 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Russell Hayden, Shirley Patterson (later, Shawn Smith) and Bob Wills of Texas Playboys fame, in a scene from THE VIGILANTES RIDE (Columbia, 1944). In the Hayden starrer RIDERS OF THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED (Columbia, 1943), Wills and the Texas Playboys are singing Mounties. In addition to Hayden, Wills also did singing duty with Tex Ritter, Ken Curtis and Charles Starrett ... and he also did several musical films on his own. In his film appearances, Wills used either the full Texas Playboys contingent, or a stripped down version. Band members included Leon McAuliffe (steel guitar) and Tommy Duncan (vocals). Am unsure of Will's mount above, but he resembles the famous pinto Dice. Wills also had a white or palomino steed that was named Clover. The pinto nicknamed 'Dice' was trained and owned by Ralph McCutcheon and was used by John Carroll in ZORRO RIDES AGAIN, Autry in THE STRAWBERRY ROAN, Bill Elliott in GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK serial, Jennifer Jones in DUEL IN THE SUN, and even showed up in TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY. Jack Mathis mentions in his book Valley Of The Cliffhangers that McCutcheon's 'Pair O'Dice' portrayed the pinto 'El Rey' in the ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (click HERE for a lobby card from that serial showing Zorro and his horse). The official Bob Wills website is at: http://www.bobwills.com/ Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website has a photo of the marker for James Robert 'Bob' Wills (1905-1975) at the Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, Oklahoma: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1479 There's a bio on Wills at the Famous Texans website: http://www.famoustexans.com/bobwills.htm |
| Release Date |
Film Title | Company | Star |
| 11/11/40 | Take Me Back To Oklahoma | Monogram | Tex Ritter |
| 11/15/40 | Melody Ranch | Republic | Gene Autry |
| 11/27/41 | Go West, Young Lady | Columbia | Penny Singleton |
| 10/15/42 | The Lone Prairie | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 12/15/42 | A Tornado in the Saddle | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 2/15/43 | Riders of the Northwest Mounted | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 4/27/43 | Saddle and Sagebrush | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 9/10/43 | Silver City Raiders | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 12/23/43 | The Vigilantes Ride | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 4/20/44 | Wyoming Hurricane | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 6/22/44 | The Last Horseman | Columbia | Russell Hayden |
| 10/7/44 | Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys | Warners | Bob Wills |
| 9/7/45 | Rhythm Round-Up | Columbia | Ken Curtis |
| 9/18/45 | Blazing the Western Trail | Columbia | Charles Starrett |
| 11/15/45 | Lawless Empire | Columbia | Charles Starrett |
| 8/14/46 | Frontier Frolics | Universal | Bob Wills |
 (Courtesy of Minard Coons)  (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above, Ken Curtis with pretty Cheryl Walker in a title lobby card from RHYTHM ROUND-UP (Columbia, 1945) which featured the Hoosier Hotshots and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. |
 Above, Tex Ritter, and on the far right is his sidekick, Lloyd 'Arkansas Slim' Andrews in a lobby card from RIDIN' THE CHEROKEE TRAIL (Monogram, 1941). The singing group is The Tennessee Ramblers from radio station WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. They appeared in a few other B westerns including the Gene Autry YODELIN' KID FROM PINE RIDGE (Republic, 1937) and SUNDOWN VALLEY (1944 Columbia) which starred Charles Starrett.  Kevin Coffey was able to identify the members of the Tennessee Ramblers in the above lobby card. From L-to-R are: Tex Martin (Martin Schopp - later a deejay and recording artist under the name Marty Roberts), Harry Blair, Jack Gillette, Lelland 'Kid' Clark. Seated is Cecil 'Curly' Campbell. |
 Title lobby card from one of the earlier Wakely films, WEST OF THE ALAMO (Monogram, 1946). On the right, Jimmy is ridin' his paint horse 'Lucky'. Sidekick Lee 'Lasses' White is shown on the left side. Note the photo insert showing Wakely strummin' a guitar. The lobby card credits Arthur Smith and His Trio as the musical support. Fiddlin' Arthur Smith worked in many of the Jimmy Wakely oaters including RIDERS OF THE DAWN (Monogram, 1945), LONESOME TRAIL (Monogram, 1945), OKLAHOMA BLUES (Monogram, 1948), RANGERS RIDE (Monogram, 1948) and PARTNERS OF THE SUNSET (Monogram, 1948). Not to be confused with Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith and his "Crackerjacks" who were members of the radio station WBT, Charlotte, North Carolina lineup in the 1940s. That Arthur Smith's most famous composition was "Guitar Boogie".  Above is a blowup of the above lobby card inset. Kevin Coffey was able to identify the musicians. Front row from L-to-R are: Jimmie Widener, guitar; Jack Rivers, guitar; Wakely; Pete Martinez, steel guitar; the accordion player is an on-screen sub, name unknown, for the soundtrack accordion, who was Stan Ellison, Wakely's regular accordion player during this period. L-to-R in the back row are: Jesse Ashlock, fiddle; Harold Hensley, fiddle; Arthur Smith, fiddle; probably Art West, bass. |
