Marion Martin Born:  December 8, 1919 Died:  June 9, 1990 Brown County Jamboree WIBC Jamboree WWVA Original Jamboree

About The Artist Marion Martin was the stage name of Marion J. Keyoski, a Polish-American accordion and chordovox player who gained fame for his long years with Doc Williams and the Border Riders. Born in Jefferson County, Ohio, Marion lost is eyesight at age ten in a dynamite cap explosion and subsequently learned his musical skills at the Ohio School for the Blind. On December 8, 1943, Doc Williams hired him for backup for some shows since Doc had broken up his band during the war. After that, Marion played some at WIBC Indianapolis where he backed both Jimmy Dickens and the Delmore Brothers. After the war, he played for a while with Hawkshaw Hawkins at WKST New Castle, Pennsylvania. When Doc got his Border Riders re-organized later in 1946, Marion became a regular member and so remained for three decades or more. When not working with Doc, Marion often worked in clubs up and down both sides of the upper Ohio River Valley. He not only recorded dozens of songs with Doc and band, but made one four-tune originals EP on Wheeling containing two polkas, a waltz named for his wife Edie, and another tune. About 1967, he cut the first of two long play albums on the Doxx label (a Wheeling subsidiary). Marion was always self-sufficient, supporting a wife and rearing two children. He died south of Wheeling in Moundsville where his widow still lives (as of February 2020). Credits & Sources Hillbilly-Music.com would like to express its thanks to Ivan M. Tribe, author of Mountaineer Jamboree — Country Music in West Virginia and other books that can be found on Amazon.com and numerous articles in other publications for providing us with information about this artist.

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   B-W Rec. No. Side Song Title   BW-0546 A Coal Miners Polka   BW-0546 B Please Call My Name   Wheeling Records Rec. No. Side Song Title   EP 2222 A Ho-Hey Polka   EP 2222 B Sunrise Polka   EP 2222 C Edies Waltz   EP 2222 D My Flower Of West Virginia