Catahoula Country Music Show

Don Wiley and the Catahoula Playboys, 1960s
from left to right: Ruble Tendle Wright (piano), Gene King (guitar), poss. Ruthine Wiley,
J.C. Henderson (guitar), Don Wiley (guitar), Mr. Kiper (first name unknown, guitar),
Bobby Dan Massey (drums), Junior Trisler (bass), and Bill Landrum (steel guitar)

The Catahoula Country Music Show was a local country music stage and TV show, centered around local musician Don Wiley and his band. By the beginning of the 1960s, the golden age of American radio and the big radio barn dance shows was over. Casts of thirty or more acts were too expensive. However, on local basis, such shows were still in demand on a smaller scale. The Catahoula Country Music Show from Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, is such an example.

The Olla Tullos Signal, September 9, 1966

The house band of the show were the Catahoula Playboys, led by vocalist and guitarist Donald R. "Don" Wiley, Sr. He was born on December 26, 1931, to Don Sr. and Myrtle Wiley in Catahoula Parish and married Ruthine Leola Book in 1951. She later appeared on her husband's shows as well. Wiley worked for the Lakeside Ford car dealership in Jonesville, Catahoula Parish, and also had a mobile home dealership in Ferriday. By 1962, he had also organized a band known as the "Catahoula Playboys" that played local dates and toured the Central Louisiana areas.

The Catahoula News,
September 12, 1963

The Catahoula Country Music Show developed out of a July 1962 charity event for infant Gary Wright, who was in need of a heart operation. Soon the funds were raised, which saved Gary's life, and the popularity of the show prompted Wiley and his band to organize it as a regular feature, beginning in September that year. The Catahoula Country Music Show was born. It was first held at the Fort Theater (sometimes also spelled Ford or Fout) in Harrisonburg, the parish seat. Eventually, the old theater building was demolished and the show moved to the former Keith Department Store on Front Street in nearby Jonesville. The building was later promoted as the "Catahoula Country Music Show Auditorium".

The show soon began to attract not only large crowds but also attention outside of Catahoula Parish. By September 1963, the show was carried by KVNV, a station from Ferriday. By February 1966, it was also featured on KALB-TV from Alexandria. The band also had a Sunday morning show on that station and KNOE from Monroe also televised the show at some point. Apart from the Playboys and other local talent like Tommie French, Rip Cannaday, Ray Prince, the Covington Trio, Penny Sue Franklin, Happy Fats, or Alex Broussard, the show regularly featured national stars like Freddie Fender, Jim & Jessie, Carl Story, Bill Monroe, and many others.

The Catahoula Playboys included Don Wiley on vocals and guitar, Gene King on electric guitar, J.C. "Catfish" Henderson on guitar, Bill Landrum on steel guitar, Ruble Tendle Wright on piano, Junior Trisler on upright bass, and Bobby Dan Massey on drums. Of course, the line-up varied over the years and some members came and others left. In their first years of existence, the Playboys played a mixture of country music, pop, cajun, bluegrass, and a bit of rock'n'roll. However, they developed more and more into a bluegrass band throughout the years, eventually featuring Frank Thompson on fiddle and an unknown banjo player. 

In 1966, the band made one 45rpm record for the local Catahoula label, which was followed by an album entitled "Voices of Catahoula" around 1968. They also made another LP around the same time on the Zundak label, "Catahoula Country Time". Several of the show's regulars made records as well. The Catahoula Country Music Show lasted well-into the 1970s, at least until 1973. Ruble Wright and Bill Landrum eventually had their own show in Colfax, the Louisiana Jamboree, which was much in the same style as Don Wiley's show. J.C. Henderson died in 1995, while Wiley passed away on February 9, 2000. Ruble Wright died in 2010 and Billy Landrum in 2015.

We close this post now with the words that Wiley used to sign off his shows: "May you take a likin' to the lord... and he take a likin' to you. Bye cycle!"

Discography

45rpm
Catahoula 1001: The Bottle Let Me Down / Jambalaya (1966)

Albums
Catahoula No. ?: Voices of Catahoula (ca. 1968)
Zundak No.?: Catahoula Country Time (ca. 1968)

Sources

• Discogs

• Southern Music Research Center: Material on Rip Cannaday

• Don Wiley obituary

• Musician Tommie French coming to CCF Coffee Hour

• Ruble Wright obituary

• 1970s Hippiebillie Country Albums

• Thanks to Marshal Martin, who brought the show to my attention and provided a lot of information and photo material!