Wheeling jamboree

[jim simpson]

Mac Martin's article, "WWVA and Jamboree Memories" in the current BluegrassUnlimited seemed very timely to me as my wife and I have returned to Wheeling, WV after a 27 years absence. This past Saturday I found this old photograph at a flea market of the Jamboree featuring a pretty impressive roster of talent.

Back Row (left to right) Bob Osborne, Jimmy Brown, Sonny Osborne, Roy Scott, Big Slim, Ace Richman, Burl Strevel, Fred Daniels, Eddie Wallace, John Corrigan, Lee Moore, Mike Harris, Tater Tate. Middle Row (left to right) Marion Martin, Abner Doolittle, Monty Black, Lynn Gibson, Chickie Williams, Doc Williams, Louella Perkins, Hardrock Gunter, Jimmy Haney, Bonnie Baldwin, Rusty Kershaw, Doug Kershaw, Buddy Durham, Ebb Collins. Front Row (left to right) Crazy Elmer, Billy Edwards, Norman Blake, Bill Lowe, Melvin Goins, Hylo Brown, Jimmy Martin, Paul Williams, J.D. Crowe, Herb Hooven, Zeb Collins.

See how many name/faces are familiar to you.

Jim

[jim simpson]

Here's of close-up of Jimmy Martian, er Martin + Paul Williams, J.D. Crowe,& Herb Hooven

[Robert Brideau]

Dear Jim,

I am new at this, so hope you receive this message okay. In this photo is a girl singer, Louella Perkins. I heard her sing one Saturday night on the WWVA Jamboree broadcast back in the late 1950's or early 1960's. I wrote a fan letter to her at WWVA and she wrote back to me at the time. I am wondering if you might remember her. No one seems to remember her, as I have been trying to find any information about her. Recently, I purchased a copy of this same photo on eBay. It is the only information I have on her.

Your Country Music Friend,

Robert Brideau
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

My e-mail address is: rbrideau@rogers.com

Mac Martin's article, "WWVA and Jamboree Memories" in the current BluegrassUnlimited seemed very timely to me as my wife and I have returned to Wheeling, WV after a 27 years absence. This past Saturday I found this old photograph at a flea market of the Jamboree featuring a pretty impressive roster of talent.

Back Row (left to right) Bob Osborne, Jimmy Brown, Sonny Osborne, Roy Scott, Big Slim, Ace Richman, Burl Strevel, Fred Daniels, Eddie Wallace, John Corrigan, Lee Moore, Mike Harris, Tater Tate. Middle Row (left to right) Marion Martin, Abner Doolittle, Monty Black, Lynn Gibson, Chickie Williams, Doc Williams, Louella Perkins, Hardrock Gunter, Jimmy Haney, Bonnie Baldwin, Rusty Kershaw, Doug Kershaw, Buddy Durham, Ebb Collins. Front Row (left to right) Crazy Elmer, Billy Edwards, Norman Blake, Bill Lowe, Melvin Goins, Hylo Brown, Jimmy Martin, Paul Williams, J.D. Crowe, Herb Hooven, Zeb Collins.

See how many name/faces are familiar to you.

Jim

[jim simpson]

Robert,
I am friends with Doc William's daughter, Karen (known as Pumkin), I'll ask her if she can provide some info on Louella Perkins.
I don't remember her as I would have been 7 in 1960.
Best,
Jim

[Robert Brideau]

Robert,
I am friends with Doc William's daughter, Karen (known as Pumkin), I'll ask her if she can provide some info on Louella Perkins.
I don't remember her as I would have been 7 in 1960.
Best,
Jim

Dear Jim,

Thank you very kindly for your kind reply. I also contacted Walt Saunders at "Bluegrass Unlimited" magazine and he is trying to obtain any information on her from Mac Martin.

In 1952, when I was 10-years-old, The Doc Williams Show came to my small hometown village, Farrellton, Quebec. A lifetime friendship began that night and I corresponded with Doc up to his death. I still keep in touch with his daughter, Barbara (peeper) in Wheeling. If you have Doc's biography Book "Looking Back", Barbara included an e-mail I wrote to Doc and Chickie on Page 159.

My home e:mail address is: rbrideau@rogers.com I will appreciate any information you might obtain from Karen. I did ask Doc one time and he didn't seem to remember her and I didn't understand why, as in this picture, he is seen sitting beside her and she must have know Doc, as in her letter to me, she had said that Doc Williams had told her she would get to come to Canada. I can't recall the date she wrote to me, but it must of been in 1961 or 1962, because I attended a Doc Williams Show, in August, 1962 and I asked Doc about her coming to Canada and he said he didn't think she would get to come to Canada. I only heard her once on the Saturday night WWVA broadcast and she sang "Green Grow The Laurels". I liked her singing very much and she appeared to have the voice of a bluegrass singer. The broadcast only came in clear on some nights and I never got to hear her sing again.

I was born on July 22, 1942 and will be 70 this July. I have a heart condition but otherwise healthy. I have been a big fan of Country and Bluegrass Music all my life. I especially like to listen to the Mandolin, Banjo, and Fiddle. My favorite Bluegrass Artists are Mac Wiseman, The Stanley Brothers, and the late Jimmy Martin.

I never did get to Wheeling to attend the Jamboree, as I married a woman who didn't like that kind of music. After my divorce in 1992, after 18 years of marriage, I attended a few outdoor Country Music Festivals locally and saw Doc and Chickie Williams for the last time, in July, 1992, at the Lake Dore Jamboree, in Eganville, Ontario (about 60 miles from Ottawa). It was an annual outdoor festival and Doc appeared there often.

I recently got in touch with another WWVA Artist, Slim Lehart and obtain some CD's from him. He told me about them starting another Jamboree show in Wheeling on Saturday's. It is hard to believe that the World's Original WWVA Jamboree would have ended.


Your Country Music Friend,

Bob

[Bill Snyder]

Robert, here is another photo that shows the WWVA Jamboree and according to the caption under it Louella Perkins is in the first row, second person on the left hand side. .
Here is a direct link to the the photo with a listing of everyone in the photo.

[Robert Brideau]

Robert, here is another photo that shows the WWVA Jamboree and according to the caption under it Louella Perkins is in the first row, second person on the left hand side. .
Here is a direct link to the the photo with a listing of everyone in the photo.

Dear Jim,

I was about to reply again, when I received this picture from you. I wanted to say that this is the photo I obtained recently on eBay and it seemed to be taken with most of the same artists, but placed differently, with Louella Perkins in the front row. You will notice that the girls in this picture all have similar color costumes and I thought they might be a dance group. Also, Doc Williams two daughters, Poochie and Punkin are in this picture with them. In the other photo, Doc's dughter's are not present, so maybe the photos were taken in different years. In the few souvenir picture books of the Jamboree that I found on eBay, some of the lesser known artists in these pictures are not included in the books. Maybe Louella Perkins was featured in another years's edition. She may only have been on the Jamboree for a short period also.

Thank you again for this information. If I find any other information, I will let you know. Walt Saunders said he may put my request for information on Louella Perkins in his column in Bluegrass Unlimited "Notes & Queries", to see if anyone knows of her.

Do you get "Bluegrass Unlimited" magazine? It is the best publication on Bluegrass Artists and published in Warrenton, Virginia.
Your Country Music Friend,

Robert

[jim simpson]

Bob,

Karen (Punkin) stopped by today and reported her efforts. She said that her sister Barbara didn't have any info on Louella Perkins. Karen mentioned other performers from that period who might have known who she was but no luck. Karen said that most of the folks who might have known have passed on. She said she would keep me posted if any new info came up.

It is hard to believe that the WWVA Jamboree is no more. In it's place is the Wheeling Jamboree currently held at the Strand Theater in Moundsville, WV. It is on a number of radio stations plus streamed and archived on the web.

I'm a long term subscriber to Bluegrass Unlimited. That is a good avenue for you to pursue. If anyone out there knows, it will show up there.

Best,
Jim

*Bill, thanks for posting the photo and link.

[Robert Brideau]

Dear Jim,

Thank you very kindly for all your help. Yes, it is true that most have passed away. I wish I had kept in contact with Louella Perkins, as she seemed like a nice person. It is wonderful that Barbara is continuing to operate Doc Williams Enterprises, where Doc and Chickie's recordings are still available. I keep ordering CD's to give away to friends.

I finally got in contact with Dusty Owens a couple of years ago through DJ, Art Kneeland. He lives in Florida and runs his own streaming radio station from his home "TCM" (True Country Music). Dusty Owens and His Rodeo Boys, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper and Doc Williams were the 3 WWVA Jamboree Shows that came to my home village in the 1950's. Those were the good ole days indeed.

It was nice being in touch with you, Jim, and I wish you and your family good health and all the best.

Your Country Music Friend,

Robert

[f5loar]

Just looked at this old post and found out I own Marion Martin's 1961 Gibson EM200 Electric mandolin. Not sure which band he was with in the old photo, but likely more of a country band, however on his mandolin case was painted in bold letters "Marion Martin - Bluegrass Music". Maybe a long shot, but anyone know anymore about Marion other than he is in the WWVA photo. Maybe Jim Simpson knows something since he found this old photo.

[MikeZito]

I had quite a few dealings with both Lee Moore and Doc Williams in their later years . . . thanks for posting.

[MikeZito]

I thought Marion Martin was the blind accordion player in Doc Williams band, The Border Riders. Am I confusing him with someone else, or perhaps did Marion double on mandolin?

I was digging though some old tapes recently and found the very last recordings that Lee Moore ever made - it was a 15-minute program for a local radio show . . . good stuff!

[jim simpson]

Just looked at this old post and found out I own Marion Martin's 1961 Gibson EM200 Electric mandolin. Not sure which band he was with in the old photo, but likely more of a country band, however on his mandolin case was painted in bold letters "Marion Martin - Bluegrass Music". Maybe a long shot, but anyone know anymore about Marion other than he is in the WWVA photo. Maybe Jim Simpson knows something since he found this old photo.

How cool that you have this! I never knew Marion Martin (born Marion Keyoski) to play the mandolin. I suspect he played more than accordion when he was not playing with Doc Williams. Marion came from Adena, Ohio and played with Doc from 1946 to 1971. Here is a picture of Marion without his dark glasses and one with glasses on the cover of Images of America: West Virginia's Traditional Country Music by Ivan Tribe & Jacob Bapst. You'll have to post a pic of your mandolin and case!