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On this day, August 22, 1914, country music impresario Connie B. Gay was born.
Last edited Tue Aug 22, 2023, 07:19 AM - Edit history (2)
Thu Aug 10, 2023: On this day, August 10, 1928, Jimmy Dean was born.
Mon Jun 12, 2023: On this day, June 12, 1949, Connie B. Gay put on the "Hillbilly Airshow."
Wed Aug 10, 2022: On this day, August 10, 1928, Jimmy Dean was born.
Sat Aug 22, 2020: On this day, August 22, 1914, country music impresario Connie B. Gay was born.
Mon Aug 10, 2020: On this day, August 10, 1928, Jimmy Dean was born.
Fri Jun 12, 2020: On this day, June 12, 1949, Connie B. Gay put on the "Hillbilly Airshow."
Connie B. Gay
Birth name: Connie Barriot Gay
Born: August 22, 1914; Lizard Lick, North Carolina
Died: December 3, 1989 (aged 75); McLean, Virginia
Occupation(s): Country music entrepreneur and media mogul
Years active: 1941–1972
Associated acts: Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, Elvis Presley, Grandpa Jones, Ramona Jones, George Hamilton IV, Billy Grammer, Dub Howington
Connie Barriot Gay (August 22, 1914 – December 3, 1989) was renowned as a "founding father" and "major force" in country music. He is credited for coining the country music genre, which had previously been called hillbilly music. Gay was the founding president of the Country Music Association (CMA) and co-founder of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The CMA established the Connie B. Gay Award to recognize outstanding service to the CMA by a member not serving on the Board of Directors.
Gay was an entrepreneur who leveraged his musical insight into a profitable empire that extended his legacy into the modern era. He was responsible for discovering some of the talent that now resides in the Hall of Fame, and was himself inducted in 1980, for significant contributions as a music executive.
{snip}
Broadcasting
In 1946, Connie B. Gay persuaded Frank Blair, the program manager of WARL, a radio station in Arlington, Virginia, to let him do a half-hour show at noon each day. Gay offered to forgo a salary in exchange for a percentage of the advertising revenue, and an agreement was reached. His show, Town and Country Time, was promoted as offering "a little bit of town and an awful lot of country" and broadcast six days a week. Gay had the business sense to register his program's name as a trademark, an important factor in measuring his financial success. The endeavor was very successful, growing to a three-hour program that was syndicated across the United States and to some international markets on the Armed Forces Network. Because Gay owned the rights to his Town and Country moniker, all negotiations related to its use required his assent. Connie Gay realized lucrative gains from brokering the program's syndication.
In 1954, Connie B. Gay began broadcasting a televised version of Town and Country Time on WMAL-TV in Washington D.C. while continuing to syndicate the audio portion to the more than 1800 radio stations signed on to his network. He would discover Jimmy Dean and Patsy Cline soon after, and both became regular cast members of the TV program. By year's end, the TV program was being syndicated to 40 different stations.
By 1956, Town and Country Time was airing in 50 urban markets, including Spokane, Tulsa, Houston, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Gay had formed a company under his moniker called Town and Country Enterprises to manage his assets which had grown to include radio stations he then owned, and artists he promoted and managed. By years end, Connie B. Gay had amicably severed all ties with WARL, giving his full attention to his own enterprise and was a leading contender for Billboard's Tycoon of the Year award, with an estimated annual gross of $2 million.
{snip}
Birth name: Connie Barriot Gay
Born: August 22, 1914; Lizard Lick, North Carolina
Died: December 3, 1989 (aged 75); McLean, Virginia
Occupation(s): Country music entrepreneur and media mogul
Years active: 1941–1972
Associated acts: Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, Elvis Presley, Grandpa Jones, Ramona Jones, George Hamilton IV, Billy Grammer, Dub Howington
Connie Barriot Gay (August 22, 1914 – December 3, 1989) was renowned as a "founding father" and "major force" in country music. He is credited for coining the country music genre, which had previously been called hillbilly music. Gay was the founding president of the Country Music Association (CMA) and co-founder of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The CMA established the Connie B. Gay Award to recognize outstanding service to the CMA by a member not serving on the Board of Directors.
Gay was an entrepreneur who leveraged his musical insight into a profitable empire that extended his legacy into the modern era. He was responsible for discovering some of the talent that now resides in the Hall of Fame, and was himself inducted in 1980, for significant contributions as a music executive.
{snip}
Broadcasting
In 1946, Connie B. Gay persuaded Frank Blair, the program manager of WARL, a radio station in Arlington, Virginia, to let him do a half-hour show at noon each day. Gay offered to forgo a salary in exchange for a percentage of the advertising revenue, and an agreement was reached. His show, Town and Country Time, was promoted as offering "a little bit of town and an awful lot of country" and broadcast six days a week. Gay had the business sense to register his program's name as a trademark, an important factor in measuring his financial success. The endeavor was very successful, growing to a three-hour program that was syndicated across the United States and to some international markets on the Armed Forces Network. Because Gay owned the rights to his Town and Country moniker, all negotiations related to its use required his assent. Connie Gay realized lucrative gains from brokering the program's syndication.
In 1954, Connie B. Gay began broadcasting a televised version of Town and Country Time on WMAL-TV in Washington D.C. while continuing to syndicate the audio portion to the more than 1800 radio stations signed on to his network. He would discover Jimmy Dean and Patsy Cline soon after, and both became regular cast members of the TV program. By year's end, the TV program was being syndicated to 40 different stations.
By 1956, Town and Country Time was airing in 50 urban markets, including Spokane, Tulsa, Houston, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Gay had formed a company under his moniker called Town and Country Enterprises to manage his assets which had grown to include radio stations he then owned, and artists he promoted and managed. By years end, Connie B. Gay had amicably severed all ties with WARL, giving his full attention to his own enterprise and was a leading contender for Billboard's Tycoon of the Year award, with an estimated annual gross of $2 million.
{snip}
Here's some more about that "Hillbilly Airshow" back in 1949. It was held at the Washington-Virginia Airport, which used to be in Bailey's Crossroads in northern Virginia. I suspect I'd have to sit down in front of a microfiche machine at the Fairfax County Library to see who was there.
Washington-Virginia Airport
{snip}
History and usage
The Washington-Virginia Airport was originally known as "Crossroads Airport". Work on the airport began in the Bailey's Crossroads area of Fairfax County in the early 1940s but was delayed because of World War II. The airport's first appearance on an aeronautical sectional chart was in 1945 when it was displayed as a commercial airport with the name "Crossroads." In the following year, John D. Benn Jr., and his brother Charles Benn purchased the airport from E.C. Germain of Washington Air Charter Service and applied to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Aeronautics, for a license to operate a commercial airport as "Bailey's Crossroads Airport". Their application was heard and approved on May 16, 1946.
Main hangar at the Washington-Virginia Airport
The airport featured two graveled runways, a north-south runway measuring 2,200 feet and a second, longer runway that ran east-west and measured 2,800 feet. During the late 1940s, the Benn brothers opened a flight school that included 10 Piper J-3 Cubs, two Cessna 120s, a Cessna 140, a Fairchild PT-19 and a Cessna UC-78 Bobcat in its inventory. The airport also had multiple hangars and administrative offices. By 1949, the airport was considered as one of the busiest general aviation airports in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and attracted a number of airshows and events.
The airport's proximity to The Pentagon resulted in the facility hosting a number of military aviation demonstrations and displays, to include a flight demonstration of the Piper PA-18, the Aérospatiale Alouette helicopter, the OV-10 Bronco, the de Havilland Caribou, and the McDonnell Douglas Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft. In addition to general aviation, military displays and flight training, the airport hosted other activities during its time in service, to include the following:
• 1949: Connie B. Gay's "Hillbilly Airshow" that featured country music singing stars and a North Carolina air circus, complete with acrobatic planes and airplane wing walkers. [10]
• 1954: Northern Virginia Fair. A Washington Post article characterized the fair as having an exhibit of special interest to women as it included knitting, sewing, and crocheting demonstrations as well as an array of canned and baked goods.
{snip}
[10] "Journal of Country Music, Volume 12" (1984) Country Music Foundation. Retrieved May 9, 2013 [6]
{snip}
History and usage
The Washington-Virginia Airport was originally known as "Crossroads Airport". Work on the airport began in the Bailey's Crossroads area of Fairfax County in the early 1940s but was delayed because of World War II. The airport's first appearance on an aeronautical sectional chart was in 1945 when it was displayed as a commercial airport with the name "Crossroads." In the following year, John D. Benn Jr., and his brother Charles Benn purchased the airport from E.C. Germain of Washington Air Charter Service and applied to the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Division of Aeronautics, for a license to operate a commercial airport as "Bailey's Crossroads Airport". Their application was heard and approved on May 16, 1946.
Main hangar at the Washington-Virginia Airport
The airport featured two graveled runways, a north-south runway measuring 2,200 feet and a second, longer runway that ran east-west and measured 2,800 feet. During the late 1940s, the Benn brothers opened a flight school that included 10 Piper J-3 Cubs, two Cessna 120s, a Cessna 140, a Fairchild PT-19 and a Cessna UC-78 Bobcat in its inventory. The airport also had multiple hangars and administrative offices. By 1949, the airport was considered as one of the busiest general aviation airports in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and attracted a number of airshows and events.
The airport's proximity to The Pentagon resulted in the facility hosting a number of military aviation demonstrations and displays, to include a flight demonstration of the Piper PA-18, the Aérospatiale Alouette helicopter, the OV-10 Bronco, the de Havilland Caribou, and the McDonnell Douglas Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft. In addition to general aviation, military displays and flight training, the airport hosted other activities during its time in service, to include the following:
• 1949: Connie B. Gay's "Hillbilly Airshow" that featured country music singing stars and a North Carolina air circus, complete with acrobatic planes and airplane wing walkers. [10]
• 1954: Northern Virginia Fair. A Washington Post article characterized the fair as having an exhibit of special interest to women as it included knitting, sewing, and crocheting demonstrations as well as an array of canned and baked goods.
{snip}
[10] "Journal of Country Music, Volume 12" (1984) Country Music Foundation. Retrieved May 9, 2013 [6]
From the article at that link:
One of Gay's finest moments came on June 12, 1949, when he promoted the first and maybe only Hillbilly AirShow at the Bailey's Crossroads' Airport. "I got this ideas," Gay grins infond memory of the occasion. "There was an outfit in Charlotte with an air circs. I booked them for $1250 and got some local talent. I had Sunshine Sue singing and guys wingwalking and doing stunts at the same time. I needed ....
Closely related:
Jimmy Dean
{snip}
Entertainment career
Dean had his first hit, "Bumming Around," in 1953 on the 4 Star label (written by Pete Graves, credited to "C. Graves" on the Quality label). Dean signed with Columbia Records in 1957.
He had minor pop hits, such as "Little Sandy Sleighfoot" (a Christmas novelty song) and "Sing Along," later used as the theme for TV's Sing Along with Mitch, hosted by chorus leader Mitch Miller.
In 1954, Dean hosted the popular Washington, D.C. radio program Town and Country Time on WARL-AM, and with his Texas Wildcats became popular in the Mid-Atlantic region. Patsy Cline and Roy Clark got their starts on the show. Although Cline and Dean became good friends, Clark (Dean's lead guitarist) was fired by the singer for what was explained as his chronic tardiness. Dean replaced Clark with Billy Grammer. In 1955, Town and Country Time moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) on weekday afternoons. Dean and the Texas Wildcats also appeared during 1957 on Town and Country Jamboree on WMAL-TV on Saturdays, which was also carried by TV stations in neighboring Maryland and Virginia on a regional network.
Also during 1957 while he lived in Arlington, Virginia, Dean hosted Country Style on WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV). CBS picked up the show nationally from Washington for eight months in 1957 under the name The Morning Show. Then from September 14, 1958, to June 1959, CBS carried The Jimmy Dean Show on weekday and Saturday afternoons.
{snip}
{snip}
Entertainment career
Dean had his first hit, "Bumming Around," in 1953 on the 4 Star label (written by Pete Graves, credited to "C. Graves" on the Quality label). Dean signed with Columbia Records in 1957.
He had minor pop hits, such as "Little Sandy Sleighfoot" (a Christmas novelty song) and "Sing Along," later used as the theme for TV's Sing Along with Mitch, hosted by chorus leader Mitch Miller.
In 1954, Dean hosted the popular Washington, D.C. radio program Town and Country Time on WARL-AM, and with his Texas Wildcats became popular in the Mid-Atlantic region. Patsy Cline and Roy Clark got their starts on the show. Although Cline and Dean became good friends, Clark (Dean's lead guitarist) was fired by the singer for what was explained as his chronic tardiness. Dean replaced Clark with Billy Grammer. In 1955, Town and Country Time moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) on weekday afternoons. Dean and the Texas Wildcats also appeared during 1957 on Town and Country Jamboree on WMAL-TV on Saturdays, which was also carried by TV stations in neighboring Maryland and Virginia on a regional network.
Also during 1957 while he lived in Arlington, Virginia, Dean hosted Country Style on WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV). CBS picked up the show nationally from Washington for eight months in 1957 under the name The Morning Show. Then from September 14, 1958, to June 1959, CBS carried The Jimmy Dean Show on weekday and Saturday afternoons.
{snip}
Wikipedia doesn't have a wiki for Town and Country Time. I'm not qualified to write one. Until then, here's more about that show:
DC Memories -- Jimmy Dean
{snip}
(l. to r.) Buck Ryan, Mary Klick, Jimmy Dean, Dale Turner, Marvin Carroll, Alex Houston w/Elmer, Roy Clark, Scotty Irwin. Herbie Jones.
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Marvin Carroll
{snip}
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Marvin Carroll, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Roy Clark, Mary Klick
{snip}
This meeting took place on the evening of March 23, 1956, prior to Elvis' 8:00 pm performance on the SS Mt. Vernon ship.
{snip}
Connie B. Gay, the hillbilly impressario, has every right to be gay. He just completed a deal to produce 52 half-hour films of his radio show, "Town and Country Music."
{snip}
(l. to r.) Buck Ryan, Mary Klick, Jimmy Dean, Dale Turner, Marvin Carroll, Alex Houston w/Elmer, Roy Clark, Scotty Irwin. Herbie Jones.
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Marvin Carroll
{snip}
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Marvin Carroll, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Roy Clark, Mary Klick
{snip}
This meeting took place on the evening of March 23, 1956, prior to Elvis' 8:00 pm performance on the SS Mt. Vernon ship.
{snip}
Jimmy Dean -Town & Country Time (1954)
Mr. DC Memories
185 subscribers
(Courtesy: Kinevideo.Net) A fine example of the late Jimmy Dean's (b. 1928 - d. 2010) first TV series, produced by "hillbilly music" impresario Connie B. Gay at Byron Roudabush's Georgetown DC studios in 1954. Filmed in color, the show was distributed on black and white 16mm prints through Official Films.
In January 1955, a live five-days-a-week "Town and Country Time" series debuted from the studios of Channel-7, WMAL-TV, in Washington, DC, to be followed by a three-hour live weekly "Town and Country Jamboree" in October of 1955 from Turner Arena (aka Capitol Arena) 14th and W Sts, NW in DC.
Also shown here among the crew are Marvin Carroll and Herb Jones along with Mary Klick, Fiddlin' Buck Ryan. and comic relief by Quincy Snodgrass.
The full half-hour kinescope can be purchased on DVD from the Kinevideo.Net website along with a few additional surviving shows..
Mr. DC Memories
185 subscribers
(Courtesy: Kinevideo.Net) A fine example of the late Jimmy Dean's (b. 1928 - d. 2010) first TV series, produced by "hillbilly music" impresario Connie B. Gay at Byron Roudabush's Georgetown DC studios in 1954. Filmed in color, the show was distributed on black and white 16mm prints through Official Films.
In January 1955, a live five-days-a-week "Town and Country Time" series debuted from the studios of Channel-7, WMAL-TV, in Washington, DC, to be followed by a three-hour live weekly "Town and Country Jamboree" in October of 1955 from Turner Arena (aka Capitol Arena) 14th and W Sts, NW in DC.
Also shown here among the crew are Marvin Carroll and Herb Jones along with Mary Klick, Fiddlin' Buck Ryan. and comic relief by Quincy Snodgrass.
The full half-hour kinescope can be purchased on DVD from the Kinevideo.Net website along with a few additional surviving shows..
Jimmy Dean - Town and Country Time
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an early syndicated version of Jimmy's show originating from Washington, DC
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Jimmy Dean Show - Country Classics - PBS
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The Jimmy Dean Show Country Classics special was hosted by country legend Roy Clark. Join Roy Clark as he looks back on the Jimmy Dean Show and all of the classic and legendary performers that graced Jimmy's stage Including Buck Owens, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Eddie Arnold and many more!
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The Jimmy Dean Show Country Classics special was hosted by country legend Roy Clark. Join Roy Clark as he looks back on the Jimmy Dean Show and all of the classic and legendary performers that graced Jimmy's stage Including Buck Owens, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Eddie Arnold and many more!
This is mostly showing off Chet Atkins, but there's nothing wrong with that.
Chet Atkins on The Jimmy Dean Show (3 tracks)
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Chet Atkins live The Jimmy Dean Show
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https://www.facebook.com/WesternSwing2000/ {page not found}
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Chet Atkins live The Jimmy Dean Show
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