THE
ROGERS TWINS and THE PRAIRIE SONS
1949-50
In 1949 after graduating from high-school, my first full time job as a musician was with the Rogers Twins & The Prairie Sons, a western-swing band in Amarillo, Texas. Working full-time with an established band with a daily radio show and a DeSoto limousine band-bus was "big-time" for an 18 year old musician. I left the band to join the Army during the Korean War. The Rogers Twins became legends in the Texas Panhandle and were eventually inducted into the Western-Swing Hall of Fame. We remain friends after more than 50 years.
-1950 Photos
Gene Jones Bernie Rogers Jesse Bunch Buster VanHooten Boyd Rogers Roland Herring.
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My canary yellow 1941 Ford. It used more oil than it did gas, but it was cool!
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"Shoot low sheriff, he's ridin' a shetland"
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(2002 photo)
Western-Swing Hall of Fame members Boyd Rogers & Bernie Rogers in Chula Vista, California
(photo courtesy of Cathi Parson.... President, Southern California Western-Swing Music Society
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The Rogers Twins and Gene during a reunion in 2003
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Reunion Jam in 2003
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I worked with the Rogers Twins until the Korean War began in 1950, when I enlisted in the Army and went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training.
FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI
1950 - 1951
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While at Fort Leonard Wood I played music off-duty with the MACK BYRD band at the WAGONWHEEL on old US Highway 66 near Waynesville, Missouri.
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I was later transferred to Wolters AFB in Mineral Wells, Texas, where our Army unit, 950th Engineer Aviation Group (SCARWAF) was attached to the Air Force.
1951 - 1952
WOLTERS AIR FORCE BASE
MINERAL WELLS, TEXAS.
Even in Texas this was NOT an authorized Army uniform
I played music off-duty at the WINTERGARDEN in Mineral Wells.
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In 1954, I re-enlisted in the Army and was transferred to Japan where I played off-duty with singer/guitar player HAROLD JENKINS later known as CONWAY TWITTY. Go to NEXT LINK for more about Conway Twitty.
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