ROOTS of Country Music

Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats

Houston, 1936: Floyd Tillman on resonator guitar, Lew Frisby on bass, and Love Everett on fiddle; Shelly Alley is at the far right. The rest are unknown.

The Shelly Lee Alley Story

During the developing era of western swing, Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats were one of the most prominent western swing bands in Texas. They recorded from 1937-1942 for the American Record Corporation (ARC) on the Vocalion and label.

Shelley Lee Alley holds a distinction of being one of the first pioneers of radio entertainment. He broadcast the first program over radio station WFAA out of Dallas, Texas.

Shelley Lee Alley was a prolific songwriter and recorded many of his own compositions for ARC and Vocalion Records.

Though his band generated mostly a regional following, it spawned the more widely recognized names of Floyd Tillman, Cliff Bruner and Ted Daffan.

Shelly Lee Alley was born July 6, 1894, near Alleyton, Colorado County, Texas, where he also spent his formative years.

Singer/songwriter/fiddle player, Mr. Alley began his career as the leader of a San Antonio, TX army camp orchestra during World War I. Following military service, he went on to lead several small orchestras, which played on radio stations throughout the Lone Star State.

During the early '20s, Alley was primarily interested in pop and jazz music and was a member of several small combos, including the Dixie Serenaders, which played at a Dallas, TX radio station. By the mid-twenties, Shelly Alley was a fixture on Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX radio and enjoyed a summer residence at the Oakdale Casino in Glen Rose. Okeh Records contacted him regarding a recording contract in 1927, but apparently nothing materialized. In addition to leading three orchestras, he also became a partner in a Dallas, TX music store. The grind proved too much, however, as he explained to a hometown newswriter.

In addition to performing and conducting music, Mr. Alley was also a songwriter. One of his early songs, Travelin' Blues, became a Depression-era hit for Jimmie Rodgers; its success turned Mr. Alley more towards country and western music and he joined a Fort Worth radio show called The Chuck Wagon Gang.

Mr. Alley formed the Alley Cats in 1936 and played radio stations and local dances in the Houston and Beaumont area. The Alley Cats recorded several sessions for the American Record Corporation on the Vocalion label.

For his first recording sessions, Mr. Alley recruited a pick-up band of young Houston, TX players corralled by guitarist Chuck Keeshan. The group included aspiring songwriter-steel guitarist Ted Daffan and hot fiddler Cliff Bruner, at twenty-two already a revered trendsetter on his instrument.

Mr. Alley called his band the Alley Cats, a name resurrected from his mid-twenties tenure at KRLD (Dallas, Texas) (it was "Alley Kats" in those days). The session almost didn't come off. As Ted Daffan recalls, "Shelly...got blind drunk" prior to recording and had to be primed with coffee in an almost futile attempt to sober him.” 

Some Alley Cats members, such as Floyd Tillman, Cliff Bruner, Ted Daffan and Leon Selph, went on to form their own successful bands. 

In 1941, Shelly Alley cut a single for Bluebird and also continued writing songs, many of which were recorded by Jimmie Davis.

During World War II, the Alley Cats broke up and Mr. Alley began playing with Patsy and the Buckaroos. Shelly Alley got the Cats back together and cut a single for the Globe label, but the group disbanded for good around 1946.

After retiring from music, Mr. Alley made his living writing lead sheets for would-be songwriters and setting their lyrics to music. He also wrote lead sheets for Floyd Tillman, for Pappy Daily (including leads for George Jone's early sessions). Music remained Alley's passion to his death in 1964.

Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats

The following are some of the musicians associated with  Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats between 1937-1942.

• Anthony Scanlin
• Chuck Keeshan
• Cliff Bruner
• Don Law
• Ernest "Deacon" Evans
• George Ogg
• Gus Chet Miller
• Gus Plant
• Harry Choates
• Howard Ol
• Jack Moran
• Leon Selph
• Lester J. Voss
• Pinkie Dawson
• Ralph Smith
• ShellyLee Alley
• Smoky Miller
• Ted Daffan

Shelly Lee Alley & His Alley Cats

First Recording Session

Date: Thursday, November 4, 1937

Place: San Antonio, Texas

Session Personnel: ShellyLee Alley (fiddle, vocal), Cliff Bruner (fiddle), Anthony Scanlin (clarinet, piano, tenor saxophone), Ted Daffan (electric guitar, saxophone), Chuck Keeshan (vocal, guitar), Jack Moran (string bass), Don Law (washboard)

1. Let Me Bring It to Your Door, 1
2. I'm Still In Love With You, 1
3. She's So Different, 2
4. Alone, 2
5. Why Are You Blue, 2
6. Houston Blues, 2
7. You've Got Me Worried Now, 1
8. Nonie, 2
9. Don't You Care, 2
10. Deep Congress Avenue, 2
11. My Precious Darling, 1

1-Vocalion Records

2-American Record Corporation (ARC)

Note: Shelly Lee Alley recorded after 1942.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Jan 24, 2012.