The Louisiana Hayride: Shreveport, Louisiana ~ 1948 ~ 1960 (Part 2/4)

Added: Jul 5, 2010

From: flashbell

Duration: 2:59

Click here for write up on the Louisiana Hayride Part II CLICK HERE! http://TheSecretMoneyMakers.com The Louisiana Hayride (KWKH ~ 4/3/1948 ~ 8/27/1960), Part II Two men crucial to the success of the Hayride were Horace Logan (Aug. 3, 1916--Oct. 13, 2002) and Tillman Franks (Sept. 29, 1920--Oct. 26, 2006). Logan was ten years old when he and his mother moved to Shreveport. At sixteen, he accompanied a friend to an announcer contest at KWKH. When one of the other contestants dropped out, Logan was asked to audition. He won the prize working as early morning radio announcer. After World War II, Horace was offered the job of program director at KWKH. Station management wanted to revamp an old program called Saturday Night Roundup. Logan was given the assignment to put together The Louisiana Hayride and was in charge of booking the show's talent. This was great timing as during and after the war, country music enjoyed an unprecedented boom in popularity. Logan fashioned a show that was broadcast each Saturday from Shreveport's 3,800-seat Municipal Auditorium. He took the name from a book that was made into a Broadway show, also called Louisiana Hayride. Horace began producing the show in 1948, a position he held for ten years. It survived only two years after Logan's departure in 1958. The inaugural broadcast was April 3, 1948 and the lineup included: the Bailes Brothers, Johnnie and Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys with Kitty Wells, the Four Deacons, Curley Kinsley, the Tennessee Ridge Runners, Harmie Smith, the Ozark Mountaineers, the Mercy Brothers and Texas and the Texas Playboys. Horace was the original producer and emcee for the program. When The Louisiana Hayride began, country music reached a larger audience then ever, not only in the South, but throughout the nation. The region nurtured such varied talents as Huddie Ledbetter, the "king of the twelve-string guitar" and Jimmie Davis, the two term singing governor of Louisiana who penned You Are My Sunshine. The first breakthrough for The Louisiana Hayride that would place it on an even footing with the older and more established Grand Ole Opry came when Hank Williams became a regular on the show. In August 1948 Hank made his début on the show, the start of a dramatic, yet spectacular career. After Williams appeared on the Hayride, he recorded Lovesick Blues and the Opry drew him into their fold. Although Williams left the Hayride in 1949, he returned following his firing from the Opry in 1952. When he returned that September, he performed on the show during Slim Whitman appreciation night. Logan introduced Hank and when he came on stage, he told the folks that he would be back on the Hayride as a regular starting the following week and he sang Jambalaya. The world famous Louisiana Hayride, became known as "Cradle of the Stars." Because most of the talented country artists who got their first breaks on the Hayride would eventually move on to Nashville, it was common to hear The Lousiana Hayride referred to as "the Grand Ole Opry's farm team." Horace, however, referred to the Opry as "the Tennessee branch of the Hayride." While popularity of The Louisiana Hayride was partially attributed to performances by Hank Williams and Elvis Presley, unquestionably, there were many other major contributors. The following is a partial listing of The Cradle of the Stars, who helped bring the Hayride into fame and made it one of the leading musical platforms of the era: [F -- J] THE CRADLE OF THE STARS! Fairburn, Werly, Fautheree, Jimmy, Foley, Red, Ford, Jack, Four Deacons, Friml, Rudolf, Friend, Cliff, Fontana, Pete, Fowler, L.S., Franks, Tillman, Frizzell, Lefty, Gallion Bob, Gatley, Jimmie, Gibson, Don, Glosson, Lonnie, Grant, Marshall, Gray, W., Grimely , Cliff, Grimsley, E.M, Gunter, Arthur, Hawkins, Hawkshaw, Hayden, Darnell, Hill, Tommy, Heinz, Jack, Hendrix , Roy, Herndon, Curley, Hicks, Jeanette, Hill, Goldie, Hausey, Howard, Hilliard, Bob, Hoot & Curley, Horton, Johnny, Houser, Hazel, Houston, David, Hunter, Ivory Jo, Howard, Harlan, Kay, Jack, King, Claude, Knight, Thomas Blake, James, Sonny, Jimmy & Johnny, Johnny & Jack and Kitty Wells, Johnson, Dobber, Johnson, Jerry, Jones, George, Jones, Grandpa, Jones, Oakley, Jones, Ralph, Jones, Wilbur, Jordanaires Alpha listing of Louisiana Hayride members and the write-up continues in the following parts: Part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TRTXovuA6I&feature=related Part III http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWUNSAgWFo Part IV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAvXXDrHb24 Copyright 2010 by: RJB, Country Music Historian, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Channel: Music

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