Light Crust Doughboys
Encyclopedia
The Light Crust Doughboys is a quintessential American Western swing
band from Texas
organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas
. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II
. In addition to launching Western swing pioneers Bob Wills
and Milton Brown
, it provided a platform for many of the best musicians of the genre, including Tommy Duncan
, Cecil Brower
, John "Knocky" Parker and Kenneth Pitts.
The original group disbanded in 1942, although band member Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery led a new version organized in the 1960s. A contemporary incarnation beginning in the 1990s (including Montgomery until his death in 2001) bills itself as the longest-running country music
band in the world.
The Light Crust Doughboys were charter inductees into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1989, and were also inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
.
In 1931, Burrus Mill's president, W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel
, wanted to link radio and advertising to promote the company's Light Crust Flour. O'Daniel, who would later travel with the band and use its popularity as a springboard for his political ambitions, said the idea to start the band and link radio to advertising was pitched to him originally by Bob Wills, Herman Arnspiger and Milton Brown, who at the time were out-of-work musicians. There is disagreement about exactly when and on what radio station the Doughboys first broadcast, but it is generally accepted that by January 1931 the band had started playing on KFJZ-AM
. Their first broadcasts on the station included a sad prison song, "Twenty-One Years", and a popular fiddle song, "Chicken Reel". Their radio signature was their introduction by announcer Truett Kimzey: "The Light Crust Doughboys are on the air!"
Though the Doughboys' early broadcasts were well-received, the notion of using radio to advertise was still new, and O'Daniel was unconvinced. He also reportedly did not like the band's "hillbilly music," and canceled them at least once (though he almost immediately reinstated them). At first he paid the band members $7.50 a week, but also required that they work a "regular" job at the mill: Wills drove a truck, Arnspiger worked on the dock loading flour, and Brown was a salesman. After a few weeks of brutally long days, the band members were allowed to stop working their "regular" jobs, but O'Daniel required them to be at the mill in their new practice room working on music eight hours each day. The band eventually won O'Daniel over by asking him to serve as their emcee during a broadcast.
The Doughboys began to hit their stride in March 1931, when they chartered a bus to Galveston, Texas
to perform at a bakers convention. The band had the bus wired for sound and they played impromptu gigs at stops along the way to large crowds. Impressed, O'Daniel purchased a seven-seater Packard
and rigged it with placards imploring people to eat more bread. In 1933, during a goodwill tour for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
, the radio station's sound engineer, who usually accompanied the band as its "master of ceremonies," could not get away from the station. O'Daniel replaced him, to great effect—O'Daniel was a natural at showmanship and promotion, and the crowds loved him. Wills and Tommy Duncan departed in 1933; and by 1935, O'Daniel had left Burrus Mill to start his own flour company with a new radio band, Pat O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys
. He was elected Texas governor in 1939.
The original Doughboys group disbanded in 1942 with U.S involvement in World War II, and its final recording was released in 1948.
booked the Doughboys to play at the Mesquite Folk Festival, which Greenhaw had founded. He became excited about the prospects for reviving the band, which had been working only sporadically for several years. In 1993, Greenhaw joined the group as bassist; and as co-producer, he added horns to its sound, bringing about a new type of "country jazz" influenced by the old swing sound. Other members included Jerry Elliot, Bill Simmons, John Walden, Jim Baker and Dale Cook. In 1995, the Texas Legislature declared the Doughboys the "official music ambassadors of the Lone Star State"; and they continue to perform today.
The band's collaborations with gospel singer James Blackwood
earned Grammy nominations in 1998, 1999 and 2001; and in 2005, Southern Meets Soul: An American Gospel Jubilee, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Album.
In December 2005, the Light Crust Doughboys Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Quitman, Texas
.
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
band from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas
Saginaw, Texas
Saginaw is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,806 at the 2010 United States Census. It was named in 1882 by Jarvis J. Green, who had lived and worked on Saginaw Street in Pontiac, Michigan...
. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In addition to launching Western swing pioneers Bob Wills
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
and Milton Brown
Milton Brown
Milton Brown was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid, thus giving him the nickname, "Father of Western Swing"...
, it provided a platform for many of the best musicians of the genre, including Tommy Duncan
Tommy Duncan
Thomas Elmer Duncan , better known as Tommy Duncan, was a pioneering American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys...
, Cecil Brower
Cecil Brower
Cecil Lee Brower was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries...
, John "Knocky" Parker and Kenneth Pitts.
The original group disbanded in 1942, although band member Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery led a new version organized in the 1960s. A contemporary incarnation beginning in the 1990s (including Montgomery until his death in 2001) bills itself as the longest-running country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
band in the world.
The Light Crust Doughboys were charter inductees into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1989, and were also inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....
.
Original group
W. Lee O'Daniel
Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, , was a conservative Democratic Party politician from Texas, who came to prominence by hosting a popular radio program. Known for his populist appeal, Pappy O'Daniel was the governor of Texas and later its junior U.S. Senator. He is also the only person ever to have...
, wanted to link radio and advertising to promote the company's Light Crust Flour. O'Daniel, who would later travel with the band and use its popularity as a springboard for his political ambitions, said the idea to start the band and link radio to advertising was pitched to him originally by Bob Wills, Herman Arnspiger and Milton Brown, who at the time were out-of-work musicians. There is disagreement about exactly when and on what radio station the Doughboys first broadcast, but it is generally accepted that by January 1931 the band had started playing on KFJZ-AM
KFJZ
KFJZ is an AM radio station broadcasting in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex as a Spanish Catholic station. This station is licensed in Fort Worth, Texas and is owned and operated by Siga Broadcasting Corporation.-History:...
. Their first broadcasts on the station included a sad prison song, "Twenty-One Years", and a popular fiddle song, "Chicken Reel". Their radio signature was their introduction by announcer Truett Kimzey: "The Light Crust Doughboys are on the air!"
Though the Doughboys' early broadcasts were well-received, the notion of using radio to advertise was still new, and O'Daniel was unconvinced. He also reportedly did not like the band's "hillbilly music," and canceled them at least once (though he almost immediately reinstated them). At first he paid the band members $7.50 a week, but also required that they work a "regular" job at the mill: Wills drove a truck, Arnspiger worked on the dock loading flour, and Brown was a salesman. After a few weeks of brutally long days, the band members were allowed to stop working their "regular" jobs, but O'Daniel required them to be at the mill in their new practice room working on music eight hours each day. The band eventually won O'Daniel over by asking him to serve as their emcee during a broadcast.
The Doughboys began to hit their stride in March 1931, when they chartered a bus to Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
to perform at a bakers convention. The band had the bus wired for sound and they played impromptu gigs at stops along the way to large crowds. Impressed, O'Daniel purchased a seven-seater Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
and rigged it with placards imploring people to eat more bread. In 1933, during a goodwill tour for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, the radio station's sound engineer, who usually accompanied the band as its "master of ceremonies," could not get away from the station. O'Daniel replaced him, to great effect—O'Daniel was a natural at showmanship and promotion, and the crowds loved him. Wills and Tommy Duncan departed in 1933; and by 1935, O'Daniel had left Burrus Mill to start his own flour company with a new radio band, Pat O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys
Pat O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys
Pat O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys was a Texan Western swing band with its own radio program during the mid-1930s. Pat O'Daniel, the son of "Pappy" O'Daniel, was the band's leader...
. He was elected Texas governor in 1939.
The original Doughboys group disbanded in 1942 with U.S involvement in World War II, and its final recording was released in 1948.
Interim years
During the following decades, leader Smokey Montgomery kept the band going in some form. In 1969, the Doughboys began recording again; and in 1973, the band took part in the last recording session for Wills in Dallas for the album, For the Last Time.Current group
In 1983, musician and producer Art GreenhawArt Greenhaw
Art Greenhaw is a Grammy Award-Winning recording artist, producer and mixing engineer, having won the Grammy Award in 2003 in New York City for "Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year" for the album WE CALLED HIM MR. GOSPEL MUSIC: THE JAMES BLACKWOOD TRIBUTE ALBUM...
booked the Doughboys to play at the Mesquite Folk Festival, which Greenhaw had founded. He became excited about the prospects for reviving the band, which had been working only sporadically for several years. In 1993, Greenhaw joined the group as bassist; and as co-producer, he added horns to its sound, bringing about a new type of "country jazz" influenced by the old swing sound. Other members included Jerry Elliot, Bill Simmons, John Walden, Jim Baker and Dale Cook. In 1995, the Texas Legislature declared the Doughboys the "official music ambassadors of the Lone Star State"; and they continue to perform today.
The band's collaborations with gospel singer James Blackwood
James Blackwood
James Webre Blackwood was an American Gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers.-Biography:...
earned Grammy nominations in 1998, 1999 and 2001; and in 2005, Southern Meets Soul: An American Gospel Jubilee, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Album.
In December 2005, the Light Crust Doughboys Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Quitman, Texas
Quitman, Texas
Quitman is a city in Wood County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,030 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Wood County. It is most notable for being the birthplace of American Academy Award winning actress Sissy Spacek. The city's slogan is "Come grow with us." It was...
.
External links
- Video clip of The Light Crust Doughboys performing the "Tiger Rag" from the 1936 Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
movie, Oh, SusannaOh, Susanna! (1936 film)- Plot summary :Fleeing the law, Wolf Benson hops on a train, throws Autry off, and assumes Autry's identity. Posing as Autry, he robs and kills Autry's friend, Lee...
. - The Light Crust Doughboys at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame