WOWO Hoosier Hop

1946 souvenir album/song folio cover from the Hoosier Hop

WOWO's Famous Hoosier Hop

Indiana's Most Popular Barn Dance Show

Country music was a popular music style in the state of Indiana, which was boosted by the fact that the state was widely populated by people coming from the South. As radio grew, barn dance live shows popped up all over Indiana, which housed quite a few of those. Among the most popular shows was WOWO's Hoosier Hop from Fort Wayne.

The roots of the Hoosier Hop show date back to 1932. That year, WOWO introduced a show of that name to its listeners and it proved to be popular enough to be carried through the CBS network for several months. It is not clear whether this show was a studio production or a live venue broadcast. However, the show soon came to an end - initially.

WOWO revived the Hoosier Hop in 1943, when they started the program anew on July 17 with a cast of about 15 folk and country music singers and musicians. At that early stage of the show's run, it was live broadcast from the studio. Again, the show became a favorite among the listeners and the cast grew to 30 performers. At that point, it moved from the WOWO studio to the Shrine Auditorium in Fort Wayne, which had a capacity of 4,000 seats. The first show at the new venue was staged on October 8 that year. The show was supervised by Harry K. Smythe of WOWO and his wife Eleanor.

The Shrine Temple (also known as Shrine Theatre or Shrine Auditorium) in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Beginning in 1944, the Hoosier Hop was carried nationally through the Blue network. Summer seasons brought the show to places outside of Fort Wayne, including Smythe's newly opened Buck Lake Ranch in Angola, Indiana, with a capacity of 5,000 seats. The Hoosier Hop was on the air throughout the 1940s and by 1946, was part of the ABC network programming, which lasted until around 1948 (formerly Blue network). It remained popular throughout the decade and attracted a lot of different performers, both locally and nationally known.

Happy Herb Hayworth was the announcer of the show. Cast members included the Blackhawk Valley Boys, the Hoosier Cornhuskers, Billy Starr (alias Bill Stallard), Nancy Lee and the Hilltoppers, Judy & Jen, Dean Maxedon, Penny West, Kenny Roberts, and many others. By 1944, a group entitled the "Down Homers" had come to the Hoosier Hop. The group's bassist and yodeler was Kenny Roberts, who temporarily left in late 1944 for the US Navy. He was replaced by Bill Haley, who was still at an early stage of his career (though some sources claim Haley did not join the group until a year later). Haley remained with the Down Homers and the Hoosier Hop for about two years. In early 1946, several Hoosier Hop cast members made recordings for the Detroit based Vogue label, including Nancy Lee and the Oregon Rangers, Judy & Jen, and the Down Homers (probably without Haley). These recordings were released throughout 1946 and 1947 on Vogue Picture Discs.

The Hoosier Hop cast around 1946 as pictured in one of the show's souvenir albums

I found mentions of the Hoosier Hop as late as July 1947 but public mentions in Billboard end by that time. By then, some of the mainstay performers like Kenny Roberts and Fred Oliver had left WOWO and the cast. If anyone has additional information on the show or its ending, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email through the formula at the top right of this site.

Sources

• World Radio History: Hoosier Hop Souvenir Albums [1] and [2] 

• Vogue Records 45worlds/78rpm entry

• Otto Fuchs: "Bill Haley" (Wagner Verlag GmbH), 2011, page 62

• Bart Plantenga: "Yodel-AY-Ee-Oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World" (Routledge), 2004, page 198

James Fred Williams

James Fred Williams

The Spiritual Ambassador of Southwest Arkansas

James Fred Williams is an Arkansas based gospel singer and minister that has been around on the music scene for more than six decades. He has recorded at least four different discs, including a gospel EP for United Southern Artists in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1963, and two more platters for Curtis Kirk on his Tyler, Texas, based Custom label, in the 1970s. Recently, my southwest Arkansas correspondent Mark Keith interviewed Williams via telephone so European roots music fans now can learn of this artist.

James Fred Williams was born in 1940 in Magnolia, Arkansas. He remembers that radio played a major role in shaping his music taste. He would place his ear near the radio to listen closely to gospel music. It was of course gospel music and nothing else but gospel that became Williams' sole influence. Naturally, his first public appearance was in a little country Baptist church south of Magnolia and later on, he would sing in a choir as well.

Williams could be also heard on local radio throughout the years, including on KMSL (which later evolved into KZHE), where he had a Sunday evening show. Mark Keith worked at that station, too, and recalls: "He'd come on playing "Standing by the Bedside of a Neighbor" and when the instrumental break came on, he'd come in and talk over it and welcome people. He has a beautiful speaking voice and sounded so warm and friendly."

The Hope Star, January 19, 1963

Williams' first record came in 1963 for the Hot Springs based United Southern Artists label. He remembers that it was Carl Friend, the label's A&R manager, who organized the deal. Williams recorded four songs during a session in Hot Springs that were released on an EP record by the label. Two more records came into existence when Williams came in touch with Curtis Kirk, who had a studio and record label in Tyler, Texas. Four songs were recorded in Tyler and on that particular session, he was accompanied by the Ambassadors of Sweetwater, Louisiana. Kirk released them on his Custom label and Williams distributed those two releases to radio stations in Magnolia, Sweetwater, Shreveport, and Houston, among others.

A special record came along in 1979, when Williams cut his own "Stay with Me Jesus" backed by Brother Eli Taylor on organ. It was re-released the next year on the Love label. Original copies are nowadays quite worthy and sought after.

Williams still works as a minister in the Magnolia, Arkansas, area and does church programs. Mark Keith conducted an telephone interview with him in January 2025 which was the main source for this text.

Discography

United Southern GLP 101: James Fred Williams - Hold On to God's Unchanging Hand / Stay with Me Jesus / I Need the Lord / Every Child of God (1963)
Custom 185: James Fred Williams - If You've Got Jesus / I Feel the Spirit
Custom 191: James Fred Williams - He Will Take Care of His Own / Thank You Lord
No label No.#: Dea James Fred Williams - Stay with Me Jesus / God Is Taking Care (1979)
Love 3607: Dea. James Williams - Stay with Me Jesus / God Is Taking Care (1980) 

Sources

• 45cat
• Discogs [1] and [2]

• Thanks to Mark Keith for sharing his memories and providing information on James Fred Williams and interviewing him at my urging.

Bud Standridge on SOH (Select-O-Hits)

Bud Standridge and the Mesilla Valley Boys - What Have You Got (SOH 016), 1972

Here we have another enjoyable Memphis country record from the 1970s. It's Bud Standridge and his Mesilla Valley Boys with "What Have You Go" backed by "Morning" on SOH 016 from 1972. I looked it up, the Mesilla Valley is located in South New Mexico and West Texas along the Rio Grande from Radium Springs, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas.

The singer's full name was probably Lloyd Victor Standridge, judging from the composer credits, and I found several Lloyd Standridges living in Arkansas but only one Lloyd Victor Standridge from Del Rio, Texas, which is more than 400 miles away from El Paso, though. He was born in Del Rio on July 25, 1935, and died there on December 26, 1992, at the age of 57. He was buried in San Miguel, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, which is indeed located in Mesilla Valley so I guess, we have the right Lloyd Victor Standridge here.

"Organ Mountains resemble a giant organ extending into the sky. These are the stately guardians
of the Mesilla Valley, through which runs the Rio Grande River" (from the back of this post card)

I don't have an answer to the question how he got to Memphis but obviously he did. Standridge had two records out on SOH, a shortcut for Select-O-Hits, which was a record store and retail shop operated by Tom Phillips, Sam Phillips' brother, on Chelsea Avenue. The company had several record labels throughout the years, including SOH, which was active from 1970 to 1974. Select-O-Hits is still in existence, though rather in the distribution field.

Back to Standridge. He returned to the Mesilla Valley region, where he and his band continued to perform. They had another release on the Goldust label, which was based in Mesilla Park, New Mexico.

Discography

SOH 014: Webb of Love / It's a Lie (ca. 1972)

SOH 016: What Have You Got / Morning (1972)
Goldust 45-5045: Party Lights / The Hands You're Holding Now

Sources

• Find a Grave entry
• Family Search entry
• Discogs
• 45cat entry for Select-O-Hits

RFM

Image courtesy of Marshal Martin

While researching a certain record for a Bear Family project, I stumbled across something very interesting. Jesse Parker's record "Hound Dog" on Gilda Records bears the number RFM-412 on the record label. Since I found no other releases on the Gilda label, I researched the RFM prefix and discovered that there were a few more records that shared this very same prefix and the same numerical system (see discography below). While the label names are different, all records seem to have been from the same time period (early 1970s) and most of them from the same region (three from the Natchitoches region and one from Daingerfield, East Texas).

However, I was not able to find out what RFM stands for. I suspect it's a numerical system assigned by a recording studio, which custom-produced those releases. Sidney J. Wakefield's pressing plant from Arizona was often used for pressing the records. Producers were such names as Roy Hines, Vernon Pleasant, and Ernest Self. But what was RFM? And where was it located? 

If anyone knows more about RFM, the labels or the artists, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via the contact form. Thank you!

Discography

Graham Cracker RFM-406: C.L. and the Playmates - All These Moments / Lonely Street
Graham Cracker RFM-407: Roy Cagle with the Playmates - Somehow, I Still Love You / You'll Never Change
Kana RFM-408: Kanaan - Leave It / Something Inside (1971)
Soul Train RFM-411: Roy Cagle and the Peoples Choice - Just One Kiss / I Can't Find It (ca. 1973)
Gilda RFM-412: Jesse Parker and the Peoples Choice - Congratulations / Hound Dog (ca. 1973)

Sources

• 45cat entries: [1], [2], [3]
• C.L. & the Playmates on Rockin' Hood

Jimmy Stayton on Chattahoochee

Jimmy Stayton - Your Heart Is My Prison (Chattahoochee CH 661), 1964
About 15 years ago, when I first heard Jimmy Stayton's "Hot Hot Mama", there was virtually no information available on him. This has changed in the last years as Steve Kelemen tracked Stayton down and interviewed him for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2013. Since then, he has been recognized as Delaware's first rockabilly musician.

James H. Stayton was born August 4, 1939, in Milford, Delaware, near the US Atlantic coast. Milford was a small town with a population around 4,000 at that time and, as Stayton put in, "most of the music in those days was either country, swing, big band or maybe some jazz. I didn't think there was much of a choice." Country music became his first love and Hank Williams his first hero. He was presented with a guitar from his grandfather and Stayton practiced until his finger bled.

In the summer of 1954, Elvis Presley started the rockabilly craze from his Memphis base and it set out all across the southern states. In Delaware, this new brand of music was still unheard, however. In late 1954, Stayton visited his sister in Virginia, where rockabilly was already starting to get popular among young music fans. On a ferry trip there, Stayton heard Presley's version "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in a jukebox and was instantly converted to rockabilly. "I went into a record shop in Norfolk , Virginia, and asked if they had 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'. The owner said that they didn't have it so I told him 'to get on it' because Elvis was going be the biggest thing ever! After that they started to carry his Sun singles," Stayton told Steve Kelemen.

In 1955, Stayton met guitarist Morton Marker at a talent contest in Dover, Delaware. Marker and his sister were contestants there, too, and apart from that, Walker backed up Stayton on the show. Both had the same taste in music and decided to start as a band with Stayton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Marker on lead guitar and with the addition of drummer Honey Voshell, the group was complete, taking the name "Rocka-Bye Band" (suggested by their manager Reece Harrington). They had no bass player but sometimes used guest musicians on their shows.

Jimmy Stayton and the Rocka-Bye Band, 1956 (from left to right):
Morton Marker (lead guitar), Jimmy Stayton (vocals/rhythm guitar), Honey Voshell (drums)

They started playing shows in places all over Delaware and soon became popular with their brand of music. Rockabilly was still unheard till then and Stayton and his band were probably the first musicians to perform this music style publicly in Delaware. One of the first venues they played was the Milford Canteen, where they used to play in front of a packed house. From there, they went on to perform shows in Frederica, Smyrna, Camden, and Dover. They also started playing shows in other east coast states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia.

In late 1955 or early 1956, Stayton became acquainted with Sam Short, who ran a grocery store in Harrington, Delaware. Out of this store, he also operated the Blue Hen label that had released mostly country music since 1954. Rockabilly became the hottest thing in the country and Short decided to give it a try and recorded Stayton's band. A session was set up at WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland, which produced "Hot Hot Mama" paired with a country flip side, "Why Do You Treat Me This Way". Released in the spring of 1956 on Blue Hen #220, the record was credited to "Jimmy Stayton with Morton & Honey" rather than the "Rocka-Bye Band" but it proved to be a good seller in their three state radius. Moreover, it was the first rockabilly record ever released in the state of Delaware - a pioneering disc in that area.

The success led to another recording session a few months later. On this occasion, Stayton had organized a recording studio in Baltimore, Maryland, and this session produced "You're Gonna Treat Me Right" and "Midnight Blues". By then, the group included Patsy Saunders on drums as Voshell had left following the release of "Hot Hot Mama", and the group became the "Country Cats". However, Saunders was not present at the second session and the line-up instead included a bassist. Stories differ how they picked them up - Morton Marker recalled they met him while playing the Sunset Park in Westgrove, Pennsylvania, and used him on several shows, while Stayton later remembered him as a studio musician.

However, both songs were prime examples of rockabilly with its sparse line-up and appeared in late 1956 in Blue Hen #224. Though they continued to perform successfully until 1958, no more recordings were made. That year, Stayton joined the US Army and was sent overseas to Germany. It meant the end of the Country Cats. Stayton got to know his future wife in Germany and upon his return, moved to California, where he attended college.

Music was still on his mind. While in California, he signed a recording contract with 20th Century Fox (Stayton later claimed that Robert Mitchum had a hand in it) and his debut on the label, "More Than You'll Ever Know" b/w "Losers Can't Win", was released in 1962. It was the first nationally distributed record for Staytion as Blue Hen had no proper distribution network (records were sold from the counter of Short's grocery store for example). However, the record did not reach the charts and shortly afterwards, Stayton returned to Delaware.

He was soon back at recording, again with Sam Short, and recorded for Short's and "Bailin' Wire" Bob Strack's Del-Ray label, which Stayton later co-owned, too. The A side was "The Hep Old Frog", a novelty comedy number that he had written back in California for a Hollywood-produced Hanna Barbera TV cartoon that never came into existence. It was paired with a Don Gibson-styled, very commercial country number, "The Only One (for Me)", on Del-Ray #212 in 1963. Another single followed on Del-Ray under the pseudonym of "Leappo the Frog" with more frog-themed novelty content.

Probably his last record came in 1964 for Ruth Conte's Chattahoochee label from Los Angeles. "Politickin's Here" was a humorous comment on politics and election campaigns, while "Your Heart Is My Prison" is another enjoyable country performance. My copy of the record has "Area Test Record" on its label written, whatever that means.

Stayton told Kelemen that he had enough of music at one point in his life and became a salesman at WKEN in Dover, an occupation he held for 15 years. He also was a DJ on that station for some time. Eventually, he formed a new band, the Country Sounds and returned to performing. He also wrote a new song, "The Ballad of Herman Brown" for Republican Herman Brown's 1968 election campaign.

In the 1990s, European rockabilly CD compilation started featuring Stayton's songs "Hot Hot Mama" and "You're Gonna Treat Me This Way". They had been forgotten for years and so had been Stayton. Collectors and researchers failed to track him down until 2013, when Steve Kelemen succeeded and conducted an interview with both Stayton and Morton Walker for the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In the wake of his rediscovery, Knock Out Records released a CD of Stayton's recordings that also includes a lot of originally unissued material. Since then, Stayton and his band have been acknowledged several times as Delaware's first rock'n'roll recording artists.

Stayton nowadays resides in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, while Morton Marker lives in Glendora, California. Honey Voshell remained active as a musician in Delaware and opened a music shop in Felton, "The Drum Pad".

Discography

Blue Hen 220: Jimmy Stayton with Morton & Honey - Hot Hot Mama / Why Do You Treat Me This Way (1956)
Blue Hen 224: Jimmy Stayton and the Country Cats - You're Gonna Treat Me Right / Midnight Blues (1956)
20th Fox 310: James H. Stayton - More Than You'll Ever Know / Losers Can't Win (1962)
Del-Ray 212: Jimmy Stayton - The Hep Old Frog / The Only One (for Me) (1963)
Del-Ray 213: Leappo (The Frog) - Christmas in Frogville / Look Before You Leap (1963)
Chattahoochee 45-6x: Politickin's Here (Nobody Needs Automation) / Your Heart Is My Prison (1964)

Recommended reading

• Dead Wax: Christmas in Frogville

• Bear Family Records (Knock Out CD)

Sources

• Blue Hen Records (Greater Harrington Historical Society)

• Rockabilly Hall of Fame interviews (Wayback Machine)

• Jimmy Stayton on the Delaware Rock and Roll Society website

• Rockin' Country Style entry

• 45cat entry

Radio WMIE of Miami, Florida

WMIE (Miami, Florida)

Florida's Favorite for Sports (...and Country & Western)

WMIE radio went on air in 1948 in Miami. One of the station's earliest on-air personalities was Barry Gray, who came from New York City to Miami that year and became known as the inventor of talk radio. He broadcast three different shows from Miami night clubs. Other DJs and announcers included Art Green and James Olmes. It was in late 1953 when the station added a television outlet to its roster. It was managed by Kurt A. Meer at that time and WMIE-TV was granted a licence in November or December that year but the station broadcast only for a few months. In late 1954, the TV station was purchased by George B. Storer and re-emerged as WGBS-TV in early 1955. 

WMIE became part of Sun Coast Broadcasting in 1951, which in turn was headed by former Georgia Governor E.D. Rivers, Sr., who owned the station for more than a decade. It was the city's premier country & western station during the late 1940s and 1950s, although other station were airing country music programs as well. On air personalities in the C&W field included Cracker Jim Brooker, probably the station's most popular and longest running C&W DJ, Happy Harold Thaxton, Dale Wasson, and Buddy Starcher, among others. In the 1950s, WMIE produced and broadcast several big country programs in the Miami area. From 1956 until 1957, the station had its Gold Coast Jamboree live stage show.

1950s WMIE match box cover

Following the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and Fidel Castro's rise to power, many Cubans sought refuge in Miami, which led to the development of a big Cuban/Latin American community in the Miami-Dade metropolitan area. Radio was affected by this development, too, and stations began including Spanish-language programming. By 1960, WMIE had introduced two daily programs aimed at a Cuban audience, including Martha Flores' half-hour talk show. Flores had immigrated from Cuba the previous year and was not only the first Cuban to host a radio show in Miami but also the first female host on WMIE. The station was mentioned in several secret governmental reports, which evaluated the possibility of broadcasting propaganda programs to Cuba in order to harm the Castro regime.

WMIE began a full time Latin-aimed programming around 1964. Mainstays like Happy Harold and Cracker Jim switched to other stations in the area and in 1968, WMIE evolved into WQBA, which features a Latin talk/sports programming nowadays. The call letters WMIE went to a Christian talk/music station in Cocoa, Florida, which began broadcasting in 1984.

If someone has memories or information on WMIE, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me via email trough the formula at top right.

See also

• Remembering Happy Harold - A Miami Country Music Pioneer

• Cracker Jim Brooker - A Miami Country Music Veteran

• Dale Wasson

• Gold Coast Jamboree

Recommended reading

• Photo of WMIE personality Art Green

• Cracker Jim C&W WMIE Charts of April 11, 1953

• Miami area TV and Radio Memories (incl. WMIE)

Sources

• James Olmes Rogers obituary

• Barry Gray at the Radio Hall of Fame

• History of UHF Television

• WQBA Wikipedia entry

• Miami Herald: Martha Flores obituary

• Historical Documents - office of the historian ("Briefing-papers used to brief President-elect Kennedy")

• United States Information Agency papers (Radio Propaganda Plan)

Leon Fulgham & the Dealers on Bejay

Leon Fulgham & the Dealers - Poor Boy (Bejay 82479), 1979

Leon Fulgham's band, the Dealers, was founded in the late 1970s. Fulgham was a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and came from a large family. He worked as a used car dealer and operated Fulgham Used Car Center in Fort Smith. He played music with friends for years until he put together his own band, the Dealers. He was also known as the "Singing Car Dealer".

The band consisted of Fulgham on rhythm guitar, bass, and lead vocals, Harold Van on steel guitar, Louis Lyles on vocals, lead guitar and fiddle, Ramona Lyles on bass, piano, and vocals, and Billy Wise on drums. Occasionally, Fulgham's wife Maxine appeared with the band on vocals. All of the members were said to hail from the Fort Smith area.

Leon Fulgham and the Dealers, 1979
(taken from the band's LP "First Time Around")

In 1979, Fulgham and the Dealers went into Ben Jack's recording studio in Fort Smith to cut eleven songs. They probably performed those songs frequently at their shows and included a good cover of Jimmie Martin's bluegrass tune "Free Born Man", the bluesy "Poor Boy", or "The Devil and the Cowboy". All eleven songs were issued on the Bejay LP "First Time Around" and those last two songs, which were Fulgham's own compositions, were also released on a 45rpm disc by Bejay the same year.

Although many of his siblings already passed away, it seems that Leon Fulgham is still alive. His used car dealership has been closed down, as far as I can tell.

If somebody has more information on Leon Fulgham, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail through the formula at the top right of this website.

See also
• Ben Jack on Bejay
• Bobby Whittaker on Bejay
• Red Yeager on Bejay
• David & Darlene Robinson on Bejay

Sources
• Discogs
• 45cat entry
• Jimmy Fulgham Find a Grave entry

Walter (Arkie) Bittle

Walter "Arkie" Bittle & the Flying Saucers

Arkansas Country Boys Went Rock'n'Roll in Indiana

Many Arkansans moved west in the 1930s and 1940s, many moved east to Memphis in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s but few musicians moved to the northern states during that period. Walter Bittle was one of them. He lived in Indiana in the 1950s, where he cut a rare and little known rockabilly gem, "Jitterbug Drag". Like so many fellow rockabillies, Bittle later abandoned secular music and turned to the gospel.

Walter Thomas "W.T." Bittle, also known as Arkie Bittle or Reverend Walter Bittle, was born on January 13, 1931, in Prim, Arkansas, a rural area north of Heber Springs near Greers Ferry Lake. His parents, H. Gordon and Blanche D. Bittle, also gave birth to two daughters Georgia and Wanda as well as another son in 1935, Bittle's brother Loy Emery. At that time, the family was residing in an isolated place called Woodrow down the road from Prim.

Life was hard in the 1930s for rural Arkansans and Bittle worked on the farm and in the timber industry very early on. However, music was his passion and he learned to play guitar as a child. Bittle enjoyed playing and singing with family and friends; country and gospel music were likely his main influences. At age 17, he and his brother-in-law Wayne Harlan took part in a talent contest in Heber Springs and won.

By the advent of the 1950s, Walter and Loy Bittle were working with guitarist Glynn Hipp, who was also born in Woodrow but already in 1927, and played clubs along Highway 67, today known as the Rock and Roll Highway. They performed at such venues as the Oasis and the Wagon Wheel. Bittle joined the US Marine Corps in 1952 and served his country during the Korean War. Upon his discharge around 1954, Bittle took up music again with brother Loy and Hipp. They moved north to the Marion, Indiana, area, possibly in search of better working and living conditions than what they were used to in the rural South. On the personal side, he married Esther Shook in October 1954 in Marion.

Billboard September 17, 1955

Although they had started as a country music trio, Rock'n'Roll was the thing by then and naturally, the trio began performing in that style. Later in 1955, Bittle had assembled a band known as the "Sunny Slope Boys" and this group was heard over WMRI in Marion, Indiana, and the station's "Hoosier Barn Dance". The group also played on TV and in several local clubs. A year later, the Sunny Slope Boys had morphed into the Flying Saucers, adapting a more popular name for rock'n'roll audiences. By then, Loy Bittle had dropped out of the act. The group included Arkie Bittle on vocals and rhythm guitar, Hipp on lead guitar, Ray Smith on bass, and Bobby Johns on drums.

Arkie Bittle and Glynn Hipp, mid 1950s
(taken from the front cover of Collector CLCD 4495)

In 1956, Claud J. Nash, Sr., set up his own independent record label, Claudra Records, and Bittle and his group were the first to record for it. Hipp had written a rockabilly piece called "Jitterbug Drag" and together with Nash's song "I Kissed You in a Dream", was recorded under primitive circumstances as the songs sound like being cut in a kitchen. Nash released them on Claudra #CL-200 in 1956.

A second disc appeared the following year featuring "Teen Age Blues" and "Glynns Hopp", both composed by Hipp. While the A side was a vocal number sung by Bittle, the B side showcased Hipps skills on the guitar. It seems that Hipp was the driving force of the band - he was not only a talented guitarist but also wrote most of the song material. In addition, some  band members of the Flying Saucers also played on other Claudra releases.

In 1958, Bittle dropped out of the group as he became a born again Christian. Hipp took over the band and renamed it "The Jokers", which later also included Larry Kinser on vocals and Harry Miracle on vocals and guitar. The band continued to perform well into the 1960s and had two records out - one on Claudra and another one on Cliff Ayers' Lincoln label from Fort Wayne (Ayers also owned the Emerald label that released several rock'n'roll discs).

In the meantime, Bittle had begun preaching in Indiana churches and the 1960s saw Loy Bittle becoming a converted Christian as well. Loy became a deacon at Marion General Baptist Church in Marion in 1964 until his return to Arkansas. Walter Bittle returned to Heber Springs as well, where he established Sunny Slope Church in the 1960s. Loy began his work as a deacon there in 1968. In 1973, Walter Bittle received a theological degree from the Oakland City University of Indiana. Bittle also claimed to have written the song "I Hold a Clear Title to a Mansion", although different sources suggest this gospel hymn dates back to the early 20th century. He also claimed to have a recording of his (first) version and that the song was stolen from him. Bittle tried to regain the legal rights to no avail. The song has been recorded under different titles by several gospel artists.

Dutch collector Cees Klop gathered a couple of Glynn Hipp recordings and released those on his White Label and Collector reissue albums, beginning in the early 2000s. Also "Jitterbug Drag" was released on a few European CD reissues in the 2000s, probably unbeknownst to Bittle.

Walter Bittle passed away on October 21, 2016, at the age of 85 years. His brother Loy died a few years later in 2021. Glynn Hipp stayed in Indiana, where he already passed away in 1995 at the age of 67 years.

Sources

• Find a Grave Entries for Walter Thomas Bittle and for Glynn Hipp as well as for Claude Jackson Nash, Sr. and Claud Jackson Nash, Jr.

• Rockin' Country Style Entries for Walter Arkie Bittle and for Glynn Hipp

• 45cat entry

• Claudra Records on Discogs

• Obituary

• Clear Title to a Mansion (Bluegrass Messengers)

• Robert Cochran: "Our Own Sweet Sounds - A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas" (University of Arkansas Press), 2005, page 53

Johnny Hughes on UBC

Johnny Hughes - Pretty Little Girl (UBC 1017), 1960

Pre-teenage Johnny Hughes cut three records for the Fort Smith, Arkansas, based UBC label in 1960 and 1961. We feature his debut release from December 1960, "Johnny Blue" b/w "Pretty Little Girl". The exact artist credit on this disc reads "(12 Year Old) Johnny Hughes", which places his birth date around 1948.

And indeed, further research substantiated this date. John Lee Hughes was born October 23, 1948, in Midwest City, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. He was born to Floyd A. and Thyra Juanita Hughes and had a couple of siblings. The family later moved to the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Oklahoma City, where Hughes started his career as a singer. He attended several music schools to train his voice and also took up the guitar.

By 1959, Hughes began making appearances in the city and surrounding areas and his mother Juanita began acting as his manager. A year later, Hughes was popular enough that UBC Records from Fort Smith, Arkansas, became interested in the young boy and signed a recording contract with him. Hughes' recordings for UBC were teenage rock'n'roll and aimed at the flourishing teen market, although he was likely a bit too young for that target group. His debut session was likely cut in Oklahoma City, as Bobby Boyd, who also owned the Boyd label there, produced today's disc. "Johnny Blue" b/w "Pretty Little Girl" was released at the tail end of 1960 and according to former radio KOMA's Wax Museum curator Larry Neal, "Johnny Blue" became a local hit in Oklahoma City. 

Johnny Hughes in 1963

UBC had possibly high hopes to build Hughes as a kiddie star. After his debut, UBC also released "After Tonight" b/w "Junior High Doll", which was recorded in Nashville with the Jordanaires, and "Doll Baby" b/w "Grounded", both in 1961. Some of Hughes recordings were written by some of the top names in the business. For example, "Johnny Blue" was penned by Jerry Crutchfield and Gerald Nelson, and "Junior High Doll" was composed by Mae Axton (co-author of "Heartbreak Hotel") and Lew Williams (rockabilly recording artist for Imperial).

Billboard May 22, 1961, pop review

UBC had possibly high hopes to build Hughes as a kiddie star. Although "Junior High Doll" became another strong seller in Oklahoma City, Hughes' records never brought him the desired breakthrough and he was dropped from the UBC roster soon after. He teamed up with another young singer, Debbie Ray, who also hailed from Midwest City, and appeared with her on several occasions in the region. Hughes' mother organized an audition at Rainbow Studios in Hollywood, California, and a contract was signed for a session in 1963, although no records are known to have been released.

Hughes remained in the music business and led a band known as the Fender Benders from 1965 up to 1968. This group played extensively across the state of Oklahoma. He later worked as a trim carpenter but unfortunately, it escapes me what Hughes did music-wise after the 1960s. Johnny Hughes passed away May 7, 2004, at the age of 55 years in Norman, Oklahoma.

If you have more information on Johnny Hughes, please feel free to leave a comment or share your memories via e-mail with us.

Discography

UBC 1017/18: (12 Year Old) Johnny Hughes - Johnny Blue / Pretty Little Girl (December 1960)
UBC 1024: Johnny Hughes - After Tonight / Junior High Doll (May 1961)
UBC 1034: Johnny Hughes - Doll Baby / Grounded (1961)

Sources

• Find a Grave entry
• 45cat entry

• Johnny Hughes - Junior High Doll YouTube video (info in comment section)

Ted Creekmore

Ted Creekmore was a longtime country music performer and band leader on the Tulsa music scene. Beginning in the early 1960s, he recorded several 45s well into the 1970s on local Oklahoma labels.

Ted W. Creekmore was born on July 23, 1932, in Oklahoma to Charlie Elzo and Dovie Ann Creekmore. Both of his parents were born in Arkansas but had relocated to Oklahoma by the mid 1920s. Creekmore had a total of seven siblings - four brothers and three sisters. In 1953, he married Margaret Jenkins, with whom he raised three sons. Creekmore was musically inclined and at some point, took up music as a hobby and began appearing around Tulsa and surrounding areas.

He had assembled his own band by the early 1960s and started recording for Joe Norvell's Norjo record label in 1962, releasing "It's Your Turn to Cry" b/w "I Just Got Love Bug Bit". The latter was released on Collector Records' "Rock & Roll with Piano, Vol. 7" in 2002 and on Buffalo Bop's "Rock-a-Billy Boys" in 2003 in Europe. Creekmore had another release on the label with "Arizona Ways" / "I Don't Know How to Make You Know".

In 1964, Creekmore's band accompanied Tulsa DJ Bob LaFitte on his recordings for the local Plainview, Arkansas, Tagg record label and followed up with own recordings on the Pride and Sheridan labels in the mid to late 1960s as well as on Alvera in 1977. In addition to his recordings, Creekmore and his band played dances and TV shows all over Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas. His sons Danny and Robert both became talented drummers and son Kenny became proficient at guitar and bass. Danny worked with his father's band from 1970 until 1986, relocating to Florida eventually.

Creekmore's wife Margaret passed away in 1981. A few years later, he married his second wife Joyce and eventuelly married Treva Keener, who would accompany him for the rest of his life. Creekmore was still playing with a band in 2005, although his radius was limited to Tulsa and surrounding cities by then.

Ted Creekmore passed away on April 4, 2010, at the age of 77 years in Tulsa.


Ted Creekmore (lead singer) and John Chick on the "John Chick Show", broadcast on KTUL-TV from the Tulsa State Fair, early 1970s

See also
• Johnny Mystery on Tagg

Sources
• Find a Grave entry
• Creekmore Family Facebook group
• Discogs
• Rockin' Country Style entry
• 45cat cat entry