DJ Bennie Hess

 

 

Orville "Bennie" Hess was born in Chriesman, TX in 1914, It's is an unincorporated community in Burleson County. In the year 2000 the population was just 30 people. it's the definition of a small town. It's population peaked at about 200 in 1925. Inexplicably it does still have a post office today, it also has one restaurant, Front Street Burgers and one Methodist church. The whole neighborhood is mapped on Google Street view so you can see the locals surprised on their porches, and a dog chasing the Google car. All of this to say... Bennie had humble beginnings.

Jimmie Rodgers Guitar Sidebar:
Interestingly, his father, Vestral Hess worked on the railroad with Jimmie Rodgers who even stayed at their house on occasion. Purportedly Jimmie gave Bennie his first guitar lessons and even gave him a guitar. In one tale this is the first Martin guitar ever made though that is an obvious Texas Tall Tale. The first Martins were made in 1833. These were parlor guitars with gut strings. Even when he was born this would have been an 80+ year old guitar and completely inappropriate for a child. But Jimmie was the first country artist to endorse a guitar brand in 1928. But that was not a Martin, that was the Weymann “Jimmie Rodgers Special” Style 890 [LINK]. But he did also play Martins. That same year he was photographed playing a Martin Model 000-45; and he is known to have played a 00-18 as his Bristol sessions. Did he give a guitar to Bennie? Maybe?  The whole connection to Rodgers is based on Hess's hearsay which as you will learn... is not always a great source.

Back to Bennie: 
In 1940 Bennie Hess formed his first band, The Rhythm Wranglers in 1940 when he was 26 years old. That landed him a show on radio station 1310 KFYO-AM in Lubbock, TX. It's an odd station with tall tales of it's own. The station was founded by the Kirksey Bros. Battery and Electric Company and moved to 1310 kHz in 1932 having been on 1420 kHz since it's founding in Breckenridge, TX in 1927. In 1929 it increased power from 15 to 100 watts. 

But Breckenridge is about halfway between Abilene and Fort Worth... that's odd... In 1928 the station moved to Abilene now daytiming at 250 watts. Then in 1932 in a fit of boldness, Kirksey was approved to move KFYO to Lubbock on 1310 kHz. The full move was about 500 miles. That might be a record. Speaking of records, KFYO is typoed at KXYO in the book Sparks Out of the Plowed Ground by Bob Doll. Good book though. But AI has propagated that error onto various websites since then. They went on to make the first broadcast of a Texas Tech football game which was their patriotic duty in Lubbock. 

By 1944 Hess was performing on the Cornbread Matinee at KRLP in Dallas, TX. Other regulars on the program included host Hal Horton, Ruby Allmond, announcer Johnny Hicks, Georgia Slim Rutland, and Howard Howdy Forrester. This is not to be confused with the Cornbread Matinee that broadcast out of WKYW in the mid 1950s. That was hosted by Thorne Hall then Car Shook. The KRLP program was broadcast out of the Arcadia Theatre through at least 1948. But according to Hess, the show was carried on 43 different radio stations in Texas. But that's another tall tale. 

There is a gap in his career here where he recorded and performed with the Oklahoma Tornadoes 1946–1947 which he self-released on Opera. Multiple artists from the session appear on Gold Star and other Cajun recordings Pee Wee Lyons, Riley Clark, Floyd Leblanc in particular.  But his connection to Gold Star is tenuous.

Bennie was just kind of a grifter, all 6-foot-six of him. It permeated his whole recording career. Bennie cut his first record in 1945 for the Black And White Records. He could only be pleased by sharing a label with greats like T-Bone Walker. It is unknown how many records that sold, but purportedly it won him some appearances in western films as a singing cowboy. But Imdb lists nothing. But that might be him as the singing cowboy in the 1939 Wagon Train starring Tim Holt. More here

However Bennie used pseudonyms frequently in his career: Buddy Page, Benny Leaders, Georgia Harrison. He started his own record label Opera while still under contract to Black And White, which might be after his deal with Bill Quinn and Gulf records in Houston in 1944, but the latter might be another fib attempting to tie himself to the career of Harry Choates. But the book Cajun Breakdown by Ryan Brasseux ties him to Gold Star records, but only to leave without recording anything to found Opera records. 

Thought it was true that he signed to a major label, Mercury in 1948 and recorded a few sides. But Mercury fired him for bootlegging his own release via his bogus Opera label. In fairness Mercury hired Hess because he could mimic Ernest Tubb's style , the same way they signed Allen Flatt in 1954. Bennie Probably didn't see much of a future in that. So in 1953 he launched a new label OK'ed which aped the branding of the Okeh label. I've only seen one 78 rpm release with that imprint.

 

In November, 1955 he managed to get his own single "Queen of Sylvan Beach" reviewed in the C&W section. But it didn't become a hit. Billboard literally wrote "While he does a good job, the material is not strong enough for commercial prospects." That was the story of his whole career. Bennie had a good ear for finding talent. He could have been an A&R man for a major label. But his own recordings didn't have that certain something. He appeared in Billboard again just a month later, in a passing reference in a December 1955 issue of Billboard.

"Denny Denver, C&W deejay at WCMW, Canton OH, has Jimmy Dickens, Del Woods, the Louvin Brothers, Cousin Judy and Dusty Owens going into Memoruial auditorium there January 1 for two shows, same package plays Warren, OH, January 2 and Zanesville, OH January 3... Elsie Pierce Wilks composer of 'Turn Back the Clock to Davy Crockett' and others, has a new Christmas tune, 'Oh the Man in the Moon is Santa Claus,' which has been waxed for Jet Records by Bennie Hess..."

Bennie went on to perform on Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport, LA with his new band The Nation Playboys. In January 1957 he's quoted in Cashbox magazine not about about his own hits, or shows, or tour dates but about the artists he's releasing on his new record label, Spade. Thus began a  trend, that Bennie's taste for rockabilly and boogie-woogie would endear him to legions of collectors in the future but never amount to personal fame and fortune.

"Bennie Hess, owner Spade Record Co., Houston believes he has something in these three recent Spade label releases: “It Hurts The One Who Loves Me”, Ray Doggett; “I End Up Crying”, Royce Porter; “Is There No Love For Me”, Johnny McAdams. Spade records are distributed locally by Gulf Record Co."

Some stories about Bennie were true. Bennie did also perform on the Big D Jamboree in Dallas on KRLD-AM and on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville at WSM. George Jones really was in his band and and Billie Collie at KNUZ who discovered Elvis really did believe in Bennie. When listing off artists KNUZ pushed in a 1954 ad in Sponsor, Bennie was top of the list. Collie it seems did try to "break" Hess as an artist. Bennie even has a brief promotional stint as a DJ on KNUZ as described by Radio Daily in October of 1949

"What  is  probably  the  largest  regularly scheduled  western  disc  jockey show  has  made  another "first" for  KNUZ,  Houston  indie.  "Rhythm Ranch"  has  a  new approach  in  that it  will  consistently  use  more  live  recording talent  than  any previous Houston  program.  Each  recording artist  will  emcee  a  15-minute  period in  "Rhythm  Ranch,"  which  hits  the air  at  1:45  p.m.  each  Saturday,  with chatter and  news  about  their  recent releases  and  bands  while  spinning their  own  records  with  the  able  assistance of  KNUZ  staffers  Ken Grant  and  Buddy  Covington. Already signed  for  "Rhythm  Ranch" are  Bennie  Hess,  Tiny  Smith,  Leon  Payne,  Ben  Christian,  Benny  Leaders, Jimmy  Short,  Collie  Cornpatch, Little  Marge,  Pete  Hunter,  Floyd Tillman,  Hank  Lochlin,  Jerry  Jericho, Jerry  Irby,  and  Woody  and Smitty. "

In 1974 after open heart surgery Bennie finally slowed down a bit. Unable to become a big star on his own, Bennie worked hard to build a career for his son Troy Hess. Troy released his first single at the age of four (some sources say two). These early recordings, on Hess's labels are ... not great.  But Troy got to appear alongside huge stars such as Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, Porter Waggoner, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Troy still performs today but he didn't get the recording bug like Bennie did. More here. 

Among Troy's own recordings was a single “Please Don’t Go Topless, Mother” which probably led to some awkward moments at the dinner table. Writer Dan Beck called his young music career "child abuse", and compared him to David Allen Coe. That sure did piss off Hess but it's hard to say which he took as the greater insult. Their letters are worth reading. [LINK] Bennie Hess died November 22, 1984 in Houston (Texas). More here. Troy still has the guitar Bennie said was from Jimmie Rodgers. Bennie Hess died November 22, 1984.