Robert Earl Hames (January 22, 1920 – September 6, 1998) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitarist from Texas who played with the dance orchestras of

Jan Garber Jan Garber (born Jacob Charles Garber, November 5, 1894 – October 5, 1977) was an American violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Garber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had his own band by the time he was 21. He became known as "The ...

Orrin Tucker ORiN (Open Robot/Resource interface for the Network) is a standard network interface for FA (factory automation) systems. The Japan Robot Association proposed ORiN in 2002, and the ORiN Forum develops and maintains the ORiN standard. Background ...

, and Stan Keller. In the early 1950s he was a staff guitarist for live productions at

WFAA-TV WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29) ...

, a Dallas–Fort Worth broadcaster. ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine rated Hames as one of the top ten guitarists in the US.

Growing up

Hames was born January 22, 1920, in

Wolfe City, Texas Wolfe City is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, located at the intersection of State Highways 34 and 11. It is north of Greenville in north-central Hunt County, and was settled in the 1860s or 1870s, when J. Pinckney Wolfe built a mi ...

, to Joseph Irl Hames and Jessie Lynn Hames, ''née'' Kiser.

Education and early professional career

Hames graduated from Wolfe City High School in Texas in 1937. In the mid-1940s Hames was a member of the

Orchestra and the

band before enrolling at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. In 1945 he enrolled at the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

. While there, he played electric guitar in 1945 with the

Aces of Collegeland One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

, the forerunner to the

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

. He also taught guitar on and off campus. One of his high-school students, Jack Petersen, went on to become a well-known jazz educator and

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound to be hear ...

ist. Hames introduced Petersen to jazz recordings of Karl Kress,

Tal Farlow Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in th ...

Chuck Wayne Chuck Wayne (February 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist. He came to prominence in the 1940s, and was among the earliest jazz guitarists to play in the bebop style. Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd, the f ...

, Herb Ellis (then a student at North Texas),

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

Barry Galbraith Joseph Barry Galbraith (December 18, 1919 – January 13, 1983) was an American jazz guitarist. Galbraith moved to New York City from McDonald, PA in the early 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, an ...

Remo Palmieri Remo Paul Palmier (March 29, 1923 – February 2, 2002) was an American jazz guitarist. Career Palmier began his career as a musician during the 1940s, and collaborated with Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Teddy Wilson ...

Oscar Moore Oscar Frederic Moore (December 25, 1916 – October 8, 1981) was an American jazz guitarist with the Nat King Cole Trio. Career The son of a blacksmith, Moore was born in Austin, Texas, United States. The Moore family moved to Phoenix, Ariz ...

, and

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained nat ...

. While a student at North Texas in 1946, Hames was one of eight student musicians from North Texas to guest star on Interstate's weekly musical radio show, 3:30, Sunday, April 14, 1946, aired on

WFAA WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29), ...

. Betty Cooper (vocalist) featured with the Blue Notes, a quartet composed of Lynn McClain, June Heitt, Bonnye Williams, and Elsie Mae Cooper. Bob Hames (electric guitar),

Jim Bob Floyd JB Floyd ( James Robert Floyd; born June 2, 1929) is an American concert pianist (jazz, classical, experimental, ''avant-garde'', and the like), composer, and music pedagogue at the collegiate level. Before retiring in 2013, Floyd spent 64 year ...

(piano), and

Bill Meeks William Bruce Meeks Jr. (aka William Bruce Meeks II; March 2, 1921 – September 8, 1999) was an American producer, composer and arranger of radio jingles and founder of PAMS in Dallas; which, according to ''Billboard'' in 1972, was the largest ji ...

(clarinet) were featured as a trio. Hames was a guitarist on the ''

Jerry Haynes Jerome Martin "Jerry" Haynes (January 31, 1927 – September 26, 2011) was an American actor from Dallas, Texas. He is most well known as Mr. Peppermint, a role he played for 30 years as the host of one of the longest-running local children's show ...

Show'' on WFAA TV in the mid-1950s, which aired Monday through Friday at noon. In 1951 Hames received a bachelor of music from the

and during the early 1950s Hames also played guitar for several well-known bands, including

Stan Keller and His Orchestra Stan Keller (' Stanley Keller Grubb, (1907–1990) was an American bandleader, composer, arranger, and woodwind player who led his own orchestra — ''Stan Keller and His Orchestra''. Keller was a member of the original Pennsylvanians, the Cal ...

. Hames also had a music store in

Greenville, Texas Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estimated population was 28,827. ...

, on Washington Street. He died in Texas in 1998.

Selected compositions

Music and lyrics by Bob Hames except where noted

Family

Robert Earl Hames was married twice: # On December 31, 1942, he married Billye Mildred Goin (August 24, 1921,

Bailey, Texas Bailey is a city in Fannin County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 289 at the 2010 census, up from 213 at the 2000 census. History The town began in the late 1850s, when farmers moved into the area to take advantage of the rich so ...

Fannin County, Texas Fannin County is a county in the far northeast of the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, its population was 35,662. The county seat is Bonham. The county was named for James Fannin, who commanded the grou ...

, Birth Book 11, Certificate 1838 – January 11, 1972, buried Mount Carmel Cemetery,

). Bob and Billye had a son, Robert Barry Hames (born 1945,

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the 7th-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was establish ...

), who is a

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, and is married to Ellen Mary Hames (''née'' Erickson). # On August 30, 1975, he married Helen Juanita Bullard (August 30, 1928 – March 4, 1993) in

Tarrant County, Texas Tarrant County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, it had a population of 2,110,640. It is Texas' third-most populous county and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County, one of ...

. Helen had three daughters and a son by a prior marriage to Claude Marvin Hodge, all of whom were adults in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hames, Bob American jazz guitarists Swing guitarists University of North Texas College of Music alumni People from Wolfe City, Texas 1920 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas American male guitarists Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians