Ranch Radio will feature rockabilly this week and here's the Miller Brothers with Patty Cake Man. A short bio of the group from hillbillymusic.com
The Miller Brothers started singing in front of audiences as far back as when they were in grade school - at school functions and civic events. On the weekends, they would at dances and with other show groups. The 1955 version of The Miller Brothers group had been together sine 1940 and were continually doing the proverbial one-night stands. During the World War II period of 1943 and 1946, the group got split up a bit by serving in the military. For much of the early part of their career, they were playing mainly in Texas and southern Oklahoma. But in 1950, they decided to branch out a bit and started appearing in places such as New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and occasionally over to Louisiana and Mississippi. Leon Miller was the leader of the group, and was an instrumentalist and composer, too. In high school, he was a concertmaster of his junior and senior year orchestras. Lee Miller helped Leon organize the group and handled a lot of the business arrangements. The group achieved a fair bit of fame in the mid-1950s. Billboard magazine named them the number 3 band in 1956. Downbeat magazine awarded them the number 4 spot in their new big bands contest. And they also got 29% of the vote as one of the most promising up and coming band in a Cash Box magazine survey. In Texas, they were rated the top Lone Star unit. In addition to their dance music, they also put on a bit of a floor show, trying to give their fans a bit entertainment for their admission price. The band also owned their own place to play when they weren't making appearances elsewhere - the MB Corral in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was able to seat 1,000 folks and had a roomy dance floor. The Miller Brothers did a radio show that aired twice a day over KFDX out of Wichita Falls, Texas. They also recorded for the 4 Star record label. Group members included:
Leon Miller
Lee Miller
Sam Miller
Bill Jourdan
Madge Suttee
Dutch Ingram
Bill Taylor
Dale Wilson
http://youtu.be/OtWWmhxQN3A
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