Lee Roy PettitAdam Komorowski, ''Swinging Hollywood Hillbilly Cowboys'' (Properbox 85, 2004) booklet, p. 20; California Death Records Index give his father's name as "PETTIT"; Social Security Death Index list his name as "LEE ROY M PETTIT", last residence as "Calimesa, Riverside, CA". (October 29, 1916 – July 31, 1994), known professionally as Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan, was a Western swing musician born in Gardena, California.

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wau ...

, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006. , p.108: "DOLAN, Ramblin' Jimmie; Born on 29 October 1916 in Gardena, California." He is best remembered for his hit single, " Hot Rod Race" on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, which reached No. 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country chart in February 1951. Dolan himself wanted to be remembered for his contributions in entertaining troops in the Pacific Theatre, especially the Philippines during World War II. He reached the rank of Chief Petty Officer filling the function of a radioman. He returned from the war with a ready built fan base and his charisma soon had him in demand at dance halls throughout the west. During the 1940s he hosted and played on numerous radio stations. In the early 1950s he was a pioneer of television in the Seattle area where he was the general manager of its first television station as well as one of its stars. He had a television show for children as well as an adult variety show, for which he won the award for Best Western TV show of 1951. He then had a long running radio show in San Francisco. On an airline flight he met United Airlines Stewardess Charline Bales, a graduate of the University of Idaho. They were married for 13 years. He is survived by a daughter, Patricia and a granddaughter Aria. During the late 1980s he was contacted by the former president of his fan club, recently widowed. They met again, both being free and lived happily together until his death.

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Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan
at Hillybilly-music.com. 1916 births 1994 deaths American country singer-songwriters People from Gardena, California Singer-songwriters from California Western swing performers People from Calimesa, California 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singers Country musicians from California {{US-country-musician-stub