The Old American Barn Dance

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE

Country music has been big in broadcasting since the advent of radio in the 1920's. By 1950, a number of local programs were trying to bring country music to television, and by early in the decade there were several summer replacement shows (reruns being virtually unknown) devoted to country music. THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE, directed by the Fred Niles, ran on the Dumont Network during the summer of 1953--it was a half-hour country music showcase featuring some of the top talent of the era, including Merle Travis (possibly the greatest guitarist who ever lived), Johnny Bond, Pee Wee King, and Kenny Roberts. EDDIE ARNOLD TIME was an early 1950's musical showcase featuring the country singing star, supported by guitarist Hank Garland, doing songs and acting in dramatic vignette. And TOWN AND COUNTRY TIME, from the mid-1950's, was Jimmy Dean's first media success, years before he hit it big in recording with "Big Bad John" or had a network show. All three series were gathered together in 1959 and repackaged by producer Bernard L. Schubert (TOPPER) for syndication under the name YOUR MUSICAL JAMBOREE.

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 1 (FILM 10)
(approx 55 min)

Host Bill Bailey sings the western swing number "No Supper Tonight." Performers on the first show include Kenny Roberts ("Let Me Saddle My Pony," "Cry Baby Blues," "Out Where The West Winds Blow"), Kay Brewer ("Boogie Woogie Yodel"), Johnny Bond ("Cherokee Maiden"), the house band the Saddle Pals ("Stomp"), Cousin Alvin ("My Grandfather Left Me His Old Brown Pants"), Salty Holmes ("Down On the Farm"), Nancy Lee ("I''m Dyin' For Someone To Love Me"), Homer & Jethro ("A Screwball's Love Song"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("Night Train To Memphis," "Tiny Cabin Light"), and Doc Hopkins ("Honey In The Rock").

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 2 (FILM 11)
(approx 55 min)

Host Bill Bailey opens the show with "Nine Times Out of Ten." The other performers in this pair of shows include Johnny Bond ("Beautiful Brown Eyes"), Kenny Roberts ("There's A Love Knot In My Lariat"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("Ridin' Through Town In A Buckboard," "Can She Bake A Cherry Pie"), Cousin Alvin ("Bessie The Heifer"), Patsy Montana ("Mexicali Rose"), Bob Schaefer ("Just A Closer Walk With Thee"), Tennessee Ernie Ford ("Tailor Made Woman," a kind of "Reet Petite" take-off), country fiddler Wade Ray ("Wade's Blues"), the Polk County Boys ("Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad"), Neal Burris ("Poison Love"), and Pee Wee King ("Crazy Steel Guitar Waltz," "I Love The Sunshine Of Your Smile"). Also featured on this show are Johnny Carlson and his national champion square dancers.

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 3 (FILM 12)
(approx 55 min)

A real treat this time, with legendary guitar wizard Merle Travis ("Catfish Take A Look At That Worm"), Johnny And Jack & The Tennessee Mountain Boys ("Hummingbird"), Pee Wee King ("River Road Two-Step," "I Wanted You So Last Night"), Roy King ("Sweet Face And A Cold Heart"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("A Little Bird Told Me," "Adobe Hacienda"), Salty Holmes ("The Ghost Song"), Kenny Roberts ("Hillbilly Fever," "Casper The Candy Cowboy"), girl cowboy singer Patsy Montana ("I'm A Straight Ridin' Lassie & A She Buckaroo"), and Johnny Bond ("Glad Rags"). Host Bill Bailey swings it to "Crawdad Hole."

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 4 (FILM 13)
(approx 55 min)

Bill Bailey opens the show with a western swing number that shows some blues sensibilities, "She's Really Built For Comfort (But She Ain't Got The Speed"). The musical performers include the Polk County Boys led by Randy Barnett ("Take Me Home Little Birdies"), Tennessee Ernie Ford ("She's My Baby"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("New Broom Boogie"), Pee Wee King ("I'm Goin' Back To the Middle West," "You don't Need My Love"), Lulubelle and Scotty ("We Like Molasses," "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You"), Grace Wilson ("I'm Bringin' Home That Bacon"), and the Sage Riders ("When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again"). The Chordmen perform "Steal Away," and Bailey sings "Precious Memories."

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 5 (FILM 14)
(approx 55 min)

Host Bill Bailey sings the "Sugarfoot Rag." The musical performers for this show include Pee Wee King ("The Birds, The Bees & Cupid," "I Love The Way You Roll Them Eyes At Me"), Johnny Bond ("Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabam," "Oklahoma Hills"), Kenny Roberts ("Good Old Mountain Days"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("Shenandoah Waltz," "Camptown Races"), Neal Burris ("Please Excuse My Manners"), the Polk County Boys ("Fireball Tracks"), Salty Holmes ("Mama's Blues," a harmonica solo), the house band the Saddle Pals ("Stomp," "God Walks These Hills With Me"), Cousin Alvin ("When The Mush Begins To Rush"), and Tennessee Ernie Ford ("I Guess I'll Come Back To You"). The Chordmen perform the gospel number "Climbin' Up The Mountain Children."

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 6 (FILM 15)
(approx 55 min)

This pair of shows features Pee Wee King ("Ramblin' Blues," "Blow Out All The Candles," "Ragtime Annie Lee," "Slow Poke"), Tennessee Ernie Ford ("Shotgun Boogie," "Don't Be Ashamed Of Your Age"), Neal Burris in a duet with Corky of the Candy Mountain Girls ("Who You Gonna Kiss When I'm Gone"), the Polk County Boys ("Jennie Lynn Polka," "Uncle Noah's Ark"), and the Candy Mountain Girls ("He's A Dude Cowboy," "It's My Lazy Day"). Host Bill Bailey sings "Jailhouse Blues" and the Chordmen perform "Deep River" and "I'm Gonna Ride The Chariot."

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 7 (FILM 16)
(approx 55 min)

Merle Travis shows up once again on this classic show, with an old folk song called "Little David Play On Your Harp." Other guests include Johnny & Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys ("Poisoned Love"), Carolyn & Loraine ("Yodeling Lullaby"), Pee Wee King ("Calendar Song," "Way Down Yonder At Beaver Creek," "Goodbye Liza Jane," "Goin' Back To Alabama"), Tennessee Ernie Ford (doing Floyd Tillman's "Gotta Have My Baby Back"), Neal Burris ("It May Be Silly, But Ain't It Fun"), and the Candy Mountain Girls ("Jigalong Joe," "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey").

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 8 (Film 17)
(approx 55 min)

This tape opens with a sequence from TOWN AND COUNTRY TIME, a mid-1950's country music showcase hosted by Jimmy Dean. In the opening, Jimmy Dean (several years before he had his first major hit, "Big Bad John") sings "Kinfolks In Carolina" backed by the Texas Wildcats, whose fiddle player Buck Bryan then leads off a scintillating performance of "Orange Blossom Special." Dean's other songs include Bob Nolan's Sons of the Pioneers classic "Cool Water," as well as "Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello" and the hymn "Just A Closer Walk With Thee." Mary Klick sings a rousing version of "Shame On You," and Quincy Snodgrass provides comic relief with yet another version of the Abbott & Costello "Seven Times 13" routine. Square dancing is provided by the Echo Cloggers Square Dancers. In THE OLD AMERICAN BAND DANCE, musical guests include Kenny Roberts ("Goin' Down The Country"), Nancy Lee ("Goodnight Darlin'), Tex Williams ("Leaf Of Love"), and Cousin Alvin ("When The Snow Begins To Fall Next Summer").

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol. 9 (FILM 18)
(approx 55 min)

This tape opens with a sequence from the mid-1953 Springfield, Missouri-based musical showcase EDDIE ARNOLD TIME, hosted by country music star Eddie Arnold, who performs "What Are You Gonna Do?" and appears in a period-costume sketch featuring a very young Ed Asner. NEEDS NEW PAIRING

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol 10 (FILM 19)
(approx 55 min)

Eddie Arnold hosts his own show with the Gordonaires and Betty Johnson, doing an opening rendition of "I Love Ida, Deed I Do," followed by "Condemned Without Trial." Much of the show is taken up with a sketch set among American G.I.'s in France during 1944, giving Arnold and the Gordonaires the chance to sing several songs, including "Oh, Look A There Ain't She Pretty" and "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon." Arnold also joined Betty Johnson for a series of duets, including "Be Goody Good Good To Me." THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE is the most lighthearted in the series, featuring Bill Bailey and Janie of the Candy Mountain Girls in "Fly Around My Pretty Little Pink." Other performers include the Candy Mountain Girls ("The Hide And Go Seek Song"), Doc Hopkins ("The Erie Canal"), Nancy Lee ("Aunt Jemima's Plaster"), Tex Williams ("Alimony"), Kay Brewer ("I Can't Help It If I'm In Love With You"), and Homer & Jethro doing "So Long No. 2."

THE OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE Vol 12 (FILM 21)
(approx 55 min)

The first half of this tape is actually from the early 1950's television version of the NATIONAL BARN DANCE, filmed at the Eighth Street Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by country music star Bob Atcher, who does a robust version of the old Hank Williams hit "Jambalaya," this show also includes Lulubelle & Scotty, who sing "Down By The Railroad Tracks," the Buccaneers, who perform "At the Rainbow's End," Donald "Red" Blanchard, who sings "Home On the Range" and does a humorous take off of television western stories; Dorothy Anne Ferguson, who does a rollicking version of "Detour"; and Grace Wilson, who performs "Don't Bury Yourself In a Crowd." The second half is from the OLD AMERICAN BARN DANCE, featuring Johnny Bond ("Red River Valley"), Kenny Roberts ("Katie, Little Lady"), the Candy Mountain Girls ("Barnyard Beat"), Salty Holmes ("Sweet Ella Lee"), and Cousin Alvin ("I'm Goin' Back Where I Come From").



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