By Larry Tucker
Wood County, Texas has a colorful history dating back to 1850 when the county was established. Long before Mineola’s Kacey Musgraves walked away with honors in the country music industry, the sound of country music was already a staple in Wood County.
Taking a trip through Wood County’s musical heritage traces back to an ensemble known as the East Texas Serenaders. The group was one of the first artists to record and became a regional phenom. The Serenaders were a five-piece band and the forerunner in 1927 of what was to become the western swing made famous by Bob Wills.
East Texas Serenaders
The Serenaders’ lineup consisted of men from Mineola and Lindale. From Mineola, John Munnerlyn played the tenor banjo, while Henry Bogan was on the three-string cello. Joining them from Lindale was the front man, Daniel Huggins Williams on the fiddle. On the guitar was Cloet Hamman. Brothers Shorty and Henry Lester of Garden Valley on banjos rounded out the group.
Munnerlyn worked for United Pipeline west of Mineola, while Bogan was employed at the Mineola post office. Bogan started out on the piano but changed to a three-string cello. A cello normally has four strings, but Bogan took one off stating, “I only need three strings to do what I do. I don’t four strings.”
The group’s full-time jobs kept them close to home for performances. They turned down many offers to travel throughout the states. The group did make it to Dallas, Houston, and Southern Oklahoma, where they would entertain. In Dallas, they played at the larger hotels like the Baker and the Adolphus, where they made the outstanding sum of $8 to $15 per night.
The Serenaders recorded in Dallas for Columbia Records, followed by 14 albums for Brunswick Records. The Serenaders set the stage for western and Texas bands while playing their ragtime sound and Tin Pan Alley style. From listening to the radio, the group picked up influences from Chicago jazz, Cajun sounds, and styles of the popular music of the day.
The Serenaders were known for traveling through Wood County and using a wagon for a stage. The late Artie Henderson Tucker said, “The Serenaders were really popular. If they were near, you could sometimes hear the music. Folks would come from miles to dance and visit if they knew the location of the band.”
According to the Texas State Historical Association, when asked about his success, Wills said the only early competition was from the East Texas Serenaders. Wills and the Playboys took up where the Serenaders left off, and the rest is western swing history.
The Serenaders’ hit songs included “Shannon Waltz, “Mineola Rag,” and “Combination Rag.” Their music can be heard today on Documentary Records: https://thedocumentrecordsstore.com/product/east-texas-serenaders.
Leon Payne
Beginning in the late 1930s and into the next decade, a blind Alba teenager rose to become one of the top songwriters and singers of the post-World War II era. Leon Payne attended and lived in Austin at Texas School for the Blind for the first 18 years of his life. While at the school, his teachers encouraged his musical talents as a way to support himself. Payne became proficient at playing the piano, guitar, organ, drums, and trombone. He started playing with bands in the mid-1930s, and his tunes were beginning to be aired on radio.
Payne formed his own band, the Lone Star Buddies, in 1949. The group would go on to make guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, Louisiana Hayride, and Big D Jamboree at the legendary Sportatorium.
Payne is known for writing hit songs “I love You Because” and “You Still Got a Place in My Heart.” Payne also wrote “Lost Highway” for Hank Williams, Sr., who thanked him by gifting him a 1938 classic Martin guitar.
Payne’s “I Love You Because” was written for his wife Myrtie, and it became his biggest hit. Country rocker Leon Russell recorded it on his 1973 album, “Hank Williams is Back.” He passed away from cancer in 1969 at the age of 52.
There is a beautiful collection about Payne at the Alba Public Library and Museum on the square in Alba, Texas.
Jack Rhodes
One of the musicians who played with Payne was Jack Rhodes, who became a prolific songwriter. After breaking his back, Rhodes started writing songs, including tunes for rocker Gene Vincent in the 1950s.
Rhodes was recognized by BMI for one million broadcasts of his song, “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” which was made popular by Linda Ronstadt. He is revered by many as an influential mentor for up-and-coming singers and songwriters.
Rhodes also owned the Trail 89 Motor Court and Restaurant in Mineola. Rhodes passed away in Mineola in 1968 of a heart attack. He was posthumously inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2009 and to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
Hank Riddle
Born In Hainesville, Texas in 1944, Hank Riddle was a songwriter, screenwriter, and adventurer. He graduated from Mineola High School in the early 1960s and attended the University of North Texas in Denton. He moved to Nashville early in his career when he signed on with Loretta Lynn’s King Coal Music. Riddle later moved back to Hainesville and took over his family’s farm.
Riddle wrote about growing up in a small town and the relationship of his parents, Louise and Doyle Riddle. The tune was “Until I Met You,” sung by Judy Rodeman of MTM Records. The song reached Billboard’s number one tune on the country charts. It would be Riddle and Rodeman’s only number one song. Riddle also wrote a screenplay about Columbus Joiner and the Texas oil boom in Kilgore with his friend Bob Campbell.
In June of 2003, Riddle ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot. He is buried in the Concord Cemetery where a line from his song is displayed: “Hallelujah Gone Home, Gone Home, He’s Gone Home, a Precious One from Us Has Flown, but Hallelujah, He’s Gone Home.”
Live Music Lives on in Wood County
Live music continues to survive in Wood County, thanks in large part to the legendary John DeFoore, Jr., who counted Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, and Casey Rivers among his students.
Currently keeping Wood County music alive is a pair of men from Alba, Texas.
Gary Patrick moved to the west coast and had engagements in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He moved back home and now plays venues throughout East Texas.
Blues was his first calling, but Eric George grew up playing music with his dad and uncle in and around the area. George at one time moved to Santa Fe, where his band was named Rock Band of the Year in New Mexico. George now plays local venues and still can hammer down the blues.
Rafael Espinosa and his wife, Emmylou own a music school in Mineola. Espinosa is also one of the state’s top blues guitarists, winning many awards for his talents.
Hosting live music in Wood County are venues such as Neon Moon in Yantis, Tattlers in Quitman, Red Rooster in Hawkins, The Texan Hall in Mineola, Kitchens in Mineola, the Bowery in Winnsboro, and the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. The history and trail of music dates back many years in Wood County, Texas. We can look forward to a future of more great music built on the foundation of the past.