Breakfast at Sardi's

September 1948 was a pivotal moment in the career of Jack McElroy, and it didn't go well.  But let's start there at the peak, the ABC-TV report on 1948 mentions McElroy and he gets a half page headshot on page 49 between Erwin Canham and Louella Parsons. [SOURCE]  

"All radio was saddened early last year by the sudden death of Tom Breneman, beloved host of Breakfast in Hollywood. A radio institution, Breneman had gained a reputation as a premier showman and it is in the same tradition of show business that his program continues on the ABC network as a cooperative feature with Jack McElroy at the helm."

The New York Times wrote about the change on September 12th that year with more detail and invoking a third name. 

"Jack McElroy, who has been singing on the show and helping out generally, will step into the top position as successor to Garry Moore in running "Breakfast in Hollywood," the program of the late Tom Breneman on WJZ-ABC at 11 A. M. daily. Mr. McElroy will take over on Tuesday. The program will move into the 2 P. M. time with the broadcast of Oct. 4, when Kay Kyser's new program starts in the morning period." 

Breakfast in Hollywood was a morning radio show created and hosted by Breneman. He hosted it from 1941 to 1948 but on three different radio networks at different times: NBC Blue, ABC and Mutual (kinda). When it debuted in January of 1941, newspapers referred to the program as "Breakfast at Sardi's", named for the working restaurant from which the program was broadcast. That first version of the show also two regulars who were staff the hostess, Nell Olson and Bobby Batuga, the Maitre d'. This first version of the show was only 30 minutes long and broadcast from KFWB. 

After it got going, there were two shows every weekday at Sardi's. At 8:00 AM they did a live broadcast to the East Coast, airing at 11:00 AM EST. Then breakfast was served and a second show, heard live in the West, began at 9:30 PST. There was no script, just Breneman asking everyday people questions and taking in the occasional celebrity guest. It was so popular it spawned a copy cat program on Mutual "Luncheon at Sardi’s." That broadcast on WOR from a different, unrelated Sardi's in New York City with a different different, unrelated host, Bill Slater. (More on that another day.) That original building still stands today but it's been a strip club since 1971.

On August 3rd, 1942 the program was picked up by NBC Blue and the program moved to Radio City at 1539 North Vine Street. This site, [LINK] claims that Breneman bought the building and the Hollywood Roof Ballroom next door in 1938, converting them into a radio studio and Tom Breneman’s Hollywood Restaurant. There may be something to it, but 1938 is before the radio program even started at Sardis. (Breneman was also only the "honorary" mayor of Encono. Nice try AI.) I think they just have the year wrong. I also remember that address coming up once before in reference to the Radio Room, cafe. [LINK]  (If you look at this 1948 photo you can see both signs.)

1539 North Vine Street in 1948

These sources are all slightly wrong. The Hollywood restaurant opened initially at 1525 N. Vine St. [SOURCE] In 1945, the Blue Network rebranded as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Then in December of 1947 The Hollywood restaurant expanded next door to 1539 Vine, the former Empire nightclub. Four months later in April 1948, Breneman died of a heart attack. There are pictures of the line out front on April 28th learning there would be no show that day. He died 2 hours before show time. [SOURCE]  His name was replaced on the marquee with the words: American Broadcasting Company. You can use these signage changes to date pictures. 

Tom Breneman was born in 1900 and raised in Wayneboro, PA. He later attended Columbia University. He started in vaudeville, and in 1927 he became program director at 1020 KFVD-AM in Culver City, CA. In 1929 he starred in a radio comedy series called
Tom 'n' Wash in which he played three characters. From 1931–1932, he used the on-air name Tom Brennie, and hosted "Laugh Club of the Air" on NBC in New York. A 1931 issue of Radio Digest lists the syndication: WJZ, WBAL, WFAA, WIOD, WGN and KOA. That expanded from there. You can listen to a souvenir album with Breneman hosting here.

Tom "Brennie", Radio Digest Jan 1932

His earlier program, Laugh Club was a show with audience participation, and even Billboard called it "one of the very first." So in that way it prefigures Breakfast at Sardi's. I found a 1932 entry in Broadcasting magazine which refers to his latest program the “Tom and Wash Laugh Club.” I don't think that was a formal name, just a confused press release.  [SOURCE] Breneman's obituary reports that he later returned to Hollywood and managed two radio stations and then went to San Francisco in a similar capacity." Those would have been KFVD again and it's sister station KFAC. Those stations were part of the CBS/Don Lee network at the time. In 1937, Breneman he became the host of "Secret Ambition" at KNX. 

Breneman was only 46 years old. Before that fateful day in 1948, the ABC radio series had gone by the name “Breakfast In Hollywood”. After the death of Breneman, Jack McElroy took over.  The format remained largely the same, with a lot of Q&A with the general public. I know it's weird but I suspect that ABC didn't understand why the audience loved Breneman, and picked McElroy because he looked like Breneman; a friendly Lou Costello figure.  Sadly, it didn't work, but you can hear a continuity between the program and later television talk shows like Steve Allen, Jack Paar, even Letterman. 

July 12th 1949 Promo

Without Breneman the chemistry didn't work, and the ratings dropped. I know that ABC booklet says that Jack McElroy took over directly but it's not true. Garry Moore stepped into the role first, and he quit by July 1948. Moore was doing six shows a week for "Breakfast in Hollywood" as well as his regular spot on "Take It or Leave It." When the New York Times reported the change on July 13th, they had not even named a successor. [SOURCE] Consequently the pictures of Garry hosting the program are few. One AP News feature on Moore stated "Unlike Breneman, Garry doesn't kiss the ladies or wear their hats. He has his own line of gags." Cliff Arquette took over briefly followed by John Nelson, Nelson left to host the TV version of Bridge and Groom. Then they tapped Jack McElroy.  Supposedly Arch Presby was also host at one point but I've never been able to corroborate that. 

Jack McCoy NBC Radio Trading card #3 (1953)

McElroy's tenure lasted until the program ended on July 6, 1951. ABC attempted a revival as "Welcome To Hollywood" which debuted on NBC in 1952. Jack McCoy hosted the attempted Saturday morning reboot. Don Rickles was the announcer. Sometimes that's erroneously cited as McElroy again. I found one source that reports George Jessell was the host, in 1953. that might have been a fill-in.  It wrapped permanently in 1954. McCoy died in 1991.

Before Breakfast in Hollywood, Nelson and McElroy were probably best known for an ABC program, "Bride and Groom" where Elroy was a singer and announcer. John Nelson was the program's host. Bride and Groom had an audience participation component which is probably what made NBC think it would work. It ran from November 26, 1945, to September 15, 1950. An obituary in the Circleville Herald says that McElroy was a singer in his hometown of Pittsburgh, KS. His career ourtide these two shows is not well documented. He was born in 1913 and died in 1959 of lung cancer at the age of 45. Arquette later went on to a strange type of fame on Hollywood Squares. He died in 1974 at the age of 68.

Hank The Night Watchman

Here's another nice obscure character from the bowels of night radio. Hank the Night Watchman aired on both KFVD and KGFJ in the 1940s doing overnights. Lorenzo Wilson Milam described him as a story teller and his program as skirting "...the border between lurid and gross and hilarious. But always with a wit that made it impossible for those of us listening to complain." Even in 1941 it was being billed as the "longest request radio show on Earth." An 1943 issue of Billboard named Joseph Blazak as the "current"  Hank the Night-Watchman indicating that there may have been a previous one. (I believe that to be George Skinner.) Historian Ron Sayles puts Blazak's birth date at 04-12-1911 and his death at 12-04-1993.

A 1941 issue of the Catalina Islander Newspaper lists Hank the Night-Watchman as airing 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM on KFVD-AM. That's 8 straight hours, and it took 160 records to span that shift in between the chatter. According to Billboard, starting in 1943 Hank also had a 1-hour Sunday slot on 1020 KFVD-AM. It ran 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. But the program was sponsored by the Victor Clothing Company and he was named at the bottom of many of their newspaper ads in the California Eagle Newspaper as early as 1941. But radio logs put him on starting at Midnight on 1230 KGFJ-AM, up to 8 hours a night, 7 days a week at least as early as 1942. 

The July 1944 issue [LINK] of Radio Life interviewed the Michigan-born Blazak, who then stated the show had been on air 3 year But again that he had only been "Anthony" for a third of that time. He had only been in radio for two years, and was only on KGFJ for nine months when Victor Clothing asked him to be its new host. In 1944 he bragged that every night he received between 300 and 400 telephone calls and his fan mail averaged 750 letters a week, except when he has a contest on, when it doubles.

The book Swingin' On The Ether Waves by Henry T. Sampson mentions the program in the same breath as Al Jarvis. It's an important benchmark. Jarvis was on KFWB from 1932 to 1960. He owned the night.  The book Long Tall Dexter by Stan Britt claims that Hank was preceded by Jack the Bellboy. There wasn't exactly a baton pass.

Jack the Bellboy was running 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM on KFVD prior to 1940. He may or may not have any connection to the "Jack the Bellboy" name being used on WJBK in Detroit starting in the late 1950s. (At WJBK several DJs used the name including the legendary Tom Clay.  In terms of there being a big overnight rhythm & blues show in LA, Hank succeeded Jack, but their tenures overlapped from about 1937 to 1940 and Al Jarvis lapped them both. They were all flipping hot jazz records.

In 1941 KFVD moved from 1000 to 1020 kHz. After 1943 Hank gets scarce.  The popularity of the program led to copycats. Sweet Dick Whittington as playing the part of the Night Watchman on 960 KROW-AM overnights. In 1943 Billboard reports that Bob Anderson at RKO signed Blazak for a multi-year deal, and the press on him dries up right after that.

**2022 Update added some details from Radio Life 1944

Hollywood Walk of Fame: A - C

As of this writing there are 2,476 stars in the Hollywood walk of fame. I recently read that only 10% of those are so-called radio stars.  By that math there should be about 248 radio stars on the walk. There are in fact only 238, which is 9.61%... close enough.

Because many stars cross media formats from music, to film to print and broadcasting the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce breaks this down into categories for us. Each category has an identifying emblem for it's brass radio star.  Inside the coral-pink terrazzo five-point star rimmed with brass is a circular 4-inch brass plaque showing an antique studio-style microphone Radio microphone. I'll warn you now that some category inclusions are dubious.

Since there are hundreds of these lets go at it alphabetically. This will take all week. In cases where there are two names or a state name absent a surname I have alphabetized by the first name of the listed first party. If I have already written a post about them I have inserted a link, if not then just a very abbreviated bio.

Bud Abbott - The straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello which his listed under "C."  Many comedy duos share a star. They do not.  Costello appears below.

Dear Abby - Dear Abby of the advice column by the same name. It was founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pseudonym Abigail Van Buren. Her daughter Jeanne Phillips. There was in fact a Dear Abby radio show.

Fred Allen - He was a vaudeville performer, who became a guest on a couple radio shows then began hosting The Linit Bath Club Revue starting in 1934. The eponymous Fred Allen Show debuted on NBC in 1945. His radio career is long and storied.

Steve Allen - You already know his voice. The Steve Allen Show began airing in 1956,  but his first radio gig was on KOY-AM way back in 1945. You'd know him best as the first host of the tonight show.

Don Ameche - He was a film actor in the 1930s and '40s but he started in radio. He had numerous bit parts over the years, but his big radio role was as John Bickerson... of the Bickersons. It ran 1946 to 1951 but it lives on as a model for sitcoms today.

Morey Amsterdam - He had an eponymous TV program starting in 1948. He did relatively little notable radio. He was was a regular guest on The Al Pearce Show show, and himself hosted an obscure series called the Night Club of the Air which only ran for 2 months in 1937. His inclusion is dubious.

Eddie Anderson - Anderson rose to fame playing the character of Rochester, Jack Benny's personal valet.  He began playing bit parts on the program starting in 1937.  Anderson made it to the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the man. His gravelly voice tops even Tom Waits.

Eve Arden - She was a a regular on Danny Kaye's variety program in 1946. But her career was playing the character Connie Brooks in the sitcom "Our Miss Brooks." Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957 then for TV from 1952 - 1956, and then a film in 1956.

Eddy Arnold - He was a country artist with over a hundred singles to his name. He made his career the hard way playing live on air. He was on WTJS-AM in Jackson, WMPS-AM in Memphis, KWK-AM in St. Louis, WHAS-AM in Louisville eventually making it to the Grand Ol' Opry on WSM-AM.

Cliff Arquette - It has been said that at one point he was performing on 13 different daily radio shows in the Chicago metro. The big one was called "Dave and Charley" which Arquette hosted with Dave Willock,it even made it on TV briefly. He later revisited his characters for the Tonight Show while Jack Paar was host.

Gene Autry - See previous post here.

Dan Avey - Avey won over 30 major journalism awards in his career including 15 Golden Mikes, which might be a record. He was a sportscaster and newscaster on stations like KXLY-AM, KWIZ-AM, KFI-AM, KFWB-AM, and KABC-AM. He retired in 2007.

Lew Ayres - He was in more than 50 films in his career but he did a tour of radioland. He acted the part of Kildare on the program "The Story of Doctor Kildare" airing 1950 through 1951. He also played the part in film. His inclusion is dubious.

Jack Bailey - He was the host of a daytime game show called "Queen for a Day."  It debuted on the Mutual Radio Network in 1945 continuing through 1948 when it jumped to television.

Art Baker - His real name was Arthur Shank. The program "Art Baker's Notebook" debuted on KFI-AM in Los Angeles in 1938. It ran for 20 years. If that wasn't enough, he went on to host the TV show "You Asked for It."

Kenny Baker - This is different fellow than the Kenny Baker that was in R2D2. This Baker was a singer on  The Jack Benny Program in the 1930s. He had his own program which didn't do so well. He went on to sang on the Texaco Star Theater radio program and do film.

Phil Baker - He hosted a number of big radio programs in his career. Starting in 1933 Baker starred in his own NBC series "The Armour Jester." He was also the host of the popular quiz show "Take It or Leave It," which later became "The $64 Question." He also appeared on Duffy's Tavern in 1944.

Lionel Barrymore - He portrayed the character Doctor Gillespie on the program Doctor Kildare in the 1940s. He also performed in the radio series, Mayor of the Town, and got a bit typecast playing Ebenezer Scrooge on the radio every Xmas from 1934 to1953. He also hosted the AFRS "Concert Hall" Radio Show in he late 1940s.

Brian Beirne -  He actually trade-marked the nick name "Mr. Rock N' Roll."  Beirne was a DJ for KRTH-FM known as K-EARTH 101. After 29 years on air years he retired in 2004.

William Bendix -  His program "The Life of Riley" aired from 1944 through 1951. When it was revised for television "The Life of Riley" ran from 1953 to 1958. His character's tag line "What a revoltin' development" lives on.

Jack Benny - The Jack Benny show ran from 1932 to 1955. It became a television program from 1960 through 1964 on CBS, then NBC for another year. His career requires no further explanation.

Edgar Bergen - A ventriloquist who guested on Rudy Vallée's program in 1936, then a regular bit on the Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1937. That was followed by the Charlie McCarthy Show which lasted 2 years. He jumped to Film and TV from there.

Milton Berle - He made his reputation as a regular on on The Rudy Vallee Hour, and the Gillette Original Community Sing in 1936. The Milton Berle Show only ran a year from 1947 - 1948. Berle became the host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater taking over for Jack Carter.. His reign ran from 1948 to 1955 when it jumped to TV.

Ben Bernie - He was called  The Old Maestro. He broadcast on NBC Blue WJZ-AM starting in 1923. His program ran on CBS through most of the 1930s.  He slowly started to segue into film around 1937 and left radio. His last starring radio role was the "Ben Bernie War Workers" program" which ran from 1941 to 1943.

Rodney Bingenheimer - Rodney has been hosting his own program "Rodney on the ROQ" on KROQ since August of 1976. They'll probably have to tear it from his cold dead hands.

Mel Blanc - Now just famous for his voice work on Warner Bros cartoons, he actually began in radio. In 1927 he began doing voice over the KGW-AM program The Hoot Owls. He jumped to KEX-AM in 1933 to produce his Cobweb And Nuts show which lasted 2 years. He followed that with a spin on the Johnny Murray Show, then The Joe Penner Show, then a big win on the Jack Benny Show. He got his own program "The Mel Blanc Show", which ran from 1946  into 1947. It didn't matter.. he'd already discovered cartoon work. The die was cast.

Ford Bond - Bond was a radio announcer peaking in the mid 1940s. He did Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, Fun At Breakfast, Kraft Music Hall, Easy Aces, and many others. He began on WHAS-AM in Louisville in 1922. He died in 1962 after retiring to the Virgin islands. Can't knock that.

Edward Bowes - He was host of  Major Bowes' Amateur Hour on WHN-AM in 1934. The show ran until 1946 when he retired. He died two months later.

Bill Boyd - A western Swing man he played on air at many stations including WRR-AM,  KTER-AM and KSKY-AM in Dallas and alter WKNE and WPWA. His band The Cowboys Ramblers, had their own popular radio show, "The Bill Boyd Ranch House" around 1947 on WRR.

Eddie Bracken - Another vaudeville man who moved to radio. It was his success in film that landed him his very own "Eddie Bracken Show." It ran for 2 years on CBS 1946 and 1947.

Tom Breneman - Breneman was the host of "Breakfast in Hollywood." It debuted on the Blue Network in 1941, but moved to ABC, NBC and Mutual at various times. It initially launched as "Breakfast on the Boulevard" on KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.  It was so big it had a magazine, he had a restaurant and they made a movie about the program in 1946. It was finally cancelled in 1948 only because he died.

Fanny Brice - She spent most of her career trapped in the role of Baby Snooks. The character first appeared in a skit on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air. At the age of 60 she was still typecast as a child.

Ray Briem - Ray retired from radio in 2008 after a long career at KABC-AM. As a conservative talk show host. He'd been a long time radio man having even hosted programs for AFRS.

Cecil Brown - Brown was famous as a WWII news commentator. He was hired by CBS in 1940. His career gained ground criticizing Mussolini but lost it criticizing the British. After the war he became a commentator for the Mutual Network.

Bob Burns - He was a regular on the Kraft Music Hall program, and Rudy Vallee's show The Fleischmann Hour starting in 1935. Prior to that he'd only done random appearances on programs like "The Fun Factory." He hosted the Academy Awards in 1938 which improved is cache. His own radio show, The Arkansas Traveler ran from 1941 to 1943 and was followed by  The Bob Burns Show  which ran 1943 to 1947.

Judy Canova - Her career exploded after a 1931 guest spot on the Fleischmann Yeast Hour. She did a series of films, then got her own radio show 1in 1943, The Judy Canova Show. It ran for 12 years. She moved on to TV and had a long career there as well.

Eddie Cantor - See previous post here.

Ken Carpenter - Ken was an NBC Radio Announcer. He was probably best known for announcing Bing Crosby on the Kraft Music Hall radio variety program for 27 years. He started his career in KFI-AM in 1929 as a sports announcer. He stayed with NBC doing sports color until 1942.

Jack Carson - He appeared in 1938 on the Kraft Music Hall while Bing Crosby's was host. He guested several more times and got own CBS radio show, the Jack Carson Show,  in 1943.  The show lasted 4 years. he left to host The Sealtest Village Store program where he stayed until 1948.

Bud Collyer - Bud was Superman on The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Network in 1940. That iconic work would probably be enough but he also acted on all 3 major networks. He went on to host TV game shows like Beat the Clock and to Tell the Truth.

Jerry Colonna - He had the greatest mustache ever made. He was famous on radio as Bob Hope's zany sidekick. He actually started as a serious trombonist in the CBS house orchestra. He even recorded as a part Raymond Scott's famous Quintette and of course played on the Kraft Music Hall.

Perry Como - Como is most famous for his recording career and his early work hosting television programs. His work on the radio program "Beat the Band" was notable, lasting on NBC radio from 1940 to 1944. Btu it represents the bulk of his radio career.

Spade Cooley - He had his own TV show starting in 1947 but before that he was on radio a bit. He guested in 1946 on Gene Autry's Program "Melody Ranch." Then with his own show "Spade Cooley Time" on KFVD-AM. He went straight from there to KTLA-TV.

Charles Correll - He played the character Andy Brown of Amos & Andy alongside Freeman Gosden. The bit began on WMAQ-AM in 1926 as Sam 'n' Henry and continued on to WGN-AM, where it became Amos and Andy. It became syndicated and continued on in different forms until 1962.

Lou Costello - He was the shorter stouter half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. They began in vaudeville individually, then as a team and signed up with the William Morris Agency in 1938. They became a regular feature on The Kate Smith Hour and rapidly moved into film.

Bing Crosby - Bing appears at least 5 other times on this page for launching other careers during his tenure on the Kraft Music Hall from 1935 to 1946. But he'd already been host of the Woodbury Soap Program, the Chesterfield's Music Program, The Cremo Singers and The Radio Singers on CBS back in 1931. his first appearance was probably in 1929 on Old Gold presents the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

Bob Crosby - Despite am 18-month interruption for WWII the "Bob Crosby Show" ran on NBC and CBS separately from  1943 to 1950. He moved from there to a show called "Club Fifteen" on CBS from 1947 to 1953. From 1952 to 1955 he was a band leader on the Jack Benny Show. That was followed by a half hour Bob Crosby Show that ran on CBS from 1953–1957. He tried a little TV show in Australia in the 1960s but it fizzled.

Milton Cross - See previous post here.

Frank Crumit - Crumit was a vaudeville man. He and his wife Julia Sanderson were a comedy and singing duo in 1928 on CBS as the "Singing Sweethearts" even though they were already divorced. In 1030 they started co-hosting a quiz show called "The Battle of the Sexes", which ran 13 years. they started a new program on WABC-AM, but it was abruptly cut short when Crumit died of  a heart attack in 1943.

Bill Cunningham - This is not the same radio man as right-winger Bill Cunningham in Cincinnati. This is the man who hosted "Meet the Boss" from 1944-1952 carried by Mutual Broadcasting.

Art Laboe is still alive

In 1981, the city of Los Angeles declared that July 17th would be "Art Laboe Day." That day Art received his star on Hollywood Boulevard. Sadly nobody under the age of 60 had any idea who the hell he was.Art Laboe is the main that coined the term "Oldies But Goodies." The phrase is used on Oldies stations cost to coast but Art was the originator. Art put together the first Top-40 comps. There were already best-of compilations, but he was the first to gather hits by multiple artists. His were called "Oldies But Goodies™" and the idea was so novel that the releases stayed on Billboard's Top 100 LP's chart for years. He owned Original Sounds and Starla records. He began as a DJ. He was on KSAN, KPOP and KDAY.

"The Art Laboe Show" was on 1020 KPOP-AM in Los Angeles. He'd come there fresh from KCOP-AM. From 1955 to 1960 1220 was known as K-Pop. Prior to that it was KFVD. More here. Despite the fact that the station was a daytimer until 1976, Art Laboe had the the #1 radio program in the Los Angeles area in 1956. (This was pre-Arbitron so that is a Hooperrating) More here.

K-Pop was primed for rock n' roll. Before the new called debuted the station was already playing rhythm & Blues. DJ Hunter Hancock was on the air in that era. The Standard Broadcasting Company bought 1020 AM from Frank Burke and took the station Top-40 rock, pop and all. But in 1960 Standard sold it to Storer broadcasting who changed the calls to KGBS who went Easy Listening. So sad.

Though KPOP was dead, Art Lived on. He's been putting out records, playing record hops and already emceed shows on KTLA-TV (for Prez Prado for example.) He founded Original Sounds in 1951. He put out records by all kinds of artists rhythm & Blues, country and even that Bongo Rock 45 by Preston Epps. Art wasn't #1 anymore but he kept busy. In 1974 his "Oldies but Goodies" comps were selling like mad. In 1972 he opened his own club, The Art Laboe Club... they focused on oldies. He started doing a show on KRTH our of the second floor. IN 1960 he started Now records and putting out soul 45s.

...And let there be no doubt, he's still alive and still on air. More here.

Woody Guthrie on KFVD

Woody Guthrie traveled a lot for work. In 1938 he went to Redding, California to work on the Kenneth Dam. He was not alone. In his own words:

"In a bend of the Sacramento is the town of Redding,California. The word had scattered out that twenty-five hundred workers was needed to build the Kenneth Dam, and already eight thousand work hands had come to do the job... I fell off of the freight with my guitar over my shoulder and asked a guy when the work was going to start. He said it was supposed to get going last month. Telegram hadn't come from Washington yet."

That dam if it ever existed, even on paper was never built. Woody headed south to Los Angeles and managed to get a daily radio show on 1000 KFVD-AM. He was trying to save up money to bring his wife and child to LA to live with him. It was a time in which the west coast as very country. The Saddle Tramps were on KFOX, The Saddle Pals were on KMPC, Sons of the Pioneers were on KRKD and both Sutart Hamblen and Roy Rogers were stars. Woody and his cousin Jack auditioned for Frank Burke Jr. who gave them a daily 15-minute slot at 8:00 AM. It was early enough they could still fit in a days labor after the gig. It was called the Oklahoma and Woody Show. More here.

Maxine Crissman guested on a couple shows and when jack left to work, she became the other half of the duo. She picked up the stage name Lefty Lou and it became the Woody and Lefty Lou Show in 1937. It did well enough He was able to bring his family to LA that year. They managed to pick up a couple extra gigs together on KIEV-AM in Glendale, and the program was extended from 15 minutes to half an hour then they added an 11pm show. Then Mrs. Guthrie decided that there was a little hanky panky between Lefty Lou and Guthrie.

They performed on KFVD until 1938 when a big offer came to move the program to 1010 XELO-AM in Tijuana. The deal included a big raise, a longer program and creative control. It was a border blaster and sent Woody's program across the Midwest and into Canada. They got an invitation to play the Big Barn Dance on WLS, then it fell apart. They had a big fight with the Mexican police and Woody was briefly arrested. The WLS invite was lost. The owner of XELO left town owing them money. So they went back to KVFD, but Maxine fell ill and had difficulty performing. The show fizzled out and Woody left for New York in 1939. Woody didn't perform again on radio until Alan Lomax put him on his CBS "Folk School on the Air" show.

 

Cliffie Stone

His father was country musician Herman-the-Hermit a frequent performer on KELW. Cliffie Stone was born Clifford Gilpin Snyder in 1917. He was a radio and TV personality, a recorded musician, and vaudeville comedian among other things. Today he's best known as a country musician who did a series of Square dance recordings for Columbia records.

But it was at Capitol where he rose to success as an A&R man. Stone started work at Capitol Records in 1946 in A&R. He went on to sign Tennessee Ernie Ford, Molly Bee, and Hank Thompson. He knew country music and he knew radio. He got his start playing bass in big bands around California in the early 1930s with Anson Weeks and Freddie Slack. They gigged around Hollywood and Pasadena.

Eventually he scored radio shows as KFUD and KFWB doing hayride shows like Covered Wagon Jubilee, Hollywood barn dance, Hometown Jamboree and Lucky Stars, broadcast out of Los Angeles It started in 1935 when he first got on Covered Wagon Jubilee on KFVD . He was only 18 years old playing bass with the stage name Cliffie Stonehead. ( He later shortened it to Stone. In 1944 Stone started a third show, Dinner Bell Round-Up, on KPAS. At the same time he started his own record production company, Lariat Records. It was that work with his own indie label that got the attention of Capitol. his deal with Capitol was interesting. He signed artists yes, but he also wrote songs and performed as a studio musician. Some of those relationships developed and he also manged some of those same artists such as Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford. in the 1960s he even developed his own publishing company.

1110 KPAS-AM became KXLA in 1945 with Stone still hosting Dinner Bell Round-Up. In 1948he moved over to host Hometown Jamboree also on KXLA on Saturday nights. A year later he crossed over to TV on KCOP-TV in Pasadena. In 1953 it moved to KTLA-TV, where it ran until its cancellation in 1959. He even booked his dad Herman the Hermit on the programs. The biggest country artists of the era played his radio and television programs: Don Sullivan, Johnny Horton, Ferlin Husky and Molly Bee. Today, 1110 AM in Los Angeles is KDIS a Radio disney outlet. Boring.

He wrote two books but neither was published until after his death. He died of a sudden heart attack on January 17, 1998, at his home in Saugus, CA. the following year Cliffie was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.