Slim Wilson and Tall Timber Trio Born:  July 14, 1910 Died:  July 15, 1990 KWTO Ozark Jubilee

About The Artist Slim "Pickins" Wilson was born in Christian County, just south of Nixa, Missouri. He was the family's first son; he had six sisters when he was born. His father's name was J.C. Wilson. He attended schools in Harmony, Rosedale and Line, then would ride on horseback to high school in Nixa. Along about 1930 or so, Slim's dad rented one of the houses on the family's old ranch to the Hancock family that was from South Dakota and Kansas. And a year later, Slim married Ada Hancock. Slim got an itch for being on the radio as soon as he heard that KWTO had gone on the air in Springfield, Missouri. He won second place in a fiddle competition that only spurred him on even more. By then, Slim was farming on 150 acres just north of Bolivar, Missouri on the Pomme de Terre River. His father had bought the adjoining parcel. But Slim couldn't afford to have a car back then, so he would hitchhike his way to Springfield to do his appearances on the air with Shorty, an old Nixa neighbor, Zed Tennis and later on, with Si Perkins and Smokey Lohman. By 1954, they said he had done his 25,000th broadcast with KWTO them. He was also a bit of a successful entrepreneur, being both a dairy and beef cattle farmer. Slim also did some brief radio work at stations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Denver, Colorado before returning home to the Ozarks. He was also a regular on the infamous "Ozark Jubilee" show and was getting ready to release his first record with the Decca label in 1955. Credits & Sources Jamboree Magazine; November 1948; Western Song Club; Ventura, CA

Printer Friendly Version