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| Ozark Jubilee | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Country Music Jubilee Jubilee USA |
| Created by | Ralph D. Foster |
| Directed by | Bryan T. Bisney |
| Starring | Red Foley |
| Voices of | Joe Slattery |
| Theme music composer | Hank Garland/Jack Yellen |
| Opening theme | "Sugar-Foot Rag" |
| Ending theme | "Alabama Jubilee" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 297 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Si Siman John B. Mahaffey |
| Producer | Bryan T. Bisney |
| Production locations | Springfield, Missouri, USA |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes; also 90 and 30 minutes |
| Production companies | RadiOzark Enterprises (1953-54) Crossroads TV Productions (1955-60) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC-TV ABC Radio (1954-61) |
| Release | January 22, 1955 (1955-01-22) – September 24, 1960 (1960-09-24) |
| Related | |
| Five Star Jubilee Talent Varieties | |
Ozark Jubilee is a 1950s American television program that featuredcountry music's top stars of the day. It was produced inSpringfield, Missouri.[1] The weeklylive stage show premiered onABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamedCountry Music Jubilee on July 6, 1957, and was finally namedJubilee USA on August 2, 1958.[2] Originating "from the heart ofthe Ozarks", theSaturday night[3] variety series helped popularize country music in America's cities and suburbs,[4] drawing more than nine million viewers. TheABC Radio version was heard by millions more starting in August 1954.
A typical program included a mix of vocal and instrumental performances, comedy routines,square dancing and an occasional novelty act. The host wasRed Foley, one of the nation's top country music personalities having been ranked byBillboard as the #5 Top Country Artist for the 1940s and #5 in the 1950s.[5] Big names such asPatsy Cline,Eddy Arnold,Johnny Cash andFaron Young were interspersed with a regular cast, including a group of young talent theJubilee brought to national fame: 11-year-oldBrenda Lee,Porter Wagoner,Wanda Jackson,Sonny James,Jean Shepard andThe Browns. Other featured cast members wereWebb Pierce,Bobby Lord,Leroy Van Dyke,Norma Jean andCarl Smith.
Carl Perkins, singing "Blue Suede Shoes", made his TV debut on the series, which showcased hundreds of popular artists performing everything fromrockabilly,country and western,bluegrass andhonky tonk to theNashville sound,gospel andfolk. Several now-legendary[citation needed] session musicians provided accompaniment at times during the show's run, includingGrady Martin,Hank Garland,Bob Moore,Charlie Haden,Cecil Brower,Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs. The genial Foley closed each show from the Jewell Theatre in downtown Springfield with a "song of inspiration" or a recitation from hisKeepsake Album;[6] and his sign-off was "Goodnight mama, goodnight papa", before walking into the audience to shake hands as the credits rolled.
TheJubilee was canceled after almost six years asrock and roll grew in popularity, and in part because of publicity surrounding tax evasion charges against Foley,[7] who was later acquitted. On September 24, 1960, the final telecast, like the first in 1955, opened with Foley's singing of "Hearts of Stone". The program concluded with his performance of "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You". The series was voted Best Country Music Show byFame magazine's annual TV critics poll in 1957 and 1960. In 1961,NBC-TV carried aspin-off,Five Star Jubilee.
The first (and first live) country music program on network television wasVillage Barn, broadcast from 1948–50 by NBC from a New York City nightclub. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, the U.S. networks carried a handful of other country music shows, includingHayloft Hoedown andABC Barn Dance (ABC);Saturday Night Jamboree (NBC); andWindy City Jamboree andThe Old American Barn Dance (DuMont). NBC and later ABC also airedMidwestern Hayride.[8] The shows, however, were generally short-lived summer replacements and had few if any well-known performers.
Ozark Jubilee was the firstnetwork TV program to feature America's top country music stars, and as a result, was the first country music program to attract a significant national viewership.[9] At five years and eight months, it also holds the record for the longest-running country music series on network television[citation needed] (Hee Haw wassyndicated after two years onCBS, andAustin City Limits presents a much broader variety of music[citation needed]).
(all times areEastern Time—all running times includecommercial breaks)
From October 15, 1955, to September 15, 1956, the program aired from 7:30–8 p.m. every fourth Saturday when ABC televisedThe Grand Ole Opry live from 8–9 p.m. From March through September 1956, the "Junior Jubilee" edition aired in the 7:30–8 p.m. time slot.[10] In contrast to many network series which went on summer hiatus, theJubilee was live throughout the year.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, Springfield broadcastersRalph Foster andSi Siman producednationally syndicatedradio shows through Foster's RadiOzark Enterprises, and aired them locally over hisKWTO, also a stepping-stone for numerous country stars.[11] Their stable of country music shows and talent grew, and Foster believed Springfield could dethrone Nashville to become the "crossroads of country music."[12] He realized television was the key, and named his new company Crossroads TV Productions, Inc., with Siman and John B. Mahaffey (Foster's nephew) as managing vice presidents. A financial backer was local businessmanLester E. Cox. In December 1953, they launched Ozark Jubilee on Springfield'sKYTV-TV.[13]
In April 1954, after extensive negotiations, Siman lured Red Foley from Nashville to host the show with a one-year contract, renewed for three more in 1955.[14] It was a major coup; Foley was considered by many[who?] to be America's top country music star[citation needed]. In 1946 he replacedRoy Acuff as emcee of theGrand Ole Opry segment carried byNBC Radio, and his popularity during the following eight years was credited with establishing it as the number one country music show[citation needed]. Three months later, in July 1954, ABC-TV agreed to buy theJubilee;[15] and by August, was carrying a radio version hosted by Foley that had begun in July on KWTO.
To represent the regular performers on KWTO and theJubilee, in March 1955 Foster established Top Talent, Inc., in partnership with Siman; and to publish their songs, Siman established Earl Barton Music, Inc. with partners Foster, Mahaffey and Cox[16] Siman also handled talent bookings for the show. Foster, known by cast and crew as "the Skipper", made an appearance on the final broadcast ofJubilee USA, singing "Woodman, Spare that Tree".
By 1956, Springfield, with two other ABC shows,[17] ranked behind only New York andHollywood for originating network television programming. Top Talent was bookingJubilee artists across the country, and that April, theJubilee had finished third among men.[18] According toThe St. Louis Post-Dispatch that February, "Springfield has become the recognized center of the country music world. In fact, it is generally agreed in television, recording and radio circles, that Springfield, now a city of 90,000, has shaken Nashville, Tennessee, home of The Grand Ole Opry and long-time mecca of hillbilly musicians, to its very foundations."[19] But the 1957 departures of Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee to the Music City signaled the shift would not be permanent, and Springfield never generated the business or revenues of Nashville.
Publicity surroundingfederal income taxevasion charges pending against Foley during 1960 influenced ABC's decision to cancel the program[citation needed], although his first trial that fall ended in a hung jury; and after a second trial he was quickly acquitted on April 23, 1961.[20] The previous October, ABC had begun airing the popularFight of the Week in theJubilee's former time slot (the show had replacedThe Saturday Night Fights in 1955).
TheOzark Jubilee cast was originally headlined by Wanda Jackson, Norma Jean, Bobby Lord, Webb Pierce,Marvin Rainwater, Porter Wagoner andSlim Wilson, who was also front man for both the Tall Timber Trio, made up of"Speedy" Haworth (guitar), Bob White (bass guitar) and "Doc" Martin (steel guitar); and the Jubilee Band, composed of Haworth, Martin, White, Johnny Gailey (drums), Paul Mitchell (piano) and Zed Tennis (fiddle). Featured vocalists included Leroy Van Dyke, Suzi Arden, Chuck Bowers, Sonny James, Tommy Sosebee and Tabby West.[21] SingersHawkshaw Hawkins and Jean Shepard, who met on the show, later married.
The versatile Wilson was also half of the show's Flash and Whistler (with Floyd "Goo Goo" Rutledge); and Rutledge was half of Lennie and Goo Goo (withLennie Aleshire), both country music comedy duos. Other comedians were Pete Stamper,Shug Fisher, KWTO's Bill Ring,Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield, and Luke Warmwater.[21]
The cast also includedThe Foggy River Boys, a singing quartet later known as The Marksmen (George Richardson, Les Robertson, Don Taylor and Earl Terry); Harold Morrison (banjo) and Jimmy Gately (guitar), a bluegrass duo; and The Wagoner Trio, made up of Wagoner, Haworth and Don Warden (steel guitar).
Thehouse band was first known as The Crossroads Boys,[22] composed of Grady Martin, Billy Burke, Bud Isaacs, Tommy Jackson, Paul Mitchell, Jimmy Selph, Bob Moore and Mel Bly; but the name was soon changed to Bill Wimberly and His Country Rhythm Boys, a seven-piece group that alternated weekly during 1955 with Grady Martin and His Winging Strings, featuring Moore, Jackson, Isaacs and Hank Garland.[21]
Pierce hosted the first half-hour of the 90-minute programs once a month beginning October 15, 1955;[23] Wagoner and James joined him in monthly rotation from January through at least July 1956.[24] Substitute hosts included Wilson, Eddy Arnold, andJim Reeves (May–July 1958). The on-camera announcer was Joe Slattery, a formerPan Am andUS Army Air Forces pilot who later became president ofAFTRA.
TheJubilee featured two square dance groups: the Promenaders (withcaller Lowell "L. D." Keller), a competitive team originally fromSouthwest Missouri State College; and a children's group fromCamdenton, Missouri, the (Lake of the Ozarks) Tadpoles (with caller Buford Foster). Several other groups, including the Ozark Sashayers (with caller Rex Kreider) and the teenage Wagon Wheelers (with caller Gary Ellison), made guest appearances.[21]
Foley's son-in-law,Pat Boone, occasionally appeared; as did his eldest daughter,Betty.Willie Nelson and his eventual third wife,Shirley Simpson, both auditioned for the show, but only Simpson (given the stage surname Caddell) made it.[25] Many of the regular cast were natives or residents of the Ozarks. Over the years they included:
Virtually every country music star of the day appeared on theJubilee[citation needed] with the notable exception ofHank Snow, who maintained an allegiance to Nashville's Opry. Among them were:
Other guests includedFran Allison in a recurring role as Aunt Fanny; actorsBetty Ann Grove,Jim Brown andDuncan Renaldo; andnationally syndicated columnistEarl Wilson. A youngWayne Newton performed with his brother as the Rascals in Rhythm.[26] On January 14, 1956, the program's first anniversary, Tennessee Gov.Frank Clement, Missouri's U.S. senatorsTom Hennings andStuart Symington, and Missouri Lt. Gov.Jim Blair appeared, as did St. Louis Cardinals baseball starStan Musial.[27]
On February 23, 1956,[28] 11-year-oldBrenda Lee, living inAugusta, Georgia, turned down $30 to sing on aSwainsboro radio station to see Foley and a visitingJubilee promotional unit at Bell Auditorium. A localdisc jockey convinced Foley to hear her sing before the show. He was stunned and agreed to let Lee perform"Jambalaya" that night. Foley later recalled his reaction:
I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice. One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I'd forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood...after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes. The way I stood back and enjoyed watching her work I felt guilty for not going out to the box office and buying a ticket.[29]
Jubilee producer-director Bryan Bisney contacted her stepfather, Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who mailed him atape recording of Lee singing "Jambalaya" on an Augusta radio show with asnapshot of Lee in Cincinnati, Ohio withJimmie Skinner (who had appeared on the show in 1955). He booked her network debut for March 31, 1956 to sing "Jambalaya" on the second "Junior Jubilee" edition of the show.
TheNew York Journal American's Jack O'Brien began his April 1 column with, "Didn't catch the name of the 9-year-old [sic] singer on last night'sOzark Jubilee but she belts a song like a star."[30] The show received three times the usualfan mail with nearly every letter asking to see her again, and Lee's family soon moved to Springfield. Although her five-year contract with Top Talent was broken by a 1957 lawsuit brought by her mother and her manager,[31] she made regular appearances on the program throughout its run.
Carl Perkins and the Perkins Brothers Band made their television debut onOzark Jubilee on March 17, 1956, performing Perkins' No. 1 hit, "Blue Suede Shoes"[32] and the B side, "Honey Don't". The group included Perkins (lead guitar and vocalist), Jay Perkins (rhythm guitar), Clayton Perkins (bass guitar) andW.S. Holland (drums). Coincidentally,Elvis Presley performed the song that same Saturday night on CBS-TV'sStage Show, which overlapped theJubilee from 8–8:30 p.m. ET (Presley first performed the song February 11 onStage Show).[33] An automobile accident en route to New York prevented the group from next appearing onThe Perry Como Show on March 24. Perkins returned to theJubilee on February 2, 1957 to again sing "Blue Suede Shoes" and his then-current hit, "Matchbox".
Both Perkins and Presley were fans of theJubilee.[34] In 1955, Presley sawCharlie Hodge, his eventual friend and stage assistant, perform on the program. He first met Hodge when aJubilee promotional unit later visitedMemphis, Tennessee. That same year, Presley asked Bobby Lord to get him an appearance on the show, but Lord told Presley the producers viewed him as "a flash in the pan."[35]
Patsy Cline made sixteen appearances on theJubilee, which gave her the opportunity to choose her own material for a national audience.[36] She first appeared in January 1956,[37] returning on April 21. In 1957, she appeared on February 9; and on June 22 (theOklahoma State Fair remote) she performed "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Try Again". On August 10, 1957 she sang her new single, "Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray)" and "Try Again". Her December 5 appearance included "Make Believe", a duet with Foley; "I Don't Wanna Know"; and "Then You'll Know". During the program, Foley presented Cline withThe Billboard's Most Promising County & Western Female Artist award, andMusic Vendor magazine's award for Greatest Achievement in Records in 1957 (for "Walkin' After Midnight").[38]
In 1958, Cline appeared on February 21 and April 26. On November 7, 1959, she sang "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Come on In", then "Let's Go to Church" as a duet with Slim Wilson. On December 7, she sang her "Got a Lot of Rhythm in My Soul" and "Lovesick Blues", released in January 1960; and sang duets with Ferlin Husky ("Let it Snow") and Foley ("Winter Wonderland"). On June 4, 1960, Cline soloed with "Lovesick Blues" and "How Can I Face Tomorrow", released in July; and sang "I'm Hogtied Over You" with Cowboy Copas and "Rueben, Reuben" withJune Valli and Eddy Arnold.[36]
Every fourth Saturday from March 31 through September 15 (and on December 13), 1956, a special edition ofOzark Jubilee showcased young country music performers. "Junior Jubilee" aired from 7:30–8 p.m. when ABC televisedThe Grand Ole Opry from 8–9 p.m. Although Foley appeared, 10-year-old singer Libby Horne of McAlester, Oklahoma was the ostensible emcee.[39] Little Johnny Edwards 6-year-old singer of Sarcoxie, Missouri 1956. Brenda Lee made her first appearances on the program. Other performers included seven-year-old singer "Cookie" McKinney, guitaristJohn "Bucky" Wilkin, 12-year-old fiddler Clyde Wayne Spears, singer-guitarist Mike Breid, seven-year-old Billy Joe Morris, and child square dancers the Whirli-jiggers.[40] "Junior Jubilee" first appeared as a show segment on November 19, 1955, and returned as a portion ofJubilee USA on November 8, 1958.[41]
Foley periodically asked viewers to contribute to various charities, including theMarch of Dimes,Easter Seals,Community Chest, and aid following the1960 Great Chilean earthquake. Guests in 1956 included the Polio Mother of the Year and theMarch of Dimes poster family. Groups recognized on the program included theGirl Scouts and the Chiefs of Police.
TheJubilee also staged performances for inmates at theUS Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, including special Christmas shows.[42]
During the program's 1955 premiere, Foley asked, "If you folks want us to come and visit at your house like this every Saturday night, why don't you drop me a line in Springfield, Missouri?" In the next week 25,258 cards and letters arrived from 45 of the48 states,[43] and the show typically received 6,000 letters each week.[44] In May 1955, carried by 72 ABC affiliates, it was the only TV show with an audience equally divided among men, women and children, according to theAmerican Research Bureau (ARB).[9] For 1955, ABC reported these achievements for the program, citing ARB data:[45]
By early 1956, theJubilee had earned a 19.2Nielsen rating,[46] and ARB estimated its weekly TV audience to be as high as 9,078,000.[45] (The $64,000 Question had the most viewers, 16,577,500.)[47] By 1959 the show was carried by 150 affiliates,[48] but rarely won its time slot, competing with such heavyweights asThe Perry Como Show on NBC; and on CBS,The Honeymooners,Perry Mason, and in 1960, the top-ratedGunsmoke. Its ratings were also hampered when a fewmajor-market affiliates such as WABC-TV took advantage of network break-away cues to carry 30- or, when it was 90 minutes, 60-minute portions[citation needed].
ABC promoted and sold the program as prime family entertainment. Sponsors included theAmerican Chicle Co.,Rolaids,Anacin (1956),Williamson-Dickie (1957–60),Massey Ferguson (1958–60),Arrid,Postum (1958), Carter's Little Pills and Sargent's Dog Care Products (1960);[49] and was sold nationally byTed Bates & Company. Joe Slattery handled station breaks and some commercials, often appearing duringJubilee USA with Massey Fergusonfarm tractors andaccessories in film clips or on stage.
The live audience was briefly part of the broadcasts when a camera would swing around to show the sold-out Jewell Theatre. Attendees, often nearly 90 percent out-of-state,[50] would cheer and hold up signs or banners with the names of their hometowns. Producers estimated 350,000 people (from as many as 30 states on some nights) attended the performances at the Jewell from 1954–1960. Visitors also came from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and Bermuda.[44] Tickets had to be requested as long as six weeks in advance and it was believed[by whom?] to be the only network TV show with paid admission ($1.00 main floor, 75 cents balcony and 50 cents standing room). Second (non-broadcast) shows were frequently added to accommodate the demand during the summers.
TheJubilee regularly noted it was carried "coast to coast", and to promote the show, "personal appearance units", often including Foley, performed at state fairs and other venues in 42 states, Alaska (then a U.S. territory) and every Canadian province.[43]
Ozark Jubilee's first broadcast was December 26, 1953 with an hour-long telecast from thestudio of KYTV before a live audience,[51] hosted by Bill Bailey. The two-and-a-half-hour radio version, hosted by Foley, began July 17, 1954 on KWTO from Springfield's 1,100-seatJewell Theatre, a former movie theater.[52] ABC Radio began carrying 30 minutes of the program August 7, and added another half-hour on a delayed basis on Tuesday nights starting October 5. The KYTV show followed with 90-minute TV simulcasts from the theater starting September 4, 1954.[53]
The program debuted on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, but the first 14 national telecasts were staged atKOMU-TV inColumbia, Missouri because network television transmission capability from Springfield was not available. Columbia had amicrowave transmitter, however, for ABC coverage ofUniversity of Missouri football games. AfterAT&T installed amicrowave link in Springfield to transmit to Kansas City (which could feed to the network via Chicago), and modifications were made to the Jewell (including extending the stage and adding acontrol room), the program returned to the theater with the first broadcast April 30. The show was sent to KYTV by a local microwave link from the station's remote van. Rehearsals for Saturday shows were held on Fridays, with run-throughs Saturday afternoons.
The program used equipment and staff from KYTV, which was then a dual ABC-NBC network affiliate. It debuted using two black-and-white RCA TK-11cameras with a third added a year later. Vocals of some hit songs werelip-synched. Overhead shots of square dancing and for other creative purposes were accomplished using a large mirror angled above the stage[citation needed]. One 1960 show included an elephant from a visiting Adams & Sells Circus quietly performing on stage behind an "oblivious" Uncle Cyp[citation needed]. The program had tworemote broadcasts: June 22, 1957 from theOklahoma State Fair during the state's semi-centennial;[54] and February 21, 1959 from theMasonic Auditorium[55] inDetroit, Michigan for a Massey Ferguson dealers convention.[56]
In July 1957, Dan Lounsbery, producer of NBC'sYour Hit Parade, and its art director, Paul Barnes,[57] were hired by ABC to spend several weeks with the show to improve the sets and pacing. July 6 saw the first program under the nameCountry Music Jubilee, which, according to ABC Vice PresidentJames Aubry Jr., "recognizes the wide popularity of country music."[58]
TheJubilee's executive producers were Crossroads vice presidents Si Siman and John Mahaffey, and the producer-director was Bryan"Walt" Bisney. Theco-writers were publicist Don Richardson and Bob "Bevo" Tubert. Fred I. Rains was floor director and Bill Ring frequently served as associate producer. The originalscenic designer was Don Sebring; his successor, Andy Miller, later did scenic design for nearbySilver Dollar City and Richardson became its public relations director[citation needed].
In 1961,NBC-TV carried a summer spin-off calledFive Star Jubilee from March 17–September 22. Starting in May, it was the first networkcolor television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.[59] The weekly program featured five rotating hosts:Snooky Lanson, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Carl Smith and Rex Allen. Produced from Springfield'sLanders Theatre, it was similar toJubilee USA and featured some of the same cast members, including Bobby Lord, the Promenaders and Slim Wilson's Jubilee Band.Barbara Mandrell made her network debut on the program.[60]
After cancellation by ABC, live performances from the Jewell Theatre continued over KWTO-AM (with 15 minutes carried byNBC Radio on Saturday afternoons through 1961), and groups of cast members continued making personal appearances.[54] The theater was demolished five months later in February 1961;[61] a marker in Jubilee Park, dedicated in 1988, notes its location at 216 South Jefferson Ave. Cast and production crew members held reunions at the 1988 dedication, in October 1992, and in April 1999.[62]
TheJubilee was culturally significant for giving millions of urban and suburban American viewers their first regular exposure to country music[citation needed]. As Webb Pierce toldTV Guide in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else."[4] In return, theJubilee gave many of the biggest names in country music their first experiences performing on television.
The program also gave national exposure to a number of female country music pioneers, including Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Jan Howard, Jean Shepard, Kitty Wells and Norma Jean; the show also featured a localAfrican-American group, the Philharmonics.[21] It represented the peak of Red Foley's career, who had been America's top country star since World War II and who remains one of the biggest-selling country artists of all time[citation needed]. Finally, theJubilee in many ways laid the groundwork for neighboringBranson, Missouri to become America's top country music tourist destination.[63]
The program was the subject of a 1993 book,Remembering the Ozark Jubilee;[64] and in 2003,Ozarks Public Televisionreleased an hour-long documentary[permanent dead link],Ozark Jubilee: A Living Legacy. Cast and crew gathered once again for its premiere at the Landers Theatre.
Streets in a residential neighborhood of nearbyNixa, Missouri include Ozark Jubilee Drive, Red Foley Court, Slim Wilson Boulevard, Bill Ring Court, Zed Tennis Street and Haworth Court.[65]
More than sixty full or partialkinescopes of the program were preserved at theUCLA Film and Television Archive.[66]Missouri State University'sMeyer Library has partnered with the UCLA archives to digitize all viable episodes and post them on a dedicatedYouTube channel. Digitizing each episode costs $2,500, andsponsorship opportunities are available. As of February 2023, more than 70 episodes or segments have been posted. Meyer Library also houses theBryan T. E. Bisney Ozark Jubilee Collection of Bisney's logbooks, notes and photos.
(Chronological)