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(Courtesy of Debbie Holden)

Above is an early family photo showing from L-to-R: Jimmie Dean, mother Eva (nicknamed "Evie") and future PRC singin' cowboy Eddie Dean.  Brothers Jimmie and Eddie are really young in this photo, and I'm guessing the photo is circa 1934, around the time that Eddie joined the WLS Barn Dance, and a half-dozen or so years prior to he and Jimmie working on Autry's Melody Ranch radio show.  Brother Jimmie would often appear in various western film singing groups --- for example, he was a member of Johnny Bond's 'Red River Valley Boys' in the Jimmy Wakely series at Monogram in the second half of the 1940s .




(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above is a 'window card' from COWBOY BLUES (Columbia, 1946) which starred the Hoosier Hotshots group and featured Ken Curtis, Carolina Cotton, the Plainsmen, and others.  Notice the tie-in to the very popular National Barn Dance (radio show).  Ken Curtis is best remembered in the role of 'Festus' on the long-running GUNSMOKE TV series.  Few people recall that Curtis had a great singin' voice. He also starred in a few western musicals at Columbia Pictures after WWII, and also spent several years in the 1950s as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.  This 'window card' measures about 11 inches x 4 inches and was displayed in the window of the ticket booth as an advertisement of coming attractions.


(Courtesy of Adrian DeBee)

Above photo from the western musical SWING IN THE SADDLE (Columbia, 1944).  On the far left is 'Red River Dave' (Dave McEnery) with his hand on the back of the chair in which Sally Bliss (AKA Carla Belinda) is seated.  The Hoosier Hotshots are from L-to-R, Hezzie Trietsch, Ken Trietsch, Gil Taylor and Gabe Ward.




The Jimmy Wakely Trio, which included Johnny Bond, was the musical group for several film cowboys, including the 1940s pairing of Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter.


(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

Above from L-to-R are Johnny Bond, Scotty Harrell and Jimmy Wakely.  This is probably from one of their Universal films with Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter which featured the Jimmy Wakely Trio.


(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above, from L-to-R are unidentified player, Lee 'Lasses' White, Dennis 'Denny' Moore and Johnny Bond from one of the Jimmy Wakely westerns at Monogram in the 1940s.

Les Adams added more details: the scene above is from Wakely's first starring film at Monogram, 1944's SONG OF THE RANGE, and the unidentified is Cedric Stevens as prissy, fussy Hotel Manager Chase. (Check the way he's handling Moore's gun.) Betty Burbridge dusted off her old Three Mesquiteers' PALS OF THE SADDLE script for this one and subbed Wakely, Moore and White for Wayne, Corrigan and Terhune. The main difference was this one had nine songs to PALS none. Johnny Bond's Red River Valley Boys here were Wesley Tuttle, Jimmie Dean (Eddie Dean's brother) and Paul Sells. Coleen Sumners - who gained fame as Mary Ford on husband Les Paul's 'How High the Moon' - was also on hand as one of the Sunshine Girls singing trio.



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