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About The Artist
He was known throughout his professional career as Pete Williams and for a time early on as "Wyoming Pete Williams." By 1947 he was known as "Champion Yodeler of Northern America" and was said to be one of the best in the country. He started his musical journey at the age of nine; he appeared on many amateur programs on local station in the Schenectady area. He began yodeling when he was eleven years old, learned several different variations before finding his own style. But being so young, school took precedence over a desire to do personal appearances in other cities and states. The family then moved to San Antonio, TX where Pete got himself a 15 minute program over radio station KABC for about a year. At the young age of 17, he decided to join the U. S. Navy. However, because of an injury, he was sent home and worked for another year on KABC. He moved back to New York state and joined a group called "The Drifting Tumbleweeds." The few months he was in the Navy, he appeared on many "Blue Jacket" programs and got to meet such stars of the day as Sons of the Pioneers, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Foy Willing and others. And was said to be a personal friend of Gene Autry. A 1947 letter to the Mountain Broadcast and Prairie Recorder magazine by Sparky Belle from radio station WBCA in Schenectady, NY gave provided some tidbits of his early career. Around 1964, he was quite busy in the Schenectady, NY area. An article coined him as a "guitar playing, square-dance-calling, trick-yodeling, emcee." He hosted a one-hour hoedown show on WRGB in Schenectady on Saturday nights. It may have also aired on WGY. His weekly video taped show on WRGB-TV proved to be so popular, the length of the show was doubled to one hour. It's time slot of 7:00pm on Friday nights gained a strong following, more than doubling the audience over his competitor - a network show.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  When researching artists, occasionally we will find some interesting in-depth articles / interviews that provide more insight into their career. Peg Churchill caught up with Pete before one of his show tapings for WRGB back in 1965. She starts off her article, "One of the biggest names in musical entertainment in northeastern New York is a country and western singer with an "Italian-western" drawl whose idea of the wide-open-spaces is a rolling green golf course. ... He's Pete Williams, an affable, unassuming and talented entertainer who started his country music career as a guitarist in hillbilly bands and now has his own hour-long color television show in prime evening time." Pete told her: "I'm not a real dyed -in-the-wool cowboy-boot cowboy. I'm an eastern western cowboy. But, with my experience in the business I know the people of this area and I know the kind of music they like." How popular was Pete's television show? The ratings were almost as many viewers as the combined audiences of the competing shows in his time slot on the area's other two TV channels. Want tickets to the tapings? Fans had to write as much as three months in advance. Many of them came from rural areas though sixty percent of the audience was from the Albany-Schenectady-Troy urban area. Pete related another observation: "A country music fan is the most loyal fan there is. They'll come out to see you on a night when no one else would go out for anything else. And, they'll turn out in numbers that no other form of entertainment can draw. ... But, at the same time, country music fans, bar none, in the respect that a country entertainer has to act almost like a priest as far as his private life goes. ... All you have to do is be yourself and you'll be accepted." Ms. Churchill noted that his attire was "flamboyant western outfits, complete with wide-brimmed hat, embroidered and sequined jackets and high-heeled cowboy boots." The article relates his real name was Peter LaTorre and was married to Theresa and they had two children at the time, Deborah and Billy. What did he wear every day? He would wear more subdued western suits, with kerchief tie and cowboy boots, for business, and jeans at home. He said the only place did not wear western clothes was on the golf course.
Williams related that while working as a sideman with various area country groups, he felt there was a need / demand for a country music show on local television. Before he made his debut, he did three years of weekly programs where he "...sang and talked off the cuff" on station WSPN in Saratoga Springs, NY He started his radio musical career in 1944. By 1965, he had been playing the guitar for 24 years and mastered the five-string banjo. The article delved into how his family played a role in his stage name. His older brother Smokey Williams was playing with a hillbilly band. Pete said his brother had clothes could not afford and once in a while, he had the urge to try and play his brother's guitar. His brother didn't take too kindly at first, giving him a few brotherly whacks but in the end, his brother got him a guitar. He got his name from his brother as well. When Pete starting playing with Smokey's band, they all knew he was Smokey's brother, so, naturally, he became Pete Williams. He spoke of the market for Country music in the metropolitan area where he lived. "I've always known there was a market for country music in this area. And we've only scratched the surface. Country music is strong everywhere but most significantly in metropolitan areas where you'd say 'there can't be any hayseeds there.' I envision the day when the Schenectady area will be as big a country music center as Wheeling, WV and possibly bigger." Pete told his interviewer his approach to the music he and his group performed; he felt it was part of the reason for their popularity. He said, "one of the appeals of the Ranchers' broadcasts and personal appearances was that the songs and comedy were clean and wholesome and geared for family listening." You think fans don't pay attention? He pointed out the letter he got from their third show when they did "Good Old Mountain Dew" - a tune about the brewin' of corn liquor in the Kentucky hills. He got the first and only bad piece of mail after that show. The first record that Pete and the Ranchers released sold about 12,000 copies. In 1965, he was getting ready to go to Nashville and do an album on the Starday record label. But that was about the only time he would go to Nashville; he'd rather stay close to home. He noted, "I've lived here so long and I plan to stay here. I have no hopes of going out into the national picture. I feel I can do more good for myself, my band, my fans and country music by staying here." Pete featured some unique guests on his show. One such appearance was by Lawrence Older - said to be the "...last of the Adirondack minstrels." Peg Churchill wrote of his appearance on Pete's television show in May 1965.
  His appearance on the show - May 14, 1965 - was to be his first television appearance. Lawrence had previously done numerous folk music concerts in the northeast. The type of songs that Mr. Older did were not recorded or documented on paper - they were handed down from generation to generation. He told Ms. Churchill, "There are many great traditional singers in the Adirondacks. But they won't sing for an audience because they were brought up never to show off. So I feel I am serving a purpose by sharing those songs with others. ... I'm singing today just as my father and grandfather before me. I've learned songs everywhere I went and if I liked them they sort of sank in. Nobody knows how many songs I know. It's literally thousands." Mr. Older explained the difference between Adirondack folk music and what had been defined as "country and western" and "blue grass" music. He noted: "In country and western music, either the wife runs away or the man comes home drunk. Each of our northeastern songs tells a different story and its never told the same way twice. there's more depth to our music." ... He described country and western music as "...northeastern music jived up" which was born after radio broadcasts began. ... He said an example of northeastern music turned western was a song called "Unfortunate Rake" that went 'west' and became "Streets of Laredo." He had recorded an album of 24 tunes in 1963. Some of the tunes on that record were: "Once More A-Lumbering Go," "Bonnet Trimmed in Blue," "Devil's Dream," "My Old Brown Coat and Me," "Old Shoes And Leggings," "Johnny Randall," "En Roulant," "La Bastringue," "Elder Bordee," and, "Frog In The Spring." Lawrence Older was born November 1, 1912 near Lake Desolation in Milton, NY. He died on September 11, 1982. The members of the band that backed Pete Williams over the years changed. Occasional articles or photos provided information as to who those members were.
In 1973, took on a new role when he joined an advertising agency as a partner. After he joined, it became Halpin, Williams and Associates, Inc. Pete was to head up the agency's broadcast division. It would offer their clients complete production facilities at the firm in Albany. In the past, Pete was sales and president of his own broadcast production company, Pete Williams Productions. Pete passed away in June 1993 at the age of 66. He was survived by his wife Theresa Brousseau LaTorre and a song, William and a daughter, Deborah.
  
 
Credits & Sources
Sound Sample—(YouTube Video Format)
Appearance History This Month
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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
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| Rec. No. | Side | Song Title | ||
| MW1226621 | B | Why Don't You Settle Down | ||
| MW1226622 | A | I Have No Place To Turn | ||
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| Rec. No. | Side | Song Title | ||
| 104 | A | I'm Gettin' My Kicks | ||
| 104 | B | Would You Believe | ||
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Voting Member of:
Peter Latorre was born in Italy in 1927. His parents were Salvatore and Bernice Latorre. Researching
records found in Ancestry, it was noted that one brother (Louis or Luigi(?)) was born in Chieti, Provincia di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy.
This may provide some insight as to where the family was from. One of his brothers (Louis) also
played guitar and accordion and sang locally.
It was no easy road to his success. He got his big break after toiling for fifteen years in the country
music business, supporting his family as a bread salesman and working for Canteen Service. It was an
appearance in 1960 on the Earl Pudney television show that got the audience to respond. Soon, he was
doing more appearances on the Pudney show and during that time, he put together his band, The Ranchers,
and got their own half-hour show over WRGB for a half-hour that was later expanded to an hour.