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Hillbilly-Music.com—The People. The Music. The History.
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About The Artist
During those early years, she began her fondness towards country music and began to set a goal to one day become a country entertainer. Her career took west to Southern California where country music was enjoying a lot of popularity and she hoped to become a part of that. She took to taking advantage of any opportunity she could find to showcase her vocal talents. It was a talent show where one of the popular disc jockeys back the, Carl (The Squeakin' Deacon) Moore discovered her. It seems he also had a hand in the discovery of another young female singer, Dinah Shore. The Squeakin' Deacon decided to help out the youngster who had a strong desire to be in the music business. With that boost of confidence, she took her guitar and headed over to audition for Foreman Phillips who had the popular "Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance" radio show at the time. Mr. Phillips must have liked what he saw and heard for soon she was a part of the show and became known as "The Sweetheart of the County Barn Dance." The Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance moved from just being a radio show to being a live television broadcast. During that time, Shirley met and performed with many of the major stars of that era including Ray Price and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
Around that time, a local record producer had heard her and wanted to sign her to a contract with his Fabor Records label. At the time, Fabor Robison had such stars as Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves and Ned Miller under contract. Around the same time Shirley was signed to Fabor records, Jim Edward Brown and Maxine Brown along with Alvadene Coker were also signed to recording contracts.
 Scenes From Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance Television Show - Circa late 1954
 
 
 
 
  In May of 1954, she appeared as "Guest of the Week" on the Town Hall Party television show that originated from Compton, CA. On the evening of November 6, 1954, Cliffie Stone's "Hometown Jamboree" on Channel 13 moved to Channel 5 at 7:00pm. Channel 13 debuted a new show - Foreman Phillip's County Barn Dance. Les 'Carrot Top' Anderson was the host - emcee. Cast on the show included the Ozark Playboys;; The Missouri Mountain Boys; Terry Fell; Skeets McDonald; Shirley Bates, Tex Atchison; Eddie Downs, the Little Hillbillies and the Sons of the Pioneers.
Fabor then setup a nationwide tour for several of the artists on his labels. Jim Reeves was to be the headline act and would include Jim Edward Brown and Maxine Brown, Jerry Rawley, Shirley Bates, Alvadean Coker and Ginny Wright. The tour would start in California, then head north and then across the country to the Midwest and East. The tour would start July 9 at the Foreman Phillips' County Barn Dance in Baldwin Park. The group would go to the San Joaquin Valley, Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah with a return to the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport on August 14. The Cash Box reported the tour was successful judging by reports from the venues. The group saw over 1,164 patrons at the Rogue Valley Ballroom in Medford, OR on Tuesday, July 20; that reportedly led to a return appearance on July 31. It was reported that similar results were seen in the San Joaquin Valley and Northern California. Her first release generated a lot of interest. The Cash Box said it was a much talked about tune by Eden "Nature Boy" Ahbez called "Carlos Ybarra." The flip side was "The Eu-Cal-Y-Pi-Tus Tree" that was written by Marge O'Neale and Joe Egner. Fabor Robison thought "Carlos Ybarra" had "strong possibilities" in both the country and pop fields. Shirley stayed with the County Barn Dance show until it ran its course and went off the air. But she continued to do personal appearances and entertain audiences and promote her own recordings. She wanted to find the right music to sing, so that led to the beginning of her songwriting. We should note that one interesting anecdote to the Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance is that the director was Dick Brown. Dick was later formed "Cambria Studios" that produced the first color animated series for television, "Clutch Cargo". But, by this time, Fabor Robison had retired from the music business. Shirley had also gotten married and began a family. But she kept performing. When her two sons were old enough and showing their musical skills, Shirley and her boys formed a family band. The trio began working at various clubs and rodeo dances. Out of the blue, she received a call from Fabor Robison. It seems he had gotten tired of retirement and wanted to return to the music business and recording. A session was in the works for Shirley, but their partnership ended with Mr. Robison's sudden demise. Before passing away, Fabor had told her that he had visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and told her that the recordings she and others had made for his label were in their archives.
  Shirley is also an author of a book. When her father was near death in the hospital, struggling with the ravages of emphysema, her daughterly love brought him back to health. And she used that experience to draw out of him the life he had lead as a "carnie" - and the book is "The Life of A Carnie" that chronicles her father's life, Colonel V. W. Bates. Shirley married Billy Ray Bryant on January 13, 1957 in Clark County, NV. Her husband passed away on November 21, 2014. Shirley passed away at her home in Fallon, NV on October 24, 2022. Her parents were Vern Wesley and Nelly West Bates. She was survived by her sons Joe and Clinton.
Original Article: October 2008
Credits & Sources
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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
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| Rec. No. | Side | Song Title | ||
| 106 | A | Eu-Cal-Y-P-Tus Tree | ||
| 106 | B | Carlos Ybarra | ||
| 146 | A | Sing Like A Bird | ||
| 146 | A | Sing Like A Bird | ||
| 146 | B | Crimpton, Krompton, Candary Bridge | ||
| 146 | B | Crimpton, Krompton, Candary Bridge | ||
Shirley Bates was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She was raised
in a musical family. Her mother played the piano and often
the evenings would find Shirley and her mom making their own
entertainment.
In February of 1955, The Cash Box reported the show was called Ralph Hick's County Barn Dance Jubilee and was televised direct
from the Baldwin Park dance emporium. The stars on the show included Jack tucker and his Oklahoma Playboys;
Les 'Carrot Top' Anderson; Skeets McDonald; Frank Simon; Mary Rose Bruce; The Hollywood Hillbillies; Eddy Downs;
Shirley Bates and Glenn and Gary.
