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ABOUTTHE

COVERWaylon Jennings, from the RCArecord release, "Jules."

INSIDEARTICLES

Waylon Jennings 9

Jean Ritchie 16

Osborne Brothers 30Nashville Brass 34Buddy Killen 37Don and Donna Chapel 42

FEATURES

Truck Driving Country 22Profile/Cal Smith 24Profile/Johnny Duncan 25Profile/Ray Sanders 26Profile/Johnny Bush 41

DEPARTMENTS

Letters 5

Country Music Machine 8

Country Clippings 26

President-BERYL J. WOLK. Executive Administrator-J. PALMA. Administrator-PRUE MARTIN. Editor-IRA BLACK. ManagingEditor-SHEL KAGAN. Contributing Editors-CECIL WHALEY, BETTY HOFER. Consultant-BILL HUDSON. Photograhpy-BILLGRINE, New World. Art Directors-LOU BROOKS, DON CROTHERS. Staff-RALPH CRENETI, ART WHEELER. Production-BOBSEADER, MARTY RUBIN.

Advertising and Sales: JERRY WILDER-Executive Director, 11401 Roosevelt Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pa. 19154, (215) 677-6200.BUZZ CAHN, 1605 Hawkins St., Nashville, Tenn. (615)256 4850. DANIEL AND ASSOCIATES, Suite 103, 2631 Bachman Boulevard,Dallas, Texas, (214) 357-0680.

COUNTRY Magazine is published by Goodway, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. Subscription $5.00 per year in the United States, foreign ratesupon request. Single copy price 50 cents. Copyright 1968 by Goodway, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part with-out written permission is prohibted.

1

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Mrs. James HurseyCorning, Ohio

We don't have the photo available,but we thank Mrs. Hursey for herkind words. We're forwarding anextra copy of the January issue inhopes it will get sent to that youngfellow in Germany.

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I have read about your C & Wpublication COUNTRY in aSwedish C & W magazine,KOUNTRY KORRAL. Pleasesend information about sub-scription rates and samplecopies.

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A copy of COUNTRY goes toreader Johansson in Sweden.Good to know our fans arefrom all over the world.

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PHOIIIESI

Dale TurnerDale was born in Washington, D.C. and spent most of

her young life in Alexandria, Virginia where she went toschool at St. Mary's Academy. Her elementary schooldays were at Villa Maria in Falls Church, Virginia. Athome she used to listen to Nellie, her sister's nurse, singsongs to pass away the time. That started the wholething. Music, country music, was in her blood and shehad to perform.

Her teen years were the usual ones of trying to getstarted along the road to success and recognition. Withamateur shows and auditions, she built up a confidence inherself which began to show promise of smoothing outthe rough spots and adding a lot of polish to her style ofsinging. Never one to sit back and let things slide, shekept at the job of trying everything which attracted herfancy. And she finally settled on singing country "with abit of modern style," as she calls it. To her, that meansthat it's country but it "kinda drifts over."

It may be what Eddy Arnold calls "pop country," butwhatever it's called it makes beautiful music.

But there was time for other things. In 1963 she wentwith the Jimmy Case Show and stayed there until 1967.There was a lot of traveling and a lot of military baseswere played all over the world. Dale has been in 22 dif-ferent countries.

At length Dale's voice had to get on records, and sheproceeded to make some Music City USA contacts. As aresult her voice reached the public on Columbia, Monu-ment and Vintage labels. Her first recording was "FalseEyelashes" in early October of last year. It was backedwith "The Luckiest Girl."

There's a new one, "Daddy Won't Be Home" with"Sniff, Sniff, Boo Hoo."

It's not surprising at all to see the many award certifi-cates she has received from the military from wherevershe went. Her talent shines with a gentle light. It hasimpressed other performers.too. She has appeared on theBobby Lord Show, with Eddie Hill and Ralph Emery.The audiences loved her.

She's really a package of talent. She writes songs andpoetry, keeps a confortable home, and takes exceptionalcare of her husband.

Harold LeeHe's tall and quiet, dark and handsome, well-built andearnest. His name is soon to be spoken in the samebreath as "overnight success." He is Harold Lee.

His rise has been swift to a position of prominence as arecording and stage attraction, with a little help fromgood people and some hard work on the road.

Harold, son of a Fairfield, Ohio, mechanical engineer,got started on his professional music career in a round-about fashion, having begun to view his future as acommerical artist as the real thing. When he completedhis art courses at Northern Illinois University his atten-tion was attracted to word about amateur auditions at theRivoli Club in Chicago. After contact with WJJD Radioin the Windy City, Harold decided to take a flyer at theauditions.

That the right move because he cho-sen the best of the performers. That brought him a year'scontract as a performer at the Rivoli. And there, talentminded people could see and hear his work.

Along with his band, the Robert Es, Lee headed South-west in a new van to build a little experience. Each of theband members had about five dollars for the trip, butdespite the shortage of funds they finally struggled intoLubbock, Texas.

Then they were fortunate enough to start a wholestring of auditorium and club engagements which led likea magic carpet to the mid -south and eventually intoNashville.

The long months of personal appearances before liveaudiences had paid off, and the polish on Lee was just thekind to sell. Calling on Vocalist Sammi Smith, whorecorded one of. Harold's compositions, Bill Crawford,Lee's personal manager, "went to bat" for Lee at Colum-bia studios.

Columbia's Frank Jones didn't really need much per-suading; the product spoke very well for itself, Lee wassigned to a contract on the strength of a "demo" session.Plans were laid for the new signee's debut early this year.

His first record for Columbia is "Bringing DaddyHome" and "The Two Sides of Me." It definitely hascountry music potential.

Those who say this young man has the "NashvilleSound" know whereof they speak. And it was developedin the by -ways off the highways from Chicago to Lub-bock, to Memphis to Music City, USA.

And maybe that's the way it should be.

8

WAY h I 5:best

foot forward

It's not that Waylon Jennings wasstranded 20 miles from Duluth,Minnesota and had to "hoof it".And it's not that Waylon tried tobreak any olympic records. It'snot that at all.

Waylon Jennings began his walkthe day he decided to make musichis career. That was his first step.Continuing down the musicalbeat, Waylon kept on picking 'urnup and putting 'urn down. ...athis own pace. He never went toofast. He never had to run scared.Carefully, cautiously, WaylonJennings planted his footprints inthe sands of success one at a time.He hitch -hiked no rides. Hestopped for no storms of life.Waylon Jennings walked everyinch of the way, on his trip to thetop.

Why Waylon Jennings had notcounted off those final steps, andplanted his toe on the top rung along time ago, has always re-mained somewhat of a musicalmystery. Conversations have beenstarted and ended many timeswith the question, "Why hasn'tWaylon Jennings been given morebreaks?" Or, "That Waylon's acomplete gas. Isn't it strange thatthings are going so slow for him?"Well, the real Waylon Jennings hasfinally stood up and told theworld the actual nitty-gritty abouthis case, and it should answer a lotof anxious fans.

10

Jack Andrews (right), Director ofthe Outdoor Division for MoellerTalent Incorporated, takes a re-freshing pause to discuss futureplans with Waylon Jennings.

"Watch that first step, it's a bigone" is an old saying that comesto mind in reference to Waylon'sfirst professional step in the musicindustry; and at that time, it couldhave appeared to be one fatal step....BACKWARDS. The situation,of course, was when Buddy Holly,the leader of the troupe which

Waylon had been touring with,was killed in a plane crash in theMidwest. Without hesitation, adeeply saddened Waylon Jenningsimmediately slipped out of hismusical shoes. He says, "I thoughtit was all over for me. I quit sing-ing. In fact, I didn't even care tothink about it."

11

Waylon returned to his native landof Texas, and went back to hisformer profession as a dee jay, inLubbock.Slowly, Wayloh finally began re-tracing his own footsteps backinto the music industry.In time, a night club job inPhoenix proved to be a sure-footed move for an exceptionalentertainer named Waylon. For-mation of "The Waylors" wasanother step in the right direction.And Waylon Jennings and theWaylors didn't let any grass growunder their feet before they had

The big daddy of 'um ail, Waylon,"Walkin" the line" with hisWaylors!

developed their own unique style.....a sound. ...a beat that be-longed to Waylon Jennings.Today, a lot of people like to referto his style as "Folk -country".Waylon himself humbly says, "Ijust sing in a style that I createdmyself. I don't care what anybodycalls it."

After working several smallerclubs in Phoenix, Waylon con-tinued the paces down his walk-way to stardom by a very success-ful stint of 3 years at JD's, one ofthe largest night spots in the

Southwest, which was specificallybuilt with Waylon Jennings inmind.

An RCA contract was soon in theoffing. And it's at this point of hiswalk that Waylon firmly plantedboth feet on the ground and madeit very plain that, "Bobby Bare isthe guy who got me that contract.Bobby had worked with some ofmy material. He'd also heard meseveral times. Hews the one whobrought me to the attention ofChet Atkins." It seems, shortlyafterwards Bobby Bare had oc-

12

casion to be in Phoenix, and whenhe informed Waylon that Chetwanted to record him, Waylonclaims laughingly, "I had a heartattach!"

After producing 3 hit sessions in arow of "That's The Chance I'llHave To Take", "Stop The WorldAnd Let Me Off" and "AnitaYou're Dreaming", the nextlogical step, it would seem, shouldhave been for a move to Nashville.However, that wasn't the way thesong was sung.

Moeller Talent Incorporated, thepeople who have planned theprogress of Waylon's career to a"T", decided against it and said,"Not yet, M'boy!" The time wascoming, they knew it. But theywere guiding the walk, and theywanted it kept at a walking gait. Atalent as tremendous as Waylon

A wailin' note from Waylon.

Jennings does not come alongevery day, and he is far too greatto make over -night stardom andthen fade away like a flower onsome wall of fame. WaylonJennings had to be properly pacedfor progress in the recordingworld. Moeller would not allowWaylon Jennings to aim for thetop by "making a run for it". Hewould get there another way. Itwould take longer; but he woulddefinitely get there; and oncethere, he'd stay, where he wouldremain a legend in his time ofcountry music.

Eventually, Waylon was able tocall Nashville home. He became apart of Music City after he hadalready gained a considerableamount of recognition in theentertainment world, assuring himof plenty personal appearances;and after it was a good financial

risk to move all of the Waylorswith him. He didn't come crashinginto town with high hopes, get dis-gusted in 6 months, and go backhome. Solid ground work waslayed before he touched foot inTennessee's town of music.

Soon after his arrival in MusicCity, Waylon was ready....professionally seasoned... .totake much bigger steps upward.One of those large steps included alead role in the movie "NashvilleRebel". His performance was likeeverything the fantastic Waylonever does. ...exciting, ex-ceptional, electrifying. However,movie making apparently wasn'tenough to shake the musical sandout of his shoes, because Waylonconfesses he does not have a lot ofmovie plans in his future and hesays, "I'm basically a singer.That's all I want to do is sing."

13

Moeller Talent official, JackAndrews, informs us that there isdefinitely a considerable amountof TV work in the mill for thefuture of Waylon Jennings. A totalof 8 albums, over a dozen singlesand as many hits, a world full ofdevoted fans, a magnificent track -record of pulling in capacitycrowds, a lead role that left theuniverse unanimous in theirproclamation that he's a natural-born actor, and several importantguest shots on major TV showsmake a pretty good past. And acurrent working schedule of 25days a month doesn't leave muchtime these days for any "howlin'at the moon!"

Waylon plays guitar, mandolin,and fiddle. He appreciates thescenic countryside of the WestCoast. His hobby is his music, andhe has written several of his ownhits as well as for others includingBobby Bare and Glenn Campbell.He's seen a lot of sorrow and itshows in the seriousness of hiseyes. He is sincere and it shows inthe warmness of his smile. He hasknown a lot of fame and fortune,but it does not show, as he hides itgently with the manner of a trueTexas gentleman. He's a gratefulguy, and it's evident in his conver-sation. He's attractive to everyone,not only as a handsome man butas a very humorous human being.He's a performer who has very de-liberately "walked" every sure-footed inch of the way to the top.It was all part of a very successfulplan that has definitely provenitself today. Yes, Waylon Jenningswalked all the way to the top, andthere's no end to the long line ofWaylon Jennings' fans who canproudly proclaim that he nevertook one step without alwaysputting his BEST FOOT FOR-WARD.

14

Highly talented, handsome Waylon Jennings learned basic guitar chords from his mom anddad, but took it upon himself to create his own unique sound.

15

jean ritchieFTER RADIO came to the back-woods, we soon found out we werehillbillies, and I came to think of thehillbilly songs and our family songs asthe same kind of thing. I got ashamedto be caught singing either kind and

got to liking the slick city music on the radio. ...Iguess most everybody else did likewise."

Folk singer Jean Ritchie recalls her early years inthe isolated Cumberland Mountains of southeasternKentucky.

The Ritchie family nearly quit gathering to talkand sing in the 30's when that new gadget, radio,captured the center of attention in many a home.Folk music and folk singing nearly succumbed toBroadway show scores, Tin -Pan Alley tunes and thebig band sounds. Yet, like a sapling planted on arocky Kentucky hillside, folk music survived, thengrew and unpredictably, flourished.

This year more than a half -million guitars will besold in the United States; nearly 200 record albumsof folk songs will be released; at least 20 major folkfestivals will attract thousands of visitors, and a dozenor more new folk singers will appear all over the map.

Traditional folk music enriched the daily routineo f planting, cleaning, cooking and washing formountain families like the Ritchies. News accounts oflocal events-elections, murders, feuds, holidays-were set into song and became a part of musical folk-lore. But the current folk music craze is over-whelming to Jean, and the acclaim she has receivedfrom the world outside her native valley is far beyondanything she ever imagined.

Jean Ritchie, internationally known folk singer,writer, composer and compiler of folk songs, was oneof eight men and women who were named National4-H Alumni Award winners by the Cooperative Ex-tension Service at the annual 4-H Congress in Chicagolast fall.

"My songs," Jean says, "are family songs,low-keyed and straightforward." Her popularity hasbeen durable, and as she observed, "I just keep goin'along like a slow movin' river."

Jean Ritchie, the youngest of 14 children, isdescended from a mountain family that came toKentucky from Scotland in 1768. Her father, BalisRitchie, taught his offspring the ballads handed downfrom the family's British Isles ancestors. All thechildren learned and sang Appalachian folk songs.

"When I was a girl, we had to make our ownfun," says Jean. "Lots of times we'd sit around andsing. Everyone was known for certain songs he coulddo well. When we all got started on The CuckooShe's a Pretty Bird,' we sang back all the happy daysand ways of our growing up. It's a song that will liveas long as there are Ritchies to sing these lines:

The cuckoo she's a pretty bird,She sings as she flies;She brings us glad tidings,And she tells us no lies.

She sucks all pretty flowersTo make her voice clear,And she never sings cuckooTill the spring of the year.

"In my so-called deprived childhood we playedwith cardboard boxes and twigs, and we were veryhappy," Jean remembers. "When you had a magazine,you read it from cover to cover. Today, in an affluentenvironment, children quickly get a status sense andwant to keep up with the rest of the kids in theircommunity. If you hold back and don't give themmost of the things the neighbors' children have,you're marked as a Scrooge or a mean person. Iencourage my sons, Peter and Johnny, to concentrateon a few interests, rather than handing them an end-less array of playthings."

Today Jean and her husband, photographerGeorge Pickow, live in a comfortable rustic home inthe Long Island community of Port Washington, N.Y.The 80 -year -old house has a rare charm. It overlooksa hilly wooded acre in the older main part of thisNew York commuter town. Westhered oak trees anda bucolic stream at the bottom of a shaded slope setthe site apart from the neighboring splitlevels. "It'sthe nearest thing to being in Kentucky," Jean con-tends.

Family life centers in a two-story barn -likeaddition that the Pickows designed four years ago. Amassive floor -to -ceiling brick fireplace dominates theroom, which is paneled with vertical silver-gray barnsiding from a dismantled Vermont farm shed.Paintings by the Pickows, folk festival posters andrural Kentucky furniture, including a set of countryschoolhouse desks, are scattered about the peaked -roof den. The room is large enough for the Pickowsto push aside the throw rugs and chairs for an eveningof square dancing with a dozen friends.

(continued)

17

An English Lord came home one nightEnquiring for his lady,The servants said on every hand,She's gone with the Gypsy Laddie.Go saddle up my milk -white steed,Go saddle me up my brownieAnd I will ride both night and dayTill I overtake my bonnie.Oh he rode East and he rode West,And at last he found her,She was lying on the green, green grassAnd the gypsy's arms around her.Oh, how can you leave your house and land,How can you leave your money,How can you leave your rich young lordTo be a gypsy's bonnie.How can you leave your house and land,How can you leave your baby,How can you leave your rich young lordTo be a gypsy's lady.Oh come go home with me, my dear,Come home and be my lover,I'll furnish you with a room so neat,With a silken bed and covers.I won't go home with you, kind sir,Nor will I be your lover,I care not for your rooms so neatOr your silken bed or your covers.It's I can leave my house and land,And I can leave my baby,I'm a-goin' to roam this world aroundAnd be a gypsy's lady.Oh, soon this lady changed her mind,Her clothes grew old and faded,Her hose and shoes came off her feetAnd left them bare and naked.Just what befell this lady now,I think it worth relating,Her gypsy found another lassAnd left her heart a -breaking.

(Jean Ritchie's version of a British ballad dating from the 17th century, learned from her uncle, Jason Ritchie, in Kentucky.)

18

C7)

KIN RITCHIE

A variety of instruments attest to the Pickows'interest in music. For a few minutes' enjoyment or alengthy practice session, three guitars, a banjo, apedal manual organ, two zithers, a French horn andat least a half -dozen dulcimers are at arm's reach.Tape recording folk songs and filming folk musicdocumentaries fill many evenings and weekends whenthe Pickows gather. George Pickow has producedabout 12 motion pictures on folk music, a number ofthem plotted around Jean and their two young sons.

As a young woman, Jean aspired to be a socialworker. At the University of Kentucky in 1946 shetook a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work and waselected to Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation shetaught in a one -room school near home. A year latershe moved to New York to teach at the Henry StreetSettlement.

Since her 4-H project had been group singing, itseemed natural that she teach the poor children ofNew York's lower East Side her folk songs and learntheir songs in return. Her friends began to ask her tosing at their parties. Then school teachers begged herto come to their classes.

Through a friend at the school she met folkloristAlan Lomax, who recorded her songs for his col-lection and for the Library of Congress Folk SongArchives. As the folk singing rage of the 1950's grew,her popularity increased.

Jean knows approximately a thousand songs.She learned nearly half from her family. Many arechildren's songs and hymns that have never beenwritten down. She has recorded 16 albums for a half -dozen labels, including Folkways, Warner Bros.,Elektra and Riverside. Jean has cut discs with OscarBrand ("Courting Songs"), Tony Kraber ("Ballads inColonial America") and Doc Watson ("Folk City").

"I'm not a musician in the formal sense," Jeanadded. "I took voice lessons, but it almost ruined me.It didn't go with folk music." Brief training on thepiano helped her to write down tunes, but she de-pends on her "good ear."

Requests for Jean to sing come from many partsof the United States and Europe. She has performedat folklore seminars and festivals, colleges anduniversities, on radio and television and in concerts atNew York's Town Hall and London's Royal AlbertHall.

One appearance she remembers particularlycame early in her career. She was selected as the solerepresentative of the United States at the Inter-national Conference of Folk Music in Pamplona,Spain, in 1953. "We performed in a bull ring, and theSpaniards held pillows and bottles to throw if theydidn't like our singing." Jean came through thefestival without a scratch.

The performance at Pamplona coincided with aFulbright scholarship to study folk music in theBritish Isles. She and her husband traveled extensivelyin England, Ireland and Scotland, and by taperecorder they obtained hundreds of old songs. Shetraced the sources of many of her Appalachian familysongs, learning and comparing the variants now beingsung by the country folk of Britain with the Ritchieversions.

"I discovered 15 or 16 new versions of `BarbaraAllen.' That's a song about unrequited love, a com-mon event in Britain and in Kentucky. Songs like thatlast a long time because they're always current." Jeanexplains.

"We'd go to a farm in the south of Ireland andask if they knew any old songs. They'd start to sing`Mother Machree' or 'Did Your Mother Come FromIreland?'-straight from Broadway. But mention`Barbara Allen' and the people would know immed-iately what we were looking for."

Jean Ritchie was among the first of her gener-ation to approach folk singing in a scholarly andprofessional way. She collected and wrote down herfamily songs. Some of these simple, plaintivelybeautiful ballads have since become popular favorites,including "Shady Grove" and "Pretty Saro." Theverses of 42 folk tunes were first compiled in herautobiographical "Singing Family of the Cumber -lands." Published by the Oxford Press in 1955, it toldthe story of her growing up in the Kentuckymountains and was the first of a half -dozen JeanRitchie song books.

Jean usually accompanies herself on thedulcimer, a three -stringed guitar -like instrument. Herfather was a sometime farmer, printer, politician,salesman and school teacher. But his skill in makingdulcimers gained him local renown and influencedJean and several of her sisters to carry on the tra-dition.

"Two strings are drones, and the third plays themelody," Jean points out. "My father used a quillfrom a goose or turkey feather to strum the strings,so that's what I use." The Pickows now make and sellhandcrafted dulcimers, and Jean has written ascholarly manual on its history and the techniques oftuning and playing the instrument.

"Folk singing has been going on for ages." Jeanemphasizes. "It's native to the singer if he has grownup in an environment where the songs were a part ofhis upbringing and where he is not aware, at least inhis early years, that he is singing folk songs. A songthat is recorded on paper, has a known author andhas never been changed through the years, can't becalled a folk song. Technically, Stephen Foster'smusic isn't in the folk music category."

20

JEAN RITCHIE

She predicts that the current pop folk boom willfade, but she believes that what it's based on will last.

"Lots of music written today, like pop folk,may eventually be considered folk music if it last longenough," she says.

"No matter what I sing, the audience seems tofeel a kinship with the music because the Ritchiesongs are based on happenings they also have exper-ienced. It may seem narrow-minded to sing onlysongs I learned from my family, but these songs areactually universal."

Jean's singing career has kept pace with thegrowth of the folk music festival. Some 50 collegesand universities, from the University of California toBrandeis University in Massachusetts, offer extensivefolklore studies, and most of these schools have atleast one folk festival annually.

Jean has performed at the Newport andBerkeley Folk Festivals nearly every year since theywere organized. A recent Newport session attractedmore than 200 singers and musicians in concerts,workshops and panels, and drew nearly 70,000visitors. But Jean fears that the festivals may be get-ting too big and semicommercial.

Many occupations have been represented in theawards program for outstanding men and women whowere 4-H members in their youth. Those honored lastfall included a railroad president, two college deans, aformer state governor, an opera singer, an agriculturalresearch director and a mission director.

But never before has a folk artist been selected.Accomplishments in the primitive arts have generallybeen overlooked by our industrialized society. Now,more and more people are becoming aware of theircultural resources, among them the great wealth offolk songs.* Folk singers, finding their songs takenseriously, now compile and perform more regionaland family songs. Both pop and serious composersturn to folk songs as a source of inspiration for newcompositions.

A majority of folk singers fall into thehootenanny and pop folk genre, but when peoplewant to hear the authentic folk sound or learn aboutsong origins, many ask for Jean Ritchie.

Robert Shelton of The New York Times has de-scirbed Jean as "one of the finest authentic tra-ditional folk singers we have in the United Statestoday."

*The folk music revival began a decade ago when a group ofex -collegians recorded the ballad "Tom Dooley. " As sung bythe Kingston Trio, the tune sold two -million records andignited the generation that had grown up on rock-and-roll andwas now in college. Today, the largest and most enthusiasticaudience for folk material remains on campus.

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r^

THEY'VE BECOME TRUCK DRIVING MEN

Where indeed have the cowboys gone? Thelegendary figure of the old American west has all butvanished from the world of country music.

During this age of high powered automobilesand Gemini Spacecraft, the need has been created fora modern prototype of the old westerner - he hasemerged in the shape of the truck driver.

The collective term `country and western' en-compasses many styles of music, including Bluegrass,Gospel, Mountain, and, as the term implies, countryand western. Perhaps the style to remain least af-fected by modern trends is Bluegrass. (Disregardingrecent releases by Flatt & Scruggs and The OsborneBrothers). In regard to song material, however, Blue-grass has kept pace with its country cousins; truckdriving songs and topical subjects form the repertoiresof most Bluegrass bands. One of the first `truckdrivin' chart successes was `Widow Maker', by JimmyMartin and The Sunny Mountain Boys, in the tra-ditional Bluegrass style, with five string banjo.

Many cowboy songs were, in content, violent.Death was an ever present factor and songwriters ex-ploited this to the full, killing off their musical heroesin the goriest manner. If cowboy songs were `sick',then the truck driving ballads must surely be 'sicker'.Once again, death forms the basis for many songs;`Widow Maker', 'Big Semi -Trailer', 'Big Tennessee',and 'A Tombstone Every Mile', although the latterlacks the sensationalism of the former three, despitethe dramatic title.

Since its early recorded beginnings in the 1920's,people the world over have condemned and predictedthe downfall of country music. True, the `western'music is now a virtual nonentity, but country musicas a whole, is still very much a part of American life.

As long as the sophisticated recordings of EddyArnold, Sonny James and George Morgan continue toclimb the charts under the collective title of `CountryMusic', other artists, of a more authentic variety, BillMonroe, Sam and Kirk McGee, Stringbean and

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Mainer's Mountaineers, will thrive - for it is the suc-cess of this pop/country music that justifies the re-leases of artists with a lesser sales potential.

Undoubtedly, in future years there will be a re-vival of the cowboy song but today, the truck driverreigns supreme among men. The slushy, sentimentalwestern love songs of the Gene Autry era are longpast. Record buyers now demand tough, rugged songsof the road, preferably with a liberal helping of death.Can we really judge any truck driving song `sick',when every war produces a host of ballads andmarches, many relating the horrors of battle? Let ustherefore consider this aspect before condemning*`Billy Mack, the diesel -rig driver who dies, buriedunder twenty tons of steel'.

Until quite recently, no one paid much attentionto the big Diesel -rigs on the vast American highways,until an enterprising composer, Buddy Wilson,decided to write a song based on the death of onesuch driver, Billy Back. Billy, a fictional hero, drovehis truck, `Widow Maker', off the road to save thelives of a group of children trapped in a stationwagón. His motto being the Diesel drivers code - 'Onelife for ten'. The old cowboy maxim was alleged tohave been 'A Man must be true to his honor'. This

being the case, his modern counterpart, the truckdriver, has the higher principles, or has he?

Until a revival comes along, it's farewell to thesongs of the range and the gunfighters; they've driftedon with the tumbling tumbleweed, their faithfulfour -legged steeds have retired to the Big Corral andtheir dusty trails are now paved with asphalt. LittleJoe the Wrangler, Utah Carroll, Sandy Sam, and TheStrawberry Roan have been pushed aside to makeway for names like Hendrickson, White, Reo, Mack,Diamond 'T' and Fargo - for these are the metal -cladsteeds of the modern all-American hero, the trucker,whose fame is glorified in such songs as 'Long Night','Give Me Forty Acres', `Anything Leavin' TownToday,' `Roll Truck, Roll' and `There Ain't No EasyRun'...

BRIAN CHALKER. 1968.

*From the ballad `Widow Maker'.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Acknowledgements to the Record Mirror - this storyre -written from an article first printed in the RecordMirror, January 7th, 1967.

PROIILISIcal smith

With a common name like "Smith," one runs the riskof being mistaken. That is. ..unless, the Smith hap-pens to be CAL SMITH! For, once you've beenintroduced to Kapp's Cal Smith, you can not possiblymistake his name, or one note of his music, for some-one else's!

It seems the "Smith Sound" was first heard in localtalent contests, around his home -town area of Oak-land, California. He won a majority of them. But, itwasn't enough to quench the thirst he had for C/WMusic.

Cal Smith continued to search for his place as a pro-fessional. And then, about the same time the 49'erswere "striking it rich" in California, Cal Smithmanaged to strike his own pot o' gold, by landing hisfirst nite-club job, in San Jose. The club circuit keptCal busy for several years, until Cottonseed Clark andEddie Kirk unfolded another era of good fortune forhim as a TV regular on the top -rated "California Hay -ride."

But good things have a way of coming to an end. In1956 the whole ball -of -wax was brought to an abrupthalt for this 5 -foot, 11 -inch eager entertainer, whenUncle Sam came calling! He swapped his guitar for auniform. His stage suit collected closet dust. Countrymusic days became only memories.

Soon after his discharge, Cal moved his wife andfamily back to San Jose, where he was slated toreturn to the realms of entertainment, via the role ofa DJ on KEEN Radio.Misfortune struck its blows again. Cal was severelyinjured in an auto accident, and his days as a dee jaywere over. It looked as though this blue-eyed,blond -haired boy, who was born in Sallisaw, Ok-lahoma, had reached the end of his rope as an enter-tainer.

Then, 1962 came along. That particular year was thepoint in Cal's life that placed him high on the totempole of country music, when he became associatedwith Ernest Tubb as MC and featured vocalist. 1962was the year that was for Cal Smith! And there'smore.

He was soon brought to the attention of Kapp Rec-ord's executives, who promptly proceeded to arrangethe signing of his "John Henry" on a long term, ex-clusive recording contract. The stardust was beginningto stir.

He had worked his way up into the upper echelons ofcountry music. Success had been slow, but it hadbeen sure. There's more proof of it with each newdawn, as every day brings a definite increase on thedemand of Cal Smith's time. He is constantly soughtafter for personal appearances. Recording sessions putbig demands on his schedule. Interviews are re-quested. Time is not his own. And rumors are.. .that's exactly the way he likes it!

Cal's current album is entitled, "AT HOME WITHCAL." Others included, "CAL'S PLACE,""TRAVELIN' MAN" and "ALL THE WORLD ISLONELY NOW." And the single which really placedhim on the musical map, as you all remember, was"ATLANTA G.A."

Yes, there may be many Smith's. But there will neverbe another like Kapp's own CAL SMITH.

PHOIIIISI

Johnny duncanA lad of many interests, Johnny Duncan became a DJafter graduation from high school in Dublin, Texas.He worked at radio stations in New Mexico, Texasand Tennessee for a total of three years. Never for aninstant, however, did Johnny forsake his first love.. .entertaining with his singing and varied guitar artistry.

Through his belief in what he loved most, Johnnysoon came to know bigger and better things in theentertainment world. His first TV exposure, on theRalph Emery Show, developed into additional ap-pearances on WSM-TV. The right person, Mr. DonLaw, just happened to see the young Duncan. He gaveconsiderable thought to the man who had caught hiseye on "the tube." Eventually, he gave Johnny morethan a thought, or two. ..he gave him a recordingcontract with Columbia Records.

From that day forth, Johnny Duncan began makingColumbia history with "Hard Luck Joe," "Baby Me,Baby" and "I'm The One."

His latest release, "I'm The One" sorta says it like itare, because it is highly possible that Johnny Duncan

is the one who's soon to be ranked among the trulygreat artists in the world of country music.

Johnny Duncan not only "picks and grins" in a veryfavorable manner, but is quite a successful songwriter, having several of his own compositions record-ed, including an instrumental by RCA's Chet Atkins.

Johnny has made a number of television appearancesin the Nashville area, since signing with Columbia,some of which include the Bobby Lord Show,Wilburn Brothers Show, Pop 'n Country, and theEddie Hill Show. With Johnny's fine-lookin' face andfabulous voice it is expected that Duncan's many fanscan keep a hopeful eye on network TV for appear-ances in the near future.

With each new Columbia release, under the directionof Frank Jones, the tall -tall -Texan continues to comecloser to reach the stardom standing he is destined toattain. The world of country music welcomes, withopen arms, the special talent of young JOHNNYDUNCAN.

rCountry, copings:,Little Jimmy Dickens, a name wellknown to Country Music fansaround the world, has announcedthe formation of Little JimmyDickens Fast Food, Inc. Initialoutlets are set for Nashville andAlabama, with franchises beingplanned all over the U.S. Here,Little Jimmy Dickens is seen sign-ing papers for the official for-mation of the new chain. Lookingon are G.T. Scott, Chairman ofthe Board, and Dickens' agent,Larry Moeller of Moeller Talent,Inc. Headquarters will be locatedin Nashville, Tennessee.

As is often the case, the selectionof song material is somewhat of aproblem. Recently faced with thesituation, David Houston, haspostponed several sessions whilehis Epic mentors searched for asong that was strong enough tomatch the young Louisianan's tal-ent. Finally, faced with a fast ap-proaching PA tour that was due tokeep him on the road for severalweeks, David went into the studiodetermined to make the best ofthe material available.

After several tries at dressing upthe songs selected, a re-evaluationtook place. Epic producers, BillySherrill and Glenn Sutton, fortun-ately found a melody withoutwords in one of their own com-positions. An instrumental trackof the song was recorded withoutHouston's voice, with the inten-tion of dubbing David's voice inlater if they could arrive at a suit-able set of words for the tune. Thetwo men huddled in the studio,while David went to lunch, andwrote lyrics for the melody whichresulted in "Where Love Used ToLive". . . .David Houston's beauti-ful new release!

(left to right,) Al Gallico, HubertLong, Billy Sherrill, DavidHouston, and Tillman Franks posefor pictures after the unusualprocess they used in finding a hitsong for the unusually talentedDavid Houston.

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Active Nashville citizen and musicman, Chet Atkins, is always ex-ercising a strong arm in the ad-vancement of country musicthroughout the entire community.Here, Chet is shown discussing adrive for the annual Festival ofMusic Show, which co -headlinedChet, Boots Randolph and FloydCrammer. Left to right are, GayleGupton of the Third NationalBank of Nashville, Chet, JaneRychen of the Central TicketOffice, and X. Crosse from theAtkins -Randolph -Crammer Com-pany.

Members of the "Grand OleOpry" were recently surprised bya visit from Yuji Mizuno of AllStaff Production Co., Ltd, Tokyo,Japan, representing the "OpryJapan". Shown here are (left toright), George Hamilton IV, Mr.Mizuno, Del Wood, and Mr.M i z u n o's interpreter. While inNashville, Mr. Mizuno was theguest of Chet Atkins, RCADivision Vice-president.

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"Snuffy" Miller, the drummer forBill Anderson's Po' Boys band,used to pride on thethat he never did ride a schoolbus. This usually brings the com-ment from Anderson that Millerprobably didn't graduate fromkindergarten. At any rate, Snuffcan't make that claim now!

Bill and the band, enroute to aperformance in Cedar Rapids,Iowa, experienced bus troublenear Minneapolis. Because of thehour, the band was unable to finda car rental agency in theirvicinity. Finally, a service stationattendant advised them that aneighbor who contracts schoolbuses might rent them a schoolbus. The band piled their instru-ments in the vehicle and rode inthe spartan surroundings of thebig yellow bus to their destin-ation. They arrived at the auditor-ium about 5 minutes before showtime, somewhat shaken by theless -than -luxurious ride, but readyto put on their usual good per-formance.

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ON SEPTEMBER 9,1968 President Johnson askBuck Owens to bring his Buck-aroos to the White House inWashington D. C. for the annualcounty fair.

Getting together after theshow which was a tremendoussuccess with over 2,000 keywhite house employees inattendance, pictured left toright Lady Bird, Billy Deaton(promotor). Dorothy Owens(Buck's sister).

President Johnson, and TomBrumley. Buck s appearance wasarranged by Billy Deaton Enter-prises of San Antonio throughJack McFadden, Bucks personalmanager.

Presidential aid Paul Glynnwas the official host for every-one while they were in Washing-ton D. C.

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it could only happenin nashvilleTHE OSBORNES

Friday nite in Nashville, Tennesseehappens without fail on the eve ofFriday morning, as it does in mostplaces. However, I will go so far asto say that I doubt seriouslywhether a Friday nite in MusicCity could compare to one any-where else. There's just a littlemore curiosity. ...a little loudertwang. ...and a whole heap moreof country stars in the surround-ings than you'll ever find else-where!

As the weekend begins in Nash-ville, a unique atmosphere seemsto almost cast a spell on the city.The piano-plunkers plunk a littleharder. The cowboy boots click al i t tle faster. The guitar -pickerspick a little longer. And the tour-ists seem to travel just a littlefarther each week to witness it allhappening; while still, many of thelocal people seem to feel that allthis often appears to be nothingmore than part of the pact theygot when they took the oath tolive and die in Nashville. To them,I guess, it's just another ordinaryevening.

But it was not an ordinary eveningfor The Osborne Brothers, prior totheir appearance on the FridayNight Opry. They were scheduledfor the 10 PM segment, so a 9o'clock meeting meant that NewWorld photographer, DougM o xness, would have time toshoot some pictures. ...while I

"shot the breeze" with TheOsborne's.

One of my first questions to TheOsborne's started out to be a per-sonal compliment from me tothem as one of the top Blue -grassgroups around today; and I thinkit ended up as a big mistake. ForSonny (the bearded one) wasquick to point out that they werenot in the `Blue -grass" category.History had to have been made atthat moment, as myself, and I'msure hundreds of other people,stood corrected. At any rate, I wasimmediately informed that TheOsborne Brothers play "country"

by Betty Hofer

The Brothers. .Bob (left) andSonny (right).

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music. Now, there's certainly noargument in that. One would haveto say that pretty well gets it foranyone who plants a foot on theOpry stage, doesn't it?

Sonny and Bob both agreed, how-ever, that there is a "moderncountry" sound in existence, andthey feel its good for the industry.Bob gave me the impression hemay have had his doubts about itat first, but now he says, "It'sgoing so great, I just wonderwhere it's all gonna end." Sonnysummed it up with a comparisonto the automotive industry bystating, "It's just like Ford. If theywere still designing models with1936 styling, where would they betoday?" So, it seems to be a factthat the new sound in countrymusic is definitely being acceptedwith a favorable impression by alarge majority... .and that in-cludes The Osborne Brothers.

After spending some time atWROL, in Knoxville, Kentucky;some more time at WJR, inDetroit, Michigan; and seven yearsas regulars on the WWVA Jam-boree, in Wheeling, West Virginia,The Osborne's came to Nashvilleas members of the Grand OleOpry. It was their big chance. Andthey credit a large amount of thatsuccessful break to the excellentefforts of the Wilburn Brothers.The opportunity of becomingOpry members came their wayupon the Osbornes' decision thatthey had to have that particularslot. They worked all angles tomake it happen. They made itknown that they were after it.And they got it. What impressesme is that they realize they didn'tnecessarily get that coveted cornerbecause they felt their musicalability merited it over the nextguy. Sonny said, "It's not becausewe felt we were 'good enough' forthe Opry that we made it our goal.It doesn't work that way. There'sa lot of guys out there 'goodenough', who haven't made theOpry."

Mr. Norris (right) is the kindlyback stage post most of his life.(left), joins the group here for a

gent who's been manning the"Bud" Wendell, Opry ManagerFriday nite "LAUGH -IN"!

The mailbox is always one of the first places an entertainer headsfor upon returning to the Opry House. Here, "Bud" Wendell,Opry Manager (center), shares an amusing letter rived by theOsborne Brothers.

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I'm sorry I can't give you an 'Inthe beginning" episode about TheOsborne Brothers, because in ans-wer to my question of, "How'd itall get started?" Sonny replied,"That's hard to say. It's just likeyour own case, for example.How'd you ever know that someday you'd be a reporter for amagazine in Nashville?" So, may-be there was no real beginning forthem. Apparently the "Grand OleOpry" was so much a part of theirhome, that they themselves were apart of the Opry before they act-ually had time to remember howit all got started. It's your guess aswell as mine.

Bob is the humorous, humble oneof the group and laughs with easeabout some of the embarrassingsituations which have occurred tohim, including everything fromsinging songs without having timeto change a pair of rippedbritches, to missing a step in coldsobriety and falling flat on his faceupon introduction by FaronYoung.

Bob is also the songwritingbrother, and has both sides oftheir latest "I'm A Saw Mill Man"and "That Was Yesterday" to hiscredit, as well as several of theirearlier singles.

"Up This Hill and Down" alongwith "Rocky Top" and "Cut TheCornbread" have given a lot ofNational Chart recognition to thesteady, scintillating style of theguys known as The OsborneBrothers.

Bob and Sonny do all of their ownarranging. The particular"country" sound they haveachieved has been put togetherlike a big puzzle. They've workedwith it until, Sonny says, "Wethink we've gotten what we reallywant on our last two records."

The Osborne Brothers are accom-panied on stage and during recordsessions by two good-lookin' gen-tlemen, who apparently knowtheir musical apples. One's a dark-haired lad from Warsaw, Mo., Dale

Sledd, who plays guitar and singsin the Trio. The other one isblond -haired Ronnie Reno, son ofDon Reno, from Buffalo, S.C.,who plays electric bass. Bob andSonny both feel fortunate to havethem as part of the OsborneBrothers' sound and related, "Wehope they'll stay with us for a life-time."Sonny and Bob taught themselveshow to play their own respectiveinstruments of 5 -string banjo andmandolin, and have no formalmusical string -instrument training.Bob did study piano for a year,and as Sonny says laughingly, "Itdidn't hurt him much!"

Bob and his wife, Patsy, have twoboys and one girl. Sonny and hiswife, Judy, have one boy and onegirl. They both have just recentlypurchased new homes in Hender-sonville, a Nashville suburb.As the interview drew to a close,The Osbornes once again preparedto take to the Opry stage -another typical Friday nite inNashville.

Bob & Sonny with Dale & Ronnie performing on the famous Ryman stage.

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PHOIIIISI

ray sandersRAY SANDERS started his entertainment career

as a disc jockey in Kentucky and worked as a d. j.in Texas and Arizona. However, Ray's singing inter-est started in High School. While in school, Raystarted singing on radio, TV and shows dates withgroups and as a single. One of the groups Ray sangwith "The Little Dippers" had a million recordseller on "Forever". As a single, Ray sang for a yearon the "Renfro Valley Show" over the CBS Net-work. After this show, he became a regular memberof WSM "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville, Tennesseewhere he sang on the NBC Network and WSM-TV,for two years.

Ray studied drama at Texas Western University inEl Paso, Texas. He has worked in pictures and TVin Hollywood where he now makes his home.

Joe Allison of Liberty Records in Hollywoodsigned Ray to a five year recording contract. Rayhas had seven songs on the national charts. "Cash

Box Magazine" and Billbo rd voted Ray the numberfive best new singer. And the disc jockeys and jukebox operators voted him number six best new singerin his first year of making recordings.

Ray has toured every state in the USA and allthe provinces of Canada. But most of his appear-ances are played in the western states. Just last yearRay played the western states with the Miss WorldBeauty Pageant. He makes personal appearances inLas Vegas and Southern California on a very regularbasis.

On the personal side Ray is 6ft. 2in. tall andweighs 195. He likes to swim, golf, and weightlift.While Ray was in college he worked for the Inter-national Health Studio as a weightlifting instructor.Aside from his bookings and recording work, Ray isalso a songwriter. He has had over 200 songs re-corded by other artists and himself that he haswritten. Ray owns a recording studio, recordingcompany, music publishing company and other busi-ness connected with the music field. He also has adiploma as a Metaphysician and Electronic diplomawith RCA Institutes, New York.

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TheNashvilleBrass....is alive inNashville

Danny Davis... the brains behind"The brass."

A talented trio (left to right), Felton Jarvis, Bob Ferguson, and Danny Davis are all popping theirBRASS BUTTONS over acceptance of "The Nashville Brass."Somewhere between the Nashvilleoffices of Country Magazine andthe offices of RCA's Promo Chief,Wally Cochran, a rumor was re-cently floating through the airabout "The Nashville Brass."People were talking about it al-right. But, just what the devil"The Nashville Brass" amountedto, nobody seemed to know forsure.Answers were vague.What was it. ..huh?Who was it. ..double huh?!There was only one way to trackdown the real dope on the "Nash-ville Brass" situation, and that wasto hit the trail for Danny Davis'office, the man who apparentlywas behind the whole ball ofwax. . .er. . .ah. . .BRASS!

At mid -morning the next day aphotographer was rounded up,and we headed for the Davis suite,situated on the second level of theRCA Building. Danny's secretary,Elaine, motioned for us to go in,where Danny was waiting to tellus all about "The Nashville Brass."He knew why we were there, andhe didn't waste any time in com-menting, "The Nashville Brass is aresult of blending 4 basic soundsbelonging to horns, rhythm, blue-grass banjo and voices." Certainlyafter hearing it, you'll agree it'sthe greatest foursome effect evercreated this side of Mt. Rushmore!

R -r -r -r -ring!Danny's office certainly had atelephone...a very busy one!While he tossed around some chit-chat on the phone, a record of"The Nashville Brass" filled theair. ..warped the mind...andburned the ears with a beautifulbrassy sound that absolutelyknocks you out!

It's so new and fresh that it's dis-appointing to know that we'vejust been sitting around missingout on it in past years, becauseDanny tells us, "I had the idea forthis particular sound about sixyears ago. That's when I could seethat country music didn't neces-sarily need a steel guitar to still becountry. C/W was definitely goingthrough a musical metamorphosis.So, I began working on a soundthat would blend pure countrywith a strong brass feeling."

"It was about 4 years ago," Dannyrecalls, "That I took the idea ofthis new country sound to SteveSholes, in New York. He thoughtit was sensational and he encour-aged me to work on it. Then,when I moved to Nashville, I pur-sued the idea further with ChetAtkins. He liked it, too. So, wedid an experimental session on it.Six months later the master wasready for release."

Danny's final product is now avail-able to the public in the form of aneat little album package entitled,"The Nashville Brass Play Nash-ville Sounds".

Lay your ears on it as quick asyou can! You're in for somemighty good listening. Note thesound of trumpets, flugelhorns,trombones, voices of the Jor-dinaires, the authentic Nashvillerhythm section, and the blue -grassbanjo. The balance and blend isnothing short of perfection. It'scountry. . .without hayseeds. It'scountry. . .without coveralls. It'scountry that's clever and creative.It's country that has a bold -n -beautiful brassy feeling. To date,the Nashville Brass have givenspecial treatment to: "Mule Skin-ner Blues", "Let It Be Me", "OnThe Rebound", "I Fall to Pieces","I Saw the Light", "I've Got aNew Heartache", "The Middle ofthe Road", "Maiden's Prayer","Mountain Dew", "Here ComesMy Baby Back Again", and"Jambalaya".

The masterful mind of DannyDavis, which has created a brandnew sound for our town, says:"Chet Atkins is the one directlyresponsible for my move to Nash-ville, and it's one of the nicestthings that's ever happened tome."

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The clock strikes 9 AM. Nash-ville's Music Row has barelyopened its eyes. But, Buddy Killenhas already arrived at Tree Inter-national for his first appointment.

As one of Music City's most mas-terful A&R men, Buddy Killenspends an extensive amount oftime every day looking for theright material to trigger stardomfor his artists. He goes to greatlengths searching for "thatsong"...the one that breaks themind, that rings the bell, that stirsthe stardust, that makes the hitsand keeps Tree International inthe No. 1 position of music pub-lishers.

By the time the ole Tick Tock hasrolled around to 11 AM, Buddyhas already put in a full day'swork.. .mentally. Yet, he willcontinue on at full pace, breakinghis neck to break records for themusic publishing company whichBuddy and co-owner Jack Stapp player.have built from the ground up.

Ever since day one, Killen hasworked long days. ..hard days.. .and after lo' these many years,Tree International is like part ofthe family to Buddy Killen. ..likea child. ..a possession that meansalmost as much as life itself.

However, Buddy Killen has notalways had things so good. Therewere the days when he first cameto Nashville as a sideman for theOpry. The situation was differentthen. It was like the differencebetween Grandma's cooking andTV dinners. . .there's no compari-son!Born in Florence, Alabama,Buddy Killen says, "There wasusually a guitar or fiddle layingaround our house somewhere. Wealways had music in our home."As a very young child he recalls,"The neighbors would always payme to sing, and I can remembersinging till I'd fall asleep, clutchinga quarter or whatever small change

Wally Cochran (left), and Danny Davis gather round ye olde record

One o f RCA 's own "Brass," Danny Davis, listens leisurely tothe exciting new bound he has created.

36

n + n " -74 ALARMING TRZTH

AB UT

BUDDY KILLEN

Buddy Killen s the name.

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they'd give me." So, makingmoney via music started early forBuddy. And in reality, it neverstopped. Buddy has never actuallyworked in any other field. In highschool he supported himselfthrough jobs with local bands.Then, immediately after grad-uation he hit the highway to Nash-ville for a lifetime of music.

All did not turn out to be happynotes in his musical career as asideman at the Opry, simply be-cause of the fact that it wasn'tenough for the curious, creativemind of Buddy Killen, The slot asa sideman didn't offer enough forhim. It wasn't letting him fulfillthe role he really wanted. Hewasn't happy with the situation.Status quo was not satisfactoryfor Buddy Killen. Eventually itended up being one of the mostfrustrating, depressing times heever experienced. However, it didfinally serve its purpose. Because,as Buddy began to strengthen hissearch for success, he turned towriting songs. And it was due tohis contacts at the Opry that thisparticular part of his story startedto shape up.

Buddy's first song was recordedby Ray Price, as was his third re-lease. George Morgan sandwichedone in between for a secondsingle. And splat! Quicker than akid can spill 9 bowls of soggycereal, Buddy began to hit headon with some good luck!

Jack Stapp took notice of the tall,dark and handsome lad fromAlabama. Almost immediately,Buddy went to work for Tree. ..at$35 a week. And in return, hebrought in such artists as RogerMiller, Bill Anderson, and JoeTex.

Nowadays around noon, whenBuddy Killen strolls up SixteenthAvenue South for a lunch break,they all know who he is. Yet, notvery many exactly know the real

score about Buddy Killen. Thehard years are past, and thehungry days are gone. The bittertears have turned into smiles ofsuccess. And today, people whosee Buddy Killen only see a for-tunate figure. ..an accomplishedbusinessman. . .a respectable em-ployer.

At 1 PM Buddy returns to hismusical workshop. An office fullof appointments await his arrival.Any number of artists such asDiana Trask, Joe Tex, DottieWest, Jack Reno and Justin Tubbwill be wanting to consult withthe man they so deeply admirethrough the many accomplish-ments he's brought to light. ..forthem, and for others.

At 2 PM Buddy is deeply involvedin discussing new material for hisartists. Buddy currently producessessions for about 20 acts. He likesdiversification; and so, they varyall the way from R&B to pop andcountry. The first session BuddyKillen ever produced came out inthe form of a smash hit, which weall remember as "Forever" by theLittle Dippers. Buddy isn't sure

how he learned the art of beingsuch an effective A&R man. Hesays, "By osmosis, I guess." But,whatever it is. ..whatever it takes

.Buddy has it. He knows whathe wants, and he goes after it.

By 3 PM Buddy Killen is workingon the phone. He follows through,himself, on personal promotion ofhis product. And batting thebreeze on the phone with dee jaysis certainly one of the most ef-fective methods that can be used.Maybe it's only a word of twoabout a new single or album. May-be it's the latest joke. Or, maybeit's chit-chat about the old dayswhen Roger Miller was justanother Miller, a man in a nite-club without money...and BuddyKillen was just another sideman,one with only 5 bucks in hispocket, yet one who was goodenough to give it to a strangercalled Miller. Maybe that's whatwill be mentioned in Buddy's con-versation. Maybe not. At any rate,he stays on the phone...usuallytwo at a time. ..and he talks forhours and hours about hits, aboutalbums, about album covers,about album liner notes.

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39

At 5:30 PM the phone will ring,and Buddy will hold a phonepow -wow with one of the jinglecompanies he represents. Buddyhas helped produce several of thenational jingles being aired now.According to Buddy, "Producing ajingle these days, is just as muchof a challenge as turning out a hitrecord."

At 6PM Buddy's wife, Sue, andtheir two lovely daughters willautomatically eat dinner alone. Itseems they've almost grown accus-tomed to the fact that Buddy willremain at a recording session,which lasts long into the nite. Hewill work against time and temper-ments to pull the ultimate per-formance out of all the artists and

Who elsesmiling!

40

could listen

musicians involved. He's after ahit. It's an impossible task formost of us. And it's a nerve wrack-ing experience. . .one that couldcause nearly anyone to crumbleafter as many as 30 constantstudio hours. Yet, Buddy Killencan make it all look as easy asriding a bicycle.

So, the moral of the story is: Itdoesn't matter what time of dayor nite you want to set theALARM to meet Buddy Killen.. .you'll always find him around ornear his office.. .working at afrantic pace.

And believe it or not, when hedoes go home, it's in his own.classy car. ..not a paddy wagon!

to two phone conversations, read a copy of Country Magazine, and keep

PHOIIIESICircumstance is a big word that carries a big stick. Itcan spell success. Or, it can spell the opposite ofthat. ..disaster. For example, you take a guy. ..puthim in the right place, at the right time, with the rightmaterial. . .and he happens. He's a victim of circum-stances. . .the good kind.

JolnnJusi

Such was the case, when Johnny Bush arrived inNashville, Tennessee to record "You Ought To HearMe Cry." Music City USA definitely is the RIGHTplace for such a thing. The material has since thattime certainly proven itself RIGHT for Johnny. Andthe time just happened to be RIGHT. ..for theRIGHT MAN, Pete Drake. ..to make the RIGHT de-cision.

Stop Records and Window Publishing Company'sexec, Pete Drake, immediately put Johnny Bushunder contract.. .and RIGHTly so! Because, Johnnyhas been autographing his own hit records ever since.Thanks to the music -making champ, Pete Drake, whohas the foresight to recognize potential "star -ability."

It was Johnny's first record, "You Ought To Hear MeCry" that uncorked Stop Record's first nationwidehit. And it was his second session, "What A Way ToLive," that climbed right back in there to make thecountry Top Ten. A third release, "Undo The Right"is currently rocking the boat of best sellers. And analbum entitled, "Sound Of A Heartache". . .also pick-ing -up steam in the stores these days. ..all help to putthe career of Johnny Bush in apple-pie order for right

Past days for Johnny have been a bit more jaggedaround the edges. There were days on the road asside -man for Ray Price. And much more grueling,were the times back in Texas, when young Johnnywas just getting started. At that time, he had to workhard at getting booked into local clubs. He wasn't

very well known, yet. ..and neither was the guy whoworked in his band. ..WILLIE NELSON. Well, timeand talent have changed all that for the handsomeHouston native. And uncanny as it may seem, todaythe tables have completely turned. ..with Johnny onthe other side of the fence (that's chinese for"band"!). . .working these days in the WILLIE NEL-SON BAND! Furthermore, they're BOTH stealingspot -lights quicker than you can say, "sock -it -to -um"!

According to Neal Merritt, National PromotionManager for Stop, it stacks up like a "not onewithout the other" story when you begin to realizethat Willie has put ye olde pen to all three ofJohnny's recent singles. This is emphasized further bythe fact that Willie Nelson also did the liner notes onJohnny's first Stop Album. So, it looks like, in thisparticular case, happiness is a thing called workingwith each other. ..for each other. . .thanks to eachother!

Could it be possible that Johnny Bush will have hisown band some day soon, and play the wholeboomerang bit all over again. ..by asking Willie Nel-son to work for HIM once more? Who knows? It's alla matter of circumstances.

41

i

i

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o0

H

N INNA

APEL

OUT OF THE SHADOWSDon and Donna Chapel

Out of the shadows, into the light comes aunique solo -duet team. Don and Donna Chapel!Don is a handsome young man with a strongemotional voice, immaculate in appearance and astimulating personality, and is the father of thelovely fifteen -year old Donna. She is a dark eyed,auburn -haired teenager with the sophisticated poiseand grace rarely seen in anyone so young. There-fore, the Chapels have the polished, professionalshowmanship that is necessary in show business.

As far as we know, Don and Donna are the onlyFather and Daughter team to be on a major recordlabel at this time in the modern country music field.Don records for Epic Records and Donna recentlyhas signed with Columbia and is one of theiryoungest, newest and most beautiful artists.

42

"They come by it honestly", as the old sayinggoes, speaking of their tremendous natural talent forsinging and songwriting, with that certain "some-thing" we call "Soul".

Don is the brother of two of the music businesstop and most loved recording artists, known profes-sionally as Miss Martha Carson, the world-renownedgospel singer and lovely song -stylist, and one of themost outstanding songwriters of our day, Miss JeanChapel. Don could have, at the beginning of hiscareer, cashed -in on his famous sisters' fame andsuccess but would not "lean on them". He had to doit himself, in his own way, in his own time, and thetime is now!!!

Don has come a long way from the little coal -mining town near the foot of Pine Mountain inLetcher Country, Kentucky, called NEON. Donremembers well, but that was yesterday! Nowthere's a new kind of NEON-the kind that glows inthe night on marquees across the country spellingDON CHAPEL. It was a long hard climb from"NEON to NEON", but the coal -miner's son finallymade it, through the termination to not let anything such as a mountain stand in his way!

Now there are two CHAPELS on the mountain,Don and daughter, Donna. The lights came on forher just a little over a year ago when a scared littlegirl walked up to the microphone at the National

Guard Armory in Jacksonville, Florida and sang herfirst song professionally. The number was "Ode ToBilly Joe". She finished the song and ran for thedressing room, but was caught by fans and pushedback on stage. After two more encores, that audi-ence gave this pretty new artist, "with the built-intear in her voice", a standing ovation! That night,the seed was sewn-Donna had found her place!!!

Now over 200,000 miles later, Don and Donnahave won literally thousands of fans. Personalappearaces have spanned the United States andCanada. From the Nashville Room in New YorkCity to the world famous Flame Club in Minne-apolis to the Longhorn Ballroom and Panther Hallin Dallas -Ft. Worth-even to Germany and England,this new team is admired and remembered.

In addition to his singing, Don is also a highlysuccessful BMI songwriter, having had songs re-corded by Tammy Wynette, George Jones, DavidHouston and Jerry Lee Lewis, to name a few. Hewas formerly married to Tammy Wynette.

Don has officially announced that "He andDonna have left the Tammy Wynette Show withdeep regret, but, of necessity, due to personalreasons. Both Don and Donna now will climb theladder of success relying solely upon their ownTALENTS! They have already left the "Shadows"and together, they will soon walk in the "Sun"!

43

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