Texas Bill: Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS

KEYD

In his column on November 22, 1955, Cedric Adams announced:

Radio Station KEYD will change its policy greatly starting this Saturday [November 26]. The station will move into complete programming of nothing but western and country music. Two of its regular disc jockeys have been dismissed and will be replaced by imports, Texas Bill Strength and Johnny T from Tennessee.

The all-country idea was that of Robert M. “Bob” Purcell and Nashville promoter A.V. Bamford. It was the first station in the Upper Midwest to be dedicated to country music on a full-time basis.

(Minneapolis Star)

TBS’s arrival was also announced in an ad entitled “On the Route with ‘Sunny Jim’ the Golden Guernsey Kid.” Sunny Jim (apparently a baby milkman) mentions the Sonny James show, KEYD’s new manager, Mac Lester, and KEYD’s new disk jockeys.

Starting Saturday all day long the disc jockeys are going to spin the cowboy and country records – and they got two famous cowboy singers coming to work at KEYD. One’s “Texas” Bill Strength, whose two current Capitol Record hits are “The Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Cry, Cry, Cry.” The other one’s the famous Johnny “T” From Tennessee, whose recordings are real popular. They’ll be at the Auditorium, too, along with our own favorite Slim Jim. Then all of the Grand Ole Opry people, “Texas” Bill, Johnny “T” and Slim Jim will have an all day long festival on KEYD Saturday. KEYD’s new slogan is “The Country-Western Station at the Top of the Nation.” Better turn your ear to 1440 on your radio Saturday and hear the fun.

(Minneapolis Tribune, November 22, 1955)

Sonny James, the tall folk-singer guitarist, has joined a troupe of country and folk artists to decorate the stage of Minneapolis auditorium Friday [November 25, 1955] at 8 pm. The Grand Ole Opry show will also feature:

Ernest Tubb
The Wilburn Brothers
Mitchell Torok
Wanda Jackson
Arlie Duff
Ray Price
Al Terry
Texas Bill Strength
Rusty Gabbard
Billy Byrd
The Texas Troubadors

Reported by Bob Murphy in the Minneapolis Star, November 20, 1955.

Minneapolis Star, November 25, 1955

KEYD

On November 28, [26] TBS begins his duties at the turntables at KEYD, Minneapolis, where he’ll also do a daily TV show. He asks all record companies to send releases to him at KEYD, Foshay Tower, Minneapolis, effective immediately. Dick Stuart took over the afternoon shift at KWEM in West Memphis. (Billboard, November 26, 1955)

Although Strength had never performed in the area (he called it “Paul Bunyan Country”), he knew that there was an audience for Country music. Ever the entrepreneur, he set his sights on not only becoming a DJ, but opening a club (as he had done with the Silver Slipper in Atlanta) and a record store.

December 1955

The ad below for KEYD announced, “Now All Day – Country Western Music” and announced DJs “Texas” Bill Strength and Johnny “T” from Tennessee, and Slim Jim Iverson.

Minneapolis Tribune, December 1, 1955

Billed as Family Broadcasting, KEYD first signed on in 1948. From 1953 – 1955, announcers included Howard Viken, Don Riley, Harry Zimmerman, Slim Jim Iverson, and Slim Jim’s brother the Vagabond Kid. Those last three had a show called “Record Rodeo.” The format included several types of shows, including country, Top 10, Gospel, and others.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Bill’s personal appearances began right away.

Minneapolis Star, December 22, 1955

On December 31, 1955, A.V. Bamford produced a “Grand Ole Opry” package at the St. Paul and Minneapolis auditoriums. Faron Young will resume activity, following his lengthy illness. Others on the bill were:

The Wilburn Brothers
Porter Waggoner
Marvin Rainwater
Jim Edwards and Maxine Brown
Texas Bill Strength, emsee
Johnnie Talley
Bobby Lord
The Wagon Masters Trio

(Billboard, December 24, 1955)

TBS is listed as one of many C&W DJs who double as Wax Artists. His label is Capitol and his station KEYD, Minneapolis. The most successful C&W deejay operating in the personal management field, of course, is Bob Neal, WMPS, Memphis, who manages Elvis Presley.

(Bilboard, December 31, 1955)

ROUNDUP more MONEY with TBS

An undated but undoubtedly early publication was a promotional brochure put out by KEYD to sell TBS to potential advertising sponsors. It has great photos which we’ll try to do justice to here.

Closeup of the photo above.

This photo was apparently taken at WEAS in Atlanta.

Bill (center) is pictured with Merle Travis, Red Foley, Gene Autrey, and Web Pierce. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

1956

In the 1956 Minneapolis phone book, TBS was listed as living at 902 Second Ave. So., identified in permit records as the Holland Hotel. The Hotel was demolished in August 1959. It is now the site of the Oracle office towers, 900 2^nd Ave. So., built in 1984.

January 1956

Jimmy and Ardis Wells and Their Dakota Round-Up, along with the Royal Rangers, are holding forth nightly at the Flame Supper Club, Minneapolis. Appearing with them each Wednesday night is TBS, who now spins the country wax on KEYD, Minneapolis. (Billboard, January 21, 1956)

Undated photo, courtesy Dale Strength

On January 29, 1956, TBS guested on “Grand Ole Opry” with Faron Young. (Billboard, February 11, 1956.)

He also appeared on the “Ernest Tubb Jamboree” over WSM, Nashville. (Billboard, February 11, 1956.)

WILL JONES

A wealth of information was provided through the years in the daily “After Last Night” column by Will Jones in the Minneapolis Tribune. On January 29, 1956, Jones wrote about the arrival of TBS and Johnny T in this fanciful article:

“Transcribbled” Music Makes KEYD Hillbilly Dream Land

One of my favorite outdoor sports, when driving in places like Tennessee and Oklahoma, is to turn on the car radio and listen to the local radio stations.

Thanks to KEYD radio’s new staff of imported hillbillies, the long drive is no longer necessary. It’s almost as good as a winter vacation to drive through the Twin Cities’ slush with the car radio tuned to 1440.

Practically any time of day you can pick up the whining git-tars, the insistent beat, the mush-mouthed announcer that go with an all-out hillbilly station.

A man named Texas Bill Strength (pronounced strenth) plays and exclaims over the national anthem (“The Yellow Rose of Texas”). A man named Johnny T from Tennessee carries on endlessly over the delights of corn bread & pot likker, soppin’ gravy & biskits.

“I don’t say y’all don’t have gewid kewiks up north here,” says Johnny T the other day. “Lots of southern ladies have moved up north.”

These new citizens of the Twin Cities are learning their way around fast. Their first week on the air, they complained about frozen ears.

A batch of assorted earmuffs promptly came in the mail.

Other staff members at KEYD – old-timers – looked on enviously and reported: “These guys weren’t on the air two days before listeners started sending them big, beautifully-decorated cakes.”

Texas Bill plays a record for Mrs. Harry B. out in Balloominton” and then asks: “Whar’s Balloominton?” He has a sponsor whose address is 1201 Hormone place.

Texas Bill is also a philosopher, reciting lines like: “Blessed are they that walk around in circles, for they shall become Big Wheels.”

The world Texas Bill and Johnny T dwell in is filled with titles like “You Clobbered Me,” “Ink Dries Quicker Than Tears,” and “Lie Detector,” and tenderly sentimental lines like, “Take your cotton-pickin’ hands off my girl.”

It is a world populated largely by broken-hearted lovers and cheatin’ husbands and wives. It is also a world of gang love, with three girls pining in harmony for three lovers – I think I’ve got the names straight – Jack, Johnny and Jonas.

These tunes are neither recorded nor transcribed. In the words of Johnny T, they are “reseeded and transcribbled.”

The man who brought all this salt port and greens to the Twin Cities is Robert Purcell, a towering, dignified, gray crewcut Madison Avenue type by way of Hollywood.

He’s never run a hillbilly station in his life, and, except for playing an expensive guitar as a hobby, knew nothing about the music until a few weeks ago. His label for it – the music trade label – is country-and-western, frequently abbreviated these days to C. & W.

Purcell was brought here last year to inject new life into KEYD.

“For a while we considered going top-10-tunes kind of operation,” said Purcell, and competing with the stations that are already doing that. We already had a little top-10, plus a little classical, and a little semi-classical, and a little religion, and a little bit of everything. A friend of mine came to town, a man who books country-western shows like Grand Ole Opry for auditoriums. He takes these shows all over the country. He told me this was his second-best territory. Denver, I believe, was first. If it was such good territory for him, I reasoned that a country-western station should do well too. To do it right, we brought in a couple of top country-western personalities. Getting Texas Bill and Johnny T to play country-western is about on a par with getting Frankie Laine and Rosemary Clooney as disk jockeys for the top-10 market.

“So far it’s been very successful, and we’ve found out something else: this kind of programming is more compatible with religious programming. Or at least, the people who listen to one kind of program are less offended by the other.”

February 1956

THE FLAME

As noted above, the first mention of TBS at the Flame appears to be January 21, 1956, in Billboard. Here at home, on February 1, 1956, columnist Cedric Adams wrote:

Western music has spread out a good deal in the last few years and now it takes over a Minneapolis theater café. The Flame at Sixteenth and Nicollet experimented with a western band for a couple of nights and found the customers liked it, so now makes it regular policy. Johnny T and the Tennesseans, one of the top country and western bands, moves into the place tonight and square dancing and other hoppity steps are the rule. The Flame goes whole hog on the theme, using the Dakota Roundup troupe in the lounge, with special Wednesday night appearances by Texas Bill Strength, the hillbilly singer. Any square dance group, incidentally, can bring its own caller along, so you may hear some verbal improvisations. (Minneapolis Star)

Minneapolis Star, February 1, 1956

The Flame had yet to adopt its distinctive rope font that makes its ads so difficult to find!

Although the photo below implies that it was taken at the Grand Ole Opry, Dale Strength has labeled it as coming from the Flame. It must be an early photo, as TBS’s guitar still has its decorative top.

Photo Courtesy Dale Strength

On February 2, 1956, Will Jones of the Minneapolis Tribune also noted the Western trend:

Western music has been a feature of the front bar [of the Flame] for a number of years, but it didn’t invade the big back room until last week. The management tried out Johnny T and his Tennesseans, liked them, and hired them as an every-night attraction.

The Dakota Roundup continues in the front bar, with Texas Bill Strength as a regular Wednesday night guest.

TBS with fellow Flame entertainer Fern Dale at the Flame. Phot courtesy Dale Strength

THE GAY NINETIES

In Will Jones’ column of February 2, 1956, he wrote that “The Gay Nineties has also gone western, with Dave Dudley’s band every night and Texas Bill as a guest Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Billboard kind of confirmed this account on February 11, 1956: “Dave Dudley (King) and His Country Caravan have moved into the Gay 90’s, Minneapolis, for an indefinite stand. Guesting there each Tuesday night is TBS, who’s now spinning the country wax over a local station.”

TBS was the feature on “Barnyard Frolic” over KLRA, Little Rock. (Billboard, February 5, 1956)

On February 11, 1956, TBS played a repeat on the Pee Wee King show over WBBM, Chicago. (Billboard, February 18, 1956)

THE MINNIE AWARDS

The annual Minnie Awards took place on February 15, 1956. These TV and Radio awards were sponsored by the local chapter of AFTRA and the Advertising Club of Minneapolis, and probably morphed into the local Emmy awards. TBS won one of the five categories for “Hillbilly” performers – best male singer on the TV side, representing KEYD-TV. Slim Jim won best hillbilly-western personality (KEYD-TV), Harry Siles won best farm show personality (WCCO-TV), and Hall Garven won best hillbilly-western personality (WCCO radio). Will Jones reported:

When TBS was proclaimed best male singer, there were a few raised eyebrows around the Minnesota Terrace and a number of people asking “Who’s he?” (A Twin Cities newcomer, Strength could refer them to Capitol records for some answers. They credit him with five top-selling national record hits, including “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”)

Texas Bill’s popularity was proven by the 1,200 to 1,500 letters he claimed he received when asked in 1970. Although most of it was fan mail, some Minnesotans were not ready for either Country nor Western music. Ronnie Pugh wrote of a dean at Augsburg College who urged readers of the school paper to help keep the odious genre out of the area. “I answered him over the air,” said Bill. “I really chewed him out … told him that he would see the day when country music would come into its own as respectable music.”

TBS himself was enjoying amazing popularity in nationwide polls: one year he was Number 22, and another he was Number 26, out of about 1,800 considered. (Ronnie Pugh)

The Grand Ole Opry came to the Twin Cities several times in 1956. The TV show was sponsored by Pillsbury, and shown on 120 stations around the country. The TV show’s contract required that a troupe visit each of the 120 communities that gets the show on TV at least twice per year. The four troupes were headed by Roy Acuff, Webb Pierce, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb and Faron Young. (That’s five but that’s what Will Jones said.)

The February 16, 1956 show featured:

Hank Snow
Jean Shepard
Little Jimmy Dickens
Lonzo and Oscar
Hawkshaw Hawkins
Tommy Warren

TBS and Johnny T shared emcee duties.

(Minneapolis Tribune, February 16, 1956)

CAPITOL RECORDS

On February 23, 1956, TBS had his second recording session at Capitol Records in Hollywood under Ken Nelson, the label’s Country A&R chief. He cut four sides:

”When the Bright Lights Grow Dim”
”It Ain’t Much But It’s Home”
”Where Did My Heart Go”
”Gotta Lotta Love”

Capitol F3394 was released in April 1956 and Billboard reviewed it on April 14, 1956:

“When the Bright Lights Grow Dim” – “A moving reading by Strength on a plaintive weeper with effective lyrics.”
b/w “It Ain’t Much But It’s Home” – “A strong vocal job on an appealing up-tempo tune with clever lyrics.”

Capitol F3477 was released in mid-July 1956, and Billboard reviewed it on July 14, 1956:

“Where Did My Heart Go?” – “Sincere warbling on a moving ballad with effective lyrics.”
b/w “Gotta Lotta Love” – “Up-tempo tune is wrapped up in a strong vocal stint and a good beat.”

On September 6, 1956, the Pike County, Pennsylvania, Dispatch, commented, “TBS does well with a sad ‘un, “Where Did My Heart Go?” “Gotta Lotta Love” backs it to make a good combination.” The press release apparently described “Where Did My Heart Go?” as “a sad ‘un,” since it was described that way from Milford, Pennsylvania to Chula Vista, California.

A rare promotional ad in Billboard, April 4, 1956

March 1956

In its Radio News column, the headline was “Texas Bill Warbles in Color”: “KEYD’s “Texas Bill” Strength appeared in a color telecast while he was in California cutting records.” (Minneapolis Tribune, March 5, 1956)

Jimmy and Ardis Wells and their Dakota Round-Up continue to hold forth at the Flame Supper Club, Minneapolis, where Johnny T. and His Crazy Tennesseeans carry on it the club’s rear room each Friday and Saturday night. TBS, now spinning the country wax over a Minneapolis station, appears as guest with Jimmy and Ardis each Wednesday night. The Flame devotes two nights a week to country music exclusively. (Billboard, March 17, 1956)

April 1956

Minneapolis Star, April 6, 1956

Ardis Wells and her all-girl band, the Rhythm Ranch Queens, has opened in the front room of the Flame, Minneapolis, with Jimmy Wells and the Dakota Round-Up Gang holding forth in the Flame’s rear room. TBS (Capitol) is a nightly guest at the spot. (Billboard, April 14, 1956)

The endorsements and appearances continued – this one for King Dodge:

Minneapolis Tribune, April 17, 1956

On April 29, 1956, TBS (Capitol) emseed the “Grand Ole Opry” package, at the St. Paul Auditorium. The show featured:

Webb Pierce
Jim Reeves
Hank Locklin
Charline Arthur
Farmer Boys

Billboard, May 5, 1956

May 1956

TBS was featured on the May 1956 cover of Cowboy Songs.

Image courtesy Dale Strength

Bill says he’s working a seven-day-a-week schedule, but will take time out to greet his friends at the MOA convention in Chicago, May 6-8, and the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Celebration in Meridian, Mississippi, May 25-26. (Billboard, May 5, 1956)

REUNION WITH ELVIS

On May 13, 1956, Elvis was in town for concerts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and was less than well received – opener Augie Garcia whipped up the audience so much than an apoplectic Tom Parker had him kicked off the stage. But TBS was glad to see his old friend.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

TEX RITTER KICKS OFF NATIONAL STARS AT FLAME CAFE

Will Jones announced the addition of national Western stars to the Flame:

Tex Ritter, singing cowboy, will be the first of a string of western names to be booked into the Flame Café. He will appear there next Wednesday night. [May 16, 1956]

On later Wednesday nights the spot will offer Tabby West, Betty Foley, Marvin Rainwater and Bobby Lord – all of whom I have been assured are big names in the western music field. (Ritter I’m sure of, largely because of “High Noon.”)

On nights other than Wednesday, the Flame is still all-western, with Ardis Wells and the Rhythm Ranch girls in the front bar, and Jimmy Wells and the Dakota Roundup in the back room. (Minneapolis Tribune, May 10, 1956)

May 16, 1956, was the first time we see TBS in an ad for the Flame Cafe. TBS was on most/all of the Flame ads for 1956. Jimmy Wells and the Dakota Roundup was the house band in the show room. Jimmy’s wife Ardis Wells had her own band, the Rhythm Ranch Gals, in the Cocktail Lounge.

Minneapolis Tribune, May 1956

Texas Bill’s co-star at the Flame on May 23, 1956, was Tabby West. Bill had made a 45 with Ms. West on Coral Records in 1954.

Minneapolis Star, May 22, 1956

RADIO ROULETTE

On May 25, 1956, rival country station WCOW was renamed WISK and the format changed from full-time Country & Western to a combination of Lombardo/Welk/etc. and an occasional Top 10 tune. This left KEYD as the only full time C&W station in the Twin Cities area.

JIMMIE RODGERS CELEBRATION

The fourth annual Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Celebration was held on May 25-26, 1956, in Montgomery, Alabama. Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, and TBS appeared. Coverage of the event was considerably scaled down from the year before.

Appearing at the Flame from May 30 to June 2, 1956 were:

Betty Foley
The Westerners – the World’s only Square Dance Roller Skaters
TBS

Minneapolis Star, May 29, 1956

June 1956

Headlining at the Flame on June 6-9, 1956 were Marvin Rainwater and TBS.

Minneapolis Star, June 5, 1956

TBS was quite a handsome sight at the Flame, decked out in his Nudie suits and all the accoutrements of a rhinestone cowboy.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

TBS and Johnny T are still flipping C&W platters weekdays over KEYD, Minneapolis, with Vern Weegman gaining in recognition with his country shows over the same station on Saturdays. (Billboard, June 9, 1956)

KEVE

In June 1956, KEYD was sold, changed its call letters to KEVE, and played full time Country and Western – one of the first in the country to do so. [The format changed to classical music in 1961. It became KQRS on December 1, 1964.]

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

TBS at the KEVE Console. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

TEXAS BILL BOOKS THE FLAME

TBS urged record companies to send new releases to the new KEVE call letters. He says he’s now booking talent into the Flame. (Billboard, June 23, 1956)

Indeed, TBS had become a booking agent and emcee for the Flame and brought in major Country acts, most of whom were already personal friends. These included Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Hank Thompson, and Carl Smith. He performed several nights per week himself in the Lounge, and opened the Main Room shows for the bigger acts. An additional draw was that he would take his friends hunting and fishing if they were so inclined. (Ronnie Pugh)

TBS with Jimmy Dean – Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Bob Wills and TBS – Photo courtesy Dale Strength

COUNTRY MUSIC DISK JOCKEY CONVENTION

The Country Music Disc Jockeys Assn. (CMDJA) was organized at an event called “The Convention,” which was the second year of a birthday party for the Grand Ole Opry given by Radio Station WSM in Nashville.

The organization was officially chartered on November 21, 1953, at the Andrew Jackson Hotel, with 76 charter members, including TBS. By April 1, 1956, the list had grown to 150, including TBS, a “giant in the industry today.” “By 1958 it was apparent that there was a need for an all-industry association, in which the disk jockey would be an integral part, and the Country Music Association was born.” (Billboard, October 16, 1971)

On Thursday through Saturday, June 14 – 16, 1956, TBS participated in the Association’s first convention at the Colonial Hotel in Springfield, Missouri. The purpose of the 1956 gathering was to further public acceptance of country music.

On Thursday night, visitors attended the “Eddy Arnold Show,” featuring Arnold and Chet Atkins.

Friday afternoon was dedicated to the board meeting. After that came a chicken and dumpling lunch sponsored by Red Foley’s “Ozark Jubilee.” On Friday night a show was held at the Jewell Theater – a “corker” – with some 1,200 in the audience. The four-hour show was emceed by Red Foley and Sonny James and featured:

Bill Wimberly’s Band
Nelson King
The Bonn Sisters
Brenda Lee
Uncle Cy Brasfield
Johnny Horton
The Philharmonicas
Lebby Horne
Pete Stamper
Jim Edward, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown
Billy Walker
The Carlisles
Johnny Cash
TBS
Smiley Burnette
The Foggy River Boys
Red and Betty Foley
The Belew Twins
Chet Atkins
Janis Martin
Audrey Williams
Chuck Bowers
Earl Bowers
Bonny Gan
Roy Drusky
Jerry Reed
Slim Wilson
The Westport Kids
Junior Haworth
Shirley Caudel
Warren Smith
The Ferguson Sisters

The show raised $1,219 for the organization’s treasury.

On Saturday night the conventioneers were in the audience for Red Foley’s “Ozark Jubilee,” which emanated from the Jewell Theater. Late Saturday, Red Foley Enterprises and Decca Records hosted everyone with a cocktail and supper party. Winding up the festivities Saturday night was the awarding of a plaque to the “Ozark Jubilee” crew by the CMDJA members.

(Billboard, June 23, 1956 – article by Bill Sachs)

According to the ad below, TBS was also at the Flame on June 13 – 16, 1956, with Bobby Lord and Wanda Jackson. This overlapped with the covention described above.

Minneapolis Tribune, June 12, 1956

Texas Bill and Wanda Jackson

From June 20-23, 1956, TBS shared the Flame stage with Billy Walker and the Westerners.

Minneapolis Star, June 19, 1956

On June 20, 1956, Kenny Roberts, whose TV show is now on four days a week over WHIO, Dayton, Ohio, plays the Flame Supper Club with TBS and group. (Billboard, June 2, 1956) (Does not jibe with ads)

On June 21, 1956, TBS made a personal appearance and remote broadcast at a Plymouth dealer.

Minneapolis Tribune, June 21, 1956

On June 27 – 30, 1956, TBS was on the Flame bill with Mac Wiseman.

Minneapolis Star, June 26, 1956

July 1956

In July 1956, TBS was featured on the cover of Country & Western Jamboree magazine. Only a few short paragraphs were devoted to Bill inside, but the magazine did mention he was the number one rated Disc Jockey in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

Image courtesy Dale Strength

From July 4 – 7, 1956, Justin Tubb shared the stage with TBS at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 3, 1956

From July 11 – 14, 1956, Arlie Duff was the guest with TBS at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 10, 1956

From July 18 – 21, 1956, Jerry Reed was the special guest with TBS at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 17, 1956

From July 24 to 28, 1956, TBS shared the stage with Joe Carson and His Southernaires at the Flame. Carson subbed for Jimmy and Ardis Wells who took a vacation.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 24, 1956

RED FOLEY – JULY 28, 1956

On July 28, 1956, TBS appeared on Red Foley’s Ozark Jubilee out of Springfield, Missouri, which was broadcast nationwide on the ABC network. Other performers on the show were actor Cannonball (Dub) Taylor, and singers Johnny Bond and Red Garrett. Porter Wagoner hosted the first section and Foley took over for the second. (Houston Chronicle, July 28, 1956)

Minneapolis Star, July 18, 1956

This show was broadcast on Saturday, August 4, 1956, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, August 4, 1956)

August 1956

From August 1 to 4, 1956, Marvin Rainwater and TBS were to shared the stage at the Flame.

Minneapolis Star, Tuesday, July 31, 1956

CAPITOL RECORDS

But once again, he couldn’t be at the Flame and Hollywood at the same time. On August 3, 1956, TBS was back at the Capitol Recording Studio, cutting four sides. Or, in Billboard talk, “TBS, now working on a heavy schedule twirling the C&W biscuits at KEVE, Minneapolis, was in Hollywood last weekend to cut his third session for Capitol.” (Billboard, August 11, 1956)

“North Wind“
“But Do You Think I’m Happy“
“I Wanna Ride, Ride, Ride (On Your Merry-Go-Round)“
“I.O.U.“

Capitol F3568 was released in October 1956, and reviewed by Billboard on November 3, 1956:

“But Do You Think I’m Happy?” – Strength sells with sock songmanship on an amusing rhythm-novelty by Justin Tubb, with good punch-line lyrics.”
b/w “North Wind” – Appealing vocal treatment of a haunting ballad with sensitive lyric line.

I.O.U. was never issued, and “Merry-Go-Round” was paired with “Six Fools,” which was recorded later on February 25, 1957.

On April 27, 1957, Billboard reviewed Capitol No. 3701:

“I Wanna Ride, Ride, Ride On Your Merry-Go-Round” – A slick bit of rhythmic wax with a story that has certain touches of double entendre. A happy and well handled version that could easily generate some jock and juke box action.
b/w “Six Fools” – An unusual piece of material rendered in a minor key. Fancy banjo plucking backs the chanting. Side rates attention and could compete with the flip for plays.

In the August 4, 1956, issue of Billboard, Verne Lotz wrote from Minneapolis: “I’m now with KEVE, the Twin Cities’ and Minnesota’s only all-country & western station. TBS (Capitol) and Johnny T. Talley, newly signed with Mercury, are spinning ‘em here also, as is Vern Weegman.

Mike Jann sent in this photo of TBS at a promotional event and remote broadcast on KEVE from King Dodge, August 1956. Mike says his camera was jostled, giving the picture a kind of echo effect …

Photo courtesy Mike Jann

Below is Mike himself, at a remote broadcast with TBS on KEVE from the old Minneapolis Auditorium. The gentleman on the right is the radio engineer.

Photo courtesy Mike Jann

On August 8 and 9, 1956, Lee Emerson and the Everly Brothers starred with TBS at the Flame.

Minneapolis Star, Tuesday, August 7, 1956

TBS with the Everly Brothers

On August 10 and 11, 1956, Marvin Rainwater and TBS rounded out the week at the Flame.

On August 15 through 18, 1956, Bobby Lord and TBS entertained at the Flame.

Minneapolis Star, August 14, 1956

Andy Williams visited with TBS at KEVE “last week.” (Billboard, August 25, 1956). Nothing comes up in a search for a country singer named Andy Williams, but dollars to donuts I’ll bet you it’s not the “Moon River” Andy Williams.

From August 22 to 25, 1956, Autrey Inman and TBS performed at the Flame, except that Del Woods and Bonnie Sloan are down for August 23.

Minneapolis Tribune, Tuesday, August 21, 1956

From August 29 through September 1, 1956, Mitchell Torok (“Caribbean”) and TBS entertained at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, Tuesday, August 28, 1956

September 1956

From September 5 though 8, 1956, TBS hosted Miss Audrey (Mrs. Hank Williams) at the Flame.

Minneapolis Star, Tuesday, September 4, 1956

From September 12 through 15, 1956, Yodeler Kenny Roberts shared the bill with TBS at the Flame. Kenny was famous for leaping into the air while playing guitar and harmonica at the same time, which gave him the nickname “The Jumping Cowboy.” Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to have been an ad that week.

Still trying to keep his family fed, on September 13, 1956, TBS appeared at a grocery store in Oxboro, south of Bloomington. Also appearing were Steve Cannon as Johnny .44 and Clellan Card as Axel.

Minneapolis Star, September 13, 1956

From September 19 through 22, 1956, Leon Payne was TBS’s co-star at the Flame.

On September 20, 1956, one of four traveling Grand Ole Opry Troupes came to the Minneapolis Auditorium, with David Stone of the KSTP Barn Dance as emcee. Billboard reported that they “pulled a fat house.” During the show, Johnny T of KEVE was presented with a plaque by Ernest Tubb on behalf of Musicland Records for his achievement in the field of country and western music and for being Mercury’s top record seller in the five-state area. Along with TBS, performers were:

Roy Acuff
Ernest Tubb
Kitty Wells
Johnny and Jack
George Jones
Jimmy Newman
Tommy Collins
Hank Locklin
Betty Foley

(Billboard, October 13, 1956)

“The Flame Books 2 Special Stars”

Two special attractions will come to the Flame café … Thursday [September 27] to perform with regular entertainers in the cast.

Marvin Rainwater, star of the Ozark Jubilee air show, and Mimi Roman, Decca recording star, will be on the bill for the one night.

Appearing also will be Cowboy Copas, Grand Ole Opry performer who is playing Wednesday through Saturday [September 26 – 29], and Texas Bill Strength and the Jimmy Wells and Ardis musical groups, regular entertainers.

(The Minneapolis Star, September 26, 1956)

October 1956

In early October, 1956, Tex Carman (Sage & Sand) and Freddie Hart (Columbia) have been set by TBS for a week’s stand. (Billboard, September 1, 1956). Apparently this did not work out, although ads for Carman and Hart at the Flame can be found in 1960.

From October 10 to 13, 1956, TBS shared the stage at the Flame with Justin Tubb.

Bob Murphy described Mimi Roman (from the aforementioned Flame show) as a “looker” and reported that she went over so well on the September 27 show that they were bringing her back for a four-day run on October 17-20. “On the bill also are the regulars, Texas Bill Strength, and Jimmy Wells and Ardis and their groups.” (Minneapolis Tribune, October 14, 1956)

TBS took a few days off from his platter spinning at KEVE last week for a bit of bear hunting in Montana. Johnny T and Verne Sheppard spelled him during his absence. (Billboard, October 20, 1956)

November 1956

The 1956 Billboard C&W Disk Jockey Poll placed TBS at Number 20 nationwide. His affiliation was listed as KEVE KEYD. (Billboard, November 10, 1956) (In June 1956, KEYD was sold, changed its call letters to KEVE.)

November 10, 1956, Billboard: TBS placed an ad thanking his friends in the business. His affiliations were KEVE Radio, KMGM-TV, Capitol Records.

Billboard, November 10, 1956

December, 1956

THE TBS RECORD SHOP

Like his friend and idol, Ernest Tubb, TBS opened a record shop on December 1, 1956, shortly after arriving in Minneapolis. Just happened upon this postcard of ET’s Nashville Record Shop on Facebook:

Ernest Tubb’s Record Store, Courtesy Walter Jung

The caption on the back of the postcard reads:

On December 1, 1956, TBS celebrated the opening of the Minneapolis record shop bearing his name with a two-hour remote broadcast featuring talent from the Twin Cities area. Bill asks artist to send him autographed photos for the shop. His address is KEVE Radio, 806 North Lilac Drive, Minneapolis The shop was located at 1003 Marquette Ave. in downtown Minneapolis. (Billboard, December 8, 1956)

Letterhead image courtesy Dale Strength

Photo Courtesy Dale Strength

Someone only identified as “Pee Dee” wrote in to describe his experience as a teenage gofer for TBS:

My days at the TBS Record Store were not the most auspicious, and my experiences with TBS himself less than complimentary…to either him or me. I was a 16-year-old “go-fer” who shuttled him and his out-of-town Opry guests around town. In spite of still being in school I did night duty as his driver (he would imbibe…) to places like the auditorium and the Flame (on Nicollet, if I recall). I’d pick up folks like Marty Robbins, Hank Snow and the like at the airport and take them to a hotel or the auditorium downtown. I was also a bit infatuated with Wanda Jackson who drove her own three-toned Dodge La Femme convertible to the ‘Cities and let me chauffeur her around in it, and I chored for a very accomplished fiddle player named Benny Martin who had me shagging across the street to the drug store opposite the shop about twice daily to pick up “cough medicine” — turpin hydrate and codeine with a good percent of alcohol — when he came to town. For his (ahem) cough…back then they’d sell that stuff to anyone including a 16-year-old kid.

I have no idea what [the story] about him being wounded in the thigh was all about. But I do recall that once when he played his cowboy role complete with nickel-plated revolvers — on one particular evening at the Flame all three were loaded but the latter two with blanks, thank heaven — that he got into a difference of opinion with Marvin Rainwater, pulled out one of those things, stuck it in Marvin’s stomach and blew a big black hole in Marvin’s trademark buckskin jacket.

Of course, the unmistakable sound of a shot sent the place into a panic. Fit to be tied, Marvin virtually lifted Bill up by the collar of his prize Nudie-made sequin-spangled jacket and slammed him up against the wall, proceeding with a string of epithets that stopped only when he heard the sirens out front as the cops showed up. Not one for drinking, Marvin got a grip on himself, loosened his on Bill who was pretty much out of it. He instructed me to go get Bill’s shop station wagon and to bring it to the back stage entrance, which I did.

In an abundance of caution, Marvin relieved Bill of his six-shooters and threw them under the front seat. We then stuffed him into the passenger side and I drove him home to his trailer(?) outside of Minneapolis. I then took the station wagon home, back to Clumsy Heights just about in time to turn around and drive to school the next morning.

That morning, I proudly showed up at school in the station wagon which I parked conspicuously right out front…and by doing so I guess I slammed on the brakes a bit too hard because two six-shooters came sliding out from under the seat against my feet! Not too intrigued with showing them to classmates, I pushed them back and left them there until the evening when I brought the station wagon back to Bill at the shop.

Imagine that happening today…

Live performance at TBS Record Shop with TBS, Ardis Wells, North Sisters, Fern Dale, 1957. Photo Courtesy Dale Strength

TBS Record Shop Live Performance, 1958. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

This item came over the transom – a record dealer had found an empty package from Texas Bill’s store in an antique shop in New Prague and sent in a photo of it.

Image courtesy Mike in Shakopee

Close-up of the return address

At some point the shop moved to 202 So. 10th Street in Minneapolis, as evidenced by this card found in the archives of the Manske Sisters:

The record shop was “disposed of” in April 1958. The Marquette location became a Hilton hotel in 1992, and as of 2018 the 10th Street location is vacant land.

Another activity of “Texas Bill Strength Enterprises, Inc.” was a series of songbooks. Here’s Volume 2, featuring one of the best closeups of his face:

Image Courtesy Dale Strength

From December 18 to 22, 1956, entertainment at the Flame included Marvin Rainwater, TBS, and Johnny T.

The December 1956 issue of Country & Western Jamboree included the results of various fan polls they had taken. TBS had finished third after other disc jockey legends as T. Tommy Cutrer and Don Larkin as “Favorite Local Radio Disc Jockey.” That list also included other legends that would be in the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame: Randy Blake and Bill Mack.

A New Year’s Eve 1956 show at the St. Paul Auditorium starred:

Ray Price
Ferlin Husky
Martha Carson
Autry Inman
Simon Crum
Porter Waggoner
Mitchell Torok
Texas Bill Strength

1957

January, 1957

TELEVISION

On January 1, 1957, TBS began hosting the TV show, “Adventure Time,” on KMGM-TV, which was Channel 9 at the time. The program aired from 6 to 6:30pm. He showed Western serials and sang Western songs. On March 23, 1957, Billboard published a list of Local Live Country and Western TV Shows. TBS was listed as the producer of his show, the only one in Minnesota. The show had 14,000 loyal followers. (Ronnie Pugh)

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Minneapolis Tribune, January 2, 1957

Adventure Time Membership Card, Front – Image courtesy Dale Strength

Adventure Time Membership Card, Back – Image courtesy Dale Strength

January 13 – 19, 1957, was the last time TBS was listed on the weekly Flame ad. His co-star that week was Carl Perkins, and Johnny T was also on the bill. It is presumed that he continued his hosting role off and on, as he reportedly resigned that job at the end of March, 1958, replaced by Dave Dudley.

TBS has quit his deejay chores at KEVE to devote more time to his record shop, which is proving fairly successful. Bill also will give more time to promoting himself as an artist. (Billboard, January 26, 1957)

Strength has just kicked off an hour-long TV show, seven days a week, over KMGM, titled “Adventure Time With Texas Bill.” (Billboard, January 26, 1957)

February 1957

On February 15, 1957, TBS leaves on a two-week tour, which will include a double session for Capitol in Hollywood, several West Coast dates for Americana Corporation. (Billboard, January 26, 1957)

On February 16, 1957, TBS appeared on the “Big D Jamboree” in Dallas. Other guests were the Five Strings and the Rangers Quartet. (Billboard, February 23, 1957)

CAPITOL RECORDS

February 25, 1957: TBS made his last recordings for Capitol. Billboard had reported that this was to be a double session, but as far as we know, only two songs were recorded:

“Cloud 13”
“Six Fools”

“Cloud 13” was never issued, and “Six Fools” was paired with “I Wanna Ride, Ride, Ride (On Your Merry-Go-Round)” from the previous recording session, released in April 1957.

April 27, 1957: Billboard reviewed Capitol No. 3701:

“I Wanna Ride, Ride, Ride On Your Merry-Go-Round” – A slick bit of rhythmic wax with a story that has certain touches of double entendre. A happy and well handled version that could easily generate some jock and juke box action.
b/w “Six Fools” – An unusual piece of material rendered in a minor key. Fancy banjo plucking backs the chanting. Side rates attention and could compete with the flip for plays.

Below is a photo of TBS listening to a playback at one of his four sessions at Capitol Records in Hollywood.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

March 1957

RED FOLEY – MARCH 2, 1957

On March 2, 1957, TBS made his fourth guest shot on “Ozark Jubilee” in Springfield, Missouri. Also appearing were Patsy Cline, Libby Horne, and comedienne Little Eller Long.

Photo courtesy Jan Sherman via Derik Olson

April 1957

Speaking of Minneapolis, what has happened to our good friend, TBS? (Billboard, April 6, 1957)

Much news in a Billboard report dated April 13, 1957:

TBS has settled down to his usual activities in Minneapolis after a two-week sojourn on the West Coast. [First two weeks in April 1957?]

[TBS continues] his daily show over KMGM-TV, “Adventure Time With Texas Bill.”

Strength has resumed former duties of spinning C&W platters five hours a day over KEVE.

Bill also reports success with his recently opened record shop, which is devoted to C&W music exclusively.

His newest Capitol release is “The Six Fools.” Any deejay wanting an extra copy may write to him at either of the above stations.

MORE RADIO ROULETTE

April 18, 1957, Minneapolis Star:

District Judge John A. Weeks today signed an order to show cause, to be heard before him April 23, by which radio station WISK seeks to prevent William (Texas Bill) Strength, cowboy singer and disk jockey, from continuing to work for radio station KEVE.

WISK claims that Strength signed a 90-day contract March 30 which would move his services to WISK, but has continued to work for KEVE. The contract, it was reported, had options exercisable for the rest of the year, and was effective April 15, but Strength failed to make the change.

Photo comes from a fan scrapbook, approximately 1957. The back indicates two different radio stations he could be working at during this time.

TBS and “Stinky.” Tell us more, Dale!

On April 18, 1957, Will Jones wrote:

A big western and country music bash is on tap at 8 pm Saturday [April 20] in the Minneapolis Auditorium, put on by radio station KEVE. Plunking, twanging and drawling will be:

Sonny James
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two
Jerry Lee Lewis
Gene Stewart
The Country Gentlemen

Texas Bill Strength, who bunks in the Twin Cities, will be master of ceremonies. KEVE says the show is aimed at popular, as well as western, music fans. (Minneapolis Tribune)

Image courtesy Dale Strength

Below is the program for the event, which features KEVE’s disc jockeys, Texas Bill and Vern Weegman.

May 1957

FRONT PAGE NEWS

On May 5, 1957, the front page of the TV Tab entertainment supplement of the St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press was dedicated to TBS, with a big picture of him captioned “KMGM’s Texas Bill Strength.” The headline was “Movie Stardom is Texas Bill’s Aim,” subtitled “Singer is Host for Westerns.” Staff writer Howard Ryan lists TBS’s many enterprises:

Host of “Adventure Time with Texas Bill” on Channel 9 (KMSP-TV) from 6 to 6:30 M-F. Ronnie Pugh wrote that this was a kiddie show that had 14,000 loyal followers at one time.
Disc jockey on KEVE from 10 am to noon and 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm, M-F and 10:30 am to 3 pm on Saturdays
Owner of his own record shop
Five personal appearances on average each week
Occasional appearances on “Grand Ole Opry unit guest appearances”
Music publishing firm in partnership with Tex Ritter

He reported that he was leaving on May 19 for about 10 days to do some personal appearances with Ritter and work with him in a couple of films in California. His biggest ambition was to be a Western movie star. “I’ve had some real good encouragement from producers and directors in Hollywood,” he said. Although he had no formal acting training, he expressed his belief that “I’ve got a natural ability for Western parts.”

As for his musical career, he had had 18 releases with Capitol Records at that point, but his goal was to hit with a million seller.

TBS professed his love for the Twin Cities, which was the Number 2 market for Country music behind Nashville, he said. “Unlike most Texans, I prefer the colder weather – I feel better. I love the people here, too. They have more or less accepted a ‘foreigner’ and made me feel welcome.”

DOMESTIC HIGHS AND LOWS

The Pioneer Press article of May 5, 1957, reported that TBS lived with his family in a “large trailer home at Medicine Lake,” and although he had been promising himself a two-week mountain vacation with his family for five years, he always wound up making personal appearances instead.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Young Dale with his Dad and Unidentified Horse. Photo courtesy Dale Strength.

Dorothy and Bill, all smiles at his Record Shop. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Sometime between May 1957 and 1958, Dorothy left Bill and took the kids back to Houston.

TEXAS BILL’S SCRAPBOOK

The letter below, unfortunately undated, tells us that TBS put together a chronological scrapbook of his career – a copy of which would make this project a lot easier! There are snippets of this book available, but according to the letter, fans sent in snapshots and news clippings to help him piece together his peripatetic career around the United States and all of the celebrities and fans he met along the way. Pictures that could be matched with events have been placed accordingly. Unfortunately, the two pages found on the Internet were too small to post in most cases. And there are pictures of people that are yet to be identified. They are posted here, under the letter.

Larry Jim Day, Ernest Tubb, TBS

HOLLYWOOD

If the dates in the Pioneer Press story of May 5, 1957, were correct, Bill was out in Hollywood between May 19 to 29. His goal was to do some personal appearances with Tex Ritter and work with him in a couple of films.

Billboard reported that while he was there he had a two-day guest shot on “Town Hall Party,” and was called in on a session that may net him a movie shot soon. (June 10, 1957)

On May 26, 1957, Will Jones reported that he “landed himself a part in a new western movie. The film will star Webb Pierce and Red Barry. Strength will go back sometime this summer to make the film.”

Although this would have been TBS’s dream come true, it did not come to fruition.

June 1957

On June 2, 1957, TBS played the Griffith High School Gymnasium in Munster, Indiana, with Tex Ritter. Also on the bill were Paul Kersey and His “Melody Playboys,” and Ann Young and the Thomas Brothers.

Munster, Indiana, Times, June 2, 1957

On June 14, 1957, Marvin Rainwater and TBS presented a Stage Show and Dance at the Monterey Ballroom in Owatonna, Minnesota.

Austin, Minnesota, Daily Herald, June 7, 1957

On the next night, June 15, 1957, the two were at the Granite City Coliseum in St. Cloud, joined by Jimmy Colvard, Betty Rydle (could that be Rydell?) and the Rainbow Rhythm Boys.

St. Cloud Times, June 14, 1957

July 1957

On July 13, 1957, TBS was back at the Granite City Coliseum in St. Cloud, this time without Marvin Rainwater but with Tex Ritter.

St. Cloud Times, July 11, 1957

On July 21, 1957, Red Foley and the “Ozark Jubilee” TV show cast came to Minneapolis for a big country show at Metropolitan Stadium. Much was made of the fact that the cast flew in for the date. Other performers included:

Marvin Rainwater
Foggy River Boys
Shisk & Whistler
Bill Wimberly’s band

Local entertainers included:

David Stone, KSTP-TV
TBS, KEVE
Johnny T, WISK

Minneapolis Tribune, July 20, 1957

On June 28 through 30, 1957, TBS and his Trio entertained at the Upper Midwest Championship Rodeo, Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. Smiley Burnett, Gene Autrey’s sidekick, was also on the program.

Minneapolis Tribune, June 29, 1957

August 1957

On August 10, 1957, TBS was back at the Granite City Coliseum in St. Cloud, this time with Carl Perkins.

St. Cloud Times, August 8, 1957

On August 17, 1957, TBS played Tiny Tillman’s Happy Hollow Lake in Independence, Missouri. (Billboard, August 19, 1957)

On August 30, 1957, before the Minnesota Twins played Omaha on Appreciation Night at Met Stadium, a softball game between the Celebrities (managed by sportscaster Frank Buetel) played the Minutemen. Buetel vowed to beat the Minutemen’s two-platoon system with brute strength, so he promptly named TBS as his leadoff batter. The Celebrity lineup was:

Bill Strength, 3b
Roy Drusky, ss
John Kundla, 1b
George Mikan, cf
Frank Buetel, p
Wally Karbo, lf
Dennis Stecher, rf
Dick Nesbitt, sf

(Minneapolis Tribune, August 29, 1957)

September 1957

On September 7, 1957, TBS and his new all-girl unit, the Westernettes, play the County Fair at Madison, Minnesota, along with Tex Ritter and Smiley Burnette. (Billboard, September 2, 1957)

TBS recently shared the bill with Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadors at the Stillwater Speed Bowl, Stillwater, Minnesota. He invites all C&W artists passing thru the Twin Cities to visit him at his record shop at 202 South 10^th Street, Minneapolis, and to appear with him on KEVE radio. Strength recently left the Capitol label and is reported dickering with Decca and Columbia. (Billboard, September 9, 1957)

Undated photo courtesy Dale Strength

Bill’s wardrobe for his personal appearances was reportedly valued at over $3,200.

On September 9 – 12, 1957, the furniture store Borg and Powers, 247 Nicollet Ave. in Downtown Minneapolis, held a sale to get rid of inventory in preparation to move to a new warehouse. (Actually, the building was part of skid row and was demolished in 1961 as part of the Gateway Redevelopment Project.) To draw people to the sale, personalities from KEVE and the Flame were on hand, broadcasting from the store.

Minneapolis Tribune, September 8, 1957

November 1957

TBS, in addition to his daily deejay and TV shows over KEVE, is appearing five nights a week at the Flame. He’s again doing the booking there. Bill says he’s all set for the big blowout [disc jockey convention] in Nashville. (Billboard, November 4, 1957) He didn’t make it because he came down with the flu. (Billboard, December 23, 1957)

December 1957

From December 11 to 13, 1957, Bill Strength and Roy Drusky were back broadcasting from the Borg and Powers Furniture Store at 247 Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Star, December 11, 1957

TBS, entertainer-deejay, who still holds forth at KEVE, typewrites that he was all set to fly into Nashville for the recent deejay conclave, when he was brought down with the flu. (Billboard, December 23, 1957)

On December 31, 1957, TBS was booked for a big New Year’s Eve Country show and dance at the Minneapolis Auditorium, featuring eight recording artists:

Jimmie Rodgers
Porter Wagoner
Johnny Horton
George Morgan
Anita Carter
Bobby Lord
Don Davis
The Wagon Masters Trio – apparently Porter Wagoner’s backup band.

Doing the math, it’s unclear whether Texas Bill was the eighth artist on the bill or the master of ceremonies, as he often played that role in these types of shows.

Minneapolis Tribune, December 28, 1957

1958

Frank’s records show that TBS cut five unissued sides in 1958, titles unknown. One is identified as on the MGM label.

February 1958

TBS, entertainer-deejay at KEVE, has been ordered by his doctor to take four-week vacation, due to physical and mental exhaustion which the doc described as the first stages of a breakdown. Now recuperating in Texas and Mexico, Texas Bill plans to resume his KEVE duties around February 15. (Billboard, February 3, 1958)

Ever the pitchman, TBS is seen in an ad for dog food.

Minneapolis Tribune, February 28, 1958

April 1958

DISENCHANTMENT WITH MINNEAPOLIS

In his April 2, 1958, column, Will Jones reported:

This has been a week of sudden departures in the radio business. Texas Bill Strength left KEVE and the country-western Flame Cafe after a flareup, and was replaced Monday [March 31] at both places by Dave Dudley, country-western singer and disk jockey from Duluth (by way of Chicago and Nashville, Tenn.)

Billboard also reported major changes in Bill’s life:

TBS has set it down at the Vasser Grove Trailer Park, Hopkins, after taking departure from Minneapolis, where he resigned his deejay post at KEVE. Says he has been planning getting out of the disk jockey business for some time in an effort to build his status as a C&W artist. Bill put in most of last week in Chicago, while playing a Calumet City, Illinois, nitery. He reports that he cut a session recently, with the release due soon on either Columbia or Decca.

He also gave up his emsee job at the Flame. Texas Bill says his Minneapolis exodus was not due to a flare-up or conflict as one of the columnists there state, but rather due to health reasons.

Strength says he also has disposed of his record shop in Minneapolis and that he is contemplating a change of scenery and atmosphere.

(April 21, 1958)

ABDUCTION

Sometime between May 1957 and 1958, Bill’s wife Dorothy left Bill and took the kids back to Houston. Bill decided that he wanted the boys with him, and he abducted them from their Aunt’s house in Houston, where Dorothy was living. He didn’t take their sister Sandy, because she was born blind, and he didn’t feel he could give her the help she needed. (She eventually had operations that allowed her to see just fine.)

Dorothy hired a detective to track the the boys down, but TBS kept them hidden by placing them with various friends while he performed around the country. The detective could find Bill, but not the boys. He got word that the authorities had already been to their Grandma Jessie’s place (Bill’s mother) looking for them, and Bill thought it would be safe to let them stay there for a few weeks while he did some show dates. He eventually picked them up and they moved on from there.

Eight-year-old Dale took the photo below of his Grandma Jessie and brother Bobby, a few months after after the abduction. A 1958 directory showed William, Sr. and Jessie living at 1277 Sheffield, in Houston, a house Dale described as a shack. WT was listed as a carpenter. Dale described the place like this:

During the summer of 1958 Bob and I spent a few weeks on Sheffield Boulevard in Houston at Grandma and Grandpa Strength’s place. They lived in something called a “Court,” as in trailer court, but instead of trailers there were a half a dozen or so identical shacks all in a row down a dirt drive in the middle of an industrial neighborhood. There were plenty of trees on the couple of acres where the shacks stood and a small woodland nearby where Bob and I would play. But mostly industrial buildings dotted the neighborhood.

In hindsight the “house” kind of had that “Grapes of Wrath” vibe to it, but we didn’t know or care. They were pretty basic structures with indoor plumbing. I fortunately have one picture of the place that I took with my Dad’s black and white Polaroid camera, the newest and coolest thing to have at the time. The “house” was built up on columns of cinder blocks a couple of feet off the ground. I remember Bob and I exploring and playing under the house. The floors were wood and I recall being able to see the ground through some of the cracks, except where there was linoleum. The kind that came in big rolls and you spread it on the floor like a carpet. Grandma Jessie had a faux oriental rug theme that I thought was really pretty. I really liked the colors and designs.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

The boys eventually lived with the family of “Ma and Pa Norrbom,” whose daughter Mary was the manager of the Flame.

A 1959 Minneapolis directory listed TBS living at 2514 15th Ave. So. His occupation was listed as “entertainer.” By 1959 he had already moved to California, but this may have been a good address for at least part of 1958.

May 1958

In May and June, 1958, TBS played a series of week stands in Midwest niteries. (Billboard June 30, 1958)

Milwaukee’s Cackle Shack may have been one of them. Although this ad came without a year, and the Cackle Shack didn’t come up in a newspaper search, TBS was on Capitol Records from 1955 to 1957, and May 31 fell on a Saturday in 1958, so that’s our best guess.

Ad courtesy Dale Strength

June 1958

On June 29, 1958, TBS appeared at the World’s Championship Rodeo at Crystal Springs Ranch, Clear Lake, South Dakota, along with Smiley Burnett, Johnny White, and the Sons of the West, of WELO-TV, Sioux Falls. (Billboard, June 30, 1958)

TBS has planted roots at KISD, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he’s doing three and a half hours of C&W music a night. He asks that artists and record companies take note of his new location. (Billboard, June 30, 1958)

July 1958

On July 28, 1958, TBS was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, performing in a Hometown Jamboree at the Community Playhouse. Other acts were:

Curtis and Marvin, “Western Melodiers”
The Caddies
Harry Schutte
Rocky Mountain Playboys
Harvey and Andy
Curtis and Marvin
Hezzy Jones
Walt and Johnny

Sioux Falls Argus Leader, July 28, 1958

August 1958

On August 2, 1958, TBS appeared on “Big D Jamboree” in Dallas, sharing the spotlight with:

Martha Carson
Wally Fowler
The Johnson Sisters
Roy Carter
Harvey and Andy

While in the Western Country, Texas Bill visited with Mac Sanders and Hiram Higsley at KSIR, Witchita. He also visited Hank and Dorothy Thompson at their home in Oklahoma City. (Billboard, August 11, 1958)

TBS has been roamin’ the country far and wide on personals since leaving his deejay chores at KEVE several months ago. (Billboard, August 11, 1958) [KEVE changed its format to classical in 1961.]

September 1958

On September 19, 1958, TBS was back in Houston at Cook’s Hoedown Club.

Houston Chronicle, September 1958

On September 27, 1958, TBS performed on “Louisiana Hayride” in Shreveport, Louisiana. Other performers on the show were:

Charlie Phillips
Mel Tillis
Johnny Dollar

Shreveport Times, September 26, 1958

October 1958

RED FOLEY

TBS did a guest stint on Red Foley’s “[Ozark] Jubilee U.S.A.” at Springfield, Missouri, on October 11, 1958, which goes out over the TV lanes on October 13. (Billboard, October 13, 1958)

TBS scribbles that he’s been constantly on the go the last several months, trying to beat the depression. He says he’s a sure shot to make the big C&W deejay convention in Nashville November 21-22, 1958. (Billboard, October 13, 1958)

CALIFORNIA

In late 1958, TBS and the boys made the move to California, living in Long Beach and working for KFOX, “the Only 100 Percent Country-Western Music Station in Southern California.” He kept an office at 5927 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. (Ronnie Pugh)

The ad below apparently announces a new format for KFOX. The mess at the top that you can’t read says THE in front of FOX, and GOES WESTERN below that. This was quite a find but difficult to clean up – faces are always troublesome and my photoshop doesn’t do what it used to do. But this gives us a time frame for when he was at KFOX in California.

Long Beach Independent, August 5, 1959

Another interesting thing about this ad is that TBS worked with Joe Allison. From June 29, 1957 to April 11, 1959, Joe was the host of a local show in Los Angeles called Country America. At the time, Joe was or had been a DJ at station KRKD. An undated list of Texas Bill’s “Recent Appearances” included a guest appearance on Country America, although a newspaper search of guest stars did not find him. It may have been that Bill could have gotten the DJ job at KFOX with a little help from his friend Joe. Just speculating.

December 1958

TBS, the “Denver Dragon,” spent the holidays with the home folks in Houston. (Billboard, January 5, 1959)

1959

March 1959

On March 5, 1959, TBS played the Manger Club in El Monte, California. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

On March 8, 1959, TBS did a live broadcast at Riverside Rancho, Hollywood, with the Squeekin’ Deacon Moore show over KXLA. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

On March 9, 1959, TBS showed his wares at the Crow’s Nest, Oxnard, California. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

On March 13, 1959, TBS played Laramie, Wyoming. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

TBS, who has been hopping hither and yon for the last 10 months, reports from Hollywood that the breaks are finally coming his way, when MGM slates to issue its first release on him almost any day now. [There are no known releases on MGM Records.] (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

TBS recently appeared with Hank Penny and Wade Ray’s band at the Goden Nugget, Las Vegas. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

On March 16, 1959, TBS begins a six-week stand at Brady’s in Minneapolis. (Billboard, March 16, 1959)

April 1959

On April 13, 1959, Cedric Adams of the Minneapolis Star reported that “Brady’s on 6^th is still pitching western with the Rhythm Rangers quartet plus TBS, whose first Capitol recording of “Yellow Rose of Texas” became a national hit. Strength was also one of the popular stars on Grand Ole Opry.”

May 1959

In May 1959, TBS worked three dates with George Jones and Wanda Jackson in Minnesota. (Billboard, June 1, 1959)

On May 23, 1959, TBS hopped into Houston for a guest shot on the new “Texas Jamboree.” (Billboard, June 1, 1959)

On May 24, 1959, TBS made an appearance at Magnolia Gardens in Houston. He then jumped from Houston to the West Coast, where he’ll work out a string of dates before heading back to his Minneapolis headquarters. (Billboard, June 1, 1959)

June 1959

In the first week in June, 1959, TBS hops to Alaska for a 10-day trek. (Billboard, March 16, 1959.

JACKIE YOUNG

On June 20, 1959, TBS married Jacqueline Ann Young (nee Stanford) in San Diego. Jackie was from Houston and an avid Country music fan, acting at one time as the secretary of the George Jones Fan Club. (Ronnie Pugh) One report said that by 1965 she had been married four times; one of her husbands was Andrew Jackson Young.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

The photo below shows Jackie, Bill, and Country performer Floyd Tillman. Tillman’s name was on the marriage certificate as a witness, and may have been the best man. This photo would have been taken on or near the wedding day.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Bill’s sons Dale and Bobby lived with him in California, and remember having some fun times with Jackie.

Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Excuse Me

By the fall of 1959, TBS’s marriage to Jackie had fallen apart. Ronnie Pugh described her packing for her departure back to Houston and George Jones’s Fan Club while the couple was being visited by Harlan Howard and Wynn Stewart. Howard told this story to Rich Kienzle:

Wynn and I were trying to figure out how in the hell to get out of there because it was embarassing. Finally Bill stood up and said, “Well, you guys’ll have to excuse me. I think I’ve got a heartache.” And he walked into the bedroom. Wynn and I left and were drivin’ away and I said, “Wynn, that’s a hell of a song title.” . . . A week or two later I jotted it down like I usually do and I told Buck [Owens] about it . . . “

Buck Owens recorded the song “Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache)” on December 23, 1959, and it became a No. 2 hit in the fall of 1960. TBS got no royalties for his title or his pain.

Despite the divorce, TBS and Jackie continued to have a hot and cold relationship. A letter from Jackie found in his archives, dated July 14, 1963, indicates that they had just been together (perhaps in California). Her words indicated that she had done something to make him doubt her fidelity, and she pledged her love to Bill in no uncertain terms, even suggesting that they remarry in the future. After that meeting, Bill returned to Minneapolis and Jackie flew back to Houston.

Jackie Young’s Murder

On Saturday, November 6, 1965, Jackie’s lifeless body was found in the back of her sports car in a pasture, “Four miles south, Highway 146 near La Porte.” She was 25 years old. Her death certificate shows that the immediate cause of her death was asphyxia due to strangulation. Her father reported that she had been a secretary in the steel industry.

A UPI article dated November 7, 1965, described her as a “secretary who wanted to be a country singer.” She died of one or more blows at the base of her skull, according to the medical examiner. A tire tool, the possible murder weapon, was found 62 feet from the car. It was later determined that the tire iron was from the trunk of her car.

On December 11, 1965, Billboard reported that TBS made a trip to Houston from St. Paul to aid the sheriff’s department in solving the mystery. On the night she was killed, Miss Young had attended a dance near LaPorte, a small resort town on Galveston Bay, at which George Jones and band were featured. The Jones band members, who were among the last to see Miss Young alive, were questioned and released.

TBS was told by the police that Jackie had been driving home and was drunk when she stopped for gas, so an attendant offered to drive her or forced his way into her car. He pulled off the road, and his attempt to sexually assault her were met with a ferocious battle, given the skin and blood under her fingertips. TBS was devastated, and reported to Billboard that he and Jackie had set a date to be remarried on February 20, 1966.

On June 6, 1966, Victor Eugene Miller, 21, was arrested in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, and the next day he was indicted for the murder. He was described as an ex-convict living in West Memphis, Arkansas. He had indeed worked as an auto mechanic in the Houston area and had served time for breaking and entering and larceny in North Carolina. (AP report)

On March 18, 1967, Billboard reported that TBS was in Houston recently to attend the trial of the man arrested in the murder of Jackie. The trial was originally supposed to start on March 13, but was delayed when Miller’s court-appointed lawyers “angered the judge by submitting a thick stakc of pre-trial motions.” The trial was postponed to June 5, 1967. (Lubbock Avalanche Journal, June 6, 1967)

On May 7, 1967, Miller and two other prisoners in a new Harris County jail complex escaped through an open window and pressed a button that released a lock on a door leading outside. Miller supposedly had been assigned as a trustee on duty in a recreation room, according to the Liberty (Texas) Vindicator. The three were tracked down by bloodhounds and caught in woods four hours later about a mile from the jail. (AP report)

On July 13, 1967, a UPI story told the tale of a 21-year-old former Mexican night club hostess and exotic dancer who had been held in jail as a material witness for ten months. Juanita Gallardo Garcia was released on bond pending the trial, now set for August 21, 1967. Ms. Garcia had met Miller in Mexico in 1964. They fell in love, and swam the Rio Grande two weeks later. They lived in Charlotte, North Carolina for eight months, and Pasadena, Texas for almost a year before being separated accidentally in January 1966. They were reunited three days after he was jailed in June 1966. (UPI report)

After several postponements, the trial was set for August 21, 1967.

On September 1, 1967, Miller was found guilty of murder. Although the prosecution “vehemently demanded the death penalty,” the jury recommended he be given a life sentence. Miller, who had first admitted the slaying “to news media, police officers and others” (Liberty Vindicator) and then repudiated the admission, said he would seek a new trial. “I believe I’ll get justice somewhere along the line,” he was quoted as saying. He claimed to newsmen that he had never seen Mrs. Young. Jackie was described as a “four-time divorcee, last seen alive in the camper wagon of a Western music performer.” (AP report)

In 1968, the Liberty Vindicator printed a story that boasted of Liberty Attorney Boots Krueger, one of the defense lawyers for Miller. The sensational article said that the “attractive” “young divorcee” was found “strangled and brutally beaten.” The story of the murder trial was covered in a nationally distributed magazine, the Vindicator went on, and crowed that the verdict was a success since Miller did not get a death sentence. Thanks to the lawyer from Liberty. (All references to the Liberty Vidicator from March 28, 1968)

Thus ends the sad saga of Texas Bill’s second wife Jackie.

Back to 1959

TBS is currently filling some dates for Steve Stebbins, of Americana Corporation, Woodland Hills, California, and plans to remain on the West Coast for some time. (Billboard, June 22, 1959)

TBS typewrites from Hollywood that he’s set on a long string of club dates up and down the Coast by Steve Stebbins and that he plans to remain in that area indefinitely. (Billboard, June 29, 1959)

October 1959

On October 19 and 27, 1959, TBS broadcast on KFOX from 11:30 to midnight, as reported by the Long Beach Independent.

December 1959

On December 31, 1959, TBS was back in Minneapolis, at least for New Year’s Eve, as he hosted a huge New Year’s Eve show featuring:

Jimmie Rodgers
Porter Wagoner
Johnny Horton
George Morgan
Anita Carter
Bobby Lord
Don Davis

Minneapolis Tribune, December 27, 1959

1960

A 1960 directory lists TBS living at 755 Orange Ave. in Long Beach with wife Jackie. His occupation is listed as Disc Jockey, KFOX. Either the directory was behind or Jackie was around longer than the fall of 1959.

An ad in the 1960 Country Music Who’s Who claimed that he was “soon to be heard on Challenge Records,” but that never panned out. (Ronnie Pugh)

January 1960

On January 21, 1960, TBS made one of his first appearances at The Big Fresno Barn. At this show he shared the stage with Cousin Herb Henson (a fellow DJ) and his Trading Post Gang.

Fresno Bee The Republican, Friday, January 22, 1960

TBS has transferred his activity from KFOX, Long Beach, to KIKK, Bakersfield, where he is serving as program director and deejay. In addition, Texas Bill does a daily stint with Cousin Herb Henson on KERO-TV in the same city. Strength asks that artists and diskeries put him on the list for samples of new releases. (Billboard, January 25, 1960)

February 1960

On February 13, 1960, TBS headlined the dance and show at the Big Fresno Barn.

Fresno Bee, February 13, 1960

On February 19, 1960, TBS was on the bill with Ray Price and Pauline Parker at the Big Fresno Barn.

Fresno Bee The Republican, Friday, February 19, 1960

March 1960

On March 12, 1960, TBS was back at the Big Fresno Barn, this time again as the headliner.

Fresno Bee, March 12, 1960

TBS, now on the staff of KUZZ, Bakersfield, requested that artists send him station breaks and their new records. (Billboard, March 28, 1960)

May 1960

On May 8, 1960, there was an open house at the Kaehn household, for TBS who was visiting in the area. He was on a personal appearance tour, and stopped off here, and rejoined the tour on the 9th in Texas. (Manske Sisters newsletter, May 22, 1960)

TBS was a guest on KCUL, Fort Worth, recently, en route from California to Minneapolis. (Billboard, May 9, 1960)

SUN RECORDS

July 1960

At the invitation of Sun Records promotional manager Cecil Scaife, TBS went to Memphis to record seven sides for the label on July 19, 1960. These were not made at the original Sun Studios at 706 Union Ave., but at Sam Phillips’ new recording studio, a few blocks away at 639 Madison Ave. Scotty Moore wrote on his website that the new studio had been in use off and on as early as January 1960 but was officially was launched on September 17, 1960. The producer is unknown, but the recording engineer was Charles Underwood.

Frank lists the personnel on these sides as:

Bill Strength – Vocal and Guitar
Scotty Moore – Guitar
Stan Kesler – Steel Guitar
R.W. “T-Willie” Stevenson – Six String Bass
D.J. Fontana – Drums
Larry Muhoberac – Piano
The Gene Lowery Singers

You might notice that the list above includes the members of Elvis’ original band.

1960

As many as seven sides were recorded.

TBS’s only Sun record, Number 346, was issued in September 1960. It was reviewed by Billboard on October 3, 1960.

“Guess I’d Better Go” – TBS has a strong side here. It’s in the best weeper tradition, with a country-oriented performance which can nevertheless go to pop.”
b/w “Senorita” – “A bouncy side, with a Tex-Mex flavor. Contrasts sharply with the flip.”

“Call of the Wild” was included on TBS’s Greatest Hits album, identified with the recording date of 1960. That may be the version recorded at Sun. It was also issued as a 45 on Twin Town Records in 1965, which may have been a re-recording. That version is available on YouTube. Interestingly, the writing credit for “Call of the Wild” was attributed to Cecil Scaife.

“You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore” was written by TBS. In 2006, this song was released on a Sun Compilation record called “Sun Hillbilly.” This song can also be heard on YouTube.

“Nothing is Sweeter Than You” was released in 1973 on Brite Star, perhaps a re-recorded version.
“Timber Man”
“No More Listening”

Frank says “It is possible that some of the above recordings may have been recorded at a session held at Sun Studio on May 15, 1961. Alternatively, this may have been an overdub session.”

August 1960

TBS is back in Hollywood after a jaunt that took him to Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, and, most recently, Memphis, where he signed a recording pact with Sun Records. His first release for Sun is due out in two weeks. (Billboard, August 22, 1960)

Strength will work club dates on the Coast until Nashville convention time in November, after which he plans to return to Minneapolis.

TOPPA RECORDS

In August 1960, TBS recorded two sides for the Toppa label, of Covina, California. Songs feature the steel of Ralph Mooney.

“Watching the World Go By”
“Picture of My Heart”

Billboard reviewed Toppa Record 1021 on August 22, 1960:

“Watching the World Go By” – “The Texas singer handles this country novelty in good fashion as he explains that he’s lonesome.”
b/w “Picture of My Heart” – “On this weeper the singer comes thru with a warm vocal, aided by good backing. Listenable waxing.”

This one’s a little strange. Bill was awaiting the release of his two Sun sides in August 1960 that he recorded on July 19, 1960. On August 22, 1960, Billboard reported, “Meanwhile, he is plugging a new release on the Toppa Records label, of Covina, California, coupling “Watching the World Go By” and “Picture of My Heart.”” TBS would have another Sun session on May 15, 1961. Wouldn’t it be unusual to be signed with two record companies at the same time?

September 1960

On September 10, 1960, TBS was a guest star at Tom and Bill’s Palomino Club, Los Angeles’s Largest Western Night Club, located in North Hollywood.

Valley News, Van Nuys, California, September 9, 1960

In September 1960, TBS Registered as a Democrat in Orange County. His address was 7681 El Monte Drive, Buena Park, California.

October 1960

On October 8, 1960, TBS entertained the Okies in Ventura County on a big Saturday night.

Ventura County Star Free Press, Friday, October 7, 1960

TBS spent four days in the San Francisco sector last week, playing dates for Blackjack Wayne and making radio and TV personals on KNBA, Vallejo, California. Bill, who is presently kicking up dust with his new Sun release, “Guess I Better Go,” will make the country music festival in Nashville November 4-5, after which he plays dates in Tucson and Phoenix with Merle Travis, booked by Raymac Enterprises, Anaheim, which also handles Skeets McDonald, Joe Maphis, Eddie Dean, Johnny Bond, Bonnie Sloan and Rose Maddox. (Billboard, October 24, 1960)

Skeets McDonald placed an ad thanking (disk jockeys?) for putting his song “This Old Heart” on the charts. “also my deepest thanks for your help on “Guess I’d Better Go” TBS (Sun Records).” (Billboard, October 31, 1960) This is curious, since they were on two different labels and McDonald wasn’t a writer of the song.

November 1960

TBS had the first of three appearances at the Tucson Gardens on November 11, 1960, along with Bonnie Sloan. Ads were placed in Phoenix and Tucson papers.

Tucson Daily Citizen, November 11, 1960

Bill returned to the Palomino as a Special Guest Star on November 19, 1960.

Valley Times Today, North Hollywood, Friday, November 18, 1960

1961

January 1961

SUN RECORDS

TBS departed Anchorage, Alaska, January 16, 1961, for Memphis to cut another session for Sun Records. Texas Bill, together with Bonnie Sloan, played the Montana Club in Anchorage, with appearances on KENI-TV, KFOD and KBYR. The Montana Club is located at 222 Fourth Avenue, Anchorage. The Sun Records firm, which recently knocked the “Texas” off of Bill Strength’s name, will revert to the Texas Bill billing when they spring with his new release. (Billboard, January 23, 1961)

If there were any records released from such a session, they don’t seem to be listed anywhere.

February 1961

The second ad found for the Tucson Gardens was for February 24, 1961.

Tucson Daily Citizen, February 24, 1961

April 1961

On April 22, 1961, TBS worked the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. (Billboard, May 15, 1961)

On April 29, 1961, TBS worked the Big D Jamboree in Dallas. (Billboard, May 15, 1961)

May 1961

On May 5, 1961, TBS appeared at Todd’s Western Club in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Star Telegram, May 5, 1961

On May 6, 1961, TBS worked the Cowtown Jubilee in Fort Worth. (Billboard, May 15, 1961)

SUN RECORDS

Bill Strength has just finished another session for Sam Phillips’s Sun Records, with release due any day now. (Billboard, May 15, 1961)

TBS’s third performance at the Tucson Gardens was on May 27, 1961.

Tucson Daily Citizen, May 27, 1961

June 1961

TBS landed in Chicago last week after playing a string of engagements in and around his native Houston. En route to the Windy City, Bill stopped off in Tucson for a stand at Tucson Gardens (see above) and appearances over KUUN-TV and KMOP Radio. (Billboard, June 12, 1961)

September 1961

On September 6, 1961, TBS was apparently appearing at the Frontier Bar in Madison, Wisconsin, although this ad is confusing. It is from the Wisconsin State Journal, which is/was published in Madison.

Wisconsin State Journal, September 6, 1961

BACK TO MINNESOTA

Six years after he had first come to Minnesota, TBS was back, this time to stay. When asked why he had returned in a 1970 interview, he responded, “Well, KTCR had just started with country music so I could go to work for them. Beside, Minneapolis and its people have always been good to me.”

This is a fun find. Dale had the photo below, of his dad with the North Sisters at a personal appearance, with no date. Appears to be at one of the many car dealers on Lake Street. Years later, Jan Sherman (North) came up with a similar photo, obviously taken at the same event. This time she could name the year, and because the photo had Stonewall Jackson in the lineup, a quick look at the Flame appearance spreadsheet allowed us to deduce that the date was September 16, 1961!

Jan, Bill, and Patti. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Back Row, No. 1 & 4: Members of Chill Hilmin’s band; No. 2: Duke Larson; 3: Stonewall Jackson; 5: Chill Hilmin; 6: TBS. Front: Jan and Patti North. Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

This ad from Dale indicated that the Montana Club was in Anchorage, Alaska, and was dated September 21, 1961. The ad says he was appearing through October 8.

Ad courtesy Dale Strength

Billboard indicated that TBS had been at the Montana Club back in January 1961. The ad below could have been from either appearances or even another one – apparently Alaska was one of Bill’s favorite retreats.

Ad courtesy Dale Strength

November 1961

Jimmy Simpson, of Radio Alaska, Anchorage, reports that Lefty Frizzell and TBS are scoring handsomely on personals in the Anchorage area. Jimmy had them as recent visitors on his air show. (Billboard, November 13, 1961) This must have been before TBS started his job as “permanent emcee” at the Loon.

THE LOON

From November 7 to 12, 1961, Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart were featured at a new C&W club, the Loon, which has made its bow at 2935 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, with TBS as permanent emsee. Owned by the operator of the present Torch Club there, the Loon operates Tuesday through Sunday, with Sunday shows starting at 4 pm. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

Minneapolis Tribune, November 7, 1961

From November 14 to 19, 1961, Lonzo and Oscar were featured at the Loon, with TBS as emsee. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

Minneapolis Star, November 13, 1961

The ad below is only for Shorty Bacon at the Loon on November 15, 1961, with TBS, “Minneapolis’ Favorite Son,” also on the bill. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

Minneapolis Tribune, Wednesday, November 15, 1961

Jerry Reed performed at the Loon on November 21 to 26, 1961. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

Claude Gray performed at the Loon on November 28 to December 3, 1961. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

December 1961

Wanda Jackson and her all-girl unit performed at the Loon from December 5 to 10, 1961. (Billboard, November 20, 1961)

THE TORCH

From December 6 to 10, 1961, TBS worked at the Torch, which was at 607 W. Lake Street – now the site of Dulono’s Pizza.

Minneapolis Tribune, December 1961

1962

February 1962

On February 4, 1962, Texas Bill’s first wife, Dorothy L. Altman, married Thomas Edwin Pettis, Jr. in Harris County, Texas. She was 31 and he was 36. They divorced on February 2, 1981, and had no children.

On February 11, 1962, TBS performed two shows at the UAW Hall in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Other stars on the bill were:

Lonzo and Oscar
George Jones
George Riddle

The Times, Munster, Indiana, February 11, 1962

March 1962

TBS and his Western Swing Band appeared throughout the month at the CC Tap Bar in March 1962.

Minneapolis Star, March 8, 1962

In a March 24, 1962, article in Billboard, a column by Bill Sachs headed “Folk Talent & Tunes” had a lot of news about TBS:

ALASKA

Already a fish out of water, being a Southerner living in Minnesota, Texas Bill loved to get even further north to Alaska to perform and to hunt.

In the first week in June, 1959, TBS hops to Alaska for a 10-day trek. (Billboard, March 16, 1959.

TBS departed Anchorage, Alaska, January 16, 1961… (Billboard, January 23, 1961)

He recently returned from his third [presumably fourth] jaunt to Alaska, where he played the U.S. Air Force bases in Kodiak and Anchorage and appeared with Paul Harper and His Western Combo at Anchorage’s Alibi Club. (March 24, 1962, Billboard, in a column by Bill Sachs headed “Folk Talent & Tunes”]

SUN RECORDS

TBS recently stopped off in Memphis to cut six more sides for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records and says he has an album coming up on the lable early in the summer. (March 24, 1962, Billboard, in a column by Bill Sachs headed “Folk Talent & Tunes”] Prague Frank has no record of a Sun session after May 15, 1961.

April 1962

KTCR

KTCR signed on as a Country station in Minneapolis on April 5, 1962. The 1929 Model A below was TBS’s signature car until he sold it to Johnny Cash in 1970. According to an item by Will Jones, Cash wanted to use it in a movie.

Photo Courtesy Dale Strength

May 1962

George Grimm:

On extension 345 came a voice with a drawl so musical you expected the guitar to start its accompaniment.

“This is TBS,” the southwest-flavored words said. “You know anybody who’d like about 300 old law books? I got ‘em from Mister Eaton who runs Eaton’s ranch south of town here. Figured I’d do a little law book readin’. But I never got to it. Had a couple of attorney friends look the books over. They said they’re useful, but a little outdated. Like I have a complete set of ‘Corpus Juris’ but now there’s a ‘Corpus Juris, Secundus’ that took over. Anyway, maybe one of your readers would like those 300 law books. All he has to do is to drive out to my house and pick them up.”

Texas Bill – with that drawl what else could you want to call him – says please don’t phone. Just arrive with your transportation and take the books with you. His address: 2514 So. 15^th Ave.

Even when that fellow talks about law books, it sounds like the verse of a song about somebody’s true, true love!

Minneapolis Tribune, May 7, 1962

June 1962

In addition to his deejay chores at KTCR, and working area dates with his own band, TBS is handling bookings for a nearby club using acts Thursdays through Sundays. (Billboard, June 16, 1962)

August 1962

At the end of August (but before August 23, 1962), TBS went to New York to call on DJs and other trade folk. (Billboard, September 1, 1962)

On August 26, 1962, TBS made an appearance at Twin City Speedway.

Minneapolis Tribune, August 26, 1962

THE 1962 SHOOTING

The headline in the August 23, 1962, article in the Minneapolis Star read: “Disk Jockey Critically Shot in Scuffle in Apartment:” TBS was described as a disk jockey and a singer at Triviski’s Bar, 678 Selby Ave. in St. Paul.

The night before, August 23, TBS and a friend, Donald “Duke” Larson, were playing behind Barbara Lee Mac at Triviski’s. After the show, they met two young ladies, Barbara Lindberg, 20 (Duke’s sister-in-law), and Rose Kasown, 19. (TBS was 34) They all went to the girls’ first floor apartment at 2437 Elliott Ave. So.

At 2:30 am, the upstairs neighbor, Marcus J. Styer, 26, got fed up with the noise and called the police, but the four went out to eat and were gone when police arrived. The four came back to the girls’ apartment at 3:15 am, and Duke and Rose left. TBS and Barbara sat in the kitchen talking. Finally Styer, who had been in a Wisconsin mental institution in 1957 and 1958, had had enough of the noise. He grabbed his shotgun and headed downstairs.

There accounts differ as to whether Styer burst in shooting or whether TBS grabbed the gun and it went off accidentally. Larry LaPole, Barbara’s brother-in-law, fellow country performer, and Bill’s good friend, said that when Bill opened the door the shotgun went off. Either way, TBS was left with a shotgun wound in the right thigh. Styer said that he used his belt as a tourniquet while Barbara called the police.

Officers arrived at 4:23 am to find TBS lying on the floor of the apartment, and the shotgun leaning against the wall in the hallway. Styer told police, “I shot him and gun isn’t loaded.”

The next day, August 24, the Minneapolis Star reported that Styer was charged with with second degree assault. It also said that TBS was taken off the critical list at General hospital but was still considered serious from a shotgun wound in the groin.

Now this is odd. TBS had actually been hit in the upper right thigh, which the Star had correctly reported the day before. His son Dale says it was a two inch hole, and Larry LaPole described it as just inches from the family jewels.

THE MINNEAPOLIS DAILY HERALD

A bit of explanation here: From April 13 to August 7, 1962, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune were on strike. On May 1, 1962, the Minneapolis Daily Herald was created by businessman Maurice McCaffrey to pick up the slack. He intended for the Herald to continue, even after the Star and Tribune’s strike ended, and it did for a while, but the last issue of the Herald came out on October 1, 1962.

Nonetheless, there was some overlap, and the Herald seemed to care about the medical progress of TBS much more than the big boys, often putting its articles on Page One. The following information was taken from articles from the Minneapolis Daily Herald.

August 23: TBS was taken to General Hospital (now Hennepin County Medical Center). Styer was held in city jail. Styer told police he became irritated with Strength’s singing. He accosted the entertainer with a .12 gauge shotgun but claimed that Strength caused the weapon to fire when he tried to knock it out of Styer’s hands. Homicide officers said that Strength was hit it in the lower abdomen. [There must have been a lot of blood to confuse a leg with a lower abdomen…] Styer was booked in the morning on an open charge for further questioning. The names of the persons whom Strength was visiting were not released.

August 24: “Singer Said to be Better”

Disk jockey and singer “Texas Bill” Strength was taken off the critical list Thursday night in General hospital. Staff personnel said the shooting victim’s condition was revised to “serious.”

August 18, 1962: “Texas Bill Still ‘Serious’; Gun Wielder Charged.”

TBS’s condition remained serious. Styer was chared with second degree assault.

August 31: “Texas Bill Recovers.” This front page story with a headshot of Bill in bed had this caption:

Stilll in serious condition from a shotgun wound is “Texas Bill” Strength, who already has had three surgeries and now is due for a fourth at General hospital. The night club entertainer and disk jockey was shot Aug. 24 following an altercation at 2437 Elliott Av. S. Held on a second degree assault charge on the case is Marcus Styer, 26, of the same address. He is alleged to have acosted Strength at 4:45 am in relation to a disturbance at the apartment below his. Texas Bill told a Daily Herald reporter: “Disturbance? I didn’t even have my guitar with me.”

September 1962

On September 5, the headline read: “Texas Bill Faces Fifth Surgery.”

TBS was still in serious condition, and was told he may have a fifth surgery soon. This article repeated the “lower abdomen” description.

The September 27, 1962, headline read: “Texas Bill Strength Shows Improvement.”

His condition has dropped from critical to serious, and for the first time in 36 days, and six operations, Texas Bill Strength, disk jockey and night club entertainer, seemed to be evidently on the mend. Texas Bill was wounded in the upper left thigh by a shotgun blast Aug. 24.

Now, let’s give the Herald it’s due for reporting more frequently on the condition of TBS, but there are some problems that may be indicative of why the paper didn’t last.

The Star reported from the beginning that the wound was in his leg, not his “lower abdomen,” which the Herald was still reporting in September.
The Star also knew from the beginning the names of the other people in the apartment, which the Herald couldn’t come up with.
Maybe his condition went up and down, but TBS seemed to go from critical to serious twice.
TBS also seems to have recovered twice.

A search for information about the Herald yields this scathing report of its demise in Time magazine (October 12, 1962):

Hastily flung together by Maurice McCaffrey, a Minneapolis adman, the error-prone and amateurish Herald rose to a circulation of 140,000 simply because news-famished Minneapolitans would buy anything. But when the city’s two dailies resumed publication last July, Herald circulation fell with a sickening thump. Last week McCaffrey’s Herald, anemic and skinny, gave up the ghost.

And here ends our visit to the Minneapolis Daily Herald. We thank them for their chronology of TBS’s condition and surgeries.

By the way, those big guys weren’t always right either. A photo in the initial report of the shooting run by the Star on August 23 identified TBS as “William Straight.”

BENEFIT

Will Jones reported that some musician friends would hold a benefit for TBS, who was still in the hospital. It was scheduled to take place at the Hitching Post on Highway 61 in Forest Lake on September 9, 1962, from 1pm to 1am. Ten bands and 20 acts were scheduled to perform. (Minneapolis Tribune, September 6, 1962)

Ticket to the Benefit, courtesy Jan Sherman

About a week later, a delegation visited Bill in the hospital to deliver the check from the benefit. Jan Sherman found him with both of his legs elevated in stirrups – she thought both inner thighs were affected. The wound looked like “strips of bacon” where the skin grafts were being done, taken from his back and sides.

In the photo below, Teddy O’Neil, husband of benefit organizer Kathleen O’Neil, presents Bill with the check from the benefit.

Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

Bill with his check. Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

Below, Jan’s brother Dan Northrop presented a sport jacket to TBS. Dan won it in a raffle at the benefit after spending about $50 in tickets. Dan is sort of propping Bill up in bed.

Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

In the picture below, Jan Sherman and Ted O’Neil are shown visiting. Note radio over the bed.

Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

Larry LaPole also visited Bill at the hospital, and recalled TBS saying to him that he was “all done with the wild side of life.”

November 1962

THE TRIAL

Styer’s trial opened in Hennepin County District Court on November 15, 1962. Barbara Lindberg admitted that there had been some noise at about 2 am that night, when she and Rose Kashown were throwing a baseball around with a dog and the ball broke a window. Just before the shooting, she said that she knocked an ironing board into a tin cabinet while going to let the dog out. This time she said that she was the one who applied a tourniquet. She also testified that he kept saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know where the noise was.” He pleaded with them to tell police that TBS had grabbed the gun, she said.

On November 19, 1962, Styer took the stand, testifying that he heard “repeated outcries of a woman’s voice” and took his shotgun downstairs to frighten the noisemakers, not checking to see if it was loaded. He denied the allegation that he “burst in,” saying that he and TBS engaged in conversation for several minutes. Styer told him to quit making a disturbance and get out, and TBS mumbed several times “I’ll go,” but then TBS grabbed the end of the gun, which was pointed in the air, and brought it down. This caused Styer’s finger to brush the trigger, and the gun discharged.

After deliberating only two hours, the jury found Styer not guilty of the charges on November 21, 1962. The jury did not believe the “burst in” story (or apparently the wrestling with the gun theory) in light of the contention of the State that the X-ray pattern of the gunshot wound showed that he was a good eight feet away from Styer at the time of the shooting.

GOLDEN WING RECORDS

In 1962, TBS has a recording session that was probably in Minneapolis, for local label Golden Wing:

“Let the Chips Fall”
“Foolish Pretender”

Discogs.com has no date for this single (GW 3013), but the last verse of “Let the Chips Fall” is about the shooting. (Thank you to Sherwin Linton for pointing this out.) The writer of both songs is listed as P. Wegman.

At the end of 1962, TBS did a series of appearances for Atlantic Mills Department Stores.

Minneapolis Star, Thursday, October 18, 1962

Minneapolis Star, November 29, 1962

1963

Another Golden Wing session was apparently held in 1963, resulting in GW 3024. It was released on the Golden Ring subsidiary label.

“Tears in my Beer,” written by TBS
“Let’s Make Love”

Sometime in 1963, TBS ran for the board of directors for the musicians union, as evidenced by the flyer below:

Image courtesy Dale Strength

May 1963

On May 16, 1963, Rex Allen was in town for a stint at the Flame, and Will Jones relayed this story:

Like all true night club performers, he even enjoys zinging an inside joke. TBS, who was involved in a shooting scrape not long ago, was in the audience the other night. During a bit in which Allen showed off his cross-draw 45s, he looked over at Strength’s table and said: “Y’don’t hafta worry, Bill, they’s blanks in these.”

June 1963

On June 8, 1963, KTCR presented the Grand Ole Opry at Met Stadium. Headliners were:

Claude King
Skeeter Davis
Don Gibson
Merle Travis
Tex Ritter
Marvin Rainwater (who was robbed of $650 from his suitcase at the Leamington Hotel)
Roy Drusky
Bobby Hankins
Texas Bill Strength, emcee

Minneapolis Tribune, June 6, 1963

July 1963

A letter from his ex-wife Jackie indicated that TBS and she had met somewhere before July 14, 1963, that was neither Minneapolis nor Houston. TBS had his sons with him.

July 21, 1963: TBS and his Troubadors appeared at the Hot Rod Races at Twin City Speedway.

Minneapolis Tribune, June 23, 1963

August 1963

On August 16, 1963, someone recorded his show on KTCR-AM, and it is available to hear on Rick Burnett’s website, Twin Cities Radio Airchecks. The songs themselves are “scoped.”

November 1963

Minneapolis was in the middle of a huge folk music craze in 1963, and Hootenanny was the word of the hour. Apparently the organizers of this Muntz TV Hootenany event on November 10, 1963, thought that folk music consisted of Country music and polka. Hopefully WDGY brought some Kingston Trio records.

Minneapolis Tribune, November 10, 1963

December 1963

On December 7, 1963, TBS did a remote broadcast from Downtown Crystler-Plymouth from 2 to 4:30 pm, along with Jack Curtis and the Westerners and guest stars.

Minneapolis Star, December 7, 1963

1964

January 1964

On Saturday, January 25, 1964, TBS performed in a Grand Ole Opry Show at the Mayo Clinic Auditorium Theatre in Rochester. Also on the bill were:

Bill Anderson
Bob Luman
Bob Prouty
June Harreld
Sharron Sparrows
Topper Country Playboys

Winona Daily News, January 21, 1964

February 1964

On February 15, 1964, there was a Grand Ole Opry Show, Blockbuster Number 3, at the Minneapolis Auditorium. These Grand Ole Opry shows were booked by a DJ named Smokey Smith from Iowa. This show featured:

Faron Young
Webb Pierce
Lefty Frizzell
Earnest Ashworth
Sonny James
Elton Britt
Jan Moore
Texas Bill Strength

Minneapolis Tribune, February 15, 1964

This show played to 7,308 paid admissions, grossing over $16,700 – a record gross for Smith in the three years he has been promoting country shows at the Minneapolis Auditorium. (Billboard, February 29, 1964)

April 1964

Spinning the country platters on KTCR are Jay Jenson, Vern Arthur, TBS, and Johnny Long. (Billboard, April 18, 1964)

June 1964

TBS, along with the Minnesota Twins, appeared at Midway Ford on June 25, 1964.

Minneapolis Star, June 25, 1964

July 1964

The Marty Robbins Show came to town on July 11, 1964, sponsored by KTCR. Other performers were:

Red Foley
Bobby Lord
Melba Montgomery
The Canadian Sweethearts
Skeets MacDonald
Grandpa Jones
Sheb Wooley
Johnny Bond
Mac Wiseman
Johnny & Jonie Mosby
Joe Maphis & Rose Lee
TBS
Pete Nolan of “Rawhide”

The description of the show in the July 11, 1964, edition of Billboard calls it “KTCR’s First Annual Country & Western Music Spectacular,” and only lists Marty Robbins at the top of the list of stars, not the namesake of the show.

Plans were for it to start with an hour-long parade through downtown Minneapolis starting at 2 pm.

Next was a chuck wagon dinner from 6 to 8 pm, and then the three-hour show.

Climaxing the event was the First Annual Minnesota Square Dance Festival, featuring nearly 2,00 square dancers from nearly every county in Minnesota, according to KTCR. That was expected to run from 11 pm to 2 am.

KTCR’s signal reached 70 counties in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota; the show was expected to bring in more than 20,000 spectators.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 11, 1964

August 1964

The photo below was taken in about August 1964, ad features Fern Dale and Barbara Lee Mac posing with fans at the Flame. TBS’s name can be seen on a poster behind them.

Image courtesy Brett Williams

November 1964

BANGAR RECORDS

In Novemer 1964, TBS recorded two sides for Bangar, a local Minneapolis label. The disks were pressed at Kay Bank Studio.

“Bells of Memory,” written by TBS and Rusty Kegler
“Paper Boy Boogie,” written by TBS and T. Trent

Bangar BA00649 was released in 1964.

Billboard reported that TBS was giving away a German shepherd puppy in his Name the Puppy Contest. (November 28, 1964)

1965

TWIN TOWN RECORDS

In 1965, TBS moved to another local Minneapolis label, Twin Town. He cut four sides; no recording or release dates are available. The songs were produced by George Garret, who owned the Nic-O-Lake Recording Studio, in the basement of his record store. Garrett either owned Twin Town or had a big hand in it.

“As Much as Yours as Mine,” written by TBS
“The Promise”
“Call of the Wild”
“Lake Lonely,” written by TBS and Justin Tubb

“As Much Yours as Mine” b/w “The Promise” was issued as TT 704

“Call of the Wild” b/w “Lake Lonely” was issued as TT 712.

STUDIO CITY RECORDS

Studio City was another George Garrett label. In 1965, TBS recorded a song called “Million Memories,” which was given the number SC1036.

January 1965

An article about how disc jockeys move around a lot, dated January 14, 1965, said that “Bill Strength departed KTCR and returned to KTCR.”

On Saturday, January 23, 1965, TBS participated in a show in West Palm Beach, Florida that apparently took place in a tent theater set up on a polo ground. Other acts included:

Hank Snow
Rainbow Valley Boys
Barbara Lee Mack
Curly Smith and the Blue Mountain Boys

Palm Beach Post, January 17, 1965

February 1965

On February 11, 1965, TBS appeared at the premiere of “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” the story of Hank Williams.

Minneapolis Star, February 11, 1965

THE EXCUSE CLUB

Starting in 1965, on and off until at least 1967, TBS performed on and off at the Excuse Club at Cedar/Riverside.

Minneapolis Tribune, March 17, 1965

1967 Photo courtesy Hennepin County Library

April 1965

In April 1965 (probably), TBS, Dale, and Bobby participated in a benefit for Lenny Paro at the Medina Ballroom. The show featured performers from the Flame Café, including Sherwin Linton and the Fender Benders. Another performer was Johnny Western; April is the guess because he was performing at the Flame for a week that month. Dale and Bobby appeared playing in a band, and there is a few seconds of footage, but it is silent.

From April 19 to 24, 1965, TBS was back at the Flame as the headliner:

Minneapolis Star, April 19, 1965

Photo taken at the Flame, courtesy Dale Strength

May 1965

On May 22, 1965, the 9^th Grand Ole Opry Show came to town, and TBS was on the bill, along with:

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three
Tex Ritter
The Willis Brothers
June Carter
Bob Luman
The Statler Brothers

Minneapolis Tribune, May 16, 1965

Image courtesy Dale Strength

July 1965

WMIN? KTCR?

On July 3, 1965, Billboard reported that TBS was named music director of KTCR. He was in charge of reviewing new records and making up the KTCR Top 50 Chart. Billboard rated the station as “being tops in influencing the sale of country records and Strength as top DJ in the market in influencing the sale of country records.”

On July 5, 1965, a blurb in the Tribune announced TBS’s move to WMIN radio to host a noon to 3 pm record show.

On July 10, 1965, a Billboard Radio Response Rating for Minneapolis/St. Paul still identified TBS as working for KTCR. It said he had 78 percent of the Country audience, with Art Blaske and Vern Arthur at KTCR and Johnny West from WMIN sharing the other 22 percent of the country DJ ratings.

On July 28, 1965, a gossip column in the Houston Chronicle called “The Big Beat by Maxine” had this to say: “Biff Collie, the former Houston deejay, has not entered the public relations field on the West Coast. Biff has been in radio out there for some time. He also reports that another ex-Houston radio voice, Texas Bill Strength, has been upped to program director at KTCR in Minneapolis.”

On August 2, 1965, another blurb in the Tribune repeated TBS’s move to WMIN.

On August 5, 1965, the ad below made the move to WMIN official. The black eyes refer to a cigarette ad campaign, “I’d rather fight than switch,” no doubt.

Minneapolis Star, August 5, 1965

On August 14, 1965, Billboard reported that TBS has joined countrified WMIN, St. Paul. He was with KTCR there. In Biff Collie’s “West Coast Ramblings” column in the same edition of Billboard, Biff says “TBS has been upped to program director at KTCR Radio, Minneapolis. Bill and I worked together in Houston in the late 1940’s. What a character!” (Billboard was a weekly, so it must have been difficult for them to keep up.)

TBS at the WMIN Console. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

FRONTIER CLUB GATHERING

In about 1965, there was a gathering of Twin City and Nashville entertainers with the George Kent Band at the Frontier Club.

Shown kneeling: Texas Bill Strength and Mercury Recording artist George Kent. Standing: Sherwin Linton; Tony Farr; Chill Hilmin; Gary Verne, George Kent’s Drummer; George Guinn, who was from Oklahoma and popular in the Midwest; and Wayne Wilson, who later became Buck Owens bass player. All those with matching shirts were George Kent’s band.

Photo courtesy Sherwin Linton

August 1965

The ad below for an appearance at Midway Ford on August 2, 1965, mentions both stations, none directly associated with TBS:

Minneapolis Star, August 2, 1965

TBS was back at the Excuse Club on August 6 and 7, 1965.

Minneapolis Star, Thursday, August 5, 1965

September 1965

A TIME OF TROUBLES

On September 1, 1965, TBS’s mother, Jessie Leon Strength, died at her home in Conroe, Texas.

The ad below indicates that TBS was scheduled to play the Excuse Club on September 3 and 4, 1965.

Minneapolis Tribune, Friday, September 3, 1965

TBS was scheduled to make a personal appearance at Major Ford on Saturday, September 25, 1965.

Minneapolis Tribune, Thursday, September 23, 1965.

The ad below, for the same appearance, indicates that Bill was bringing along his band and would perform.

Minneapolis Tribune, Friday, September 24, 1965

October 1965

TBS was back at the Excuse Club on October 8 and 9, 1965. One of his fellow performers were the Polecats, led by Larry LaPole. Larry wrote many of the surf songs recorded by the Trashmen!

Minneapolis Star, Thursday, October 7, 1965

Photo courtesy Mike Jann

November 1965

On Saturday, November 6, 1965, the lifeless body of Jackie Young, TBS’s second wife, was found in the back of her car in a pasture in rural Texas. She had been strangled and bludgeoned with a tire iron. She was 25 years old. Despite the fact that they had divorced, TBS was devastated. See above under 1959 for the details.

December 1965

It was back to the Excuse Club on December 3 and 4, 1965.

Minneapolis Tribune, December 3, 1965

1966

January 1966

On January 28, 1966, TBS was booked at the Parkway Ballroom in Foley, Minnesota. The ad said, probably mistakenly, Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance. Bill’s band was called the Countrymen.

St. Cloud Times, Thursday, January 27, 1966

February 1966

On February 4, 1966, TBS was again at the Parkway Ballroom in Foley, this time billed as a “Big Western Show” with Roger Mews and the Countrymen.

St. Cloud Times, Wednesday, February 2, 1966

On February 7, 1966, TBS’s father died at the VA Hospital in Houston.

Also on February 7, 1966, TBS was stricken ill and was a patient in two hospitals. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic detected a spot of cancer on his left lung and a case of cirrhosis of the liver. Strength, who has in recent years been featured on several local radio stations with his own country platter show, will be forced out of action for some six weeks. (Billboard, March 26, 1966)

Given the information above, it is unlikely that Bill was able to fulfill the obligation below to play a dance at the Parkway on February 11, 1966.

St. Cloud Times, February 11, 1966

March 1966

March 17, 1966:

TBS, veteran country music entertainer and deejay who was forced to relinquish his deejay post on February 7 due to illness, informed Billboard that he is well on the way to recovery and hopes to be back in harness soon. Writing under date of March 17, Strength says, “I was in Mayo Clinic for 14 days. They thought I had a touch of lung cancer but got it cleared up in time by giving me pulmonary dilating treatments and oxygen four times daily. They also discovered I have a 40 per cent portion of my liver chewed up, but I’m recovering real well.” Friends may write to Texas Bill at 2600 East Medicine Lake Boulevard, Minneapolis, 55427.

This address appears to be in Plymouth, although the house at that address wasn’t built yet. Perhaps it was the one next door, which was built in 1920. (Billboard, April 2, 1966)

A benefit show for TBS’s medical expenses was held at the Medina Ballroom on March 27, 1966. More than 17 area bands, as well as local deejays and radio and TV personalities, have donated their services for the benefit show. Merle Travis has been busy lining up other acts. Mail will reach Strength in care of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Rundquist, 1490 64^th Avenue NE, Minneapolis. The closest this address computes today may be where Highways 100 and 694 meet in Brooklyn Center. (Billboard, March 26, 1966)

April 1966

TBS had an extended engagement at the Golden Spike Club in or near Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, from at least April 7 through April 10, 1966.

St. Cloud Times, Thursday, April 7, 1966

June 1966

NASHVILLE

TBS, forced to relinquish his deejay chores recently on a Minneapolis station due to illness, which laid him low for several months, has recovered and will henceforth work as a country music single. Strength says he has given up the deejay business, at least temporarily. He arrived in Nashville recently [June 1966] to scout for a potential hit song and a recording session. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

NASHVILLE/STARDAY RECORDS

In June 1966, TBS cut two sides for Nashville Records, a subsidary of Starday.

“The Moment I Found You”
“Best Thing in Life is Love”

NV5291 was released in 1966.

It was also probably at this session that two other sides were recorded; they were on TBS’s Greatest Hits album, released in 1967, so it’s a guess that they were recorded in 1966:

“I’m Gonna Catch You Baby”
“Betty Lou”

On June 24, 1966, TBS appeared on Bobby Lord’s TV show in Nashville. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

On June 25, 1966, TBS appeared on Ernie Tubb’s Midnight Jamboree TV show. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

On June 28, 1966, TBS appeared on Ralph Emery’s early-morning TV show. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

July 1966

Strength left Nashville late this week for Fort Lauderdale for a five-week club date. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

From August 14 to 16, 1966, TBS filmed the Bill Anderson TV show in Charlotte, NC. After that he will return to Nashville. (Billboard, July 9, 1966)

October 1966

TBS was included on a list of Top Country Artists. He was on Starday Records, represented by the Wil-Helm Agency. (Billboard, October 29, 1966)

On December 17, 1966, the rock band City Strangers, led by TBS’s son Dale, was loading its equipment in the alley after a gig at Mr. Lucky’s, when James W. Rieck, 25, pulled up and demanded to get through. When Dale explained that they had a lot of equipment to load, Rieck pulled a gun on him. TBS saw this and confronted Rieck, who backed off and skeedaddled. Rieck was arrested and held for investigation, but TBS declined to press charges. Rieck later thanked TBS in a letter, telling him that he was on probation and he could have been sent back to prison. Dale’s name was kept out of the newspaper accounts.

1967

January 1967

Here’s an interesting tidbit you only find by accident. It comes from an article in the Nashville Tennessean, dated January 22, 1967, called “Music Star Adds Pencil to Guitar.” It’s written by, of all people, Merle Travis. He’s talking about his various roles as a guitar player, singer, songwriter, actor, and columnist. Here’s the part that’s relevant to TBS:

Now, let me brag on my writing ability. I once wrote a piece for the Texas Bill Strength fan club on how to tune the fiddle to play “Black Mountain Rag,” which was rejected, but I keep tryin.’

A 1967 Talent Directory published in Billboard listed TBS as being on Starday Records and represented by the Wil-Helm Agency.

March 1967

TBS, C&W entertainer and deejay who was forced to vacate the local radio scene more than a year ago due to ill health, has rejoined WMIN, Minnesota’s only 24-hour country music station. (Billboard, March 18, 1967)

May 1967

Now here’s something interesting. All of the ads for the Excuse Club for May 25 – 27, 1967, look like the one below:

Minneapolis Star, Thursday, May 25, 1967

This would imply that Bill was going to be there on Saturday night, which was May 27, would it not? But what about this? Maybe it meant TBS was scheduled for Friday night? But the date stamp is automatic. Very curious.

St. Cloud Times, May 27, 1967

GREEN GREEN BACKS BACK HOME

And here’s a new discovery for 1967. It seems the Trashmen (of “Surfin’ Bird” fame) recorded a novelty song called “The Green Green Backs Back Home,” credited to the Trashmen and the Desert Rat Singers. The record tells us that our friend Mike Jann produced this gem, and the writing credits went to Curly Putnam (who wrote the original song “The Green Green Grass of Home) with special words by Larry LaPole.

There are many, many connections going on here:

The record starts with Trashmen lead guitar player Tony Andreason doing his best Walter Brennan.
Tony and Mike Jann were friends from their teen years, and Mike is the keeper of the flame of the T-Men to this day.
The second voice on the record, doing a great Gabby Hayes, is none other than Texas Bill!
Mike was a big fan of Texas Bill – see photos he provided to this page in 1956. He may have been the one to suggest Bill for the part.
Larry LaPole was the author of perhaps the greatest surf song of all time – “King of the Surf” – the flip side of “Surfin’ Bird.” Larry wrote it using surf terms that Will Jones published in one of his columns in the Minneapolis Tribune.
Larry was normally a Country singer, with his band the Polecats, and a friend of TBS. They both played at the Excuse Club, and Larry, a wonderful artist, drew some fanciful pictures of Bill that Bill’s son Dale still has.
Mike and Larry both worked at the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.

Mike recalls that the flip side of this record – “Address Enclosed” – also by Larry LaPole, had been recorded earlier, and was sort of an orphan song, looking for a home. Tony used a psuedonym, “Tony Jones,” a nod to George Jones, so as not to alienate his rock ‘n’ roll fans with a Country song, says Mike.

October 1967

TBS had a brief fling at a Fort Lauderdale radio station following the country music convention in October 1967. (Billboard, April 27, 1968)

1968

March 1968

Will Jones phone interviewed TBS, back on WMIN. He has recorded a new “Texas Bill Strength’s Greatest Hits” album in Nashville. (The album was released in 1967.) (Minneapolis Tribune, March 8, 1968)

Songs on the album and the years they were recorded are:

Let the Chips Fall – 1962
Foolish Pretender – 1962
The Moment I Found You – 1966
The Best Thing in Life is Love – 1966
As Much Yours as Mine – 1965
Call of the Wild – 1960
Lake Lonely – 1965
I’m Gonna Catch You – 1966
Betty Lou – 1966
Let’s Make Love – 1963
Bells of Memory – 1964
Paper Boy Boogie – 1964

April 1968

TBS has again settled in Atlanta, where he’s doing a daily platter show over WTJH Radio. He’ll spend his free time playing club and show dates in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Strength also plans to record for his old friend, Bill Lowery. Texas Bill reports that he’ll be married to a Minnesota girl in June. (Billboard, April 27, 1968)

1969

March 1969

On March 2, 1969, radio station WTJH, East Point, Georgia, will sponsor a country music show at the city auditorium honoring the “old timers” of the industry, reported Billboard the day before. Governor Lester Maddox proclaimed Sunday as “Old Timers Day in Georgia.” The line-up of talent included:

David Rodgers, Columbia Records
Penny Linsey, Galaxy Records
Clayton Read, Master Records
George Read & His Blue Ridge Mountain Boys
Jack Holden & Frances Kay
WTJH Ranch Hands
The Wranglers
Don Echols
Hoyt Bruitt
Freddie Cole
Jimmy Myers
Billy Willson
Bud, Dannie and Mote
Skillit Likkers and Band
Spero Patterson
Riley Puckett
Slim Spewman
Debbie and Ronnie Ruggles
Billy Goldman
Sylvia Eason
Billy Dillsworth

Emcees were WTJH announcers:

Buzz Walker
Country Jim
TBS
Ned Lukens

Discouraged with the state of Country music, TBS tried to quit performing and sell insurance. Quoting a local interview from 1970, Ronnie Pugh wrote:

The year before, 1969, Strength even tried to give up performing to sell insurance. Though his natural gregariousness and quick humor, which had made him so good on radio, might have served him well in the insurance business, he simply couldn’t do it. “It’s like they say. It gets in your blood. Every time I passed a night club, I wanted to go in and start singing.”

Dale sent along this humorous letter from Merle Travis to TBS, commenting on the placid “Hillbillie Convention” of 1969 and how good it was to see each other.

Dale says:

This is a great example of how creative some of the country entertainers would be in communicating with each other. Comedic letters, sketches, photos, taped messages, and gifts were exchanged – I have a nice engraved cigarette lighter that Merle gave TBS. I think without exception all of the artists my Dad worked with were just great people. Bigger than life. And they gave each other a lot of respect, support and love. And I got to experience it all first hand. How cool is that?

Image courtesy Dale Strength

1970

April 1970

Will Jones wrote that “Texas Bill” is Back in Town:

The often-shot-at TBS is back among us, after having spent the past three years in Atlanta and Birmingham, and touring with Grand Ole Opry units in the South.

He no longer has the metallic-purple, gold-wheeled ’29 Model A Ford that he used to sport around here. During a visit to Nashville he sold it to Johnny Cash, who intends to use it on a TV show.

Strength opened over the weekend at the Casino Royale, a storefront in the Shorewood shopping center that operated for a couple of years as a teen club and is now going the country-western route. Strength is there Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, zinging in his own creations such as “Hillbilly Hell,” a takeoff on “Hillbilly Heaven,” among the country-western standards.

He’s also returning to the disc-jockey scene here, and will launch a show on KTCR in a couple of weeks.

Minneapolis Tribune, April 13, 1970

David Stone and TBS; from the dates, probably March or April of 1970. Photo courtesy Dale Strength

Will Jones: “Revised Report on Texas Bill”

TBS, who used to be a disk jockey at KTCR, came back to town and told me he was going back to work there, and I printed it. Now here’s a letter from Robert J. Rock, general manager of KTCR and KTCR-FM: “I do the hiring and firing of personnel at these stations. For your correct information, Strength has not been offered any position at these stations. And furthermore, he will NOT be offered a position here, now or in the future.”

I sense a problem there.

Minneapolis Tribune, April 23, 1970

June 1970

From June through October 1970, TBS had a string of appearances at the Flame:

June 15 – 20 with the Tiny Harris Country Band
June 22 – 27 with the Tiny Harris Country Band and Justin Tubb
June 29 – July 4 with the Tiny Harris Country Band

July 1970

From July 6 to 11, 1970, TBS appeared with Jean Shepard and Warren Robb at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 5, 1970

From July 20 to 25, 1970, TBS appeared with Carl and Pearl Butler and Warren Robb at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, Sunday, July 19, 1970

From July 27 to August 1, 1970, TBS appeared with Warren Robb at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, July 26, 1970

August 1970

From August 3 to 8, 1970, TBS appered with Liz Anderson and the Willis Wade Country Band at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, August 2, 1970

From August 17 to 22, 1970, TBS appeared with Willis Wade and Johnny Darrell at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, August 16, 1970

September 1970

On September 26, 1970, Billboard cried, “Texas Bill Strength, where are you? I was just listening to one of your old Sun Records tunes that Shelby Singleton has repackaged on a variety LP. Great.”

From September 28 to October 3, 1970, TBS appeared with Jerry Naylor and the Clyde Owens Country Show at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, September 27, 1970

October 1970

From October 12 to 17, 1970, TBS appeared with Billy Maphis and Rose Lee, plus the Billy James Country Show at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, October 11, 1970

From October 26 to 31, 1970, TBS appeared with the Cantrells and the George Deaton Country Kings at the Flame.

Minneapolis Tribune, October 25, 1970

1971

March 1971

HILLBILLY HADES

RECAR

“Hillbilly Hades” was a clever takeoff on the popular and sentimental “Hillbilly Heaven,” written by TBS with Eddie Dean and Hal Southern. TBS first cut it on Recar Records, yet another of George Garrett’s Minneapolis labels, issued in 1971 as 45-9001. The flip side was “Nervous as a Cat,” another comical song.

Both songs were then reissued on the Starday label, with the exact same number in March 1971. Bill had been identified as a Starday performer in 1967 but hadn’t had any records released.

On March 28, 1971, Billboard reported, ” TBS’s new single on Starday is titled ‘Hillbilly Hades,’ a parody of Tex Ritter’s big click of a few years back, ‘Hillbilly Heaven.’ ”

TBS spent two days in Cincinnati last week, plugging his new Starday release, a parody of one of Tex Ritter’s big ones of a few seasons back. Strength stopped here en route from Nashville to Minneapolis, where he continues to spin country platters while appearing as a regular at the Flame. (Billboard, March 13, 1971)

TBS is alive and well in Minneapolis. He wrote Paul Ackerman, music editor of Billboard, a letter about a new Starday Records single called “Hillbilly Hades,” which is a parody of the old “Hillbilly Heaven” country disk. For those of you who don’t know, Texas Bill one of the great country air personalities. (Billboard, April 3, 1971)

Since this came out of a St. Cloud paper, let’s assume that The Office is in the Granite City. TBS had an engagement on April 1 and 2, 1971 with the House Bros. and Bobby Byrd.

St. Cloud Times, April 1, 1971

July 1971

On July 4, 1971, TBS and Marvin Rainwater performed two shows at 6 and 9 pm at the Stagecoach Inn, between Savage and Shakopee, on Highway 101.

TBS and Marvin Rainwater opened Cooper’s West, the former Seventh Street Rec, 1209 W. 7th in St. Paul, in July 1971. (Connie’s Insider, July 24 to August 20, 1971) Bob Fernow remembers TBS doing some live radio broadcasts from Cooper’s West. The venue didn’t stay country for long.

November 1971

On November 9, 1971, TBS began a stint at a local Minneapolis club called the Filling Station.

Minneapolis Tribune, Friday, November 5, 1971

Ronnie Pugh quoted an unnamed local newspaper (not the Minneapolis Star or Tribune) that had interviewed TBS in November 1971.

Times have changed … since Bill arrived in 1955 with his guitar. There are at least 20 all-country music night clubs, with at least 15 more which occasionally bill country performers. Progress, undoubtedly, but a scene in which Texas Bill Strength could not possibly hold the upper hand that he once did.

1972

February 1972

From February 22 to 27, 1972, TBS had a stand at the Mermaid Supper Club, which featured Country music.

Minneapolis Star, February 1972

September 1972

On Sunday, September 24, 1972, TBS appeared on the Charles McCarty Show, a late-night (10:30) TV show on Channel 5. McCarty was the former Mayor of St. Paul (1970 to 1972), and the purpose of the show was to antagonize his guests like radio host Joe Pyne. On the same show McCarty had the Imperial Wizard of the KKK, a female “Cigar Advocate,” an International Mediator, and a “Guru who discusses life.”

Image from KSTP.com

October 1972

BENEFIT FOR FRANK MAY

On Sunday, October 15, 1972, the Country music community held a benefit for the critically ill guitar player and singer Frank May at Denny’s Loft in St. Paul. “Texas Bill Strength hosted the show and deserves much credit..” reported the Country & Western NEWS-Scene, November 1972.

Other participants included:

Barbara Lee Mac
Jan and Patti North
Marvin Rainwater
Chill Hilmin
Bob McDonald
Bob Flynn
The Guys and Gal
Freddie Haas with his Golden Nuggets
The Mark Allen Trio
Fern Dale
Kim Martin
Ray Boyles

Ticket courtesy Jan Sherman, via Derik Olson

Photo courtesy Jan Sherman via Derik Olson

TBS, Fern Dale, Barbara Lee Mack, and Jan Sherman. Photo courtesy Jan Sherman

Well over $2,000 was raised. Frank May, nee Mazzitello, died the following Sunday at age 38.

THE RIVERSIDE

The ad below confirms that TBS performed at the Riverside Supper Club in Ludden, North Dakota, on August 11 and 12, 1972. The Riverside was the last venue Texas Bill ever played, on August 5, 1973. See below.

Image courtesy Dale Strength

SOUND 80

The November 1972 Insider mentioned that Sherwin Linton had cut a single at Sound 80. “The Sundowners, Texas Bill Strength, and Mary Beth and Chill Hilmin have also recently cut sessions at Sound 80.”

1973

March 1973

After discontinuing its country format a year ago, the Flame reverted to form and began bringing in big name country performers again. There were now two full-time country house bands: TBS and his group in the front lounge and the Chill Hilmin Country Show in the main room. Part of the renewed interest can be attributed to the addition of an all-night country show on KTCR-FM with Gregg Elsworth. KSTP AM also had a midnight to 6am country show directed specifically at truck drivers and other night people, hosted by Al Carlson. KSTP had a powerful 50,000 watt signal. (Billboard, March 10, 1973)

May 1973

BRITE STAR RECORDS

On May 12, 1973, Billboard announced that TBS, still active with radio and television in the Minneapolis area, has signed with Brite Star Records. The label has a Nashville address. It was his last record label.

TBS cut two sides for Brite Star, issued as No. 2448:

“Some How, Some Day, Some Way,” written by TBS and Bobby Sisco
“Nothing is Sweeter Than You,” written by TBS and Don Scaife

June 1973

The June 1973 Insider reported that TBS was working at Larry Henning’s By George Inn in Anoka, by Lake George.

Johnny Cash, June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three were in town on June 13, 1973, to perform at the Minneapolis Auditorium. TBS caught up with him while he was in town, and wrote about him in his “Down Memory Lane” column in the Upper Midwest Country & Western News Scene magazine. The article also included this photo of the two, taken on that June 13, 1973, day.

JR RANCH

On June 15, 16, and 17, 1973, TBS performed at the JR Ranch in or near Eau Claire, Wisconsin, run by John Roucheat (hard to read). On the 16th and 17th, the Ranch was running a Rodeo, and Tex Ritter was also on hand for entertainment. Attractions included Dancing under the stars to Country Western Music June 15, 16, & 17 by Texas Bill Strength, Star of Radio, TV, Stage and Records.

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, June 6, 1973

The Insider reported on this appearance in its July 1973 issue, but true to form garbled it to say it was the H&R Ranch. They did did get the Tex Ritter part right, though. Unless TBS and Ritter were at some other ranch as well?

July 1973

The July 1973 Insider also reported that on July 10 and 11, 1973, Minneapolis would host a meeting of the board of directors of the Country Music Association – the first time in our City.

It also said that tours to Nashville from Minnesota were “booked up tight for months.” TBS was organizing such a tour.

The August Insider said that the quarterly meetings of the officers and directors of the Country Music Association were held on July 9 – 11, 1973. Sound 80 gave a cocktail party at their studios, and TBS was there, along with Roger Suneson, Tex Ritter, LeRoy VanDyke, and Roger McGuinn.

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