For those who still remembered my father, Kazuo Gomi, from all that way back...
just wanted to tell you that he is still alive...
He wasn't from NHK, but rather from NTV in Japan.
I have told him about this website and hopefully he can find it and post a message. If not, then please feel free to contact me at robin.gomi@nec-computers.com and I will forward the e-mail to him.
Sincerely,


Robin Gomi

OK.....

ANYBODY IN HOLLERIN DISTANCE OF TULSA OKLAHOMA WITHIN THE DATES OF THE 13 THRU THE 21 OF JULY........

HAUL YOUR BUTTS DOWN TO THE WILLIAMS THEATRE IN THE TULSA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AND CHECK OUT "ALWAYS......PATSY CLINE".....

JANET RUTLAND STARS AS PATSY, AND DOES A PHENOMENAL JOB WITH THE VOCALS ON SOME OF THE BEST REMEMBERED PATSY CLINE MEGAHITS, AND A COUPLE OF SONGS ILL BET U DIDNT REALIZE THAT PATSY RECORDED.........

THE SHOW ALSO STARS OUR OWN STEVE BAGSBY KICKIN OUT THE JAMS ON THE FIDDLE AND THE WAILIN STEEL GUITAR.......

GET THERE.....GET THERE.....GET THERE......DO IT FAST......THE SHOW IS IN DANGER OF SELLIN OUT......

CALL (918) 596-7111 FOR TICKET RESERVATIONS.......YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT REGRET IT........

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress........

Well, since we seem to be name dropping on the subject of country music.....when I was but a sprout, livin' on the east side of Reservoir Hill.....Mr. and Mrs. Cooksey were our closest neighbors.....down the hill at the back of our lot......about a block away....

They had this cool Pontiac on which the Indian head hood ornament lit up when the lights were on. They were just the nicest people, and we became friends.....they were like grandma and grandpa, and Mrs. Cooksey was forever making me cookies, and stopping me on the way home from Burroughs Elementary School to partake of them and some cold milk.

.....the Cookseys had a son, who had a daughter my age, that I liked very much....we played together whenever they came to visit..which wasn't nearly often enough to suit me....and she was always trying to figure out some way for us to get to be on her dad's TV show.....on KOTV......dad was Leon McAuliffe.....he offered to teach me to play the steel guitar at one time, and somehow, I even convinced my mom and dad to take me to his music store to price a steel.....alas, it was not to be.....but for the grace, etc........... any way, Leon was always a gentleman, his daughter was beautiful, and I consider him (at least in my own mind) to have actually been one of my friends. And that, folks....is the rest of the story.

Does anyone know the name of the theme song from the HoHo Show? I haven't been able to get it out of my head for 30 years.........

Jimmy Leake - not the best or worst local TV station owner I have encountered. He could have been better - but we all could be.

He hired good people who hired good people - so that says something for him!

"Oil In Oklahoma" - I think was the best thing he jump-started, I grumble over all the zzzz Azalea Fest coverage we did, but he was loyal to Muskogee.

Would have liked to have known him 50-60 years at OU when a bandsman or as a young salesman at Griffin Grocery - I am too colored in my opinions of him and his actions in the '70's when I worked for him...A lot of us grumped about how he spent 8's profits on cars or crazy schemes - but it was HIS money, we just helped him make some of it. A lot of us felt we could have made him more of it!

That after the Allbritton buy-out he hit hard financial times still amazes me. We figured he'd retire to Monaco (at least antique car racing country in England!) or build the world's biggest car museum. He didn't.

Was he a saint? None of us are I guess. No not a saint - but an interesting character as a local owner in that day and age. Compared to today's distanced, non-locally interested mega-owners from out of town buying up all local outlets of broadcasting he would seem a dinosaur I guess....

Stuff...I have been into Tehano music and "pure Texas" (hello Don Walser!) C&W since hearing a live concert or 2 here on the Mall in DC but have been a Bob Wills fan since about 1976.

You know - once you get exposed to something new - you may LIKE it. Kinda think dat's how zydeco became a hit in the North.

Am too poor to own all the Tiffany Bob Wills shows and now Tower Records has stopped carrying them! Will start checkin' the Salvation Army CD stacks I guess. My most-recent girlfriend worked at Voice of America and said C&W is THE musical import to Europe now-a-days. In the '50's-'70s Willis Conover reigned with JAZZ on VOA, but country is now king.

Any of you buying stuff by mail from Guy Logsdon in Tulsey? His son-in-law is a "cowboy poet" but Guy advertises in the back of Texas Monthly and is a 1 man bookshop/tape-store out of his house in Tulsa on western music and cowboy lore. His lovely wife has been very sick off and on and sometimes Guy gets behind in orders but he WILL get back to you. Don't think he has a website - just look him up in the Tulsey phone book (I think on 18th or some street like that) and he will personally mail you his 20-30 page catalog.

When he was at TU forever running the Libraries - a lot of folks did not realize his interest/love of this genre or that he was a good picker.

Was at Mike Miller's last night and looking at a one of his scrapbooks - we found a hilarious autographed GQ-esque photo from Bill Clinton that was sent to Mike when he worked in Little Ark, Rockansas - Clinton may have been AG in Arkysaw then. Maybe Mike can scan it and post it on the site. Clinton looks like he is trying to get a male model gig at Clarke's Good Clothes.

Someone gave him baaaad photo advice!

Who dares to fill Mazeppa's robe and boxing gloves?

KJRH, Channel 2 would like to know. They are looking for a host of their new late night program, "The World's Worst Movies".

Auditions will be held next Monday and Tuesday in a tent outside the studio. They are open to the public, but you must be scheduled in advance by calling 743-2222 between 9 am and 1 pm.

The host will introduce and interact with the movie a la Joe Bob Briggs of "Monstervision". The show is to air at midnight following Saturday Night Live.

David Bell, KJRH's creative services director, will conduct the interviews. "We're asking people to come up with about two minutes of prepared material, and to be prepared to answer a few questions on tape."

This is someone's chance to enter the annals of Tulsa TV history...read more about it in the Thursday Arts section of the Tulsa World.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

An uncharacteristically speechless Paul Harvey, who has been off the air for more than a month with what was thought to be laryngitis, will undergo surgery to repair a weakened vocal cord.

Chris Berry, vice president of ABC News Radio, said Tuesday that the Chicago-based commentator will undergo the outpatient procedure later this month at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

''Then it's going to be several weeks after that before he is back on the air,'' said Berry, who described Harvey's voice as sounding ''a little thin.''

During an examination at the clinic last week, doctors diagnosed the vocal cord problem, which they attributed to a virus Harvey caught last May, Berry said. Harvey, 82, made headlines last November when he signed a 10-year, $100 million contract with ABC Radio Networks. He has been a top star on the network for 50 years and is widely considered to be the most listened-to voice on radio.

In a written message to his anxious affiliates last month, Harvey sought to reassure them and his legion of fans that he would be back behind the microphone soon.

''I know it must seem that I have neglected my professional family' in recent weeks,'' he wrote. ''The fact is that I've imagined that every 'next week' I would be back on your frequency broadcasting as usual, but this bug is tenacious!

''The good news is that the voice is returning gradually. The bad news is that it is not yet the broadcast quality which ABC affiliates deserve. Also, I'm told that to stress the voice prematurely could prolong the hoarseness.

''I am indeed sorry this uncertainty has dragged on so long, but the worst is past. The healing has begun. God willing, it won't be long now,'' he wrote.

While resting his vocal cords, Harvey has been dividing his time between his mansions in west suburban River Forest and Arizona, playing golf and writing.

Click on the picture to see what Paul Harvey looked like when he was a student at Tulsa Central High School.

I did a Johnnie Lee Wills feature at Cain's in about 1977. Great music, small but appreciative crowd.

It's been about 12 years since I lived up Jim Ruddle's way, but he may still be able to find Mike Gross's "Swingin' West" on WSHU-FM out of Fairfield, Connecticut. A couple of hours a week that kept me sane and grounded during five long (island) years surrounded by people who didn't know chicken fried steak from chinchilla. It was also from "Swingin' West" that I learned the Wills' Tiffany Transcription albums were released. I mail-ordered a bunch of tapes and wore 'em out, lost 'em on airplanes, etc.

The Tiffany Transcriptions were daily radio shows recorded postwar in San Francisco and syndicated to local stations. They show the Wills band in a looser setting than the usual recording sessions, and probably sound a lot like the prewar KVOO noontime broadcasts, but with fewer horns and Herb Remington at the steel in place of Leon, and a youthful Johnny Gimble on fiddle. I think they're still available on CD from Rhino.

Are any radio stations in Tulsa or environs doing a "true country" format? Essentially a country version of oldies...hasn't had much success anywhere I've heard of outside of WSM-AM Nashville and smaller Texas markets, which is sad, as people like the recently departed Chet Atkins left a lot of interesting work behind that doesn't get much if any airplay, unless it's re-made by somebody wearing a hat, generally inferiorly.

(An exception: George Strait's version of "If You Ain't Lovin' Then You Ain't Livin" is better than Faron Young's original.)

KVOO still plays a lot of good classic country. Here is KVOO's schedule...check out the page about Billy Parker and John Wooley.

My dad once ran into another steel guitar great, Speedy West, while out fishing, and had a long chat with him.

Thanks, Mike, for the warning. We don't get weather reports here. Yo-ho-ho. Besides, a bad day on the boat is still better than a good day in the studio.

Last week, for reasons known only to the political mind, a free concert was sponsored by the Westchester County Parks Department. Now, around here, most of those who use the parks are not investment bankers and ad execs. We have many Irish and Italian third, second, and first generation folk who couldn't tell the difference between a cow and a cow pie. So, what was the concert? Country and Western, of course, with a group calling itself "Gunsmoke." The musicians were really pretty good, although the vocalizing was just shy of "please, don't sing."

Anyway, they played a little bit of Merle, some Johnny Cash, a Garth or two, Carl Perkins was represented, and so, to my amazement, was Bob Wills. They did a pretty good Western Swing, and even this audience was tapping its feet to "Corrine Corrina."

When it was over, I walked over to the steel guitar player and told him that I had enjoyed the band's efforts, adding that I had known Leon McAuliffe. I might just as well have said that I had known George Washington, because his face lit up and he wanted to know all about it. I've had the same reaction from every steel man I ever encountered. They all hold ol' Leon in near-reverence. While we were talking, I dropped in Wayne Johnson's name, saying nothing about his musical background, and not expecting any recognition, but he was right on the story and knew about Wayne as a musician.

As I say, they were not the greatest group in existence, however, it was the first time in probably thirty years or so that I've heard a live performance of "Take Me Back to Tulsa," and that's worth something.

A brief additional note to Frank Morrow's bit on John Henry Faulk:

When I was at the University of New Mexico in the early sixties, one of the faculty members was a woman from Texas who was a close friend of Faulk's and who spoke fondly of him. Apparently, they had known each other for many years and she unrolled a host of stories about him. Faulk had recently been in the news and some people on campus were interested in learning more about him. On one occasion, somebody brought up Faulk's politics and asked her "Was he a communist?"

She chuckled charmingly and said, "Well, of course he was."

See a photo of Leon McAuliffe at the Cimarron Ballroom taken by my dad in TTM Photo Album 3 in the Briefcase. Read what Leon McAuliffe had to say about the time Leon Russell played on one of his albums in Guestbook 52.

Jeez!

Ya got 100 degrees in OKC now.

We have possible tornadies coming to DC.

Anyone seen the locusts or horny toads falling from the sky?

Somebody tell Jim Ruddle it's gonna be a bad day to be out in his boat - in a few hours - if the storms track thru here!

Man, don't go to a site for a while and look what you see!! My old buddy Mack Creager has gone to that big sports booth in the sky and Buddy Allison to the news set.

Mack and my father-in-law Ken Vandever were good buds and Mack and I traded barbs during setup for the six and ten.

Buddy was always first in line for the food off the ONG Coffee Break show, but was always the pro.

Godfrey Daniels! I started at 6 at age 18, now I am 50. I hold these people and these memories deep in my heart.

I remember seeing one of those giant album covers from Peaches hanging in the upper level of the Appollo-Delman when that was newly renovated in the early 80's. It was a 10' (or more) square of the Genesis "Seconds Out" album cover. Also recall seeing the Dixie Dregs "What If" album cover hanging at Peaches. What a great shop!

I will premise by saying I mean no disrespect to the world of the TV greats in the Tulsa area by talking too much about music. The memories that only the true Tulsans can stand to listen to, try talking about any of this to people out here in the desert!

Anyway, on one hand it's good to hear that the cement blocks at the Peaches building are still hanging in there. On the other hand I can imagine the condition they are in, they were a maintenance issue when I was there '79-'82. The "Album Art" poster boards were all hand-painted by some awesome artists in L.A. at a company by the same name. They were put outside for 6 months and then hung inside until they were sold. I lugged two of them around for years until space became a problem.

The passing of Mr. Chet Atkins is a sign if the times, he was indeed one of the best. Someone mentioned Mr. Eldon Shamblin and I remember buying candy from him, he worked at the GitNGo at 21st and Memorial on his time off the road. I talked with him about those times one night when he was on tour with Merle Haggard and played Mabee Center c. 1982.

He too was one of the true gentlemen of the business. Our conversation included the late great Johnnie Lee Wills, who he also played great music with. I was honored to know Johnnie Lee as a kid and I treasure the thoughts of going through his western shop with my best friend.

I had never heard of Cal Tinney until he started that 15 minute show at 10 pm each weeknight on Tulsa Cable. I think it was mid or late 70s.

That's a shame about the old Peaches building. Many's the time in the late seventies/early eighties that I'd drop by and get my vinyl fix. Of course, I remember those concrete blocks, some colored blue or beige and most dated around (I think) 1976 or so, when it opened, saying things like "Good luck to Peaches!" or "Keep the change!" I always pictured some obsessed fan of one of the bands making like Lucy Ricardo and trying to steal theirs. For a while, they also had giant murals of popular albums mounted on the side of the building that faced Sheridan, illuminated by overhead lights. The last time I drove by there in '99, the lights and the outlines of the murals were still there. Good night, Tulsey-town. I miss y'all.

I stopped at the old Peaches/Buttons location today. Next tenant will be a furniture store. Some of the blocks with handprints of visiting bands are still there: Starcastle, the Pat Metheny band, Mickey Gilley, the Oak Ridge Boys, and a couple of relatively new ones like Brian Parton. No Fabulous Poodles; some of the slots are empty. The workman's improvised response to my query was "as far as I know, the owner is planning to keep them." But I wouldn't take that to the bank.

9/2005: The same blocks are still there!

4/14/2006: Lost Tulsa has a photoset that includes the Starcastle handprints.

John Henry Faulk was a top-rated talk show host in New York, and was the top man being considered as the first host of what became the “Tonight Show.” But, as an officer in the union, he was attacked by a McCarthyite organization called Aware. This led to his being blacklisted by the industry. He was unable to find work for many years.

He finally took Aware to court, and won his case. So egregious was the attack on Faulk, the jury awarded him several millions of dollars more than he had asked for. It netted him no money, because Aware was conveniently bankrupt.

Even after the McCarthy days were supposedly over, he never again was considered for a significant media position. "Hee-Haw" was the best he could do.

John Henry wrote a book on his experiences, “Fear on Trial.” It was later made into a movie. Faulk was immensely popular and in great demand on the speaking circuit. He was a great populist who loved the common people, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the US. Even many business groups loved to have him speak to them.

Faulk was a great storyteller and political wit in the Will Rogers tradition, but closer to the type like Studs Terkel, his close friend. John Henry went further than Rogers did in his populism. Rogers had a line he would not cross that made him safe for the elites to allow. Also, Rogers’ biggest time of influence was perhaps during the early Roosevelt years. As a supporter of FDR, Rogers could be seen as a safe populist, not one the types that was calling for significant changes in the system on behalf of the masses. In contrast, Faulk poked fun at Ronald Reagan, loathed J. Edgar Hoover, supported the peace movement, and was very critical of US policy toward Nicaragua and El Salvador.

John Henry Faulk was a witty, warm and very loving person. He loved being on my one-hour TV show, because he could speak his mind without restriction.

He is beloved in his native city, Austin. The city central library has been named after him.

Thanks very much for that, Frank. I sure didn't know the full story on Faulk. Interesting about the acceptable degrees of populism.

I join many others who knew Mr. Leake as our "Chief" at KTUL. He was a great man, he taught us to do our best and he always noticed when we did. He taught me to make the most of whatever it was I was doing and to enjoy life. He treated everyone the same. I saw him in June at the car auction and in failing health, he was still smiling and complimentary. I will miss him and always remember him.

Sue was seen in the same "8's The Place" promo that the picture of Mr. Leake below was taken from, and has contributed several stories to TTM.

Does anyone remember when Cal Tinney ran for mayor in Tulsa? It was in the late '40s. Although he lost, he stirred up a lot of interest, particularly with his radio commercials that promised that, if he were elected, he'd gather up all the politicians, tie a rope around them, and drag them out of town.

A biographer of Will Rogers dismisses Tinney as just another one of the Rogers' imitators. True, but he was probably the best, complete with a Rogers hair cut. I remember his theme song that had these words at the end, "This is ole Cal Tinney, Cal Tinney agin.'" If I remember correctly, this was part of some short, daily commentaries on one of the local radio stations.

No, Tinney was not a John Henry Faulk. Faulk was much more fearless and populist. He certainly was not imitative. He was an Austinite, who was on my TV show many times. Faulk also could be a great serious actor, although he seldom performed this way. Had it not been for the McCarthy terror, Faulk would have been as big a name as Paar and Carson.

Oh, that's right, Faulk was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, wasn't he? (for more about that period in Tulsa media, read Frank's comments near the bottom of Tulsa Radio in the Fifties). I only remember seeing him on "Hee-Haw". I wonder if Gailard Sartain met him there. Possibly not, since all the bits for the show were taped separately.

I am saddened to learn of the death of Jimmy Leake. For those of us who worked for him out at Channel 8, Mr. Leake was known as “The Chief.”

The “Chief” hired Bob Gregory to produce some excellent news specials, including “Oil in Oklahoma.” When I was news director, I received plenty of memos from Mr. Leake, but they only confirmed he watched KTUL like a hawk and made sure we gave ample coverage to events in Muskogee.

Unfortunately, when I was anchoring the weekend news, there was one memorable glitch to counterbalance the good times. Leake held one of his huge antique car auctions at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds. Of course, we set aside the final four minutes of my Saturday night news to cover the event. As I headed into the last commercial break, I plugged the upcoming story. Leake and his wealthy friends had retired to Leake’s home after the auction. Now they gathered around his TV ready to share in his moment of glory. Obviously, Leake, as owner, believed Channel 8 would have the best coverage. The worst coverage would have been preferable.

Just as the commercial was about to end, the director informed me the film story could not be found. There was no time to form a search party, only to apologize that technical reasons prevented the car auction from airing. The station owner was justifiably enraged. Two people were fired. Fortunately, I was not one of them. The photographer who forgot to take the film to projection was canned along with the projectionist who did not ask for it until it was too late.

Last year, Mr. Leake and I shared airtime on Jerry Pippin’s radio show. His health may have been failing, but not his Lookout Mountain memories. I will miss him as well as his longtime president of Leake TV, the late Bob Doubleday, who ruled KATV in Little Rock.

I was listening to that Jerry Pippin show...there is an article in the Tulsa World today (July 4) about Mr. Leake and his TV pioneering days. I will put together remarks about Mr. Leake from this site on a new page shortly. KOTV is now owned by Griffin Communications; they had a nice tribute on the news yesterday.

Cal Tinney's Dial-A-Smile...always good for a laugh. The only joke from there I can remember was something about a shotgun wedding and the groom complaining of the uncomfortableness of a gun in his back and his soon-to-be father-in-law retorting, "Boy, I ain't aiming to please."

I just received this in email.

Founder of KTUL, James Leake Dies

The founding father of NewsChannel 8, James C. Leake has passed away after lingering medical problems. He was 85 years old.

Leake was born near Chandler, Oklahoma and spent most of his life in Muskogee.

He was a broadcast pioneer, founding KTVX-TV Channel 8 in 1954, which later became KTUL-TV. He also owned and operated KATV in Little Rock. Leake owned KTUL for 28 years before announcing the sale of KTUL and KATV to Allbritton Communications, the current owners of the stations.

Leake was awarded numerous honors including the Governor's Oklahoma Water Pioneer Award last November. It was in recognition for his lifelong achievement in planning, development, conservation and protection of Oklahoma's water resources.

He played a key role in the passage of bond issues which financed the construction of the Port of Muskogee and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.

In 1979, Leake was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for his numerous achievements in broadcasting and with civic groups including the Green Country Association.

Mr. Leake's love for classic cars was always a winner. The annual Leake Car Auction is one of the top three largest indoor car auctions in the country. He and his wife, Marjorie owned the antique car museum in Muskogee for many years and at one point, they had the largest collection of Rolls Royces in the world.

A memorial service for Mr. Leake will be held in Muskogee on Monday morning at 11:00 at the St. Paul United Methodist Church.

Cal Tinney? In the 50s, I think, the Tulsa Tribune published a sort of two-headed column titled, "Will Said and Cal Says." A quote from Rogers was resurrected, preferably one related in some way to the news that day, and Tinney would come along with his thought in the other part.

Lee Woodward mentions Cal auditioned at KOTV in the late 1950s; I remember that he brought a small portable typewriter into the newsroom and encouragingly typed much of what I said in response to his questions about television news reporting. Whether he actually thought what I said would be of value to him or not, or whether it was, I cannot say. That's the only time I saw him in person.

Cal Tinney was a Tulsa Central graduate who idolized Will Rogers and tried to emulate him. He had some success on radio and television, particularly on the west coast, and, for some years, had a syndicated newspaper column.

About Rogers and roping: He was one of the best ever. There is film of Rogers roping tricks, including his tossing loops over the heads of two horses at one time. Some of his routines were almost unbelievably difficult.

Cal Tinney I think appeared on Betty Boyd's and John Chick's shows on 8 in my tenure there. He was funny but not hilarious - no John Henry Faulk. I think I DID hear that he was a shirt-tail Will Rogers relation but half the folks over 60 in Claremore claim that.

Wayne McCombs said 20-30 years ago that one of his grandparents remembered Will as a class roper and (this may be in bad taste) got rope around a certain part of a male horse as one of his stunts as a kid....

Dale Hogg's son went to school at St. Pius X for a while during my time there. He was quite a celebrity in his own right...not just because of his TV dad but because he was the only African-American kid in the entire school. I don't know if he was the first, but he certainly was the only one there during my 6 years of uplifting frolic (read 'Terror'). Any word on what he's doing?

In keeping with the Okie/weather theme, while thinking of the upcoming holiday:

You know you're an Okie if one or more of your family get-togethers have involved everyone gathering in the cellar.

For Lee Woodward:

Another example given for spotting an Okie: "You know you're an Okie if your response to a tornado warning is to go outside and look at the clouds."

Gary England is an icon in Ok. City. Somewhere in a box is a bronze plaque proclaiming my attendance at one of his weather schools back in the seventies. Nice fellow.

Now let's take that info and go to the "How do you tell a true Okie?"

You know a true Okie when you say the word "ROTATION" and they dive for cover!

I now offer a clue to the Will Rogers at the local level question. Early in my KOTV days (late fifties) there was a fellow who auditioned and did some cut-in's in local programing. He was a full time impersonator of Will Rogers. Dressed like him full time and that was his life. His name was Cal Tinney. I think he was rather well off and owned a lot of east Tulsa property.

I just remembered another "Real Okie" test. This is from real personal appearance observations when I would take Lionel into the "rurals". Some of these venues I would visit more than once and hence in different seasons. So,you know a real Okie if he wipes his nose on his sleeve and continues the practice even in the summertime when he has no shirt on!

I remember Cal "Dial-A-Smile" Tinney's joke line back in the early 80s...you dialed it up and heard several jokes told by Cal, who chuckled at the end of each one. It seems to me that he actually was some relation to Will Rogers.

He guest-starred in an episode of the old TV series "Bat Masterson", with Ron Howard's dad, Rance. He produced a game show, "Stop Me If You've Heard This One", on NBC radio back in 1948-49 and also appeared on the show with Morey Amsterdam. Home viewers sent in jokes that were read to the panel of comedians. If the comedian recognized the joke before it was read completely, he tried to finish it. If he didn't succeed, the home viewer won a prize.

I only got to see Chet Atkins play once live. It was at the Brady during the Prarie Home Companion Show. It was one of Eldon Shamblin's last performances and legend has it that Atkins came in order to play with Shamblin. Chet Atkins also produced Homer & Jethro...along with zillions of others. My brother Steve and I cut our teeth playing their stuff. Atkins was asked on a show sometime in the early Reagan era what he thought the direction of music was going to be and his response was that he thought a lot more people would be singing the blues.

My apologies to any persons wanting to answer Jim Back first.

Mathis Bros is at 3434 West Reno.

Tall Paul was an insurance company! They had a cute little jingle, which of course I know the lyrics to. I won't put you all through the pain of that. The phone number is 524-1541.

Gary England is a meteorologist at KWTV. He's been there since 1972.

"Jewelry is the gift to give, 'cause it's the gift that'll live and live.
So give the gift you know can't fail fron BC Clark's Anniversary Saaaaaale!!
Most sales are after Christmas, but Clark's is just before.
Most everything is marked way down -- savings you can't ignore!
At Oklahoma's oldest jeweler, since 1892.
So give the gift you know can't fail, from BC Clark's Anniversary Saaaaale!!!"

Thank you, thank you very much. I'll be here all week.

"Uncle Sherman" of KPIG radio in California posed this question in Guestbook 29:

"Didn't Will Rogers Jr. host an early morning show? (probably late 50's)"

An item in today's "Answerman" feature in the World answered this question and brought up a very interesting bit of Tulsa TV history as well:

"From January 1956 to April 1957, Jack Paar, Walter Cronkite and Will Rogers, Jr. were hosts of the two-hour "Morning Show" on CBS. Cast regulars included Edie Adams, Dick Van Dyke, and the Bil and Cora Baird Puppets."

So it appears that Will Rogers, Jr. was on a national, rather than local TV show. But even more interesting to readers of this site is the mention of Bil Baird.

A marionette neamed "Charlemane" was created by Baird and featured on the show. Charlemane was popular enough that puppet versions were sold in stores. One of them was discovered in a storage bin at KOTV by Lee Woodward and became Lionel!

Lee tells all about Lionel's origin and more in the history of Lee and Lionel on this site.

Here's one for Erick and any other tranplanted Oklahoma Citians . . .

A columnist for the paper here (The Daily Disappointment) who writes about this and that (sort of a current version of Troy Gordon or Roger Devlin) has been proffering up reader suggestions from time to time for appropriate ways to complete this sentence: "You know you're an Okie if . . ."

Clever examples have included "If you know someone who planned their wedding around a football schedule," and "If you have relatives in Bakersfield."

Anyway, the other day she had a test on how to separate the true Oklahoma City residents from the wannabes. Sort of a code that could be used to catch spies if we're ever infiltrated by someone from Lubbock, or Fayetteville, or some such place, who claims to be a local.

Authentic Oklahoma Citians should be able to answer these questions easily:

1. What is the address for the Mathis Brothers?

2. What is Tall Paul's phone number?

3. Who is Gary England and where does he work?

4. Sing the B.C. Clark Anniversary song.

If so challenged, I could nail three of the four questions, but would be busted on No. 2 and would have to confess to being a transplanted Tulsan. I don't know the reference to Tall Paul.

Anyone?

Clever spies could find the answers to questions 3 and 4 with the search engine on this web site.

WE lost another today...

Just saw Chet Atkins has died...what a guitar player/artist/cultural icon...Didn't he play with the Tulsa Philharmonic at Pops venue?

Chet Atkins gone...a major change in the musical landscape. As a kid, I listened to an 45 rpm EP of his with Swedish Rhapsody/Liza/Unchained Melody/Petite Waltz...I am listening to it again as I type this.

I love his album "Chester and Lester", recorded with a fellow guitar great who is still with us and playing in NYC, Les Paul. If Chet had any fault as a guitarist, it could only be that he was too perfect, and Les Paul was a playful and Django-esque foil for him on this record.

Here is a good biography of Chet from the Tennessean.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

A friend of mine and I are curious what the format of KAKC, 970 was before it was rock n' roll. Also, does anyone know what the call sign stands for? Thanks for your help!

Don Lundy said in Guestbook 5:

"KAKC was for Avey, Kellough and Condon. Sam Avey was a Tulsa entrepreneur, owned the old Coliseum that burned down in the 50s, think Kellough was a local businessman and Glen Condon was news director at KRMG in the early years."

Frank Morrow has some comments about early KAKC near the bottom of the KAKC page, also accessible from Channel Changer 2. He and Jim Ruddle talk about KAKC when it was located at the Coliseum, at the bottom of the Tulsa Radio in the Fifties page. Perhaps one of these gentlemen can tell us more...

Where IS Dale Hogg?

He was the last corporate care-taker of the Iridium satellite phone outfit here in DC (really Northern VA) but my e-mails to him at that address aren't going thru.

Has anyone talked to Dale recently?

Remembering Jack Lemmon - I think I recall seeing "China Syndrome" at the Boman Twin with Michael Douglas fresh from being the "kid" partner on "The Streets of San Francisco" on ABC.

Can anyone remember Jack Lemmon ever being in Tulsa for anything?

KTUL did a rather strange thing in 1954. With the slow, steady demise of radio and the rise of TV, the evening hours of radio were sadly neglected from the sales point of view. At KTUL mainly the 10pm news and 10:15 sportscast had the only hours of sponsorship. The weekends were hardly moneymakers at all except for a few CBS network shows in the evening.

But, someone came up with a bright idea to change all this. The management issued a memo with a program chart showing all the sustaining time (non-commercial) blocked out in green. The notice said that the announcers would be allowed to sell any or all of the time---and presumably receive a commission. However, to make sure that the announcers didn’t misbehave themselves or otherwise embarrass the station, a KTUL salesperson would accompany the on-the-air personnel on every visit to a prospective time buyer.

So far as I know, no announcer bothered to tap this potential source of great wealth. My thoughts were, (1), if the experienced salespeople couldn’t sell the time, how did they expect the neophyte announcers to do it successfully, and, (2), if the sales people were going to accompany each announcer, why didn’t they just go by themselves without the tyro?

The first memo on the subject was also the last. The announcers continued to receive their paltry paychecks, and the sustaining time grew and grew.

On George Stewart's passing.

My first impression of him went along the lines of "A pastor? In the News dept?"

After a bit, I understood. He had a passion for getting things out there, and was an amazingly quick study in the control-freak realm of the genre.

I went from cynicism to respect(ism) in a very short time, as I was punching a few weekend newscasts in those days.

I hope to see him on the other side.

He was one of the people who broke my personal mold of what I thought news people were supposed to be, and act like. And for the good.

pda

Jax Fl.

I saw an Associated Press where-are-they-now article about Bill Haley's Comets that reported they're in their 60s and 70s (agewise) and still doing reunion concerts (minus the late Haley, who died in 1981).

The article referred to a flyer from the Comets' 1955 concert in Tulsa in which they were the headliners and one Elvis Presley was just a backup act for the evening. Anyone remember that first hand? Second hand?

I haven't been by the store in a long time, after Sound Warehouse Dan Moran bought us, I am in the understanding they all got removed. The in-store appearances are a fond memory and it's really too bad those didn't end up on some restaurant entrance or something. (for those joining us late, Lani is referring to the blocks in front of the old Peaches record store with the handprints of visiting musical acts, a la Grauman's, now Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood ...webmaster)

I watched the Gary Busey biography and thought of the nights my friends and I would go and visit our friend Steve, who was a security guard, at the station. We were good kids and never bothered anything, we just would gawk at the thought of Mr. Chick and Tuffy and Gailard walking those floors. I had the same art teacher at Vo Tech that he had and her thoughts on Mazeppa were a lot different than ours! Such is life.

Mr. Chick lived across the street from an old boyfriend and he was certainly not only a Brownies' trip childhood memory for me, I know the people who lived around him thought a lot of his integrity.

It's a great thing you're doin', makes for good reading.

Thank you, Lani, and thanks for your contributions.

Aaron Tuttle update...

He's at KOCO in OKC.

Just archived Guestbook 82.

A & E did a program on Gary Busey last night, as mentioned on the Bulletin Board. Gailard Sartain was interviewed for the show, and "Coach Chuck" was seen on national TV. We're glad Gary is still with us after all his tribulations.

We learned of the passing of George Stewart, former News Director at KTUL. We heard all about the webmaster's conversation with the stars of "2001: A Space Odyseey" at Trek Expo (Kevin McCarthy of "UHF" was also in attendance...more about that at the bottom of the "UHF" page). Rex Daugherty returned to tell a UHF story, too.

We saw a 1965 Tulsa State Fair ticket, talked about Honest John's Records, and heard from KOTV/KAKC's Lee Bayley about the Solid Gold KAKC album. Don Norton discovered a new station in Tulsa: Channel 69 (see the Links page for more).

Tiger Woods didn't win the U.S. Open held at Southern Hills Country Club, but put Tulsa in the limelight by his mere presence. David Reynolds promoted his internet radio show. Billy Spradlin provided some links to pictures of Bell's Amusement Park. We heard from several newcomers this Guestbook, including the webmaster's brother, and many regular contributors.

Take a look back to catch up, then carry on!