Tommy Hays | |
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Birth name | Thomas Avery Hays |
Born | Hartshorne, Oklahoma, U.S. | August 12, 1929
Died | May 13, 2023 93) Bakersfield, California, U.S. | (aged
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Guitarist, bandleader, singer |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1939–2023 |
Tommy Hays (born Thomas Avery Hays in Hartshorne, Oklahoma, in 1929) was a guitarist, band leader and vocalist; and was one of the last living members of the great musicians who created The Bakersfield Sound. [1]
He started playing the guitar in church when he was 10 years old. He performed on the Billy Mize TV Show, Cousin Herb Show, was a member of the house band for the Lucky Spot [2] and the Blackboard and had his own radio show on KMPC. Tommy played on stage with many of the old timers who were part of creating the Bakersfield Sound. Tommy was in the band that gave Buck Owens his first gig, with Dusty Rhodes, at a bar called the Roundup. [3]
Tommy had been playing in the honky-tonks in and around Bakersfield for over fifty years. Recognized as one of the original “Bakersfield Sound” pioneers, [4] he helped forge this unique and definitive sound. Driven by the piano, steel and Telecaster guitar, the Bakersfield Sound was a reaction to the early ‘50s and ‘60s sweetening of country music epitomized by the Nashville Sound.
Along with the Western Swingsters which also included Big Bill Wilkerson, he released the CD 60 Years of Western Swing in 2006.
Tommy was inducted into the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame in 2010. [5]
He lived in Bakersfield, California, and played locally until his death in 2023. [6]
James Robert Wills was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing. He was also noted for punctuating his music with his trademark "ah-haa" calls.
A honky-tonk is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano used to play such music. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States. Many eminent country music artists, such as Jimmie Rodgers, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Ernest Tubb, Johnny Horton, and Merle Haggard, began their careers as amateur musicians in honky-tonks.
Rockabilly is an early style of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
Ernest Dale Tubb, nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music.
Alvis Edgar Owens Jr., known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart. He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens's adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music".
The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music performers and remained popular through the years. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups.
Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the April 1961 murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans.
Mechanics Bank Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Bakersfield, California. Located downtown at the corner of Truxtun Avenue and N Street, it was built in 1998, and was originally known as Centennial Garden, a name submitted by local resident Brian Landis Bay Area-based Mechanics Bank has held the naming rights since September 2019, following their merger with Rabobank NA, which had held the naming rights since 2005.
Roy Ernest Nichols was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix of fingerpicking and pedal steel-like bends, usually played on a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Nichols is considered one of the founders of the country music subgenre the “Bakersfield Sound”, which includes such notable country artists as Haggard, Buck Owens, and Don Rich.
Herbert Lester Henson, known as Cousin Herb, was an American country music performer and television host on KERO-TV, channel 10 in Bakersfield, California. He is the first cousin once removed of musician Jeff Tweedy.
Donald Eugene Ulrich, best known by the stage name Don Rich, was an American country musician who helped develop the Bakersfield sound in the early 1960s. He was a noted guitarist and fiddler, and a member of The Buckaroos, the backing band of Don's best friend, country singer Buck Owens. Rich was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1974 at the age of 32.
Larry Scott was an American country music disc jockey who hosted a number of country music shows in the U.S. First announcing on a radio station in Neosho, Missouri in 1955, Larry received a call from Al Brumley, originally from Powell. MO. Al and his brother, Tom,bwere in Bakersfield, CA playong country music. Al told Larry that if he ever wanted to be anybody in country music he needed to get out there. Larry packed his bags and headed West. He went to work for Cousin Herb Henson at KUZZ. He was there when it all happened, The Bakersfield Sound. He had an air shift at KUZZ a television show, produced Barbara Mandrell"s' first 45, plus making lifelong friends with Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Bill Woods, and the other greats of Bakersfield music scene. Scott later moved to Los Angeles where he worked at radio stations KBBQ and KLAC from 1967 to 1982. During the Lis Angeles time, his boss and dear friend, Bill Ward, knew the talent, but wanted him to fain more experience, KVEG, Las Vegas and WiL. St. Louis. Then returned to Los Angeles. Bill and Larry had met in Dallas at a Gordon McClendon station. They were the first all country Station. Larry did the night shift, Bill was daytime. Larry still had his old California friends and knew about country music going to Los Angeles. He asked Bill if he wanted to go to California. They left Dallas for Burbank snd KBBQ.
Thomas Elmer Duncan, was an American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys. He recorded and toured with bandleader Bob Wills on and off into the early 1960s.
The Bakersfield sound is a sub-genre of country music developed in the mid-to-late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. Bakersfield was the first subgenre of country music significantly influenced by rock and roll, relying heavily on electric instrumentation and a strongly defined backbeat. It was also a reaction against the slickly produced, orchestra-laden Nashville sound, which was becoming popular in the late 1950s. The Bakersfield sound became one of the most popular and influential country genres of the 1960s, initiating a revival of honky-tonk music and influencing later country rock and outlaw country musicians.
Norm Hamlet is an American steel guitarist and a member of Merle Haggard's The Strangers band for the past 49 years.
The Buckaroos were an American band led by Buck Owens in the 1960s and early 1970s, who, along with Merle Haggard's The Strangers, were involved in the development and presentation of the "Bakersfield sound." Their peak of success was from 1965 to 1970. In 2005, CMT named the Buckaroos No. 2 on its list of the 20 Greatest Country Music Bands.
William Robert Mize was an American country music singer-songwriter, steel guitarist, band leader, and TV show host.
Bobby Durham is an American country musician associated with the Bakersfield sound. His hits include Do You Still Drink Margaritas; Playboy; Let’s Start a Rumor Today and the classic song penned by Merle Haggard My Past Is Present.
Monty Byrom is an American rock, blues and country guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. He fronted the rock band Billy Satellite and wrote hit songs for Eddie Money. Later while leading the "soul country" band Big House, Byrom made a significant contribution to the new Bakersfield Sound, with a nod to his Bakersfield roots.
Bakersfield provides a wide variety of arts and culture.