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The Light Crust Doughboys |
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"Of all the western swing bands in the Fort Worth-Dallas area, the one that has enjoyed the greatest and longest success, is the Light Crust Doughboys. Its history covers more than half a century of American music. In 1929 Bob Wills moved from West Texas to Fort Worth and formed the Wills Fiddle Band, a rather unimposing aggregation made up of Wills as fiddler and Herman Arnspiger as guitarist. In 1930, Milton Brown joined the band as vocalist, and in 1931, the Wills Fiddle Band -- Wills, Arnspiger, and Brown -- became the Light Crust Doughboys. With help from friends and fans in Fort Worth, Wills persuaded Burrus Mill and Elevator Company to sponsor the band on a radio show by advertising the mill's Light Crust Flour. After two weeks of broadcasts, W. Lee O'Daniel, President of Burrus Mill, canceled the show because he did not like "their hillbilly music." The Light Crust Doughboys were literally "brought back by popular demand" when thousands of fans and housewives, who used Light Crust Flour, demanded that Burrus Mill sponsor their radio show. People listened at noon each day for a couple of licks on Bob Wills' fiddle and Truett Kimsey's enthusiastic introduction: "The Light Crust Doughboys are on the air." Then the Doughboys sang their theme song which began: Listen everybody, from near and far if you wanta know who we are. We're the Light Crust Doughboys from Burrus Mill. This went over so well, it became the salutation of the Doughboys and has lived to the present. " Professor of History |