Trying to identify Johnnie Lee Wills' steel player ca. 1940s

David Acord · From: Arkansas, USA

Hi everyone, I am brand new to the forum and was hoping to get some help identifying this steel player from the Johnnie Lee Wills band sometime in the early 1940s. My grandmother (also a steel player, who played in many local bands in the northwest Arkansas area in the 1940s and 1950s) took this picture along with several others at a Johnnie Lee Wills outdoor concert. It was probably somewhere in northwest or central Arkansas, or perhaps next door in Oklahoma. The exact date and venue are unknown; I recently found these negatives in some boxes of photos she left behind.

Any help is appreciated. I would also love to know any info about the steel he is playing.

I have several other photos from the concert if anyone is interested; this is the only one with the steel player front and center. Thank you in advance!

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

It's not Tommy Elliot, who didn't look like this guy and would have been noticeably younger in the mid 1940s.

Probably not Buster Magness, who was born in late 1923. The guy in your pic looks a bit older than that to me. The only pictures of Buster I have are when he was quite old.

So it must be J.L. Jenkins, playing a Rickenbacher D16 like Leon's shown below.

Here's a pic of Jenkins in 1948 with Cotton Thompson's band in Beaumont. He looks a bit younger in your pic, so it might be 1942-44?

When did Rickenbacher begin manufacturing that guitar? That would be a good way to help with a date.

Let me tell you: J.L. could flat burn it down. I'm not sure he ever touched a pedal steel. Check him and Johnny Tyler out with the Luke Wills band, 1940s. He also recorded a bit with Johnnie Lee Wills.

Please post the rest of your pictures in the same quality.

Jeff Melvin · From: Texas, USA

I'd like to identify the source of Mitch Drumm's encyclopedic knowledge of steel history and steel players...

Barry Blackwood · Posted 22 Dec 2014 8:59 am

J.L. is a great dresser. He looks very dapper in the photo.

For you younger guys...
dapper |ˈdapər|
adjective
(typically of a man) neat and trim in dress, appearance, or bearing.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

They look like post war pickups like on the panda models.

David Acord · From: Arkansas, USA

Wow Mitch, thank you so much for solving the mystery and posting those photos! I echo Jeff Melvin's comment, your knowledge of steel history & players is amazing.

Re: Ray Montee's comment on the pickups -- it very well could be a post-war concert. I thought it was early 1940s because I found the photos in a box with other photos from that era, but they weren't dated or anything, and they definitely weren't sorted in chronological order.

Per Mitch's request, here are a few more shots of the Johnnie Lee Wills concert -- I only included the best ones, there are a few more of lesser quality that I left out. Not sure why the steel player is off by himself next to that row of empty chairs -- maybe those were reserved for some other members of the band, or local dignitaries, etc.? I have another photo taken from a very long distance (not included here) that shows a row of young ladies sitting there, before the band took the stage. Maybe there was some sort of beauty pageant or something held before the concert, but that's just a guess.

Again, thanks to Mitch and everyone for replying, hope you enjoy these additional photos. The first is Johnnie Lee Wills of course -- my grandmother must have caught his attention and got him to pose for a picture. Would be interested if anyone knows the identities of the other musicians...

David Acord · From: Arkansas, USA

Deleted an accidental double post -- sorry.

Stuart Legg · Posted 22 Dec 2014 10:02 am

Barry Blackwood · Posted 22 Dec 2014 11:03 am

Mitch Drumm · From: Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake

Thanks for the rest of the pix.

It looks like maybe an 11 piece band. I know who most most members of the JL Wills band at that time were, but I'd rather not speculate because the pictures are indistinct and I don't have good pictures of all band members of my own to compare.

I am reasonably sure it's Leon Huff singing at the mike with the wristwatch on his left wrist. One of the two or three best western swing vocalists of all time--ahead of Tommy Duncan in my book.

I DON'T see Junior Barnard, Millard Kelso, or Joe Holley.

robert kramer · From: Nashville TN

Great post. Thanks â€“ I could read this stuff all day long. Here are two sessions listing J.L. Jenkins â€“ there could be others. This band is white hot.

Johnny Lee Wills w/ J.L. Jenkins [steel]

"Late Evening Blues"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A038DEJ6q_M

"Texas Sandman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNkQCCpJyrQ

"Lazy John"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYZLy0p7kw

"Square Dance Boogie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yujRYdYO6g

Praguefrank:
http://countrydiscoghraphy2.blogspot.com/2014/02/johnnie-lee-wills.html

18 April 1947 Decca Recording Studio, 5505 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA â€“ Johnnie Lee Wills (Johnnie Lee Wills [fiddle], Leon Huff [vcl], Eb Gray [gt], J.L. Jenkins [steel], Son Lansford [bass], Chuck Adams [drums], Julian "Curly" Lewis [fiddle], Henry Boatman [fiddle/sax], Don Harlan [sax/clarinet], Wayne Johnson [clarinet/sax], Clarence Cagle [piano])
011 L 4411 QUEEN OF SAN JOAQUIN 46064/ Krazy Kat KKCD-18
012 L 4412 I NEVER KNEW HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU 46070
013 L 4413 LAZY JOHN 46054/Krazy Kat KKCD-18
014 L 4414 TEXAS SANDMAN 46054/ Krazy Kat KKCD-18

19 April 1947 Decca Recording Studio, 5505 Melrose Ave., Hollywood 38, CA â€“ Johnnie Lee Wills (Johnnie Lee Wills [fiddle], Leon Huff [vcl], Eb Gray [gt], J.L. Jenkins [steel], Son Lansford [bass], Chuck Adams [drums], Julian "Curly" Lewis [fiddle], Henry Boatman [fiddle/sax], Don Harlan [sax/clarinet], Wayne Johnson [clarinet/sax], Clarence Cagle [piano])
015 L 4415 SQUARE DANCE BOOGIE 46053/ Krazy Kat KKCD-18
016 L 4416 GREEN GROW THE LILACS 46064
017 L 4417 WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME 46070/ Krazy Kat KKCD-18
018 L 4418 LATE EVENING BLUES 46053/ Krazy Kat KKCD-18

Rose Sinclair · From: Austin, TX, USA

David Acord- You mentioned that the photos were taken by your grandmother, who was a steel player and played in bands in the 40's and 50's. What was her name and do you have any photos of HER?
Thanks!

Walter Stettner · From: Vienna, Austria

What a great thread! Like Robert said, I could read these posts all day long! Smile

Thanks so much for sharing your expertise!

Kind Regards, Walter
_________________
www.lloydgreentribute.com

David Acord · From: Arkansas, USA

Rose -- yes, I have some great photos you might be interested in! My grandmother was Lera Acord (then Lera Cowell after she remarried in the late 1940s) and played steel throughout the 1940s and 1950s in northwest Arkansas. She was in at least two bands that had daily 15-minute radio shows in nearby Russellville, Arkansas: The Dixielanders and also Ab Wilson and the Tune Wranglers (see flyer below). Note -- this was, unfortunately, NOT the same Tune Wranglers as the well-known Western swing band from Texas; this was strictly a local act.

In the photos below she is holding a Gibson EH-125 Hawaiian lap steel. As a matter of fact, I actually have the receipt and payment booklet for it -- she bought it for $138 plus tax back in 1944, and paid it off at the local music store on an installment plan at the rate of $8.33 a month! We still have the Gibson but it is in terrible shape -- it was in storage for many years and suffered water damage.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

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