Page G - 3
Stan Paregien, Editor
The Gillette Brothers
The Gilette Brothers, Pipp and Guy Gillette, grew up back East. But they spent most summers as youth at their grandfather Hoyt Porter's ranch near Lovelady, Texas. He started the ranch in 1912. And each time they visited they learned more about the cowboy life and Western history. And they both learned to play the guitar and to play it well.
It was not surprising, then, that they became professional musicians traveling here and there. But in 1983 they both decided to devote the time needed to manage the ranch-- now called The Gillette Ranch, and they settled in comfortably to life in the "slow lane".
However, they still travel widely as they sing their cowboy songs and recite cowboy poetry and fix authentic meals on their own chuckwagon.
The Gillette Brothers have two cassettes, "Home Ranch" and "Cinch Up Your Riggin'," out on their own label, Big Daddy Records.
Ethel Morrow Gillette
Ethel Morrow Gillette was born at Oelwin, Iowa and earned her B.A. in English at Upper Iowa University and her M.A. at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo. Early on she worked as a stenographer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then with the FBI in Washington, D.C., and then with Upper Iowa University. She was also a feature contributor and University activities critic for the Waterloo Daily Courier.
Later she taught English, drama and speech at Fayette Consolidated High School in Fayette, Iowa. Then she taught English and general science at Jordan Junior High in Minneapolis, Minn., and then she became an English teacher "way out yonder" in Montrose, Colorado. She also serves as the family and religion editor of The News-Record in Gillette, Wyo. and writes a regular column entitled, "The Distaff Side".
Ethel Murrow Gillette's articles have appeared in Atlantic Weekly, (Sheridan,Wyo.) Country Journal, Wyoming Outdoor Reporter, Frontier Times, the Empire Magazine of the Denver Post, Network, and Passage. She is also the author of Idaho Springs: Saratoga of the Rockies (1978).
Les Gilliam
Les Gilliam was born in Gene Autry, Oklahoma (Yes, there is such a place, just north of Ardmore). He grew up listening to and loving Western music. And he has become a widely-known singer and song writer.
He has been featured on radio and television in both Oklahoma and Texas. He has appeared on shows with such country music stars as Sonny James, Jonny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, Jim Reeves and Ray Price. After college, he became a member of the "Big D Jamboree" in Dallas, a television/radio/stage show of international acclaim.
Les Gilliam now makes his home in Ponca City, Okla. He entertains both as a solo act and with his country music band ("The Silverlake Band"). He has been a featured performer at such events as the International Country Music Festiva in Vienna, Austria; Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo.; the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, TX.; "Bob Wills Day" at the Oklahoma State Capitol; and other events.
He has been a nominee for "Male Vocalist of the Year" by the Academy of Western Artists, as well as by the Western Music Association. His presentation of country and/or cowboy music usually includes fascinating stories about the songs and/or the artists who recorded the songs. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Arts Council Touring Program, The Western Music Association, and the International Western Swing Association.
Les Gilliam has produced three albums: "Somewhere in the West," "Western Country," and "Classics and Creations". Each album has some original songs written by him. He has also produced two videos, "The Cowboy Hit Parade" (top 10 cowboy songs and their histories) and "Oklahoma Pride".
He writes a column about Western songs for the Rope Burns magazine (published in Gene Autry). And he and his wife, Martha, have co-authored a Western cookbook.
The Oklahoma state legislature in 1998 recognized him as the official "Oklahoma Balladeer". State Senator Paul Muegge said of him, "Les Gilliam truly has been a goodwill ambassador for our state. I'm very pleased to pay tribute to this outstanding Oklahoman."
Les Gilliam can be reached at P.O. Box 350, Ponca City, OK 74602. Or e-mail him at: lesgill@poncacity.net
Johnny Gimble
Johnny Gimble, fiddler extraordinaire, was born in the piney woods of East Texas in 1926. He was reared near Tyler, Texas, where he was an accomplished fiddler by the time he reached the advanced age of . . . thirteen.
He was playing with the Shelton Brothers Band on KWKH radio in Shreveport, LA., by his late teens. And he traveled throughout Louisiana, performing as part of Jimmie Davis's successful campaign for the governorship.
Then along came World War II. After the war ending in 1945, Johnny Gimble spent more than ten years playing with the hottest Western swing band in the nation -- Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
From 1968 to 1978, he spent most of his time performing in recording sessions for various country music artists in Nashville. And in 1975 he received the Country Music Association's pretigious "Instrumentalist of the Year" Award in 1975. He has won that award four more times, since. And he was named "Fiddler of the Year" eight times by the Academy of Country Music. In 1994 he received a Grammy for his arrangement of "Red Wing" on the Bob Wills tribute album by the group Asleep at the Wheel.
Johnny Gimble now lives in Dripping Springs, Texas and makes guest appearances across the country with the Playboy Reunion Band.
CLICK HERE to go to the official web homepage of Johnny Gimble.
Lillian Gish
(Deceased)
Lillian Gish was born as Lillian de Guiche on Oct. 14, 1893 in Springfield, OH.
Her father was an alcoholic who was usually unemployed. So her mother began acting, professionally, in local theatrical productions. And to make even more money, as well as to cover a babysitting problem, she soon involved Lillian and sister Dorothy in acting. In fact, Lillian was just six years old when she started getting paid to act. The sister had more talent than their mother, and they made a nice living on the stage for the next thirteen years.
She made her first movie in 1912, during the "silent movie" era. And she made eleven more movies that same year. Her film career was off to a flying start. And she became a major star. She continued to act on stage and/or in movies throughout the remainder of her long life.
Lillian Gish got an Oscar nomination as "Best Supporting Actress" for her role of Laura Belle McCanles in the Western movie, "Duel in the Sun" (1946) with Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones. Her only other Western was "The Unforgiven" (1960) with Burt Lancaster. In 1969, Lillian published her autobiography, "The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me". She made her last movie, "The Whales of August," in 1987.
Lillian Gish died in her sleep in New York City on Feb. 26, 1993 at the age of 99.
CLICK HERE to go to the official Lillian Gish web site, featuring many photos and a complete filmography.
This listing is far from complete and may contain errors.
Therefore, all Western entertainers and/or their agents
are requested to submit recommended changes by
contacting Stan Paregien through his e-mail address.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
--Jesus the Christ (Bible: Gospel of John 4:24)
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.
The Gillette Brothers
The Gilette Brothers, Pipp and Guy Gillette, grew up back East. But they spent most summers as youth at their grandfather Hoyt Porter's ranch near Lovelady, Texas. He started the ranch in 1912. And each time they visited they learned more about the cowboy life and Western history. And they both learned to play the guitar and to play it well.
It was not surprising, then, that they became professional musicians traveling here and there. But in 1983 they both decided to devote the time needed to manage the ranch-- now called The Gillette Ranch, and they settled in comfortably to life in the "slow lane".
However, they still travel widely as they sing their cowboy songs and recite cowboy poetry and fix authentic meals on their own chuckwagon.
The Gillette Brothers have two cassettes, "Home Ranch" and "Cinch Up Your Riggin'," out on their own label, Big Daddy Records.
Ethel Morrow Gillette
Ethel Morrow Gillette was born at Oelwin, Iowa and earned her B.A. in English at Upper Iowa University and her M.A. at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo. Early on she worked as a stenographer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then with the FBI in Washington, D.C., and then with Upper Iowa University. She was also a feature contributor and University activities critic for the Waterloo Daily Courier.
Later she taught English, drama and speech at Fayette Consolidated High School in Fayette, Iowa. Then she taught English and general science at Jordan Junior High in Minneapolis, Minn., and then she became an English teacher "way out yonder" in Montrose, Colorado. She also serves as the family and religion editor of The News-Record in Gillette, Wyo. and writes a regular column entitled, "The Distaff Side".
Ethel Murrow Gillette's articles have appeared in Atlantic Weekly, (Sheridan,Wyo.) Country Journal, Wyoming Outdoor Reporter, Frontier Times, the Empire Magazine of the Denver Post, Network, and Passage. She is also the author of Idaho Springs: Saratoga of the Rockies (1978).
Les Gilliam
Les Gilliam was born in Gene Autry, Oklahoma (Yes, there is such a place, just north of Ardmore). He grew up listening to and loving Western music. And he has become a widely-known singer and song writer.
He has been featured on radio and television in both Oklahoma and Texas. He has appeared on shows with such country music stars as Sonny James, Jonny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, Jim Reeves and Ray Price. After college, he became a member of the "Big D Jamboree" in Dallas, a television/radio/stage show of international acclaim.
Les Gilliam now makes his home in Ponca City, Okla. He entertains both as a solo act and with his country music band ("The Silverlake Band"). He has been a featured performer at such events as the International Country Music Festiva in Vienna, Austria; Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo.; the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, TX.; "Bob Wills Day" at the Oklahoma State Capitol; and other events.
He has been a nominee for "Male Vocalist of the Year" by the Academy of Western Artists, as well as by the Western Music Association. His presentation of country and/or cowboy music usually includes fascinating stories about the songs and/or the artists who recorded the songs. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Arts Council Touring Program, The Western Music Association, and the International Western Swing Association.
Les Gilliam has produced three albums: "Somewhere in the West," "Western Country," and "Classics and Creations". Each album has some original songs written by him. He has also produced two videos, "The Cowboy Hit Parade" (top 10 cowboy songs and their histories) and "Oklahoma Pride".
He writes a column about Western songs for the Rope Burns magazine (published in Gene Autry). And he and his wife, Martha, have co-authored a Western cookbook.
The Oklahoma state legislature in 1998 recognized him as the official "Oklahoma Balladeer". State Senator Paul Muegge said of him, "Les Gilliam truly has been a goodwill ambassador for our state. I'm very pleased to pay tribute to this outstanding Oklahoman."
Les Gilliam can be reached at P.O. Box 350, Ponca City, OK 74602. Or e-mail him at: lesgill@poncacity.net
Johnny Gimble
Johnny Gimble, fiddler extraordinaire, was born in the piney woods of East Texas in 1926. He was reared near Tyler, Texas, where he was an accomplished fiddler by the time he reached the advanced age of . . . thirteen.
He was playing with the Shelton Brothers Band on KWKH radio in Shreveport, LA., by his late teens. And he traveled throughout Louisiana, performing as part of Jimmie Davis's successful campaign for the governorship.
Then along came World War II. After the war ending in 1945, Johnny Gimble spent more than ten years playing with the hottest Western swing band in the nation -- Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
From 1968 to 1978, he spent most of his time performing in recording sessions for various country music artists in Nashville. And in 1975 he received the Country Music Association's pretigious "Instrumentalist of the Year" Award in 1975. He has won that award four more times, since. And he was named "Fiddler of the Year" eight times by the Academy of Country Music. In 1994 he received a Grammy for his arrangement of "Red Wing" on the Bob Wills tribute album by the group Asleep at the Wheel.
Johnny Gimble now lives in Dripping Springs, Texas and makes guest appearances across the country with the Playboy Reunion Band.
CLICK HERE to go to the official web homepage of Johnny Gimble.
Lillian Gish
(Deceased)
Lillian Gish was born as Lillian de Guiche on Oct. 14, 1893 in Springfield, OH.
Her father was an alcoholic who was usually unemployed. So her mother began acting, professionally, in local theatrical productions. And to make even more money, as well as to cover a babysitting problem, she soon involved Lillian and sister Dorothy in acting. In fact, Lillian was just six years old when she started getting paid to act. The sister had more talent than their mother, and they made a nice living on the stage for the next thirteen years.
She made her first movie in 1912, during the "silent movie" era. And she made eleven more movies that same year. Her film career was off to a flying start. And she became a major star. She continued to act on stage and/or in movies throughout the remainder of her long life.
Lillian Gish got an Oscar nomination as "Best Supporting Actress" for her role of Laura Belle McCanles in the Western movie, "Duel in the Sun" (1946) with Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones. Her only other Western was "The Unforgiven" (1960) with Burt Lancaster. In 1969, Lillian published her autobiography, "The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me". She made her last movie, "The Whales of August," in 1987.
Lillian Gish died in her sleep in New York City on Feb. 26, 1993 at the age of 99.
CLICK HERE to go to the official Lillian Gish web site, featuring many photos and a complete filmography.
Therefore, all Western entertainers and/or their agents
are requested to submit recommended changes by
contacting Stan Paregien through his e-mail address.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
--Jesus the Christ (Bible: Gospel of John 4:24)
© 2003 by Stan Paregien, Sr.