| THE RECORDS | ||
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Above are two LP album covers in the Old Corral collection of Wakely tunes, and both show Jimmy with his custom Gibson SJ-200 guitar (Super Jumbo 200) with his name inlayed in the pick guard. The Wakely Family donated that guitar to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum around 1999. The "Jimmy Wakely Blue Shadows" album is from MCA Coral and has re-issues of his Decca songs. The "In Person Jimmy Wakely The Singing Cowboy" album on the right is from Wakely's Shasta company. | ||
 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are expert driver Post Park (real name: Custer B. Park), Jimmy Wakely (with another shirt variation) and Milburn Morante in RIDIN' DOWN THE TRAIL (Monogram, 1947). The arm-in-a-cast for Post Park was an excuse for Wakely to handle the reins, but if Jimmy got into trouble, Park was ready to take over.  (Courtesy of Les Adams) In the above scene from THE RANGERS RIDE (Monogram, 1948) are, from L-to-R, Virginia Belmont, Wakely and his sidekick Dub 'Cannonball' Taylor. Virginia Belmont did heroine duties in two other Wakelys, OKLAHOMA BLUES (Monogram, 1948) and COURTIN' TROUBLE (Monogram, 1948), and was the female lead in the serial DANGERS OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTED (Republic, 1948) which starred Jim Bannon.  (Courtesy of Minard Coons) After his Monogram series ended, Jimmy made a few appearances in films. Above from L-to-R are Wakely, Preston Foster, Johnny Mack Brown, Ken Murray and Buddy Baer (brother of one-time heavyweight boxing champ Max Baer). These players, and many other B western supporting actors, were working on THE MARSHAL'S DAUGHTER (1953). |
| WAKELY LINKS |  |  |
The California Death Index has records on:
Jimmy C. Wakely, born 2/16/1914 in Arkansas, Mother's maiden name of Burgess, passed away on 9/23/1982.
Dora Inez Wakely, born 1/3/1917 in Oklahoma, Mother's maiden name of Brown, Father's last name of Miser, passed away on 7/2/1997.There are corresponding records at the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Jimmy and his wife Inez:
Jimmy Wakely, Social Security number issued in Oklahoma, born 16 Feb 1914, passed away Sep 1982, last residence of Sylmar, California.
Inez Wakely, Social Security number issued in California, born 3 Jan 1917, passed away 2 Jul 1997, last residence of Chatsworth, California.
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Jimmy Wakely, Lee "Lasses" White and Dub "Cannonball" Taylor:
Jimmy Wakely: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906843/
Dub "Cannonball" Taylor: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0852305/
Lee "Lasses" White: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0925113/YouTube has a variety of Wakely tunes: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jimmy+wakely
Find A Grave website has photos of the markers for Jimmy Wakely and his wife Inez at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California:
Jimmy Wakely: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12197/jimmy-wakely
Inez Wakely: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12198/inez-wakelyYou can see all 18 of the Jimmy Wakely comic book covers at GCD, the Grand Comic Book Database website: https://www.comics.org/series/609/covers/
The Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall Of Fame includes Jimmy Wakely (inducted in 1971) as well as Gene Autry, Johnny Bond, Smiley Burnette, Ray Whitley, Tex Ritter, Bob Nolan, Bob Wills, more. This link will take you to their website and when you get there, click on 'Hall of Fame': http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/Site/inductees
Wakely - and the Jimmy Wakely Trio - are members of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame. Wakely was elected in 1991 and the trio in 2004: https://iwesternmusic.org/award.php?2
The Time magazine website has a March, 1950 article about singer Margaret Whiting and it includes mention of her duets with Wakely at Capitol Records: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858757,00.html
J. David Goldin's RadioGoldIndex website lists about 60 radio programs in which Wakely guested or was host. When you get to the site, click "Start Here", then select "Search By Artist", then select W, and then scroll down for the Jimmy Wakely and wife Inez Wakely radio credits: http://radiogoldindex.com/
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) website includes information on over 100 songs that were composed or co-authored by Wakely. Go to their main search page at: https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/, and enter Wakely in the search box. Do two searches - tick the "Performers" and run the search, and then do the same for "Writers".
If you're interested in seeing that I'M FROM ARKANSAS (PRC, 1944) film, it is available for viewing/download at the Internet Archive website: https://archive.org/details/im_from_arkansas
Cast members are listed at the Internet Movie database at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036941/referenceJimmy Wakely has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: https://walkoffame.com/jimmy-wakely/
The Seattle Times newspaper website has the obituary for Jimmy and Inez's son Johnny Wakely who passed away on December 22, 2001: https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20011229&slug=obit29m