940s, dubbed The Sweethearts of Country Music. Career Myrtle Eleanor Cooper (Lulu Belle) was born in Boone, North Carolina, United States; Wiseman was from Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Lulu Belle and Scotty enjoyed enormous national popularity thanks to their regular appearances on ''National Barn Dance'' on WLS-AM in Chicago, a rival to WSM-AM's ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''Barn Dance'' enjoyed a large radio audience in the 1930s and early 1940s with some 20 million Americans regularly tuning in. The duo married on December 13, 1934, one year after Wiseman became a regular on ''Barn Dance'' (Cooper had been a solo performer there since 1932). The duo is best known for their self-penned classic "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?", which became one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
