Ernest Tubb & The Texas Troubadours
The incomparable Ernest Tubb was one of country music’s most durable stars with a career that spanned 6 decades. One of country music's most distinctive voices and legends was a man born on a ranch in a small town called Crisp, Texas that fans worldwide came to know as the Texas Troubadour, Ernest Tubb.
In 1936, Tubb contacted Jimmie Rodgers’s widow (Rodgers died in 1933) to ask for an autographed photo. A friendship developed and she was instrumental in getting Tubb a recording contract with RCA. His first two records were unsuccessful. A tonsillectomy in 1939 affected his singing style, so he turned to songwriting.
In 1940, Tubb switched to Decca records to try singing again and it was his sixth Decca release with the single Walking the Floor Over You that brought Tubb to stardom.
Tubb joined the Grand Ole Opry in February, 1943 and put together his band, the Texas Troubadours. Ernest remained a regular on the radio show for four decades and hosted the Midnight Jamboree following the Grand Ole Opry shows.
One aspect of Ernest Tubb aside from that distinctive voice and manner was the sound he achieved and was known for on his recordings and his personal appearances. The band through the years contained many names.
Tubb always surrounded himself with some of Nashville's best musicians. Jimmy Short, his first guitarist in the Troubadours, is credited with the Tubb sound of one-string guitar picking. From about 1943 to 1948, Short featured clean, clear riffs throughout Tubb's songs.
Other well-known musicians to either travel with Tubb as band members or record on his records were Jerry Byrd, the phenomenal steel guitarist; Tommy "Butterball" Paige, who replaced Short as Tubb's lead guitarist in 1947.
In 1949, Billy Byrd, the quintessential Tubb guitarist, joined the Troubadours, and brought jazzy riffs to the instrumental interludes, especially the four-note riff at the end of his solos that would become synonymous with Tubb's songs. Actually a jazz musician, Byrd, no relation to Jerry, remained with Tubb until 1959.
In the 1960s, Tubb was well known for having one of the best bands in country music history. By the early-1960s, the Texas Troubadours included lightning-fingered Leon Rhodes (lead guitar, 1960-1967), Buddy Emmons (steel, 1960 -- 1961), Buddy Charleton (steel guitar, 1962 - 1967), Jack Drake (bass guitar), Cal Smith (rhythm guitar, 1961-1967) and Jack Greene (drums, 1962-1965), arguably one of the finest backup bands in the history of country music. Tubb always believed in the value of a strong band and surrounded himself with the only best musicians he could find.
The Texas Troubadours band endured numerous lineup changes, and Buddy Charleton and electric guitarist Leon Rhodes were the instrumental focus of what was Tubb's "greatest lineup of the Texas Troubadours.
Buddy Charleton is featured on numerous Tubb albums, including Live 1965, considered one of country music's top live albums. He also starred on three Decca albums that the Troubadours recorded without Tubb and on Tubb's duet records with Loretta Lynn.
No artist toured as much for as long as Ernest Tubb, who worked 150 to 200 shows each year between the early 1960s (when he first turned his Texas Troubadours into a dance band and started playing the nightclub circuit) through the early-1980s.
Texas Troubadours Band Members A-Z Listing
- Bill Drake (circa 1947)
- Billy Byrd (lead guitar, circa 1949 - 1959)
- Buddy Charleton (steel guitar, 1962 - 1967)
- Buddy Emmons (steel, 1960 -- 1961)
- Cal Smith (rhythm guitar, 1961-1967
- Dickie Harris (circa 1956)
- Hal Smith (circa 1947)
- Jack Drake (bass guitar, circa 1945 - 1967)
- Jack Greene (drums, 1962-1965
- Jimmie Short (circa 1943 - 1948)
- Johnny "Boy" Sapp (circa 1945)
- Leon Rhodes (lead guitar, 1960-1967)
- Leon Short (circa 1945)
- Ray "Kemo" Head (circa 1945)
- Rusty Gabbard (rhyrhm guitar, circa 1956)
- Tommy "Butterball" Paige (circa 1947)
