Bob McKnight & his Ranch Boys

Country Music from the Mid-South
Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys

Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys at WMC, 1940s
From left to right: Freddie Burns, Jimmie Smith, Bob McKnight, Ray Martin, Slim Sullie,
Herman "Horsehair" Buggfuzz

Among the Memphis country music acts of the 1940s, Bob McKnight's Ranch Boys were one of the few to make commercial recordings, although being not under McKnight's leadership by then. The Ranch Boys were a long lasting act from the 1930s until the 1950s but in contrast to such bands as the Snearly Ranch Boys, the Buckaroos, or the Memphis Four, the group never trained young aspiring musicians that later became rock'n'roll pioneers. Though, the band was well-known in the Mid-South due to their reguar broadcasts on WMC and likely influenced a lot of the region's future generation of singers and guitar pickers.

Byron Burton "Bob" McKnight was born September 20, 1908. He likely hailed from the small community of Tutwiler, Northwest, Mississippi. The town is also known for being the birthplace of blues legends Sonny Boy Williamson II and John Lee Hooker, although it is likely that Williamson was born elsewhere in Mississippi. McKnight possibly knew at least Hooker, as they were of nearly the same age (Hooker likely born in 1912). May it as it be, McKnight was blind already since his childhood days, although it is not known if he was born blind or if he lost his sight afterwards.

McKnight was born to Frank and Belle McKnight. the couple had a total of five children: James, Jewel, Byron, Mabel, James W., Francis, and Mildred being the youngest. The family lived in adjacent Sunflower County by 1920 (Tutwiler is located on the border of Tallahatchie and Sunflower counties) but had moved back to Tallahatchie County by 1930.

McKnight learned to play guitar as well as harmonica and, beginning in 1928, hitchhiked to Memphis on Saturdays to play harmonica on local radio. At some point in the early or mid 1930s, McKnight made the move to Memphis and around 1935, married Mary Cathleen Conn, who was born in 1917 in Koscuisko, Mississippi. When Wold War II reached the United States, Uncle Sam called. Although there exists an army draft card for McKnight, it is very likely he was rejected due to his blindness.

By then, McKnight had made the connections with other local musicians and at some point in the 1930s, he founded a group which became known as the "Ranch Boys". Exact founding date and original members are lost to time but probably by the advent of the 1940s, the group consisted of McKnight (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass), Fred "Freddie Boy" Burns (guitar), Jimmie Smith (vocals, saxophone, fiddle, and other instruments), Ray Martin (accordion and other instruments), Slim Sullie (fiddle), and Ivey Peterson (bass), who also doubled as comedy character "Herman 'Horsehair' Buggfuzz".

McKnight and the Ranch Boys had found their way onto WMC as early as 1942 (according to a Billboard article), doing live shows over the station. WMC was a local Memphis outlet that had been in business since the late 1920s. It is possible that McKnight's shows were carried out to other stations through a regional network in the Mid-South. By 1946, the group was a cast member of the station's "Plough Dixie Jamboree", a live stage show which also included other local artists such as Rex Griffin, Billie Walker and the Texas Longhorns, Chick Stripling, and others. Other details on the show unfortunately escape us.

Peterson later left the group, switching to WSB'S Barn Dance in Atlanta, and was replaced by "Sneezeweed" and his horse Pinto. Jimmie Smith took over the bass part for the group. McKnight, since its founding leader of the group, left the music business in 1946. A member of the Memphis Lions Club since the early 1930s, McKnight established the Memphis Lions Club Sight Service, the first sight service for blind persons in Tennessee. He was already well-known during his musician days in the Mid-South but especially rendered outstanding services to blind person's acceptance from the 1940s onwards.

In the 1960s, McKnight worked for the Memphis Workshop for the Blind, an organisation connected with the city's government. In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, McKnight's name appeared in FBI documents, as a suspicious conversation between McKnight and another person had been overheard by a man, who in turn reported the content of the conversation to the autorities. Alledegly, McKnight said that Martin Luther King "would not going to carry that march because he knew a boy from Northern Mississippi who would stop him [...]."

The sneaking suspicion was apparently laid to rest by the authorities, although further details on this issue escape us, too. McKnight continued his work for blind people and became the Downtown Lions Club's first blind president in 1972. Bob McKnight died on December 21, 1985, at age 77 after an illness that had lasted for months. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis. In 2015, McKnight's daughter Maddie Stanford organized a tribute variety show, "Bob McKnight and his Ranch Boys Old Time Radio Show", in Cedar Grove, Tennessee.

When McKnight left the Ranch Boys in 1946, Freddie Burns took over leadership of the band and guided them into the 1950s. Fred Lee Burns was born on February 1, 1914, in Booneville, Mississippi, to John Green and Sadie Isabel Burns. The Burns family was a big one as Freddie Burns had seven siblings and five half-siblings. By 1920, the family still lived in Prentiss County but by the outbreak of World War II, Burns was living in Memphis according to his draft card. In contrast to McKnight, Burns probably served his country during the war. At which point Burns joined the Ranch Boys is not documented.

Billboard February 18, 1950

Burns transferred the Ranch Boys to WHBQ, another Memphis station. This happened in late 1949 or early 1950. Shortly afterwards, in February 1950, the Ranch Boys cut their only commercial recordings, an eight track session that probably took place at WHBQ for Star Talent Records of Dallas, Texas.

Two 78rpm discs appeared in 1950, carrying four of the eight recorded sides. By then, the line-up had changed drastically. At that time, the group consisted of Burns, Jimmie Smith, Ray Martin, Speedy McNatt (steel guitar), Pee Wee Wamble (piano), who had been a member of Memphis' Swift Jewel Cowboys before the war and joined the Ranch Boys following the war's end, and other unknown musicians. The first record on Star Talent appeared in May 1950 with "I'm Just a Poor Unlucky Dog" b/w "You're Gone" (Star Talent #752). Featuring the harmony singing of Burns and Smith as well as Smith's mandolin work, especially the A side was a nod to the Delmore Brothers' style, who had been active in Memphis since the late 1940s. The second disc followed in late 1950 with "Juke Box Boogie" and the romping instrumental "Two Piano Boogie" (Star Talent #762). The later featured both Ray Martin and Pee Wee Wamble on piano.

Burns and the Ranch Boys possibly continued to play in and around Memphis during the 1950s but no activities could be found so far. Burns continued to be active as a musician and lived up to be 102 years old. Still at age 98, he could be found in a nursing home, pulling out his guitar and singing a song. He passed away April 29, 2016, and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery East in Memphis.

Discography

Star Talent 752: Freddie Burns and his Ranch Boys - I'm Just a Poor Unlucky Dog / You're Gone (1950)
Star Talent 762: Freddie Burns and his Ranch Boys - Juke Box Boogie / Two Piano Boogie (1950)

Sources
• Hillbilly-Music.com entry
• Find a Grave entries for Bob McKnight and Freddie Burns
• Several Photos of the Ranch Hands on Flickr
• 45worlds 78rpm entry
• Official documents for Bob Knight and Freddie Burns accessed through Ancestry.com
• The Jackson Sun: "Old Time Radio Show at Cedar Grove Opry on Saturday"
• Adam Komorowski: "Rockin' Memphis" (Proper Records), 2008, liner notes