Burt (or Bert) Phillips, nicknamed "Foreman", was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

, and

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

in the 1940s. Phillips was a major promoter of the music artist Spade Cooley. Beginning in 1942, he was the first to use the term Western swing, as a sub-genre of country music. He and Cooley would later have a falling out, leading to Phillips firing him. Phillips promoted country-western

barn dance 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 w ...

programs at a string of dance halls in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area in the 1940s, led by the old Town Hall building, situated at 400 South Long Beach Boulevard, in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

, near

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, which had a capacity of around 3,000. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Phillips hired

Adolph Hofner Adolph John Hofner (June 8, 1916 – June 2, 2000) was an American Western swing bandleader and singer. Erlewine 1997 Larkin 1998 Biography Hofner was born into a family of Czech-German origin. He grew up listening to Czech and Hawaiian music. ...

to play at his dance halls. He also hired

Jimmy Wyble James Otis Wyble (January 25, 1922 – January 16, 2010) was an American guitarist noted for his contributions to jazz and Western swing. Career A native of Port Arthur, Texas, Wyble worked in his early years for a radio station in Houston. He ...

.Wyble bio at Allmusic
(retrieved 10 July 2015); Tribe, Ivan M. ''Country: A Regional Exploration'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006), p. 88; Carlin, Richard Peter. (2003) ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'' (

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, 2003), p. 186.

Notes

Sources

*Komorowski, Adam. ''Spade Cooley: Swingin' The Devil's Dream''. Proper PVCD 127, 2003, booklet. *Logsdon, Guy. "The Cowboy's Bawdy Music", in ''The Cowboy: Six-Shooters, Songs, and Sex'', edited by Charles W. Harris and Buck Rainey. University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. . *Compiled by staff of the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

. ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Oxford University Press, 1998. *Tribe, Ivan M. ''Country: A Regional Exploration''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. *Carlin, Richard Peter. ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary''.

, 2003.

External links

Jimmy Wyble bio at Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Burt Western swing American radio personalities American bandleaders