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LIGHT CRUST
DOUGHBOYS
STILL ALIVE AND PICKING!
by Sandy
Fiedler |
The Doughboys
were doing just fine as of their February 2001 concert at the Civic
Center in Palestine, Texas. Despite the seeming immortality of bandleader
Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, he does measure himself in terms of years.
The last 65 of his 88 total have been spent traveling, picking his
eloquent tenor banjo, and singing with the Doughboys.
Over one thousand fans filled the Civic Center, most of them white-haired
and moving slowly to find their seats, but hearts were as light as
the Light Crust biscuits the band used to hand out to listeners at
outdoor concerts. In the 1930s and 1940s the Doughboys played their
Western Swing while fans stood around, many in bare feet, enthralled.
One Palestine man told me he remembers himself as a young boy, running
through the fields to see the Doughboys at their scheduled stop in
front of a local grocery store. Word had spread weeks prior to the
event via posters in store windows.
The music appealed to all ages; it was not beer-drinking honky-tonk
music, but a wholesome blend of love songs, ballads, waltzes, folk
and cowboy songs, and hymns -- "Red River Valley," "Cattle Serenade,"
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," and "Twelfth Street Rag," to name
a few.
How did the Doughboys get their name?
In 1929 Bob Wills formed the Wills Fiddle Band and in 1930, the Ft.
Worth band convinced Burrus Mill and Elevator Company to sponsor a
radio show. In turn, the band advertised Burrus Mill's Light Crust
Flour, complete with a catchy jingle still heard in today's concerts.
"Listen everybody from near and far,
If you want to know who we are,
We're the Light Crust Doughboys
From Burrus Mills."
The mill's owner, W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel became governor of Texas,
a turn of events that didn't hurt the band's publicity. The Doughboys
have been nominated for Grammy Awards in 1998, 1999, and 2001 and
have recorded over 150 albums and singles.
Besides the remarkable Smokey, current players are Art Greenhaw (singer,
guitarist, composer, author); Bill Simmons on keyboard; Jerry Elliot,
guitarist and singer; and John Walden, singer and genius on the fiddle.
Initially, I dragged my feet to the concert in Palestine because I
was born too late to have developed a taste for their musical style.
My theory is that people "imprint" on a particular type of music when
they are older children/young adults (what we call teenagers, a fairly
recent demographically titled category). Those years are Springtime
in the Heart.
Oddly, springtime music for me included operettas of Jeannette MacDonald
and Nelson Eddy, not that I was around in the 1930s, the same time
that the Doughboys began. There was a series of musicals shown at
the Texas Theater in downtown Palestine for a while in the 1960s,
and my parents took us every Wednesday night to the "picture show."
Now when "Maytime," "Indian Love Call," "Sweetheart," or "Rose Marie"
sound forth on Turner Classic Movies, I find myself singing along,
marching with Nelson Eddy and his men to "Give me some men who are
stout-hearted men who will fight for the right they adore…"
Well, the folks at the Doughboys concert were reliving their Springtime.
As the concert progressed, I have to admit that the personalities
of the players and their sheer virtuosity won me over. I listened
and watched in amazement. No, I am not rushing to buy their CDs, but
I do have great respect and admiration for their skill. Smokey could
easily pass for a man twenty years his junior. Just seeing him was
worth attending, and even I recognized "Beautiful Texas," "San Antonio
Rose," and the magnificent "Orange Blossom Special."
As the popular saying from the heyday of the Doughboys goes, "Pass
the biscuits, Pappy!"
You can become a member of the Light Crust Doughboys International
Fan Club by writing PO Box 693, Crowley, Texas 76036. Phone 817-297-4082.
October 2001
© Sandy Fiedler
Author's Update:
Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery passed away on June 6, 2001. He had been
battling leukemia. His obituary can be read at lightcrustdoughboys.com.
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