To Music Mountain Homepage



The Riders of the Purple Sage


(From Old Corral collection)


Above - Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage in a lobby card from UNDER COLORADO SKIES (Republic, 1947), one of the Monte Hale adventures in Trucolor. The RPS members shown are, from left to right: Scotty Harrell (Foy Woodrow Harrel), Foy Willing (Foy Willingham), Al Sloey and Johnny Paul (John Paul Girardi).

There were other members of the group, including Burton 'Bud' Sievert, Darol Rice, George Bamby, Al Duncan, Jerry Vaughn and Jimmie Dean (Eddie Dean's brother).

In the post World War II period, the RPS were the singin' helpers to Republic Pictures western heroes Roy Rogers and Monte Hale, and at Monogram Pictures with Jimmy Wakely.

At Republic, they replaced the Sons of the Pioneers and there are two bits of scuttlebutt about why this change occurred: SOP members Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer were tired of the touring, Spencer had his publishing business to maintain, and both decided to exit at or around the time their SOP contract with Republic was ending. The more often quoted story is that the Riders of the Purple Sage were less expensive than the SOP, an attribute much appreciated by the thrifty Republic Pictures.

In addition to records, movies, and personal appearances, the Riders were members of Roy Rogers' radio program, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, and they were also the background tunesters for THE ANDREWS SISTERS DUDE RANCH program (which premiered in 1944) and the mid 1940s HOLLYWOOD BARN DANCE show. They also were the hosts of ALL-STAR WESTERN THEATER program which was transcribed in Los Angeles/Hollywood (early broadcasts mention KNX, Columbia Square, The 'Voice of Hollywood'; later broadcasts note the Mutual/Don Lee Broadcasting System). It ran from 1946-1948 and consisted of over a 100 half hour broadcasts.

The lifespan of the group was about ten years, from circa 1943 through 1952.

Foy Lopez Willingham was born in Bosque County, Texas on May 14, 1914 and passed away on July 24, 1978 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website has a photo of the grave marker for Foy Willing who is interred at North Belton Cemetery, Belton, Bell County, Texas: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10995827/foy-willing

The official Riders of the Purple Sage website was no longer working when I checked in December, 2017: http://www.ridersofthepurplesage.com/

In 1991, Willing and the Riders were inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame in 1991: https://iwesternmusic.org/award.php?2

The Handbook of Texas Online is a project of the Texas State Historical Association, and they have a biography page on Foy Lopez Willingham: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/willingham-foy-lopez-foy-willing

The All-Star Western Theater was broadcast from August, 1946 through August, 1948 and starred Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. This half-hour program was initially broadcast over station KNX, The 'Voice of Hollywood'. Later shows were on the Mutual/Don Lee Broadcasting System. YouTube and the Internet Archive have many of the programs:
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_All_Star_Western_Theatre_Singles
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22all+star+western+theater%22



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

SADDLE SERENADE (Monogram, 1945) was one of the early Wakelys which had a trio of good guys. In SADDLE, Jimmy's helpers were Lee 'Lasses' White and John James. Lee Roy 'Lasses' White is shown in bottom left corner conversing with Kay Deslys (1899-1974). Musical support in this one was from Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, shown in the B&W photo inset at the bottom right of this lobby card.



(From Old Corral collection)

Above is another lobby card from the Monte Hale Trucolor UNDER COLORADO SKIES (Republic, 1947). That's baddie Steve Darrell centered at the bar and behind him from left to right are Riders of the Purple Sage members Al Sloey, Foy Willing, Scotty Harrell and Johnny Paul.


Right is Foy Willing (1914 - 1978) and the photo was taken at one of the 1970s film conventions.

His real name was Foy Lopez Willingham.

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)



Riders of the Purple Sage/Foy Willing (Willingham) Filmography
Filmography provided by Les Adams

Release
Date
Film Title Company Star Foy Role / Group
9/18/41 PRAIRIE STRANGER Columbia Charles Starrett Foy Willingham
(with Lew Preston's Ranch Hands)
12/23/43 COWBOY IN THE CLOUDS Columbia Charles Starrett Foy Willingham
(with Jimmy Wakely's Saddle Pals)
2/8/44 COWBOY CANTEEN Columbia Charles Starrett, Tex Ritter, Big Boy Williams, more Foy Willingham
(with Jimmy Wakely's Saddle Pals)
6/14/44 TWILIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE Universal Johnny Downs Riders of the Purple Sage
7/31/44 SWING IN THE SADDLE Columbia Jane Frazee Foy Willingham
(with Jimmy Wakely's Saddle Pals)
11/9/44 CYCLONE PRAIRIE RANGERS Columbia Charles Starrett Foy Willingham
(with Jimmy Wakely's Saddle Pals)
11/30/44 COWBOY FROM LONESOME RIVER Columbia Charles Starrett Musician Red (as Foy Willingham)
2/8/45 SING ME A SONG OF TEXAS Columbia Tom Tyler Riders of the Purple Sage
8/11/45 SADDLE SERENADE Monogram Jimmy Wakely Riders of the Purple Sage
3/14/46 THROW A SADDLE ON A STAR Columbia Ken Curtis Riders of the Purple Sage
12/5/46 OUT CALIFORNIA WAY Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
2/1/47 LAST FRONTIER UPRISING Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
8/30/47 ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
12/15/47 UNDER COLORADO SKIES Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
4/1/48 CALIFORNIA FIREBRAND Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
6/15/48 TIMBER TRAIL, THE Republic Monte Hale Riders of the Purple Sage
11/3/48 GRAND CANYON TRAIL Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
12/29/48 FAR FRONTIER, THE Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
4/29/49 SUSANNA PASS Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
9/9/49 DOWN DAKOTA WAY Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
11/15/49 GOLDEN STALLION, THE Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
1/8/50 BELLS OF CORONADO Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
3/22/50 TWILIGHT IN THE SIERRAS Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
6/30/50 TRIGGER, JR. Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
9/25/50 SUNSET IN THE WEST Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
11/15/50 NORTH OF THE GREAT DIVIDE Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
12/15/50 TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
2/5/51 SPOILERS OF THE PLAINS Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
3/30/51 HEART OF THE ROCKIES Republic Roy Rogers Riders of the Purple Sage
8/25/51 DISC JOCKEY Allied Artists Ginny Simms Riders of the Purple Sage
10/18/51 TEXAS CARNIVAL M-G-M Esther Williams Riders of the Purple Sage


In 2006, Sharon Lee Willing authored No One to Cry To: A Long, Hard Ride into the Sunset with Foy Willing of The Riders of the Purple Sage. Sharon is Foy's widow, and the book chronicles his rise to national popularity on radio, million-selling records, and work in B westerns with Charles Starrett, Monte Hale and Roy Rogers. It also includes his sad career decline and battle with alcohol and drugs. Published November, 2006, the 6 X 9 paperback has about 260 pages and includes a complete filmography, discography, and lots of photos.

Amazon has the book: http://www.amazon.com/No-One-Cry-Sunset-Willing/dp/158736686X



To Music Mountain Homepage