Johnny and Jack
Floyd T. Gentry
They came from Nashville to Shreveport and the Hayride. I was in the
studios of KWKH when they made their first appearance on the Red River
Roundup. (a late Saturday night show) They were very good friends of
Johnny Bailes and the Bailes brothers. They were originally known as
Johnny and Jack and the Tennessee Hillbillies. I have an album with the
band and this was the name of the band. Kitty Wells of course is
married to Johnny Wright. Jack Anglin was a natural high tenor and he
was killed on his way to Patsy Clines funeral. This broke up the act of
Johnny and Jack and so began the Johnny Wright family syndicated
T.V.show.
Johnny and Jack originally had Paul Warren on Fiddle, Ray the Duck
Atkins on dobro, Johnny Wright bass, Jack Anglin and Kitty Wells on
rhythm guitar. After the Bailes Brothers broke up Shot Jackson replace
Ray the "Duck" Atkins". Paul Warren was also replaced by another fiddle
player. They did go back to Nashville.
They recorded some great songs. My favorite is "I wonder Where You are
Tonight". They did the Banana boat song, I get so Lonely and a lot of
the tango music on RCA. I have a double album with them doing What
About You and others that were great.
They were never the same after Jack Anglin was killed. He had a very
distinct high tenor that could not be replaced. They are still doing a
few shows around the country. Kitty is in her 80s if I'm not mistaken.
Johnny is so old he can hardly stand up. They have a country store
around Nashville where they still their records and different
memorabilia. Floyd Gentry
--
ICQ# 10268424
Hugh Barnett
snip
> Kitty is in her 80s if I'm not mistaken.
> Johnny is so old he can hardly stand up. They have a country store
> around Nashville where they still their records and different
> memorabilia. Floyd Gentry
>
> --
> ICQ# 10268424
Kitty Wells will be 81 on August 30. Johnny Wright is 86. On October 31,
they will have been married 63 years.
Johnny Wright and Jack Anglin were both born on May 13 (but Jack was 2 years
younger).
http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Rodeo/9956/birthday/w.htm
I kept planning to buy the Bear Family box set of Johnny & Jack, but I kept
putting it off because of the cost. Now it's out of print.
--
Hugh Barnett
Washington, NC
Dan Cutrer
> Ray the "Duck" Atkins".
Shot Jackson is somebody who oughta have more kind words said about him
... was he originally from the KWKH primary area, what they called the
Ark-La-Tex? I know he played with Roy Acuff for what seemed like
forever ... I remember Roy introducing Howdy Forrester, 'the 'baby' of
the Smokey Mountain Boys, he's only been with us 37 years ...' or some
such ...
There've been brief mentions before of how Shot and Buddy Emmons
'invented' the modern steel guitar, which led to their Sho-Bud Company
...
I'd appreciate anybody with more information elaborating on Shot and
Sho-Bud.
Dan Cutrer
> was killed on his way to Patsy Clines funeral.
I think it may have been in one of the Ralph Emery books, Johnny Wright
admitted he created that legend to make Jack's legacy brighter ... I'd
always heard and had no reason to disbelieve it ...
But, truth is, at least according to the book, Jack was drunk as a
coot, and headed in the other direction, had no intention of going to
the funeral when he was killed.
Balecox
Floyd, I was at Kitty's 80th birthday party and when they performed, Johnny
hobbled out with a cane, but when he sang he still had some kick in him. They
are both treasures.
Patsi
K.F. Raizor
Patsi,
Didn't Johnnie have a hip replacement last year or the year before last?
Seems to me he was on Eddie Stubbs' show right before and he said he was
apprehensive because it was the first time he'd ever been in the hospital
for surgery.
"Balecox" <bal...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000819114532...@ng-fi1.aol.com...
Gene Debs
Balecox
I believe you're right. I think he might have mentioned it when I talked to
Kitty & Johnnie out at the museum. He's as sharp as a tack.
Lulu Roman
>coot, and headed in the other direction, had no intention of going to
>the funeral when he was killed.
He was drunk according to the Kitty Wells book they sell at the ET record shop.
He had been to the barber that day and was torn up over the wreck, and had
been drinking. I believe he ran his car into a ditch. He was either an in-law
to Randy Hughes, or was close with Cowboy or something. I forget which.
Then Jim Reeves died in a plane wreck a few months later, and Ira Louvin in a
car crash a few weeks after that.
I talked to a guy at the record store I worked at in Nashville that worked for
WSM TV or the Tennessean or Banner in 1963, and he had been to each of those
accidents.
I remember reading the story about how Roger Miller was the guy that discovered
the wreck in the woods or something like that.
Lee
I'm in the FINAL COUNTDOWN at http://www.garageband.com
Why is is so hard to quit smoking?
Lulu Roman
>Kitty & Johnnie out at the museum. He's as sharp as a tack.
My roommate in Nashville grew up with the sons of a longtime bandmember of
Kitty's, and one of the guitarists sons married Kitty's grandaughter.
I went to the wedding and to the reception, and sat next to Johnnie for a
half-hour or so. Kitty's grandaughter Corey is quite a singer herself, and she
sang at the reception. She performed "Crazy" and tore it up. I was standing
next to Charlie Dick when she was singing it and a melancholy haze came over
him. Some of Jack Anglin's daughters and Grandaughters were there too.
Needless to say, it was a nice afternoon to break up the drudgery of my
normally so unglamorous life. Kitty Wells was my grandma's favorite singer,
and when I went to see Kitty sing at the Texas Troubador Theater once I had her
autograph her book "To sarah," my grandma.
Balecox
Now that you mention that, I believe she sang at the 80th party....as did Kitty
& Johnnie's son.
P
K.F. Raizor
"Lulu Roman" <juven...@aol.comheehaw> wrote in message
news:20000821013917...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
> Then Jim Reeves died in a plane wreck a few months later, and Ira Louvin
in a
> car crash a few weeks after that.
The Cline/Copas/Hawkins plane crash was March 5, 1963. Jim Reeves' plane
crash was July 31, 1964. Ira Louvin's car wreck was June 20, 1965.
> I talked to a guy at the record store I worked at in Nashville that worked
for
> WSM TV or the Tennessean or Banner in 1963, and he had been to each of
those
> accidents.
Louvin's wreck was in Williamsburg, Missouri, not in (or even near)
Nashville.
> I remember reading the story about how Roger Miller was the guy that
discovered
> the wreck in the woods or something like that.
According to the legend, Eddy Arnold was the one who found Reeves' body (I
don't think this is 100% accurate since [sorry for being morbid] there
wasn't a "body" to find since Reeves went through the windscreen of the
plane and met the propellor head-on; however, there was an AP or UPI wire
photo that ran in many papers showing Eddy Arnold at the crash site, so
that's probably how that's been perpetuated). Vern Young told us at a
bluegrass show one night that he was working as a DJ in Missouri in 1965,
and the one who had to read the news flash of Ira & Anne's car wreck. (What
makes this so odd: Anne Louvin was Vern Young's ex-wife.)
BTW, right before the Cline/Copas/Hawkins plane crash, Ira Louvin's
then-wife Faye Cunningham pumped him full of bullets. (That happened
February 21, 1963.) I believe Ira was still in the hospital recovering when
the plane crash happened.
And, let's not forget that Alton Delmore also died tragically during this
time period. He drank himself to death.
Dan Cutrer
"K.F. Raizor" wrote:
>
> "Lulu Roman" <juven...@aol.comheehaw> wrote in message
> news:20000821013917...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
> > Then Jim Reeves died in a plane wreck a few months later, and Ira Louvin
> in a
> > car crash a few weeks after that.
>
> The Cline/Copas/Hawkins plane crash was March 5, 1963. Jim Reeves' plane
> crash was July 31, 1964. Ira Louvin's car wreck was June 20, 1965.
>
> > I talked to a guy at the record store I worked at in Nashville that worked
> for
> > WSM TV or the Tennessean or Banner in 1963, and he had been to each of
> those
> > accidents.
>
> Louvin's wreck was in Williamsburg, Missouri, not in (or even near)
> Nashville.
>
> > I remember reading the story about how Roger Miller was the guy that
> discovered
> > the wreck in the woods or something like that.
>
> According to the legend, Eddy Arnold was the one who found Reeves' body
I recall a photo of Roger at the Cline/Copas/Hawkins/ crash ...
stumbling through the woods. Or maybe it WAS the Reeves plane.
NASHVILLE BABYLON, says that "6AM in a scrub hollow three and a half
miles west of Camden, cotton farmer WJ Hollingsworth and his son Jeners
located the scraps of the wreckage. (Cline, et al) Pieces of green and
yellow metal were scattered everywhere. Pieces of shredded human flesh
were spread across the landscape, on the ground, in the trees. When
asked if all four bodies had been located, a civil defense official at
the site responded, 'there's not enough to count. they're all in small
pieces.' The bodies, strewn 250 feet from where the plane had
apparently sliced into an oak tree, were so mutilated that the only way
the male identities could be determined was from their billfolds, which
remained intact."
Book says at page 241, "massive search party ensued (for Reeves crash,
notes Marty Robbins heard 'the sick buzz of a plane (at his Brentwood,
Tenn., home). And then he heard the crash. And then he yelled, to no
one in particular 'Somebody's been killed out there.'
Marty, "Chet Atkins, Eddy Arnold and Ernest Tubb joined in the search
that included 700 volunteers, 12 planes, 2 helicopters and a boat. It
wasn't until two days later that the wreckage and bodies were located."
Ernest Tubb appeared in Ponchatula, Louisiana, a few days later; he was
leaving immediately after the show for Carthage, Texas, where the
funeral of Jim Reeves was to be held the next day. Ernest was never
real animated during his shows, much less than usual that night.
Both crashes were demonstrative of a common happening ... fledgling
pilot with a couple hundred hours flight time overestimates ease of
flying, doesn't believe instruments, doesn't fully understand weather
they're flying into, doesn't remember to keep an eye out for a safe
place to land, gets in a cloud, gets disoriented, doesn't believe
instruments, stuff happens QUICKLY, all bad. I've just finished a new
book on JFK Jr., exactly what happened to him. Me, I was one of the
lucky ones ... made a deal with God in the late 70's that if I got back
to the ground with most of me intact ...
My banker told me once that people who want to fly their own airplane
also want a convertible and a sailboat. No need to tell the story of
how I flipped a lead-keel sailboat ...
Incidentally, something calling itself the Texas Country Music Hall of
Fame is now located in Carthage, Texas, about 40 miles SW of
Shreveport, inducted a few new members this past week. Tex Ritter was
also from Panola County ...
Jim Reeves is buried a couple miles out of town, beautiful monument to
him, worth a detour from IH20 when you're on your way to gamble in
Bossier City.
In Horace Logan's Louisiana Hayride book, mention made of the time a
groupie tried to pin a paternity suit on Jim ... not knowing that Jim
was 'sterile,' Mary and Jim had been trying to make babies with no
success. Claim kinda faded away when Future Mama learned that, then
baby was born, looked precisely like steel guitar player on Hayride.
William Cox
site. I believe that's what Lee was referring to.
Bill
--
PatsyClineFans2 Mailing List
http://www.egroups.com/group/PatsyClineFans2
Patsy Cline: The Lady, The Legend
http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Bluegrass/5555/index.html
Smoky Mountain Heartland Chapter, Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/7192/index.html
COMING SOON: Bradley's Barn - A Site Honoring The Legends of Country
Music.
Floyd T. Gentry
with the Bailes Brothers. They were about to move to XERF in Del Rio and
Johnny got himself in trouble. They lost their Limo and Shot bought a new
Plymouth station wagon just before Johnny was sent away. After the Bailes
brothers broke up Shot went with Johnny and Jack. Played with them until
they broke up then formed the ShoBud guitar company and played on Hee Haw
for many years also working with Roy Acuff and died broke. No he was not
from the Nashville area. but lived there after the Hayride busted up.
Floyd
Dan Cutrer wrote:
> . After the Bailes Brothers broke up Shot Jackson replaced
> > Ray the "Duck" Atkins".
>
> Shot Jackson is somebody who oughta have more kind words said about him
> ... was he originally from the KWKH primary area, what they called the
> Ark-La-Tex? I know he played with Roy Acuff for what seemed like
> forever ... I remember Roy introducing Howdy Forrester, 'the 'baby' of
> the Smokey Mountain Boys, he's only been with us 37 years ...' or some
> such ...
>
> There've been brief mentions before of how Shot and Buddy Emmons
> 'invented' the modern steel guitar, which led to their Sho-Bud Company
> ...
>
> I'd appreciate anybody with more information elaborating on Shot and
> Sho-Bud.
--
ICQ# 10268424
larry...@earthlink.net
Born in Wilmington, N.C., Sept. 4, 1920. Moved to a farm near
Brashear, Georgia when an enfant. In 1941, he joined a Country band on
a Jacksonville radio station. In 1944, he came to Nashville and the
Opry as a sideman with Cousin Wilbur Westbrooks. He spent a year in
the Navy and when he came out he joined with the Bailes Brothers,
playing electric steel guitar. He recorded with them on King in
November, 1946, and twice for Columbia in 1947. When they went to KWKH
Shreveport, Shot went along and remained with them until they left the
Louisiana Hayride.
Shot remained at KWKH, where he worked and recorded with various
groups including Jimmie Osborne, Webb Pierce, Red Sovine, and Johnnie
and Jack until the Summer of 1951, when he joined Johnnie and Jack's
Tennessee Mountain Boys as a regular. For the next six years, Jackson
worked on the road and on virtually all sessions with Johnnie and Jack
(playing Dobro) and Kitty Wells (on electric steel). Shot also made a
few records under his own name, on Pacemaker, in Shreveport, and on
Specialty in Nashville. He then spent the next five years with Roy
Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys playing electric steel.
During his years with Roy Acuff, Shot Jackson and Buddy Emmons
developed their now famous Sho-Bud pedal steel guitar. (If you didn't
follow the other link posted to the Sho-Bud website, you really
should. The history page written by Buddy Emmons is very interesting,
whether you play guitar or not.)
Jackson managed, and played steel for Melba Montgomery, who had left
Roy Acuff to go on her own. He did the steel work on many of her
United Artists recordings as well as on her duets with George Jones.
Shot did session work for various other artists in those years, in
addition to recording albums of his own with both Starday and
Columbia.
In 1964, Jackson rejoined Roy Acuff's band, but that sojourn ended on
July 10, 1965, when he, Roy, and June Stearns survived a near fatal
auto crash in East Tennessee. After his painful recovery, he began
touring and working with his wife, former WWVA Jamboree songstress
Donna Darlene.
He also developed a seven string resonator guitar which he marketed
under the name Sho-Bro. He sold Sho-Bud to Baldwin-Gretsch in 1980 and
his instrument repair business in 1983. Two months later, he suffered
a serious stroke, from which he never regained his speech or ability
to play. He suffered another stroke in June, 1990 and passed away
seven months later. Walter Bailes preached at his funeral.
-----------
Hope you found that of interest, Dan.
Larry Davis
---
larry...@hotmail.com
Join a new discussion group for fans of Country oldies.
Visit http://www.egroups.com/group/ClassicCountryMusic1940sto1960s
*******************************************************
"Dan Cutrer" <dcu...@postoffice.swbell.net> wrote in message
news:399D3699...@postoffice.swbell.net...
Floyd T. Gentry
they came in for the first time. They have always been one of my treasures. That
old song "My conscious is clear, What about You" . God how beautiful and sad.
Also "That old Rain is Cold and Slowly falling. Upon my Window pane tonight."
Actually I'm sure you know the title of the song is 'I Wonder where you are
tonight". When Anglin was killed that was all she wrote except for Miss Kitty
Wells. She always used Shot for steel guitar and it really fit in with her
singing. I always called old Harold " Shot" Jackson the corn shocker and he
really played some beautiful corn that went right along with Johnny and Jack and
Kitty Wells. Been missing them a long time. No one will ever be able to imitate
that sound again. Neither will the Louver brothers be imitated again. Flayed
Gentry
Balecox wrote:
> Floyd Posted>>>Johnny is so old he can hardly stand up. <<<
>
> Floyd, I was at Kitty's 80th birthday party and when they performed, Johnny
> hobbled out with a cane, but when he sang he still had some kick in him. They
> are both treasures.
>
> Patsi
--
ICQ# 10268424
Floyd T. Gentry
show and though Johnny was ny no means the best emcee in country music Bobby always
seemed to be just a little smart.
Patsi I hope that you agree with me that I have done all anyone in my position
could have done to keep classic country alive. There are times I just want to sit
down and cry, I get so dammed confused and wonder if there was anything anyone
could have done.
Oh speaking of the Wrights, Ruby (the daughter) had a couple of releases also
Bobby. None of them went anywhere. Floyd
Balecox wrote:
--
ICQ# 10268424
Floyd T. Gentry
Shreveport. He was true to them until they split up. Except for
recording with some of the other guys. Floyd
larry...@earthlink.net wrote:
--
ICQ# 10268424
Balecox
P