Ozark Jubilee
Encyclopedia
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S.
network television
program to feature country music
's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri
to challenge Nashville, Tennessee
as America's country music capital. The weekly live
stage show premiered on ABC-TV
on January 22, 1955, was renamed Country Music Jubilee on July 6, 1957, and was finally named Jubilee USA on August 2, 1958. Originating "from the heart of the Ozarks
," the Saturday night variety series helped popularize country music in America's cities and suburbs, drawing more than nine million viewers. The ABC Radio version was heard by millions more starting in August 1954.
A typical program included a mix of vocal and instrumental performances, comedy routines, square dancing
and an occasional novelty act. The host was Red Foley
, the nation's top country music personality. Big names such as Patsy Cline
, Eddy Arnold
, Johnny Cash
and Faron Young
were interspersed with a regular cast, including a group of young talent the Jubilee brought to national fame: 11-year-old Brenda Lee
, Porter Wagoner
, Wanda Jackson
, Sonny James
, Jean Shepard
and The Browns
. Other featured cast members were Webb Pierce
, Bobby Lord
, Leroy Van Dyke
, Norma Jean
and Carl Smith
.
Carl Perkins
, singing "Blue Suede Shoes
", made his TV debut on the series, which showcased hundreds of popular artists performing everything from rockabilly
, country and Western, bluegrass
and honky tonk
to the Nashville sound
, gospel
and folk
. Several now-legendary session musicians provided accompaniment at times during the show's run, including Grady Martin
, Hank Garland
, Bob Moore
, Charlie Haden
, Cecil Brower
, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs. The genial Foley closed each show from the Jewell Theatre in downtown Springfield with a "song of inspiration" or a recitation from his Keepsake Album; and his sign-off was "Goodnight mama, goodnight papa," before walking into the audience to shake hands as the credits rolled.
The Jubilee was canceled after almost six years as rock and roll
grew in popularity, and in part because of publicity surrounding tax evasion charges against Foley, who was later acquitted. On September 24, 1960, the final telecast, like the first in 1955, opened with Foley singing "Hearts of Stone
". The program concluded with him performing "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
". The series was voted Best Country Music Show by Fame magazine's annual TV critics poll in 1957 and 1960. In 1961, NBC-TV
carried a spin-off
, Five Star Jubilee
.
, broadcast from 1948–50 by NBC from a New York City nightclub. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, the U.S. networks carried a handful of other country music shows, including Hayloft Hoedown
and ABC Barn Dance
(ABC); Saturday Night Jamboree
(NBC); and Windy City Jamboree
and The Old American Barn Dance
(DuMont
). NBC and later ABC also aired Midwestern Hayride
. The shows, however, were generally short-lived summer replacements and had few if any well-known performers.
Ozark Jubilee was the first network TV
program to feature America's top country music stars, and as a result, was the first country music program to attract a significant national viewership. At five years, eight months it also holds the record for the longest-running country music series on network television (Hee Haw
was syndicated
after two years on CBS
, and Austin City Limits
presents a much broader variety of music).
—all running times include commercial breaks)
From October 15, 1955 to September 15, 1956, the program aired from 7:30–8 p.m. every fourth Saturday when ABC televised The Grand Ole Opry live from 8–9 p.m. From March through September 1956, the "Junior Jubilee" edition aired in the 7:30–8 p.m. time slot. In contrast to many network series which went on summer hiatus, the Jubilee was live throughout the year.
and Si Siman produced nationally-syndicated radio shows through Foster's RadiOzark Enterprises, and aired them locally over his KWTO-AM
, also a stepping-stone for numerous country stars. Their stable of country music shows and talent grew, and Foster believed Springfield could dethrone Nashville to become the "crossroads of country music." He realized television was the key, and named his new company Crossroads TV Productions, Inc., with Siman and John B. Mahaffey (Foster's nephew) as managing vice presidents. A financial backer was local businessman Lester E. Cox. In December 1953, they launched Ozark Jubilee on Springfield's KYTV-TV
.
In April 1954, after extensive negotiations, Siman lured Red Foley from Nashville to host the show with a one-year contract, renewed for three more in 1955. It was a major coup; Foley was considered by many to be America's top country music star. In 1946 he replaced Roy Acuff
as emcee of the Grand Ole Opry segment carried by NBC Radio
, and his popularity during the following eight years was credited with establishing it as the number one country music show. Three months later, in July 1954, ABC-TV agreed to buy the Jubilee; and by August, was carrying a radio version hosted by Foley that had begun in July on KWTO.
To represent the regular performers on KWTO and the Jubilee, in March 1955 Foster established Top Talent, Inc., in partnership with Siman; and to publish their songs, Siman established Earl Barton Music, Inc. with partners Foster, Mahaffey and Cox Siman also handled talent bookings for the show. Foster, known by cast and crew as "the Skipper," made an appearance on the final broadcast of Jubilee USA, singing "Woodman, Spare that Tree".
By 1956, Springfield, with two other ABC shows, ranked behind only New York and Hollywood for originating network television programming. Top Talent was booking Jubilee artists across the country, and that April, the Jubilee had finished third among men. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
that February, "Springfield has become the recognized center of the country music world. In fact, it is generally agreed in television, recording and radio circles, that Springfield, now a city of 90,000, has shaken Nashville, Tennessee, home of The Grand Ole Opry and long-time mecca of hillbilly musicians, to its very foundations." But the 1957 departures of Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee to the Music City signaled the shift would not be permanent, and Springfield never generated the business or revenues of Nashville.
Publicity surrounding federal income tax evasion charges
pending against Foley during 1960 influenced ABC's decision to cancel the program, although his first trial that fall ended in a hung jury; and after a second trial he was quickly acquitted on April 23, 1961. The previous October, ABC had begun airing the popular Fight of the Week
in the Jubilee's former time slot (the show had replaced The Saturday Night Fights in 1955).
, Porter Wagoner and Slim Wilson
, who was also front man for both the Tall Timber Trio, made up of "Speedy" Haworth
(guitar), Bob White (bass guitar) and "Doc" Martin (steel guitar); and the Jubilee Band, composed of Haworth, Martin, White, Johnny Gailey (drums), Paul Mitchell (piano) and Zed Tennis (fiddle
). Featured vocalists included Leroy Van Dyke, Suzi Arden, Chuck Bowers, Sonny James, Tommy Sosebee and Tabby West. Singers Hawkshaw Hawkins
and Jean Shepard, who met on the show, later married.
The versatile Wilson was also half of the show's Flash and Whistler (with Floyd "Goo Goo" Rutledge); and Rutledge was half of Lennie and Goo Goo (with Lennie Aleshire
), both country music comedy duos. Other comedians were Pete Stamper, Shug Fisher
, KWTO's Bill Ring, Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield
, and Luke Warmwater.
The cast also included The Foggy River Boys, a singing quartet later known as The Marksmen (George Richardson, Les Robertson, Don Taylor and Earl Terry); Harold Morrison (banjo) and Jimmy Gately (guitar), a bluegrass duo; and The Wagoner Trio, made up of Wagoner, Haworth and Don Warden (steel guitar).
The house band
was first known as The Crossroads Boys, composed of Grady Martin, Billy Burke, Bud Isaacs, Tommy Jackson, Paul Mitchell, Jimmy Selph, Bob Moore and Mel Bly; but the name was was soon changed to Bill Wimberly and His Country Rhythm Boys, a seven-piece group that alternated weekly during 1955 with Grady Martin and His Winging Strings, featuring Moore, Jackson, Isaacs and Hank Garland.
Pierce hosted the first half-hour of the 90-minute programs once a month beginning October 15, 1955; Wagoner and James joined him in monthly rotation from January through at least July 1956. Substitute hosts included Wilson, Eddy Arnold, and Jim Reeves
(May–July 1958). The on-camera announcer was Joe Slattery, a former Pan Am
and US Army Air Forces
pilot who later became president of AFTRA.
The Jubilee featured two square dance groups: the Promenaders (with caller
Leonard "L. D." Keller), a competitive team originally from Southwest Missouri State College
; and a children's group from Camdenton, Missouri
, the (Lake of the Ozarks) Tadpoles (with caller Buford Foster). Several other groups, including the Ozark Sashayers and the teenage Wagon Wheelers (with caller Gary Ellison), made guest appearances.
Foley's son-in-law, Pat Boone
, occasionally appeared; as did his eldest daughter, Betty. Willie Nelson
and his eventual third wife, Shirley Simpson, both auditioned for the show, but only Simpson (given the stage surname Caddell) made it. Many of the regular cast were natives or residents of the Ozarks. Over the years they included:
, who maintained an allegiance to Nashville's Opry. Among them were:
Other guests included Fran Allison
in a recurring role as Aunt Fanny; actors Betty Ann Grove
, Jim Brown
and Duncan Renaldo
; and nationally syndicated
columnist Earl Wilson
. A young Wayne Newton
performed with his brother as the Rascals in Rhythm. On January 14, 1956, the program's first anniversary, Tennessee Gov. Frank Clement
, Missouri's U.S. senators Tom Hennings
and Stuart Symington
, and Missouri Lt. Gov. Jim Blair
appeared, as did St. Louis Cardinals baseball star Stan Musial
.
, living in Augusta, Georgia
, turned down $30 to sing on a Swainsboro
radio station to see Foley and a visiting Jubilee promotional unit at Bell Auditorium. A local disc jockey
convinced Foley to hear her sing before the show. He was stunned and agreed to let Lee perform "Jambalaya"
that night. Foley later recalled his reaction:
Jubilee Producer-Director Bryan Bisney contacted her stepfather, Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who mailed him a tape recording of Lee singing "Jambalaya" on an Augusta radio show with a snapshot
of Lee in Cincinnati, Ohio with Jimmie Skinner
(who had appeared on the show in 1955). He booked her network debut for March 31, 1956 to sing "Jambalaya" on the second "Junior Jubilee" edition of the show.
The New York Journal American
s Jack O'Brien began his April 1 column with, "Didn't catch the name of the 9-year-old [sic] singer on last night's Ozark Jubilee but she belts a song like a star." The show received three times the usual fan mail
with nearly every letter asking to see her again, and Lee's family soon moved to Springfield. Although her five-year contract with Top Talent was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager, she made regular appearances on the program throughout its run.
Carl Perkins and the Perkins Brothers Band made their television debut on Ozark Jubilee on March 17, 1956, performing Perkins' No. 1 hit, "Blue Suede Shoes" and the B side, "Honey Don't
". The group included Perkins (lead guitar and vocalist), Jay Perkins (rhythm guitar), Clayton Perkins (bass guitar) and W.S. Holland (drums). Coincidentally, Elvis Presley
performed the song that same Saturday night on CBS-TV's Stage Show, which overlapped the Jubilee from 8–8:30 p.m. ET (Presley first performed the song February 11 on Stage Show). An automobile accident en route to New York prevented the group from next appearing on The Perry Como Show on March 24. Perkins returned to the Jubilee on February 2, 1957 to again sing "Blue Suede Shoes" and his then-current hit, "Matchbox
".
Both Perkins and Presley were fans of the Jubilee. In 1955, Presley saw Charlie Hodge
, his eventual friend and stage assistant, perform on the program. He first met Hodge when a Jubilee promotional unit later visited Memphis, Tennessee
. That same year, Presley asked Bobby Lord to get him an appearance on the show, but Lord told Presley the producers viewed him as "a flash in the pan."
" and "Try Again". On August 10, 1957 she sang her new single, "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Try Again". Her December 5 appearance included "Make Believe", a duet with Foley; "I Don't Wanna Know"; and "Then You'll Know". During the program, Foley presented Cline with The Billboard
's Most Promising County & Western Female Artist award, and Music Vendor magazine's award for Greatest Achievement in Records in 1957 (for "Walkin' After Midnight").
In 1958, Cline appeared on February 21 and April 26. On November 7, 1959, she sang "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Come on In", then "Let's Go to Church" as a duet with Slim Wilson. On December 7, she sang her "Got a Lot of Rhythm in My Soul" and "Lovesick Blues
", released in January 1960; and sang duets with Ferlin Husky ("Let it Snow") and Foley ("Winter Wonderland
"). On June 4, 1960, Cline soloed with "Lovesick Blues" and "How Can I Face Tomorrow", released in July; and sang "I'm Hogtied Over You" with Cowboy Copas and "Rueben, Reuben" with June Valli
and Eddy Arnold.
, Easter Seals
, Community Chest, and aid following the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake. Guests in 1956 included the Polio Mother of the Year and the March of Dimes
poster family. Groups recognized on the program included the Girl Scouts
and the Chiefs of Police.
The Jubilee also staged performances for inmates at the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, including special Christmas shows.
, and the show typically received 6,000 letters each week. In May 1955, carried by 72 ABC affiliates, it was the only TV show with an audience equally divided among men, women and children, according to the American Research Bureau
(ARB). For 1955, ABC reported these achievements for the program, citing ARB data:
By early 1956, the Jubilee had earned a 19.2 Nielsen rating
, and ARB estimated its weekly TV audience to be as high as 9,078,000. (The $64,000 Question had the most viewers, 16,577,500.) By 1959 the show was carried by 150 affiliates, but rarely won its time slot, competing with such heavyweights as The Perry Como Show on NBC; and on CBS, The Honeymooners
, Perry Mason
, and in 1960, the top-rated Gunsmoke. Its ratings were also hampered when a few major-market
affiliates such as WABC-TV took advantage of network break-away cues to carry 30- or, when it was 90 minutes, 60-minute portions.
ABC promoted and sold the program as prime family entertainment. Sponsors included the American Chicle Co.
, Rolaids
, Anacin
(1956), Williamson-Dickie
(1957–60), Massey Ferguson
(1958–60), Arrid
, Postum
(1958), Carter's Little Pills and Sargent's Dog Care Products (1960); and was sold nationally by Ted Bates
& Company. Joe Slattery handled station breaks and some commercials, often appearing during Jubilee USA with Massey Ferguson farm tractors and accessories in film clips or on stage.
The live audience was briefly part of the broadcasts when a camera would swing around to show the sold-out Jewell Theatre. Attendees, often nearly 90 percent out-of-state, would cheer and hold up signs or banners with the names of their hometowns. Producers estimated 350,000 people (from as many as 30 states on some nights) attended the performances at the Jewell from 1954–1960. Visitors also came from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and Bermuda. Tickets had to be requested as long as six weeks in advance and it was believed to be the only network TV show with paid admission ($1.00 main floor, 75 cents balcony and 50 cents standing room). Second (non-broadcast) shows were frequently added to accommodate the demand during the summers.
The Jubilee regularly noted it was carried "coast to coast," and to promote the show, "personal appearance units," often including Foley, performed at state fairs and other venues in 42 states, Alaska (then a U.S. territory) and every Canadian province.
of KYTV before a live audience, hosted by Bill Bailey. The two-and-a-half-hour radio version, hosted by Foley, began July 17, 1954 on KWTO from Springfield's 1,100-seat Jewell Theatre, a former movie theater. ABC Radio began carrying 30 minutes of the program August 7, and added another half-hour on a delayed basis on Tuesday nights starting October 5. The KYTV show followed with 90-minute TV simulcasts from the theater starting September 4, 1954.
The program debuted on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, but the first 14 national telecasts were staged at KOMU-TV
in Columbia, Missouri
because network television transmission capability from Springfield was not available. Columbia had a microwave transmitter
, however, for ABC coverage of University of Missouri football
games. After AT&T installed a microwave link in Springfield to transmit to Kansas City (which could feed to the network via Chicago), and modifications were made to the Jewell (including extending the stage and adding a control room), the program returned to the theater with the first broadcast April 30. The show was sent to KYTV by a local microwave link from the station's remote van. Rehearsals for Saturday shows were held on Fridays, with run-throughs Saturday afternoons.
The program used equipment and staff from KYTV, which was then a dual ABC-NBC network affiliate. It debuted using two black-and-white RCA TK-11 cameras
with a third added a year later. Vocals of some hit songs were lip-synched
. Overhead shots of square dancing and for other creative purposes were accomplished using a large mirror angled above the stage. One 1960 show included an elephant from a visiting Adams & Sells Circus quietly performing on stage behind an "oblivious" Uncle Cyp. The program had two remote broadcasts
: June 22, 1957 from the Oklahoma State Fair
during the state's semi-centennial; and February 21, 1959 from Detroit, Michigan for a Massey Ferguson dealers convention.
In July 1957, Dan Lounsbery, producer of NBC's Your Hit Parade
, and its art director, Paul Barnes, were hired by ABC to spend several weeks with the show to improve the sets and pacing. July 6 saw the first program under the name Country Music Jubilee, which, according to ABC Vice President James Aubry Jr.
, "recognizes the wide popularity of country music."
The Jubilees executive producers were Crossroads vice presidents Si Siman and John Mahaffey, and the producer-director was Bryan "Walt"
Bisney. The co-writers
were publicist Don Richardson and Bob "Bevo" Tubert. Fred I. Rains was floor director and Bill Ring frequently served as associate producer. The original scenic designer was Don Sebring; his successor, Andy Miller, later did scenic design for nearby Silver Dollar City
and Richardson became its public relations director.
from March 17–September 22. Starting in May, it was the first network color television
series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood. The weekly program featured five rotating hosts: Snooky Lanson
, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Carl Smith and Rex Allen. Produced from Springfield's Landers Theatre
, it was similar to Jubilee USA and featured some of the same cast members, including Bobby Lord, the Promenaders and Slim Wilson's Jubilee Band. Barbara Mandrell
made her network debut on the program.
The Jubilee was culturally significant for giving millions of urban and suburban American viewers their first regular exposure to country music. As Webb Pierce told TV Guide in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else." In return, the Jubilee gave many of the biggest names in country music their first experiences performing on television.
The program also gave national exposure to a number of female country music pioneers, including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Jan Howard, Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells and Norma Jean; the show also featured a local African-American group, the Philharmonics. It represented the peak of Red Foley's career, who had been America's top country star since World War II and who remains one of the biggest-selling country artists of all time. Finally, the Jubilee in many ways laid the groundwork for neighboring Branson, Missouri
to become America's top country music tourist destination.
The program was the subject of a 1993 book, Remembering the Ozark Jubilee; and in 2003, Ozarks Public Television released an hour-long documentary, Ozark Jubilee: A Living Legacy. Cast and crew gathered once again for its premiere at the Landers Theatre.
Streets in a residential neighborhood of nearby Nixa, Missouri
include Ozark Jubilee Drive, Red Foley Court, Slim Wilson Boulevard, Bill Ring Court, Zed Tennis Street and Haworth Court.
s of the show are preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive
.
Watch the following excerpts of Jubilee USA kinescopes at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Web site:
Longer excerpts, including other performances and show segments, are available on YouTube
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
network television
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
program to feature country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
to challenge Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
as America's country music capital. The weekly live
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
stage show premiered on ABC-TV
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on January 22, 1955, was renamed Country Music Jubilee on July 6, 1957, and was finally named Jubilee USA on August 2, 1958. Originating "from the heart of the Ozarks
The Ozarks
The Ozarks are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas...
," the Saturday night variety series helped popularize country music in America's cities and suburbs, drawing more than nine million viewers. The ABC Radio version was heard by millions more starting in August 1954.
A typical program included a mix of vocal and instrumental performances, comedy routines, square dancing
Modern Western square dance
Modern Western square dance is one of two types of square dancing, along with traditional square dance. As a dance form, modern Western square dance grew out of traditional Western dance...
and an occasional novelty act. The host was Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
, the nation's top country music personality. Big names such as Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
were interspersed with a regular cast, including a group of young talent the Jubilee brought to national fame: 11-year-old Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
, Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Wanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
, Sonny James
Sonny James
James Loden , known professionally as Sonny James, is an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, "Young Love". Dubbed the Southern Gentleman, James had 72 country and pop chart hits from 1953 to 1983, including a five-year streak of 16 straight among his 23 No. 1...
, Jean Shepard
Jean Shepard
Ollie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...
and The Browns
The Browns
The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also...
. Other featured cast members were Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
, Bobby Lord
Bobby Lord
Robert L. Lord , better known as Bobby Lord, was an American country music artist popular in the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
, Leroy Van Dyke
Leroy Van Dyke
Leroy Frank Van Dyke is an American country music singer best known for his hits, "The Auctioneer" and "Walk On By" .-Biography:...
, Norma Jean
Norma Jean (singer)
Norma Jean Beasler , better known as Norma Jean, is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had a number of country singles in the Top 10 and Top 20 between 1963 and 1967, including "Go Cat Go" and "The Game of Triangles", and was...
and Carl Smith
Carl Smith (country musician)
Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
.
Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
, singing "Blue Suede Shoes
Blue Suede Shoes
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and is considered one of the first rockabilly records and incorporated elements of blues, country and pop music of the time...
", made his TV debut on the series, which showcased hundreds of popular artists performing everything from rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, country and Western, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
to the Nashville sound
Nashville sound
The Nashville sound originated during the late 1950s as a sub-genre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of honky tonk music which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Several now-legendary session musicians provided accompaniment at times during the show's run, including Grady Martin
Grady Martin
Thomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly....
, Hank Garland
Hank Garland
Walter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
, Bob Moore
Bob Moore
Bob Loyce Moore is an American session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist who was a member of the legendary Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
, Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
, Cecil Brower
Cecil Brower
Cecil Lee Brower was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries...
, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs. The genial Foley closed each show from the Jewell Theatre in downtown Springfield with a "song of inspiration" or a recitation from his Keepsake Album; and his sign-off was "Goodnight mama, goodnight papa," before walking into the audience to shake hands as the credits rolled.
The Jubilee was canceled after almost six years as rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
grew in popularity, and in part because of publicity surrounding tax evasion charges against Foley, who was later acquitted. On September 24, 1960, the final telecast, like the first in 1955, opened with Foley singing "Hearts of Stone
Hearts of Stone
"Hearts of Stone" is an American R&B song. It was written by Rudy Jackson, a member of the San Bernardino, California-based rhythm and blues vocal group the Jewels which first recorded it for the R&B label in 1954...
". The program concluded with him performing "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
"May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" is a popular song by Meredith Willson, originally published in 1950.The song is now considered a standard, recorded by many artists....
". The series was voted Best Country Music Show by Fame magazine's annual TV critics poll in 1957 and 1960. In 1961, NBC-TV
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
carried a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee was an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.From March 17 to May 5, the...
.
Was the Jubilee "first?"
The first (and first live) country music program on network television was Village BarnVillage Barn
Village Barn was the first country music program on American network television. Broadcast by NBC-TV from May 24, 1948–September 1949 and from January 16–May 29, 1950, the live weekly variety series originated from The Village Barn, a country music nightclub in New York City's Greenwich...
, broadcast from 1948–50 by NBC from a New York City nightclub. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, the U.S. networks carried a handful of other country music shows, including Hayloft Hoedown
Hayloft Hoedown
Hayloft Hoedown was an early American country music program on local, and then national, radio and television from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and ABC Barn Dance
ABC Barn Dance
ABC Barn Dance was an early country and Western music show on American television, a spin-off of the popular radio program National Barn Dance. It also included some folk music. The show aired on Monday nights from February 21–November 14, 1949 on ABC-TV. Originally broadcast from...
(ABC); Saturday Night Jamboree
Saturday Night Jamboree
Saturday Night Jamboree was an early American country music series on NBC-TV from December 4, 1948–July 2, 1949. It aired live from New York City from 8–9 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays for three weeks in December 1948, with yodeler Elton Britt as host. Beginning in January 1949, the...
(NBC); and Windy City Jamboree
Windy City Jamboree
Windy City Jamboree was an early American country music program on the DuMont Television Network from March 19 to June 18, 1950. The show aired live from the Rainbow Gardens nightclub in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday nights from 8–10 p.m...
and The Old American Barn Dance
The Old American Barn Dance
The Old American Barn Dance is an American country music television series carried by the DuMont Television Network from July 5–September 13, 1953. The summer replacement program, hosted by Bill Bailey, aired on Sunday nights from 10:30–11 p.m. Eastern Time. It was filmed at Kling...
(DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
). NBC and later ABC also aired Midwestern Hayride
Midwestern Hayride
Midwestern Hayride, sometimes known as Midwest Hayride, was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from WLW-AM and later from WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950s it was carried nationally by NBC and then ABC television...
. The shows, however, were generally short-lived summer replacements and had few if any well-known performers.
Ozark Jubilee was the first network TV
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
program to feature America's top country music stars, and as a result, was the first country music program to attract a significant national viewership. At five years, eight months it also holds the record for the longest-running country music series on network television (Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
was syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
after two years on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, and Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
presents a much broader variety of music).
ABC-TV schedules
(all times are Eastern TimeEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
—all running times include commercial breaks)
- 1954–55 season (Ozark Jubilee) Starting January 22, 1955: Saturday, 9–10 p.m. Starting July 2, 1955: Saturday, 7:30–9 p.m.
- 1955–56 season (Ozark Jubilee): Saturday, 7:30–9 p.m.
- 1956–57 season (Ozark Jubilee) Starting October 4, 1956: Thursday, 10–11 p.m. Starting December 29, 1956: Saturday, 8–9 p.m.
- 1957-58 season (Country Music Jubilee): Saturday, 8–9 p.m.
- 1958–59 season (Jubilee USA) Starting September 29, 1958: Monday, 8–8:30 p.m. Starting November 1, 1958: Saturday, 8–9 p.m.
- 1959–60 season (Jubilee USA): Starting October 3, 1959: Saturday, 10–11 p.m. – September 24, 1960
From October 15, 1955 to September 15, 1956, the program aired from 7:30–8 p.m. every fourth Saturday when ABC televised The Grand Ole Opry live from 8–9 p.m. From March through September 1956, the "Junior Jubilee" edition aired in the 7:30–8 p.m. time slot. In contrast to many network series which went on summer hiatus, the Jubilee was live throughout the year.
Red Foley and the rise of Springfield
During the late 1940s and 1950s, Springfield broadcasters Ralph FosterRalph D. Foster
Ralph David Foster , was an American broadcasting pioneer and philanthropist who created the framework for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as the nation's country music capital during the 1950s...
and Si Siman produced nationally-syndicated radio shows through Foster's RadiOzark Enterprises, and aired them locally over his KWTO-AM
KWTO
KWTO refers to two radio stations in Springfield, Missouri, USA. On AM, KWTO can be found at 560 kHz, where it airs a news-talk format. On FM, KWTO operates at 98.7 MHz and carries a sports talk format....
, also a stepping-stone for numerous country stars. Their stable of country music shows and talent grew, and Foster believed Springfield could dethrone Nashville to become the "crossroads of country music." He realized television was the key, and named his new company Crossroads TV Productions, Inc., with Siman and John B. Mahaffey (Foster's nephew) as managing vice presidents. A financial backer was local businessman Lester E. Cox. In December 1953, they launched Ozark Jubilee on Springfield's KYTV-TV
KYTV (TV)
KYTV, virtual channel 3, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Ozark Plateau area of Southwestern Missouri that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter in Fordland...
.
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
as emcee of the Grand Ole Opry segment carried by NBC Radio
NBC Red Network
The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network , the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the...
, and his popularity during the following eight years was credited with establishing it as the number one country music show. Three months later, in July 1954, ABC-TV agreed to buy the Jubilee; and by August, was carrying a radio version hosted by Foley that had begun in July on KWTO.
To represent the regular performers on KWTO and the Jubilee, in March 1955 Foster established Top Talent, Inc., in partnership with Siman; and to publish their songs, Siman established Earl Barton Music, Inc. with partners Foster, Mahaffey and Cox Siman also handled talent bookings for the show. Foster, known by cast and crew as "the Skipper," made an appearance on the final broadcast of Jubilee USA, singing "Woodman, Spare that Tree".
By 1956, Springfield, with two other ABC shows, ranked behind only New York and Hollywood for originating network television programming. Top Talent was booking Jubilee artists across the country, and that April, the Jubilee had finished third among men. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
that February, "Springfield has become the recognized center of the country music world. In fact, it is generally agreed in television, recording and radio circles, that Springfield, now a city of 90,000, has shaken Nashville, Tennessee, home of The Grand Ole Opry and long-time mecca of hillbilly musicians, to its very foundations." But the 1957 departures of Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee to the Music City signaled the shift would not be permanent, and Springfield never generated the business or revenues of Nashville.
Publicity surrounding federal income tax evasion charges
Tax avoidance and tax evasion
Tax noncompliance describes a range of activities that are unfavorable to a state's tax system. These include tax avoidance, which refers to reducing taxes by legal means, and tax evasion which refers to the criminal non-payment of tax liabilities....
pending against Foley during 1960 influenced ABC's decision to cancel the program, although his first trial that fall ended in a hung jury; and after a second trial he was quickly acquitted on April 23, 1961. The previous October, ABC had begun airing the popular Fight of the Week
Fight of the Week
Fight of the Week was a live American professional boxing series that aired on ABC-TV from 1960–1963.After NBC-TV's cancellation of The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports in the spring of 1960, ABC took over the prime time boxing program, although it was renamed Fight of the Week...
in the Jubilee's former time slot (the show had replaced The Saturday Night Fights in 1955).
Cast
The Ozark Jubilee cast was originally headlined by Wanda Jackson, Norma Jean, Bobby Lord, Webb Pierce, Marvin RainwaterMarvin Rainwater
Marvin Karlton Rainwater , better known as Marvin Rainwater, is an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and "Whole Lotta Woman"...
, Porter Wagoner and Slim Wilson
Slim Wilson
Clyde Carol Wilson , better known as Slim Wilson, was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio and TV personality who was a cornerstone of country music in the Ozarks for more than 50 years beginning in the 1930s; both in his own right, and as a member of The Goodwill Family and The...
, who was also front man for both the Tall Timber Trio, made up of "Speedy" Haworth
Speedy Haworth
Herschel Haworth, Jr. , better known as Speedy Haworth, was an American guitarist and singer who was involved with the golden age of country music broadcasting in the Ozarks...
(guitar), Bob White (bass guitar) and "Doc" Martin (steel guitar); and the Jubilee Band, composed of Haworth, Martin, White, Johnny Gailey (drums), Paul Mitchell (piano) and Zed Tennis (fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
). Featured vocalists included Leroy Van Dyke, Suzi Arden, Chuck Bowers, Sonny James, Tommy Sosebee and Tabby West. Singers Hawkshaw Hawkins
Hawkshaw Hawkins
Harold Franklin Hawkins , better known as Hawkshaw Hawkins, was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 60s known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky tonk...
and Jean Shepard, who met on the show, later married.
Lennie Aleshire
Leonard Harrison Aleshire was a versatile American vaudeville and later country music performer from the 1920s into the 1960s. A singer, dancer and songwriter, he was also half of a musical comedy duo, Lennie and Goo Goo, with Floyd Rutledge...
), both country music comedy duos. Other comedians were Pete Stamper, Shug Fisher
Shug Fisher
Shug Fisher , born George Clinton Fisher, Jr., was an American character actor, singer, songwriter, musician and comedian. During a 50-year career, he appeared in many Western films, often as a member of The Sons of the Pioneers in Roy Rogers serials...
, KWTO's Bill Ring, Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield
Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield
Laurence Lemarr Brasfield and Neva Inez Fisher Brasfield , better known as Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap, were an American country comedy duo with acting careers beginning in the late 1910s that spanned vaudeville to network television...
, and Luke Warmwater.
The cast also included The Foggy River Boys, a singing quartet later known as The Marksmen (George Richardson, Les Robertson, Don Taylor and Earl Terry); Harold Morrison (banjo) and Jimmy Gately (guitar), a bluegrass duo; and The Wagoner Trio, made up of Wagoner, Haworth and Don Warden (steel guitar).
The house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
was first known as The Crossroads Boys, composed of Grady Martin, Billy Burke, Bud Isaacs, Tommy Jackson, Paul Mitchell, Jimmy Selph, Bob Moore and Mel Bly; but the name was was soon changed to Bill Wimberly and His Country Rhythm Boys, a seven-piece group that alternated weekly during 1955 with Grady Martin and His Winging Strings, featuring Moore, Jackson, Isaacs and Hank Garland.
Pierce hosted the first half-hour of the 90-minute programs once a month beginning October 15, 1955; Wagoner and James joined him in monthly rotation from January through at least July 1956. Substitute hosts included Wilson, Eddy Arnold, and Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
(May–July 1958). The on-camera announcer was Joe Slattery, a former Pan Am
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
and US Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
pilot who later became president of AFTRA.
The Jubilee featured two square dance groups: the Promenaders (with caller
Caller (dancing)
A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
Leonard "L. D." Keller), a competitive team originally from Southwest Missouri State College
Missouri State University
Missouri State University is a public university located in Springfield, Missouri, United States and founded in 1905. It is the state's second largest university, with an official enrollment of 20,802 in fall 2011...
; and a children's group from Camdenton, Missouri
Camdenton, Missouri
Camdenton is a city in Camden County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Camden County. The city is enveloped by the Lower Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks and serves as a popular trade point for visitors to the...
, the (Lake of the Ozarks) Tadpoles (with caller Buford Foster). Several other groups, including the Ozark Sashayers and the teenage Wagon Wheelers (with caller Gary Ellison), made guest appearances.
Foley's son-in-law, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, occasionally appeared; as did his eldest daughter, Betty. Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and his eventual third wife, Shirley Simpson, both auditioned for the show, but only Simpson (given the stage surname Caddell) made it. Many of the regular cast were natives or residents of the Ozarks. Over the years they included:
- Lennie AleshireLennie AleshireLeonard Harrison Aleshire was a versatile American vaudeville and later country music performer from the 1920s into the 1960s. A singer, dancer and songwriter, he was also half of a musical comedy duo, Lennie and Goo Goo, with Floyd Rutledge...
- Suzi Arden
- Chuck Bowers
- Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap BrasfieldUncle Cyp and Aunt Sap BrasfieldLaurence Lemarr Brasfield and Neva Inez Fisher Brasfield , better known as Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap, were an American country comedy duo with acting careers beginning in the late 1910s that spanned vaudeville to network television...
- Cecil BrowerCecil BrowerCecil Lee Brower was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries...
- The BrownsThe BrownsThe Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also...
- Smiley BurnetteSmiley BurnetteLester Alvin Burnett , better known as Smiley Burnette, was a popular American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 musical...
- Shirley Caddell
- Bill CarlisleBill CarlisleWilliam Toliver Carlisle was an American country music singer, songwriter, comedian and guitarist popular in the late 1940s and 1950s but who influenced the genre for more than 50 years. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.-Biography:Bill Carlisle was born in Wakefield, Kentucky...
- Thumbs CarllileKenneth CarllileKenneth Ray Carllile , better known as Thumbs Carllile, was an innovative American country music guitarist and songwriter known for his fingerstyle playing, sitting with his guitar in his lap while fretting, picking and strumming with his fingers and thumbs...
- Curly ChalkerCurly ChalkerHarold Lee Chalker , better known as Curly Chalker, was an American country and jazz musician and pioneering pedal steel guitarist...
- Arlie Duff
- Patsy Elshire
- James "Rusty" Estes
- Buster Fellows
- Shug FisherShug FisherShug Fisher , born George Clinton Fisher, Jr., was an American character actor, singer, songwriter, musician and comedian. During a 50-year career, he appeared in many Western films, often as a member of The Sons of the Pioneers in Roy Rogers serials...
- The Foggy River Boys
- Johnny Gailey
- Alfred "Red" Gale
- Jimmy Gately
- Charlie HadenCharlie HadenCharles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
- Hawkshaw HawkinsHawkshaw HawkinsHarold Franklin Hawkins , better known as Hawkshaw Hawkins, was an American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 60s known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky tonk...
- "Speedy" HaworthSpeedy HaworthHerschel Haworth, Jr. , better known as Speedy Haworth, was an American guitarist and singer who was involved with the golden age of country music broadcasting in the Ozarks...
- Libby Horne
- Bud Isaacs
- Tommy Jackson
- Wanda JacksonWanda JacksonWanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
- Sonny JamesSonny JamesJames Loden , known professionally as Sonny James, is an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, "Young Love". Dubbed the Southern Gentleman, James had 72 country and pop chart hits from 1953 to 1983, including a five-year streak of 16 straight among his 23 No. 1...
- Norma JeanNorma Jean (singer)Norma Jean Beasler , better known as Norma Jean, is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had a number of country singles in the Top 10 and Top 20 between 1963 and 1967, including "Go Cat Go" and "The Game of Triangles", and was...
- Brenda LeeBrenda LeeBrenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
- Merl LindsayMerl LindsayMerle Lindsay Salathiel , better known as Merl Lindsay, was one of the premier American Western swing musicians from the 1930s to the mid-1960s and founder of Merl Lindsay and His Oklahoma Night Riders.-Biography:...
- Bobby LordBobby LordRobert L. Lord , better known as Bobby Lord, was an American country music artist popular in the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
- Johnny Manson
- Bryan "Doc" Martin
- Grady MartinGrady MartinThomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly....
- Paul Mitchell
- Bob MooreBob MooreBob Loyce Moore is an American session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist who was a member of the legendary Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
- Harold Morrison
- Penny Nichols
- The Philharmonics
- Webb PierceWebb PierceWebb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
- Marvin RainwaterMarvin RainwaterMarvin Karlton Rainwater , better known as Marvin Rainwater, is an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and "Whole Lotta Woman"...
- Bill Ring
- Floyd "Goo Goo" Rutledge
- Jimmie SelphJimmie SelphJimmie Selph , born James Coin Self, was a versatile American country music, rockabilly and bluegrass musician and occasional vocalist whose career peaked during the late 1940s–1950s. He played guitar, drums, accordion, and steel guitar...
- Jean ShepardJean ShepardOllie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...
- Tommy Sosebee
- Carl SmithCarl Smith (country musician)Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
- Pete Stamper
- Zed Tennis
- Leroy Van DykeLeroy Van DykeLeroy Frank Van Dyke is an American country music singer best known for his hits, "The Auctioneer" and "Walk On By" .-Biography:...
- Porter WagonerPorter WagonerPorter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
- Billy WalkerBilly Walker (musician)William Marvin Walker , better known as Billy Walker, was an American country music singer and guitarist best-known for his 1962 hit, " Charlie's Shoes"...
- Don WardenDon WardenDon Warden is an American country musician and manager best known for his years on The Porter Wagoner Show and as the manager of Wagoner and Dolly Parton.-Early life:...
- Luke Warmwater
- Tabby West
- Bob White
- [ The Willis Brothers]
- Slim WilsonSlim WilsonClyde Carol Wilson , better known as Slim Wilson, was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio and TV personality who was a cornerstone of country music in the Ozarks for more than 50 years beginning in the 1930s; both in his own right, and as a member of The Goodwill Family and The...
- Bill Wimberly
Guest stars
Virtually every country music star of the day appeared on the Jubilee with the notable exception of Hank SnowHank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
, who maintained an allegiance to Nashville's Opry. Among them were:
- Roy AcuffRoy AcuffRoy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
- Rex AllenRex AllenRex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
- Bill Anderson
- Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
- Eddy ArnoldEddy ArnoldRichard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
- Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
- Johnny BondJohnny BondCyrus Whitfield Bond , known professionally as Johnny Bond, was a popular American country music entertainer of the 1940s through the 1960s.-Biography:...
- Margie BowesMargie BowesMargie Bowes is an American country music singer popular in the late 1950s. She had a top 10 country hit, "Poor Old Heartsick Me", in 1959. She was briefly married to Doyle Wilburn of the Wilburn Brothers.-Early years:...
- The Carter SistersThe Carter SistersThe Carter Sisters, were an American singing quartet consisting of Maybelle Carter and her daughters June Carter Cash, Helen Carter, and Anita Carter...
- Johnny CashJohnny CashJohn R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
- Don CherryDon Cherry (singer/golfer)Donald Ross Cherry is an American singer of traditional pop music, best known for his 1955 hit, "Band of Gold"; and a former amateur and professional golfer.-Biography:...
- Sanford ClarkSanford ClarkSanford Clark is an American country-rockabilly singer and guitarist best known for his 1956 hit "The Fool".-Biography:...
- Patsy ClinePatsy ClinePatsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
- The Collins KidsThe Collins KidsThe Collins Kids are an American rockabilly duo featuring siblings Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins and her younger brother Lawrence "Larry" Collins . Their hits in the 1950s as youngsters, such as "Hop, Skip and Jump", "Beetle Bug Bop" and "Hoy Hoy", were geared towards children, but their infectious...
- Wilma LeeWilma Lee CooperWilma Lee Leary , known professionally as Wilma Lee Cooper, was an American bluegrass-based country music entertainer.-Biography:...
and Stoney CooperStoney CooperDale Troy Cooper , known professionally as Stoney Cooper, was an American country star and member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a master of the fiddle and the guitar.-Biography:... - Cowboy CopasCowboy CopasLloyd Estel Copas , known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:Copas was born in 1913 in...
- Jimmie DavisJimmie DavisJames Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
- Jimmy DeanJimmy DeanJimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
- Little Jimmy DickensLittle Jimmy DickensJames Cecil Dickens , better known as Little Jimmy Dickens, is an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11" , and his rhinestone-studded outfits...
- Jimmy DriftwoodJimmy DriftwoodJames Corbitt Morris , known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was a prolific American folk music songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud"...
- Tommy DuncanTommy DuncanThomas Elmer Duncan , better known as Tommy Duncan, was a pioneering American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys...
- Lefty FrizzellLefty FrizzellLefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
- George Hamilton IVGeorge Hamilton IVGeorge Hege Hamilton IV is an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to country music in the early 1960s.-Biography:Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
- Homer and JethroHomer and JethroHomer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
- Johnny HortonJohnny HortonJohn Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
- Jan HowardJan HowardLula Grace Johnson , known professionally as Jan Howard, is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She attained moderate success as a country female vocalist during the 1960s and early 1970s...
- Ferlin HuskyFerlin HuskyFerlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky honk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes...
- Stonewall JacksonStonewall Jackson (musician)Stonewall Jackson is an American country singer and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden" honky tonk era in the 1950s and early 1960s.-Early years:...
- Betty JohnsonBetty JohnsonBetty Johnson is an American traditional pop and cabaret singer.-Biography:Johnson was born in Guilford County, North Carolina. Her professional debut was in a family group, The Johnson Family Singers, including her parents and three brothers, singing a repertoire primarily of religious material...
- George JonesGeorge JonesGeorge Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
- Grandpa JonesGrandpa JonesLouis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
- Pee Wee KingPee Wee KingJulius Frank Anthony Kuczynski , known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "The Tennessee Waltz"....
- Hank LocklinHank LocklinLawrence Hankins Locklin , better known as Hank Locklin, was an American country music singer-songwriter...
- The Louvin Brothers
- Leon McAuliffeLeon McAuliffeLeon McAuliffe , born William Leon McAuliffe, was an American Western swing musician from Houston, Texas...
- The Maddox BrothersMaddox Brothers and RoseThe Maddox Brothers and Rose, known as America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band from the 1930s to the 1950s, consisted of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don Maddox, along with their sister Rose. Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by brother Henry...
and RoseRose MaddoxRoselea Maddox , better known as Rose Maddox, was an American country singer-songwriter and fiddle player.Born in Boaz, Alabama, Maddox was the singer in the Maddox Brothers and Rose.... - Patsy MontanaPatsy MontanaRuby Rose Blevins , known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country performer to have a million-selling single...
- George MorganGeorge Morgan (singer)George Thomas Morgan was a mid-20th century American country music singer. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a former member of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:...
- Bashful Brother OswaldBashful Brother OswaldBeecher Ray Kirby , better known as Bashful Brother Oswald, was an American country musician who popularized the use of the resonator guitar and Dobro...
- Buck OwensBuck OwensAlvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
- The Duke of Paducah
- Minnie PearlMinnie PearlSarah Ophelia Colley Cannon , known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.-Early life:Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee,...
- Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
- Ray PriceRay Price (musician)Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
- Jim ReevesJim ReevesJames Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
- Tex RitterTex RitterWoodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
- Marty RobbinsMarty RobbinsMartin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
- Margie SingletonMargie SingletonMargaret Louis Ebey , known professionally as Margie Singleton, is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the 1960s, she was a popular duet and solo recording artist, working with country stars George Jones and Faron Young. Singleton had her biggest hit with Young called "Keeping Up...
- Stringbean
- Hank Thompson
- Mel TillisMel TillisLonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
- Merle TravisMerle TravisMerle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
- Ernest TubbErnest TubbErnest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
- Conway TwittyConway TwittyConway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
- T. Texas TylerT. Texas TylerDavid Luke Myrick , known professionally as T. Texas Tyler, was an American country music singer and songwriter primarily known for his 1948 hit, "The Deck of Cards".-Biography:...
- Gene VincentGene VincentVincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
- Jimmy WakelyJimmy WakelyJames Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
- Kitty WellsKitty WellsEllen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
- Slim WhitmanSlim WhitmanOttis Dewey Whitman, Jr. , known professionally as Slim Whitman, is an American country music singer and songwriter, known for his yodelling abilities. He has sold in excess of 120 million albums in unit sales and has had numerous successful recordings...
- The Wilburn BrothersThe Wilburn BrothersThe Wilburn Brothers were a popular American country music duo from the 1950s to the 1970s consisting of brothers Doyle Wilburn and Teddy Wilburn .-Biography:...
- Tex WilliamsTex WilliamsSollie Paul Williams , known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois....
- Bob WillsBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
- Del WoodDel WoodPolly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood , known professionally as Del Wood, was an American pianist.-Biography:...
- Faron YoungFaron YoungFaron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
Other guests included Fran Allison
Fran Allison
Fran Allison was an American television and radio comedian, personality and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which ran from 1947 to 1957, occasionally returning to the air until the mid 1980s...
in a recurring role as Aunt Fanny; actors Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove is an American actress and singer. A petite redhead with a powerful voice, she recorded in the 1950s. In 1950, she debuted on Broadway in the 1948 original production of Kiss Me Kate, playing Lois Lane/Bianca, a lead role that was originated by Lisa Kirk...
, Jim Brown
James Brown (Rin Tin Tin)
James E. Brown was an American film and TV actor best known for his role as Lieutenant Ripley "Rip" Masters in all 166 episodes of the 1954-1959 ABC Western television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin....
and Duncan Renaldo
Duncan Renaldo
Renault Renaldo Duncan , better known as Duncan Renaldo, was an American actor who portrayed The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950-1956 American TV series, The Cisco Kid.-Early years:...
; and nationally syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
columnist Earl Wilson
Earl Wilson (columnist)
Earl Wilson , born Harvey Earl Wilson, was an American journalist, gossip columnist and author, perhaps best known for his nationally syndicated column, It Happened Last Night....
. A young Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
performed with his brother as the Rascals in Rhythm. On January 14, 1956, the program's first anniversary, Tennessee Gov. Frank Clement
Frank G. Clement
Frank Goad Clement served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1967.-Early life:...
, Missouri's U.S. senators Tom Hennings
Thomas C. Hennings, Jr.
Thomas Carey Hennings, Jr. was an American political figure from Missouri, and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives , and the United States Senate ....
and Stuart Symington
Stuart Symington
William Stuart Symington was a businessman and political figure from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.-Education and business career:...
, and Missouri Lt. Gov. Jim Blair
James T. Blair, Jr.
James Thomas Blair, Jr. was a Democratic politician from the state of Missouri. He was the 44th Governor of Missouri as well as serving as Lieutenant Governor of Missouri and a member of the Missouri House of Representatives....
appeared, as did St. Louis Cardinals baseball star Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
.
The Jubilee and Brenda Lee
On February 23, 1956, 11-year-old Brenda LeeBrenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, living in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, turned down $30 to sing on a Swainsboro
Swainsboro, Georgia
Swainsboro is a city located in Emanuel County, Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 6,943. The city is the county seat of Emanuel County.-Geography:...
radio station to see Foley and a visiting Jubilee promotional unit at Bell Auditorium. A local disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
convinced Foley to hear her sing before the show. He was stunned and agreed to let Lee perform "Jambalaya"
Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
"Jambalaya " is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952...
that night. Foley later recalled his reaction:
Jubilee Producer-Director Bryan Bisney contacted her stepfather, Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who mailed him a tape recording of Lee singing "Jambalaya" on an Augusta radio show with a snapshot
Snapshot (photography)
A snapshot is popularly defined as a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent. Snapshots are commonly considered to be technically "imperfect" or amateurish—out of focus or poorly framed or composed...
of Lee in Cincinnati, Ohio with Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner was an American country and bluegrass music singer and guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Biography:...
(who had appeared on the show in 1955). He booked her network debut for March 31, 1956 to sing "Jambalaya" on the second "Junior Jubilee" edition of the show.
The New York Journal American
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
s Jack O'Brien began his April 1 column with, "Didn't catch the name of the 9-year-old [sic] singer on last night's Ozark Jubilee but she belts a song like a star." The show received three times the usual fan mail
Fan mail
Fan mail is mail sent to a public figure, especially a celebrity, by their admirers or "fans".In return celebrities may send a poster or picture and usually a return letter.-Overview:...
with nearly every letter asking to see her again, and Lee's family soon moved to Springfield. Although her five-year contract with Top Talent was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager, she made regular appearances on the program throughout its run.
Carl Perkins, "Blue Suede Shoes", and Elvis
Honey Don't
"Honey Don't" is a song written by Carl Perkins, originally released on January 1, 1956 as the B-side of the "Blue Suede Shoes" single. Both songs became rockabilly classics...
". The group included Perkins (lead guitar and vocalist), Jay Perkins (rhythm guitar), Clayton Perkins (bass guitar) and W.S. Holland (drums). Coincidentally, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
performed the song that same Saturday night on CBS-TV's Stage Show, which overlapped the Jubilee from 8–8:30 p.m. ET (Presley first performed the song February 11 on Stage Show). An automobile accident en route to New York prevented the group from next appearing on The Perry Como Show on March 24. Perkins returned to the Jubilee on February 2, 1957 to again sing "Blue Suede Shoes" and his then-current hit, "Matchbox
Matchbox (song)
"Matchbox" is a rock and roll and rockabilly song written by Carl Perkins and first recorded by him at Sun Records in December 1956 and released on February 11, 1957 as a 45 single on Sun Records. It has become one of Perkins' best-known recordings...
".
Both Perkins and Presley were fans of the Jubilee. In 1955, Presley saw Charlie Hodge
Charlie Hodge (guitarist)
Charles Franklin Hodge , better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and associate of Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...
, his eventual friend and stage assistant, perform on the program. He first met Hodge when a Jubilee promotional unit later visited Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. That same year, Presley asked Bobby Lord to get him an appearance on the show, but Lord told Presley the producers viewed him as "a flash in the pan."
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline made frequent appearances on the Jubilee, which gave her the opportunity to choose her own material for a national audience. She first appeared in January 1956, returning on April 21. In 1957, she appeared on February 9; and on June 22 (the Oklahoma State Fair remote) she performed "Walkin' After MidnightWalkin' After Midnight
"Walkin' After Midnight" is a song by written by Alan Block and Donn Hecht and originally recorded by American country music artist Patsy Cline. The song was originally given to pop singer Kay Starr; however, it was rejected by her record label. The song was left unused until Hecht rediscovered the...
" and "Try Again". On August 10, 1957 she sang her new single, "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Try Again". Her December 5 appearance included "Make Believe", a duet with Foley; "I Don't Wanna Know"; and "Then You'll Know". During the program, Foley presented Cline with The Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Most Promising County & Western Female Artist award, and Music Vendor magazine's award for Greatest Achievement in Records in 1957 (for "Walkin' After Midnight").
In 1958, Cline appeared on February 21 and April 26. On November 7, 1959, she sang "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Come on In", then "Let's Go to Church" as a duet with Slim Wilson. On December 7, she sang her "Got a Lot of Rhythm in My Soul" and "Lovesick Blues
Lovesick Blues
"Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by composer Cliff Friend and co-lyricist & producer Irving Mills. It has become a pop standard and an even more popular country song since it helped make Hank Williams famous in the 1940s. Published through Tin Pan Alley in 1922, the song was first recorded...
", released in January 1960; and sang duets with Ferlin Husky ("Let it Snow") and Foley ("Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard, written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith . Through the decades it has been recorded by over 150 different artists.-History:...
"). On June 4, 1960, Cline soloed with "Lovesick Blues" and "How Can I Face Tomorrow", released in July; and sang "I'm Hogtied Over You" with Cowboy Copas and "Rueben, Reuben" with June Valli
June Valli
June Valli , the stage name of June Foglia, was an American singer and television personality.Born in the Bronx, Valli was one of the stars of the 1950s television shows Stop the Music and Your Hit Parade. She sang on the show during the show's 1952–1953 season...
and Eddy Arnold.
Junior Jubilee
Every fourth Saturday from March 31 through September 15 (and on December 13), 1956, a special edition of Ozark Jubilee showcased young country music performers. "Junior Jubilee" aired from 7:30–8 p.m. when ABC televised The Grand Ole Opry from 8–9 p.m. Although Foley appeared, 10-year-old singer Libby Horne of McAlester, Oklahoma was the ostensible emcee. Brenda Lee made her first appearances on the program. Other performers included seven-year-old singer "Cookie" McKinney, guitarist John "Bucky" Wilkin, 12-year-old fiddler Clyde Wayne Spears, singer-guitarist Mike Breid, seven-year-old Billy Joe Morris, and child square dancers the Whirli-jiggers. "Junior Jubilee" first appeared as a show segment on November 19, 1955, and returned as a portion of Jubilee USA on November 8, 1958.Public service
Foley periodically asked viewers to contribute to various charities, including the March of DimesMarch of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
, Easter Seals
Easter Seals (US)
Easter Seals is a nonprofit charitable organization that assists more than one million children and adults with autism and other disabilities and special needs annually through a network of more than 550 service sites in the United States, Canada, Australia and Puerto Rico...
, Community Chest, and aid following the 1960 Great Chilean Earthquake. Guests in 1956 included the Polio Mother of the Year and the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
poster family. Groups recognized on the program included the Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of the USA
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...
and the Chiefs of Police.
The Jubilee also staged performances for inmates at the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, including special Christmas shows.
Audience and sponsors
During the program's 1955 premiere, Foley asked, "If you folks want us to come and visit at your house like this every Saturday night, why don't you drop me a line in Springfield, Missouri?" In the next week 25,258 cards and letters arrived from 45 of the 48 statesContiguous United States
The contiguous United States are the 48 U.S. states on the continent of North America that are south of Canada and north of Mexico, plus the District of Columbia....
, and the show typically received 6,000 letters each week. In May 1955, carried by 72 ABC affiliates, it was the only TV show with an audience equally divided among men, women and children, according to the American Research Bureau
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
(ARB). For 1955, ABC reported these achievements for the program, citing ARB data:
- Largest male U.S. television audience
- 28 percent more per-set viewers than the average of all prime time shows
- Largest per-set U.S. television audience, 3.40 persons
By early 1956, the Jubilee had earned a 19.2 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, and ARB estimated its weekly TV audience to be as high as 9,078,000. (The $64,000 Question had the most viewers, 16,577,500.) By 1959 the show was carried by 150 affiliates, but rarely won its time slot, competing with such heavyweights as The Perry Como Show on NBC; and on CBS, The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners is an American situation comedy television show, based on a recurring 1951–'55 sketch of the same name. It originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show hosted by Jackie Gleason, and filmed before a live...
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, and in 1960, the top-rated Gunsmoke. Its ratings were also hampered when a few major-market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
affiliates such as WABC-TV took advantage of network break-away cues to carry 30- or, when it was 90 minutes, 60-minute portions.
ABC promoted and sold the program as prime family entertainment. Sponsors included the American Chicle Co.
Dentyne
Dentyne is a series of brands of chewing gum available in several countries globally. It is owned by Cadbury Adams, a division of Cadbury.In 1899, a New York City druggist named Franklin V. Canning formulated a chewing gum which he promoted as an aid to oral hygiene. "To prevent decay, To sweeten...
, Rolaids
Rolaids
Rolaids is a brand of antacid produced by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The brand was acquired from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare as part of a merger in 2006. It was invented by American chemist Irvine W. Grote in the late 1920s...
, Anacin
Anacin
Anacin is a pain reliever intended for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains. Anacin is a product of Insight Pharmaceuticals. Anacin's active ingredients are aspirin and caffeine.-History:...
(1956), Williamson-Dickie
Dickies
Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, more commonly referred to as the brand Dickies, is an American company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas that manufactures and sells work-related clothing and other accessories, including back packs, steel-toe boots, and belts. Its major competitors are...
(1957–60), Massey Ferguson
Massey Ferguson
Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was...
(1958–60), Arrid
Arrid
Arrid is a type of antiperspirant and deodorant originally introduced in 1935 by Carter Products and was acquired by Church and Dwight in 2001. The active ingredient is up to 20% aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly.-Advertising:...
, Postum
Postum
Postum was a powdered roasted grain beverage sold by the Kraft Foods company as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage mix was created by Postum Cereal Company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and marketed as a healthful alternative to coffee...
(1958), Carter's Little Pills and Sargent's Dog Care Products (1960); and was sold nationally by Ted Bates
Ted Bates (executive)
Theodore Lewis "Ted" Bates was an American advertising executive who founded a worldwide advertising agency that bears his name: Ted Bates Inc...-Biography:...
& Company. Joe Slattery handled station breaks and some commercials, often appearing during Jubilee USA with Massey Ferguson farm tractors and accessories in film clips or on stage.
The Jubilee regularly noted it was carried "coast to coast," and to promote the show, "personal appearance units," often including Foley, performed at state fairs and other venues in 42 states, Alaska (then a U.S. territory) and every Canadian province.
Production
Ozark Jubilees first broadcast was December 26, 1953 with an hour-long telecast from the studioTelevision studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
of KYTV before a live audience, hosted by Bill Bailey. The two-and-a-half-hour radio version, hosted by Foley, began July 17, 1954 on KWTO from Springfield's 1,100-seat Jewell Theatre, a former movie theater. ABC Radio began carrying 30 minutes of the program August 7, and added another half-hour on a delayed basis on Tuesday nights starting October 5. The KYTV show followed with 90-minute TV simulcasts from the theater starting September 4, 1954.
The program debuted on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, but the first 14 national telecasts were staged at KOMU-TV
KOMU-TV
KOMU-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Mid-Missouri licensed to Columbia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter at studios on US 63 southeast of downtown. The station can also be seen on Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Charter channel 7 as well...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
because network television transmission capability from Springfield was not available. Columbia had a microwave transmitter
Transmitter station
Transmitter station refers to terrestrial infrastructure for transmitting radio frequency signals. The station maybe used for, wireless communication, broadcasting, microwave link, mobile telephone etc.-Choice of location:...
, however, for ABC coverage of University of Missouri football
Missouri Tigers football
The Missouri Tigers football team represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team has competed in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996...
games. After AT&T installed a microwave link in Springfield to transmit to Kansas City (which could feed to the network via Chicago), and modifications were made to the Jewell (including extending the stage and adding a control room), the program returned to the theater with the first broadcast April 30. The show was sent to KYTV by a local microwave link from the station's remote van. Rehearsals for Saturday shows were held on Fridays, with run-throughs Saturday afternoons.
The program used equipment and staff from KYTV, which was then a dual ABC-NBC network affiliate. It debuted using two black-and-white RCA TK-11 cameras
Professional video camera
A professional video camera is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images...
with a third added a year later. Vocals of some hit songs were lip-synched
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...
. Overhead shots of square dancing and for other creative purposes were accomplished using a large mirror angled above the stage. One 1960 show included an elephant from a visiting Adams & Sells Circus quietly performing on stage behind an "oblivious" Uncle Cyp. The program had two remote broadcasts
Outside broadcasting
Outside broadcasting is the electronic field production of television or radio programmes from a mobile remote broadcast television studio. Professional video camera and microphone signals come into the production truck for processing, recording and possibly transmission...
: June 22, 1957 from the Oklahoma State Fair
Oklahoma State Fair
The Oklahoma State Fair is a large fair and exposition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It takes place in mid-September each year, and is one of two state fairs in Oklahoma. During an 11-day run, the Oklahoma State Fair attracts close to one million people. By a small margin, it is larger in attendance...
during the state's semi-centennial; and February 21, 1959 from Detroit, Michigan for a Massey Ferguson dealers convention.
In July 1957, Dan Lounsbery, producer of NBC's Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...
, and its art director, Paul Barnes, were hired by ABC to spend several weeks with the show to improve the sets and pacing. July 6 saw the first program under the name Country Music Jubilee, which, according to ABC Vice President James Aubry Jr.
James Thomas Aubrey, Jr.
James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. was a leading American television and film executive. President of the CBS television network during the early 1960s, he put some of television's most enduring series on the air, including Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies...
, "recognizes the wide popularity of country music."
The Jubilees executive producers were Crossroads vice presidents Si Siman and John Mahaffey, and the producer-director was Bryan "Walt"
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
Bisney. The co-writers
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
were publicist Don Richardson and Bob "Bevo" Tubert. Fred I. Rains was floor director and Bill Ring frequently served as associate producer. The original scenic designer was Don Sebring; his successor, Andy Miller, later did scenic design for nearby Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City is a theme park in the state of Missouri. Opened on May 1, 1960, the park is located between Branson and Branson West, Missouri, on Highway 76...
and Richardson became its public relations director.
Five Star Jubilee
In 1961, NBC-TV carried a summer spin-off called Five Star JubileeFive Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee was an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.From March 17 to May 5, the...
from March 17–September 22. Starting in May, it was the first network color television
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood. The weekly program featured five rotating hosts: Snooky Lanson
Snooky Lanson
Roy Landman , better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC television series Your Hit Parade....
, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Carl Smith and Rex Allen. Produced from Springfield's Landers Theatre
Landers Theatre
The Landers Theatre in Springfield, Missouri, built in 1909, is the oldest and largest civic theater operation in Missouri. It has been in continuous use either as a legitimate theatre or a movie theater since it opened. In 1928, the theater became the 35th facility in the world to acquire sound film...
, it was similar to Jubilee USA and featured some of the same cast members, including Bobby Lord, the Promenaders and Slim Wilson's Jubilee Band. Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...
made her network debut on the program.
Legacy
After cancellation by ABC, live performances from the Jewell Theatre continued over KWTO-AM (with 15 minutes carried by NBC Radio on Saturday afternoons through 1961), and groups of cast members continued making personal appearances. The theater was demolished five months later in February 1961; a marker in Jubilee Park, dedicated in 1988, notes its location at 216 South Jefferson Ave. Cast and production crew members held reunions at the 1988 dedication, in October 1992, and in April 1999.The Jubilee was culturally significant for giving millions of urban and suburban American viewers their first regular exposure to country music. As Webb Pierce told TV Guide in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else." In return, the Jubilee gave many of the biggest names in country music their first experiences performing on television.
The program also gave national exposure to a number of female country music pioneers, including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Jan Howard, Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells and Norma Jean; the show also featured a local African-American group, the Philharmonics. It represented the peak of Red Foley's career, who had been America's top country star since World War II and who remains one of the biggest-selling country artists of all time. Finally, the Jubilee in many ways laid the groundwork for neighboring Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
to become America's top country music tourist destination.
The program was the subject of a 1993 book, Remembering the Ozark Jubilee; and in 2003, Ozarks Public Television released an hour-long documentary, Ozark Jubilee: A Living Legacy. Cast and crew gathered once again for its premiere at the Landers Theatre.
Streets in a residential neighborhood of nearby Nixa, Missouri
Nixa, Missouri
Nixa is a city in Christian County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,124 at the 2000 census, though a 2009 estimate places it at 19,458. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
include Ozark Jubilee Drive, Red Foley Court, Slim Wilson Boulevard, Bill Ring Court, Zed Tennis Street and Haworth Court.
Kinescopes
Fifty full or partial kinescopeKinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
s of the show are preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
.
Watch the following excerpts of Jubilee USA kinescopes at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Web site:
- Red Foley, "Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy", June 20, 1959
- Bob Wills with Cecil Brower, "Fiddle Breakdown", June 27, 1959
- Little Jimmy Dickens, "Hannah", August 1, 1959
- Buck Owens, "Above and Beyond", April 2, 1960
- Brenda Lee, "Jambalaya", April 9, 1960 (not her debut)
- Gene Autry, "Back in the Saddle Again", September 10, 1960
Longer excerpts, including other performances and show segments, are available on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
External links
- Jubilee photos from the History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
- Ozark Jubilee radio and TV cast photos at Hillbilly-Music.com (successive visits display a different rotating photo set)
- "The Ozark Jubilee" OzarksWatch Video Magazine (Iowa Public Television) January 2010
- "My Memories of the Ozark Jubilee," by Don Baker
- Season 1 and 2 episode guide at tv.com