Photograph courtesy of Alexander Petrauskas
Alex adds: The Blue Bonnet Barn Dance was probably Chesser's most popular show on TV. It started in 1953 in the Waco/Temple area and starred him as well as the Texas Village Boys and other local singers, such as the Diamond Twins, Jim DeCap, Wanda Gann, and others. By 1955, the show was so successful that you had to order tickets four weeks before the show aired. The show reached around 140.000 people every Saturday evening through TV. When Chesser moved to Austin in the early 1960s, the show's run ended. In Austin, he hosted the CC Jubilee on KOKE.
COWBOY SONGS (October 1955) noted that the members of The Texas Village Boys were Gaylon Christie, Oakie Davis, Eddie Spradley, Arnold Williams, and Alvin Berry, which is the line up in the undated photograph above.
BRILLIANT INFO AND SUPER RARE PHOTO TOO - THANKS ALEX , AND AL TOO , OF COURSE.
ReplyDeleteGAYLON CHRISTIE WENT ON TO RECORD SOME REAL GOOD ROCKERS , ALL TEXAS BASED , THROUGHOUT THE LATER 1950S. REFERENCE TERRY GORDONS RCS HERE...
http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artist.php?key=chri1000
Vocalist on "Lost Highway" is Leon Ralph, whose real name is Leon Rausch. He joined later Bob Wills' Texas Playboys as a vocalist. I also guessed he is the Leon Roach singing with Bonnie Blue Bell on "Let's Go" but can't find a relation to California. Probably another Leon .
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