Ozark Jubilee
[2] Originating "from the heart of the Ozarks", the Saturday night[3] variety series helped popularize country music in America's cities and suburbs,[4] drawing more than nine million viewers.
A typical program included a mix of vocal and instrumental performances, comedy routines, square dancing and an occasional novelty act.
Carl Perkins, singing "Blue Suede Shoes", made his TV debut on the series, which showcased hundreds of popular artists performing everything from rockabilly, country and western, bluegrass and honky tonk to the Nashville sound, gospel and folk.
Several now-legendary[citation needed] session musicians provided accompaniment at times during the show's run, including Grady Martin, Hank Garland, Bob Moore, Charlie Haden, Cecil Brower, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs.
The Jubilee was canceled after almost six years as rock and roll grew in popularity, and in part because of publicity surrounding tax evasion charges against Foley,[7] who was later acquitted.
"[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.
In 1946 he replaced Roy Acuff as emcee of the Grand Ole Opry segment carried by NBC Radio, and his popularity during the following eight years was credited with establishing it as the number one country music show[citation needed].
Foster, known by cast and crew as "the Skipper", made an appearance on the final broadcast of Jubilee USA, singing "Woodman, Spare that Tree".
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.
Featured vocalists included Leroy Van Dyke, Suzi Arden, Chuck Bowers, Sonny James, Tommy Sosebee and Tabby West.
Other comedians were Pete Stamper, Shug Fisher, KWTO's Bill Ring, Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap Brasfield, and Luke Warmwater.
The house 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.
Over the years they included: Virtually every country music star of the day appeared on the Jubilee[citation needed] with the notable exception of Hank Snow, who maintained an allegiance to Nashville's Opry.
Among them were: Other guests included Fran Allison in a recurring role as Aunt Fanny; actors Betty Ann Grove, Jim Brown and Duncan Renaldo; and nationally syndicated columnist Earl Wilson.
[27] On February 23, 1956,[28] 11-year-old Brenda Lee, living in Augusta, Georgia, turned down $30 to sing on a Swainsboro radio station to see Foley and a visiting Jubilee promotional unit at Bell Auditorium.
The New 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's Ozark Jubilee but she belts a song like a star.
[41] Foley periodically asked viewers to contribute to various charities, including the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, Community Chest, and aid following the 1960 Great Chilean earthquake.
[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 the American Research Bureau (ARB).
Sponsors included the American 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 by Ted Bates & Company.
Joe Slattery handled station breaks and some commercials, often appearing during Jubilee USA with Massey Ferguson farm tractors and accessories 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.
[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.
[53] The program debuted on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, but the first 14 national telecasts were staged at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri because network television transmission capability from Springfield was not available.
After AT&T installed a microwave 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 a control room), the program returned to the theater with the first broadcast April 30.
One 1960 show included an elephant from a visiting Adams & Sells Circus quietly performing on stage behind an "oblivious" Uncle Cyp[citation needed].
[56] In July 1957, Dan Lounsbery, producer of NBC's Your 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.
[59] The weekly program featured five rotating hosts: Snooky Lanson, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Carl Smith and Rex Allen.
[62] The Jubilee was culturally significant for giving millions of urban and suburban American viewers their first regular exposure to country music[citation needed].
Finally, the Jubilee in many ways laid the groundwork for neighboring Branson, Missouri to become America's top country music tourist destination.
[66] Missouri State University's Meyer Library has partnered with the UCLA archives to digitize all viable episodes and post them on a dedicated YouTube channel.
