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Jump 1947-48 [IMPORT] The Light Crust Doughboys |
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The
Light Crust Doughboys
are on the air!
by Archie
P. McDonald |
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Truett
Kinsey’s voice came out of Philcos and Zeniths and other radios all
over East Texas, and eventually
much of the South, each day at noon to announce the beginning of a
performance of the most popular fiddle band ever assembled.
Listeners awaited Kinsey’s daily alert that “The Light Crust Doughboys
are on the air!”
The broadcasts were sponsored by Burris Mills as advertisement for
its Light Crust Flour, and the little band was organized by Bob Wills,
a west Texan who had moved to Fort
Worth. Wills played fiddle, and he founded the “band” with just
himself and Herman Arnspiger, who played guitar. Soon they added Milton
Brown as vocalist for what was known as the Wills Fiddle Band.
Wills persuaded W. Lee
O’Daniel, president of Burris Mills, to sponsor the band on a
fifteen-minute daily radio show in Fort
Worth in 1931, and the group changed its name to The Light Crust
Doughboys. The relationship between Wills and O’Daniel was rocky from
the first. For one thing, O’Daniel did not like the “hillbilly” music
the Doughboys played, and he disapproved of Wills’ habit of alcohol
use. He fired Wills after the second week of the show, but had to
permit his return because of audience demand.
When Wills and other band members returned to the air, part of the
bargain include their agreement to work in the flourmill as well as
perform. The band’s growing popularity led in O’Daniel developing
the first radio network in Texas and in sales of Light Crust Flour,
which continued to increase even as the composition of the band changed.
Wills was among the first to go, after O’Daniel fired him a second
time. Wills organized the Texas Playboys and went on to a career that
spanned several decades. He pioneered the musical genre known as “Western
swing,” appeared in several motion pictures, and toured the nation’s
night clubs, dance halls, and concert stages with the Playboys.
Since Burris Mills owned rights to the Light Crust Doughboys, they
continued to sponsor the group on the radio until 1942, when most
of the band members joined the military service or accepted jobs in
defense plants. Such noted musicians as Dick Reinhart, Martin (Smoky)
Montgomery, Ramon DeArman, John Parker, Muryel Campbell, and Cecil
Brower played in the band.
O’Daniel left Burris Mills to form the Hillbilly Flour Company, and
continued to sponsor another group, the Hillbilly Boys. They helped
him win election as governor of Texas
in 1938, but they never achieved the same prominence as when the Light
Crust Doughboys were on the air. |
©
Archie P. McDonald
All
Things Historical
October 24, 2005 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
(This column is provided as a public service by the East Texas Historical
Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and
author of more than 20 books on Texas) |
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