ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Bill Mack

Country Music Disc Jockey & Record Promoter

Bill Mack is one of the most recognizable voices in country music radio. For many years, Mack was best known as the host of The Country Roads Show, the U.S. 1 Trucking Show and the Midnight Cowboy Trucking Show.  The overnight country music program aired over WBAP (Fort Worth, Texas). Mack's show catered primarily to truck drivers who traveled during the late-night hours.

Born (Jun. 4, 1933) in Shamrock,Texas, Bill Mack began his career in radio broadcasting in 1950 at his hometown radio station, KEVA- AM 1580. Bill scoured the restrooms and vacuumed floors in the morning, then hosted an hour-long radio show in the afternoon called the 1580 Club. However, after a run-in with the program director, Mack was fired. Bill moved with his family toAmarillosoon after and he was hired as a newsman for KLYN.

In 1952, Mack found his niche when he was hired at KWFT in Wichita Falls, where he remained for seven years. “I was in country music then and it was a bigger station. I formed my own band and even started my own television show, the Big 6 Jamboree, on Channel 6 in 1954.” Elvis came on the show right after he signed with Sun Records in 1955. Mack leftWichita Fallsin 1959 to broadcast at KDAV inLubbock, where he worked with Waylon Jennings.

Then it was on to KENS (San Antonio, TX). In 1963, he moved toFort Worth, broadcasting for KCUL and then toGrand Prairiefor KPCN. Mack started a TV show called Panther Hall Ballroom Television Show. In 1969, Mack received a phone call from Hal Chestnut at WBAP- AM 820 inFort Worth, a call that changed the course of his life for the next 32 years, giving him the trademark moniker, the Midnight Cowboy. There Bill started the Country Roads Show, which aired nightly (11:00PM – 6:00AM) to many corners of the nation and beyond.

Mack, who became a legend to truck drivers and night-owls throughout the mid-west, was the mainspring behind WBAB’s change to country music. WBAB was no stranger to country music, having been the fountainhead of such groups as the Light Crust Doughboys and the Chuck Wagon gang in years past. Bill’s program gained a large following. WBAP, a 50,000 watt clear-channel signal, especially at night reaches thousands of listeners.

When not spinning discs over the radio, Bill took part in various regional country caravans and worked hard promoting other artists as well as launching his own recording career. Billboard reported the signing of Bill Mack to Imperial records in the summer of 1951 and over the next 4 years Mack would cut a whole mess of sides for the label including Play My Boogie (1952) and Sue Suzie Boogie (1955). Imperial 8167 was released in the late fall of 1952 and featured Ain't It A Shame and When the Sun Goes Down.

During his varied career, Mack authored 250 country songs, of which 75 have been recorded. The most notable until LeAnn Rimes came along was Drinking Champagne, which he first recorded and released through Kapp Records in 1968. Since then there have been releases of the song by such artists as Cal Smith, Faron Young, Ray Price, Billy Walker, Jerry Lee Lewis andGeorgeStrait.

By 1970, Bill was under contract with Hickory Records and released a recording titled Somewhere Between, a duet with Wanda Concklin. It was written by Merle Haggard. Also that year, Mack was elected to the board of directors of the Country Music Association. Mack operated his own Road Music Publishing Company and his Mack Company Productions.

Mack recalls the earlyDallaspart in country music. “The late Jim Beck’s Studio put out some fine sounds. Hank Thompson, Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price, Carl Smith, Marty Robbins and a lot of others used to come in here for their sessions. Unfortunately for all of us, Jim Beck met an untimely death,” he said. 

Today his best known song is Blue, which is one of LeAnn Rimes biggest hits. The song won Mack the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1997. Mack left WBAP after what he describes as “glorious years” and joined XM Satellite Radio on Sept. 10, 2001. Bill has been honored as the Country Music D.J. of The Year, Mr. D.J.USA andTexas’ Number One Country D.J. He is a member of the “Country Music D.J. Hall of Fame inNashville. 

Bill Mack Radio Station Career Track:

• KEVA ~ Shamrock,Texas(1950)
• KLYN ~Amarillo,Texas(1951)
• KWFT ~WichitaFalls,Texas(1954)
• KVAD ~Lubbock,Texas(1959)
• KENS ~San Antonio,Texas(1961)
• KCUL ~Fort Worth,Texas(1963)
• KPCN ~ Grand Prairie,Texas(1965)
• WBAP ~Fort Worth,Texas (1969)

Researched, ccompiled and written by: Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Sep. 3, 2011