Category Archives: Variety Shows

The Faces of Radio: Behind the KMBC Microphone

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In 1935, KMBC was blooming into a Kansas City media empire under the direction of Arthur B. Church. Though a few years before the advent of the Brush Creek Follies–a program that would become one of KMBC’s staple programs–the station was already proving to be a fruitful grounds for talent of all varieties.

Listeners of KMBC mostly knew the voices of the radio talents: the wisdom of Uncle Ezra and the folksy organ-backed tales of Ted Malone; the radio-drama, Life on the Red Horse Ranch, and the songs of Herb Kratoska and Tex Williams. But in 1935 the station produced a film reel to give the public a chance to view the faces behind their favorite programs.

The reel, “Microphone Personalities: Camera Flashes of Program Features that have clicked with millions of Columbia Network Listeners” was a feature designed to sell KMBC programs to other networks. And it appears in the Marr Sound Archives from the Arthur B Church video collection.

Uncle Ezra Butternut of the Happy Hollow program is one of the first personalities to face the camera. He claims to be no actor, just a man with some opinions, and that much is evident from his odd stares into the lens. Similarly, Ted Malone and his organist are backlit silhouettes, not facing the camera for their demonstration.

The musicians, however, seem to have an easier time with the visual medium. Tex Williams appears decked out in cowboy regalia, custom made chaps with “TEX” applique-d on the leg. Herb Kratoska’s easy-going jazz guitar and vocalizations bring more energy, but eye contact still seems to be an issue. If there’s a fourth wall here, no one knows about it.

A young Paul Henning–before he took up the typewriter and moved to Cali-for-ni-ay–sings a saccharine song into the camera, calm and easy, but seeing this makes me glad he pursued television writing instead.

The most natural performances come from the cast of Life on the Red Horse Ranch. Unlike old Uncle Ezra, these are actors, and adapting to the visual medium much better. Even a glimpse at the sound-effect man, turning a wheel to make the prairie wind, rattling metal sheets and shutting small doors is a treat to watch. Following their brief radio-play the band closes with a hoe-down number of banjo, stand-up bass, and accordion solos.

KMBC became most widely known for it’s “country” themed programming that started with the hillbilly antics of Happy Hollow and evolved into Brush Creek Follies, which ran for 20 years. Other very popular programs were western and cowboy-oriented programs like Life on the Red Horse Ranch and The Texas Rangers program. KMBC oversaw national distribution for many of these shows, which led to great success for Arthur B. Church and is a vital facet of the station’s legacy.

More memorable moments with the Brush Creek gang!

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Midland MinstrelsThe Brush Creek Follies may have easily been classified as a western rural variety show, and to an extent, that’s exactly what it was. However, quite a few musicians featured on the Brush Creek Follies did not devote their musical abilities exclusively to hillbilly and western music. Such groups as the Midland Minstrels (pictured right), Harvest Hands, Judy Allen, and the Payne Sisters all performed songs that appealed to novelty and popular music crowds. These musicians were incredibly good, especially the multi-talented Charlie Pryor, originally a member of the Midland Minstrels and later affiliated with the Tune Chasers. Listen to an excerpt displaying the versatility of the musicians on the Brush Creek Follies.[audio:http://info.umkc.edu/specialcollections/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2012-02-13_BrushCreek2_Church_kmbc-785.mp3|titles=Whatcha know Joe]

In addition to the great musical performances, the show presented familiarity to its listeners with the use of catchphrases by certain cast members. Here are just a few that have been burned into my mind after many hours of listening:

“Well for gosh sakes!” — Scrappy O’Brien, Kenny Carlson’s ventriloquist dummy, would always follow this catchphrase with a laugh and the occasional “Aw, shucks.” The “gosh” part of this catchphrase could last a good five seconds.

“Now cut it out, will ya?!” and “No foolin’…” — “Radio’s original rube” Hiram Higsby always had something clever to say or do during the show. Playing the part of the emcee for the Brush Creek Follies, he also announced most of the performances and was a regular part of the comedy routines, which often included these two catchphrases.

The laugh of Rube Wintersuckle — Think of what it would sound like if while driving, you rolled over a series of bumps while laughing. This is exactly what Rube Wintersuckle’s trademark laugh sounded like. Playing a red-headed hillbilly, Wintersuckle tended to come off as brainless because of his appearance and demeanor, but in the end, he always had the last laugh (no pun intended).

“Oh man…” and “Ain’t you hear?” — Probably the most discriminating and cringe-worthy of all of the Brush Creek catchphrases would be George Washington White and his black-faced comedy routine.

“Timber, timber, timber, timber!” — Similar to the way the Three Stooges harmoniously sang their hellos, Rocky and Rusty always introduced their songs with their own theme song.

“Uncle Charlie!” — Little Mary, a latecomer to the 1941 season, always brought about big laughs from the audience with her high-pitched voice, and we may never know why or what she looked like.

Gabby Tuttle, KMBC Project staff/Liberal Arts (BA) student

For more photos, information, and audio clips on the Brush Creek Follies, visit the Brush Creek Follies web exhibit.

Memorable moments with the Brush Creek gang

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Come on everybody, get ready to go, this is the Brush Creek Follies show! There’s singing and dancing and fun galore, and maybe if you whoop and holler we will do some more! Saturday night in Kansas City was a night of comedy, singing, dancing, and pure entertainment for the public provided by the local variety show, the Brush Creek Follies. Similar to the Grand Ole Opry, this live radio program showcased western-style musicians, comedians, and the occasional special guest. Thanks to the Arthur B. Church collection available in the Marr Sound Archives, you can have access to the shows that aired in 1941 as well as a select few others.

The 1941 season of BCF was smack dab in the middle of World War II, but you could hardly tell because of the excitement the show brought every Saturday night. Each week, BCF had a theme, which gave the performers a central focus for their weekly material. Some themes were targeted towards a certain population of listeners, such as “Irish night”, “Kid’s night,” or “Couple’s night.” Other themed nights were celebratory, such as the 3rd anniversary of Colorado Pete, a yodeling cowboy. My personal favorite, “Beaver’s night,” entailed all the men not shaving throughout the week, and a contest was even held to find the longest whiskers in the audience. What made the show successful were the performers, who all had extremely devoted fans. Kit and Kay, twin singing cowgirls, were especially popular and often received flowers and gifts from audience members.

The show’s regular performers appealed to all ages: a favorite for the kids was ventriloquist Kenny Carlson and his dummy, Scrappy O’Brien; the older generation could listen to the “Remember Time” segment, in which singing couple, Smokey Parker and Penny Lynn would sing “oldies but goodies;” and you could hear young girls literally swooning over the singing cowboy groups, like the Oklahoma Wranglers and Rocky and Rusty. Of all the acts that I had heard, nothing was quite as original and still mysterious as Little Mary’s comedy skit, often done with BCF co-host, Charlie Napier. What makes Little Mary mysterious is that I haven’t figured out just what she is. I have created this idea that she is either a man dressed up like a little girl or a puppet. All the same, her high-pitched voice and constant antagonizing Napier is very amusing. Click here to listen to an excerpt from the show.[audio:http://info.umkc.edu/specialcollections/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2012-01-24_BrushCreek1_Church_kmbc-757.mp3|titles=Kenny and Scrappy]

Coming up in the second installment of this two-part Brush Creek Follies special, we will look at some super-talented musicians and the catchphrases that I couldn’t forget if I tried.

Gabby Tuttle, KMBC Project staff/Liberal Arts (BA) student

For more photos, information, and audio clips on the Brush Creek Follies, visit the Brush Creek Follies web exhibit.