{{Infobox musical artist , name = Rex Cole's Mountaineers , image = , image_size = , image_upright = , landscape = , alt = , caption = , background = group_or_band , alias = , origin =

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York, U.S. , genre =

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, years_active = {{start date, 1929–{{end date, 1933 , label = Columbia,

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, Clarion Records,

Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

ARC ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

, associated_acts = , website = , current_members = , past_members = *

Arthur Fields Arthur Fields (August 6, 1884 – March 29, 1953) was an American singer (baritone) and songwriter. Biography He was born Abraham Finkelstein in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a professional ...

Fred Hall Frederick Lee Hall (July 24, 1916 – March 18, 1970) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 31st lieutenant governor of Kansas from 1951 to 1955 and 33rd governor of Kansas from 1955 until 1957. He was a member of the Republica ...

Rex Cole's Mountaineers was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band. The Mountaineers were actually the creation of two

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

ers,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

singer

and songwriter/bandleader/manager

. Fields had had a recording contract with several high-profile labels but never had a hit; Hall played jazz in the vein 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 ...

. In 1928, Hall recorded a few country music tunes, and by 1929 he had united with Fields in a band that was playing big-band renditions of

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s. After a few sides on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and

Okeh Records Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, Hall reduced the size of his orchestra in order to back Fields with a small, more authentic-sounding

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

ensemble, which included violin, guitar, bass, accordion, harmonica, and trumpet. Hall and Fields then began recording with both the large and the small bands, with the small group recording under a plethora of names, such as Eddie Younger & his Mountaineers, Sam Cole & his Cornhuskers, the Gaunt Brothers, the Colt Brothers, and Jim Cole's Tennessee Mountaineers. Records appeared on

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

, and

. Early in 1930, a

refrigerator A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

salesman and broadcaster named Rex Cole asked to sponsor the group for a show on New York radio station WEAF. He was looking for something along the lines of the

Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

, another group who were put together in a big city (in their case,

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) but made to sound as if they were plucked from the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Cole had Fields and Hall's group billed as "Rex Cole's Mountaineers", and their first broadcasts came in July 1930. Most of their material was written by Fields and Hall themselves, who went by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s Long Tom and Joe Colt on the show. They quickly became one of WEAF's most popular acts, and by 1931 had signed to a lucrative new contract. They also appeared in one film short. The Mountaineers' show differed from some other popular country radio broadcasts in being primarily

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

in its intent; it made exaggerated references to

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s about rural America for comic effect. As a show made by and for urban Northerners, it sought to

lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', a noted humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), a defunct offshoot of ''Harvard Lampoon'' ***National Lampoon, Incorporated, a 20 ...

Southern life much in the way ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...

'' would some years later. Around 1933, Fields and Hall had departed, and Cole had a new cast of Mountaineers which included

Tex Fletcher Geremino Bisceglia (January 17, 1910 in Harrison, New York - March 14, 1987 in Newburgh, New York), better known as Tex Fletcher, was a singing cowboy with credits as a recording artist, Broadway and movie actor, night club performer, and radio ...

; this group made no recordings, and their last broadcasts came in mid-1934. They continued to play smaller venues in the city for another year or so, and then disappear from the record.

References

*Allan Sutton
Synthetic Country
Includes bibliography. American country music radio programs Country music groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City