Country musicians from Texas

Benjamin_F._Logan

Benjamin Franklin "Tex" Logan, Jr. (June 6, 1927 – April 24, 2015) was an American electrical engineer and bluegrass music fiddler.
Born in Coahoma, Texas, Logan earned a B.Sc. in electrical engineering at Texas Tech University, then Texas Technological College, in Lubbock, Texas, studied for a B.Sc. in engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1946–51), and completed a M.Sc. (1956). He then moved to New Jersey where he joined Bell Labs (1956) and started his doctoral studies at Columbia University. There he earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering with his dissertation "Properties of High-Pass Signals" (1965). Logan joined the communication theory department at Bell Labs (1956) where he and others demonstrated the use of computer simulation in the study of reverberation in digital audio, and did joint work with Manfred R. Schroeder who later pioneered MP3 audio (1961). He was with the mathematics center (1963–93) where he contributed to the theory of signals.
As was his father Frank, Logan was a fiddler. He played with Mike Seeger in the late 1950s, with The Lilly Brothers & Don Stover and Bill Monroe in the 1960s, and with Peter Rowan in the 1980s. He performed on several records and international tours, and had minor roles in movies as well. Logan wrote "Christmas Time's A-Coming", a song made popular by Bill Monroe that has been recorded by many performers, including Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Sammy Kershaw, Rhonda Vincent, and Patty Loveless, among others; and "Diamond Joe" recorded by Bob Dylan. In 1969, Logan played fiddle on the Bee Gees' 1969 song "Give Your Best", released on the band's sixth album Odessa.
Logan died April 24, 2015, in Morristown, New Jersey, by the side of his daughter, Jody.

A.L._"Doodle"_Owens

Arthur Leo "Doodle" Owens (November 28, 1930 – October 4, 1999) was an American country music songwriter and singer. He had a long songwriting partnership with Dallas Frazier, with whom he wrote "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" (1969), "(I'm So) Afraid of Losing You Again" (1969), "I Can't Believe That You've Stopped Loving Me" (1970) and "Then Who Am I" (1974), all number-one country hits for Charley Pride. In the 1980s, Owens wrote many songs with fellow songwriter Dennis Knutson for George Jones and other artists.
Owens was born is Waco, Texas. As a singer, his only charting hit was "Honky Tonk Toys", written by Owens with Gene Vowell, which made it to number 78 on the country charts in 1978.
Charley Pride's version of "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970. Owens was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.Owens died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 68.

Lew_Williams

Lewis Wayne Williams (January 12, 1934 – September 1, 2019, born Chillicothe, Texas) was an American rockabilly singer and songwriter, known as the "Cab Calloway of rockabilly".
Williams began singing at age four, and moved with his family to Dallas at age eleven. He played in local clubs after graduating Adamson High School and entered Midwestern State University in 1952. However, a few months later he secured a job as a headliner for a radio program on Frederick, Oklahoma station KTAT.
The following year, Williams recorded demos at Jim Beck's recording studio and managed to get a single released on Flair Records in June 1953, but "I've Been Doin' Some Slippin' Too" was not a hit, and he did not release further material from these sessions. He sent some of the demos to Imperial Records, who offered him a publishing contract; Williams attempted to secure a recording contract as well but was unsuccessful initially. Imperial finally signed him as a recording artist in 1955, and his first releases came out in 1956. A few singles were issued in 1956 and 1957, with Jimmie Haskell producing and Barney Kessell on guitar; they did not sell and Williams was dropped early in 1957.
He graduated from the university in 1957 and devoted himself to songwriting full-time. He wrote material for Jimmy Hughes (with Mae Axton), Ferlin Husky, Floyd Cramer, Porter Wagoner, and Hoyt Johnson. After serving time in the Army, Williams took the pseudonym Vik Wayne for one final release on Dot Records, "The Girl I Saw on Bandstand"; when it did not sell, he opened a recording studio and started a talent agency. He left music for good in the early 1960s, moving into the publishing and mail order businesses.
After Bear Family Records released some of his material in the 1990s, fed by the burgeoning interest in rockabilly in Europe and Japan, he made a comeback, appearing in Las Vegas in 2000 and touring widely thereafter.
Lew Williams died at age 85 on September 1, 2019 at an assisted living facility in Winnsboro, Texas.

Don_Walser

Donald Ray Walser (September 14, 1934 – September 20, 2006) was an American country music singer. He was known as a unique, award-winning yodeling "Texas country music legend."

Mitchell_Torok

Mitchell Joseph Torok (October 28, 1929 – November 16, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist and author, best known for his 1953 hit record "Caribbean". He also wrote "Mexican Joe", which catapulted Jim Reeves to stardom. They began to write together and charted with many top 20 hits.
Torok reached the Billboard charts several times: in 1957 with "Pledge of Love" (Billboard Top 20), written by his wife, Gail Redd; in 1959 with an updated version of "Caribbean" (No. 27 on Billboard); with "Redneck Nat' Anthem" by Vernon Oxford in 1976; with Jerry Wallace and their song "This One's on the House" (Top 20); and with Bill Phillips's "I Can Stand It (As Long as She Can)". In 1960, Torok's recording of "Pink Chiffon" topped out at No. 60 on Billboard. His last hit record was "Instant Love" in 1965, produced by Jimmie Bowen.

Nat_Stuckey

Nathan Wright Stuckey (December 17, 1933 – August 24, 1988) was an American country singer. He recorded for various labels between 1966 and 1978, charting in the top 10 of Hot Country Songs with "Sweet Thang", "Plastic Saddle", "Sweet Thang and Cisco" and "Take Time to Love Her"

Sanger_D._Shafer

Sanger D. Shafer (October 24, 1934 – January 12, 2019), better known as Whitey Shafer, was an American country songwriter and musician. He wrote numerous hits for stars such as George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait. He was also a recording artist. His highest single "You Are a Liar", under the name Whitey Shafer, reached No. 48 on the Billboard country chart, in 1981.

Gene_O'Quin

Gene Louis O'Quin (or Oquin) (September 9, 1932 – November 27, 1978) was an American country and western and honky tonk singer born in Dallas on September 9, 1932 He established himself professionally at Dallas' Big "D" Jamboree, a Grand Ole Opry-like radio showcase, becoming one of its most popular entertainers. O'Quin recorded his first song at the age of 15 and was signed by Capitol Records.He later relocated to California. His recording career reached its peak between 1950 and 1955.
O'Quin's voice was high and nasally and had a twang evocative of Little Jimmy Dickens. He cut many novelty songs and boogie-woogie records. The persona in his records was happy-go-lucky and well suited to hillbilly music. Although he did not record any rockabilly songs in his career, rockabilly enthusiasts have embraced him. His career was eclipsed with the advent of rock and roll but he did not successfully make the transition as rockabilly artists did.
O'Quin died when his car was hit by a bus in Riverside, California on November 27, 1978.

Leon_McAuliffe

William Leon McAuliffe (January 3, 1917 – August 20, 1988) was an American Western swing guitarist who was a member of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys during the 1930s. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that band, and was a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.