Chris Richardson has done it again and posted a great story about Jerry Byrd and the "First A Team" on his website. The article is full of information and data about the Cincinnatti days. Great reading plus links to a lot of the recordings with Hank Williams, Cowboy Copas, Rex Allen, Louis Innis, Red Kirk and many more.
Be prepared to spend some time if you are interested in reading and listening.
Great. I have been looking for a timeline on Byrd and especially when they moved to Cincinnati:
In the fall of 1948, this “pre-Nashville A Team” moved to Cincinnati to take advantage of lucrative radio and TV opportunities. WLW had debuted “The Midwestern Hayride” on television in February of that year and needed a backup band.
I'm glad that I was able to help Chris out with more information and examples of JB and his fellow musicians, he added more info on recordings by Rome Johnson and Tommy Sosebee. I think there is more to come!
Because I grew up in Cincinnati, I was intrigued by many of the references to people and places there. However, the weirdest connection was finding out that the bass player on Lovesick Blues was Willie Thall. I saw him on local live TV ads in the 1960s, dressed in overalls, pitching products for the sponsor of the Saturday afternoon wrestling show. My mom told me he had been some kind of entertainer. What a hoot!
"Lovesick Blues” by Hank Williams (1948)
= Hank Williams (vocal)
= Jerry Byrd (steel guitar)
= Zeke Turner (electric guitar)
= Louis Innis (rhythm guitar)
= Tommy Jackson (fiddle)
= Clyde Baum (mandolin)
= Willie Thall (bass)
