10 October 2023
(Until 10 October)W Lee O’Daniel 1930s Politician & Musician
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
W Lee O’Daniel was a Western Swing band leader, singer and composer, politician and this week’s Phantom Dancer Feature Artist. Also from 1944 on this PD, you’ll also hear beatnik word jazz man Ken Nordine as a CBS radio announcer in Chicago.
O’Daniel wrote the song, ‘Beautiful Texas’.
The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.
LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 10 October) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/
WILBERT LEE
In the late 1920s, O’Daniel wrote the Burrus company’s radio advertising. To that end, he wrote songs, sang, and hired a group of musicians to form an Western Swing band to back his vocals.
Originally called the Light Crust Doughboys, notable musicians such as Bob Wills got their start with O’Daniel. After the Doughboys split up, O’Daniel formed the Western Swing band Pat O’Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys.
The new group was named after O’Daniel’s own Hillbilly Flour Company. O’Daniel also hosted a regular noontime radio show heard statewide, which gave him his nickname after a catchphrase used frequently on air – “pass the biscuits, Pappy” – and propelled him into the public spotlight.
By the mid-1930s, “Pappy” O’Daniel was a household name in Texas. As a national magazine reporter wrote at the time: “At twelve-thirty sharp each day, a fifteen-minute silence reigned in the state of Texas, broken only by mountain music, and the dulcet voice of W. Lee O’Daniel.” The show extolled the values of Hillbilly brand flour, the Ten Commandments, and the Bible
O’DANIEL POLITICIAN
A populist and Democratic Party member, O’Daniel served as the 34th governor of Texas (1939–1941) and later its junior United States senator (1941–1949). O’Daniel chose not to run for reelection to the Senate in 1948 and was succeeded by future U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson.
His 1938 campaign for governor of Texas hailed his flour and the need for pensions and tax cuts. He promised to block a sales tax and raise pensions.
He went against his campaign promises while in office, proposing a new transaction tax voted down by the Texas Legislature. Despite this position change, he remained personally popular and handily won re-election in 1940.
In 1941 he ran for the United States Senate in a special election and defeated Lyndon Johnson by 1,311 votes in one of the most controversial elections in state history.
As a result of this experience, in the 1948 election, Johnson, in the ‘spirit of democracy’ prepared for a close runoff by arranging for his supporters who controlled votes, including George Parr, to withhold their final tallies until the statewide results were announced.
O’Daniel was ineffective senator. Most of his legislation was defeated. He endorsed the anti-Roosevelt Texas Regulars in the 1944 presidential election.
In his broadcast on this week’s Phantom Dancer he confuses George Washington’s speech advocating separation of church and state as a plea to combine the two.
SONG
“W. Lee O’Daniel (and the Light Crust Doughboys)” is a song written by James Talley and originally recorded by Johnny Cash for his 1987 album Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town.
In the words of C. Eric Banister (Johnny Cash FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Man in Black), even though it was a good song, it “probably led a lot of listeners wonder, ‘Who?'”, since the band it was about “hadn’t been popular since the mid-1930s.”
10 October PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #620 | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 10 October 2023 | ||
Set 1 | Abe Lyman | |
Open + California Here I Come (theme) + As Time Goes By | Abe Lyman and his Californians (voc) Frankie Connors | ‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1943 |
I’ve Got That Wonderful Worrisome Feeling | Abe Lyman and his Californians (voc) Rose Blaine | ‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1943 |
| Oakland to Burbank | Abe Lyman and his Californians | ‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1943 |
| Any Bonds Today? (theme) | Abe Lyman and his Californians | ‘Treasury Star Parade’ Radio Transcription 1943 |
Set 2 | Archie Bleyer | |
Pal Joey Medley | Archie Bleyer Orchestra | WABC CBS NYC 6 Jun 1944 |
I’ll Get By (with 3am time signal) | Archie Bleyer Orchestra (voc) Brad Reynolds | WABC CBS NYC 6 Jun 1944 |
Swinging on a Star + Blue Room | Archie Bleyer Orchestra | WABC CBS NYC 6 Jun 1944 |
Amor + Bomber Command (fades) | Archie Bleyer Orchestra (voc) Vera Holly | WABC CBS NYC 6 Jun 1944 |
Set 3 | W. Lee O’Daniel | |
There’s No Place Like Home | W. Lee O’Daniel and his Band (voc) Trio | Front Porch, Texas Governors’ Mansion KNOW Austin TX Texas State Network Jun 1940 |
Those Good Ol’ Horse and Buggy Days | W. Lee O’Daniel and his Band (voc) W. Lee O’Daniel and Trio | Front Porch, Texas Governors’ Mansion KNOW Austin TX Texas State Network Jun 1940 |
Whispering Hope | W. Lee O’Daniel and his Band (voc) Trio | Front Porch, Texas Governors’ Mansion KNOW Austin TX Texas State Network Jun 1940 |
America the Beautiful + Close | W. Lee O’Daniel and his Band | Front Porch, Texas Governors’ Mansion KNOW Austin TX Texas State Network Jun 1940 |
Set 4 | Early Morning Sweet Band | |
Open + Maybe | Ralph Morrison Orchestra | Pan-American Room LaSalle Hotel WBBM CBS Chicago 7 June 1944 |
Tico Tico | Ralph Morrison Orchestra | Pan-American Room LaSalle Hotel WBBM CBS Chicago 7 June 1944 |
You Called it Madness + Old Acquaintance | Ralph Morrison Orchestra (voc) Ralph Morrison | Pan-American Room LaSalle Hotel WBBM CBS Chicago 7 June 1944 |
Once Too Often + Close | Ralph Morrison Orchestra | Pan-American Room LaSalle Hotel WBBM CBS Chicago 7 June 1944 |
Set 5 | 1930s French Jazz | |
Jam with Bacon | Freddy Johnson Orchestra | Comm Rec Paris 28 Jun 1939 |
Morning Feeling | The Hot Club Swing Stars | Comm Rec Paris 14 Dec 1938 |
Russian Lullaby | Oscar Aleman | Comm Rec 12 May 1939 |
Daphne | The Hot Club Swing Stars | Comm Rec Paris 14 Dec 1938 |
Set 6 | Mildred Bailey | |
Rocking Chair (theme) + Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone | Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra | ‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944 |
I’ll Never Be the Same | Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra | ‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944 |
I’m Beginning to See the Light | Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra | ‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 19 Jan 1945 |
It Had to Be You + Rocking Chair (theme) | Mildred Bailey (voc) Paul Baron Orchestra | ‘Music Till Midnight’ WABC CBS NYC 1944 |
Set 7 | Eddie Condon | |
Sweet Georgia Brown | Eddie Condon Group | ‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Oct 1944 |
Sugar | Eddie Condon Group | ‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ AFRS Re-broadcast 14 Oct 1944 |
I’ve Been Around | Eddie Condon Group | ‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Nov 1944 |
The Lady’s in Love | Eddie Condon Group | ‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ AFRS Re-broadcast 25 Nov 1944 |
Set 8 | Modern Jazz | |
| Serenade in Sulphur 8 | Slim Gaillard | ‘Symphony Sid Show’ Birdland WJZ ABC NYC 7 Jul 1951 |
| Limehouse Blues | Benny Goodman Sextet | ‘One Night Stand’ The Click Philadelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1948 |
| The Man I Love | Benny Goodman Sextet (voc) Patti Page | ‘One Night Stand’ The Click Philadelphia AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jun 1948 |
