Peach State Jamboree
We found an article about this show that told us they were celebrating
their third anniversary on February 9, 1957. The Peach State Jamboree
took place on Saturday nights at the Nancy Auditorium in Swainsboro,
Georgia. The show was produced by Jack Wiseley, who was also the manager
of radio station WJAT, and by Johnnie Bailes, who was a dj, presumably
at WJAT as well as the emcee for the show. Swainsboro is in eastern
Georgia, about half way between Macon and Savannah.
They drew crowds from Florida, South Carolina as well as the local
Georgia residents. As mentioned before, Johnnie Bailes was the emcee
of the show and also a recording artist, who had a contract with
Decca Records.
Around this time, in 1957, Webb Pierce and Jim Denny bought the
Nancy Auditorium and WJAT. Jim Denny was running the Jim Denny
Booking Agency of Nashville at the time and was previously at the
Grand Ole Opry as the manager of the Artist's Bureau there.
Peach State Jamboree cast members:
- Johnnie Bailes
- Johnny Elgin
- The Hubbard Twins
- Melvin Sapp
- Little Lyneve Wheeler
- Hugh West
- Joyce & Velma Sapp
- Jody Joyner
- Miss Mary Loy
- Emery Carr
- The WJTR Band
- Joe Sammons and the Sunny Moutanin Cut-Ups
- Jack Wiseley
- Clem Hayshecker
- Red Boatright
- Dee Thompson
Credits & Sources
- Cowboy Songs Magazine No. 51; August 1957; American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT