Hello JENNINGS-L@rootsweb.com List, Bellinda Myrick - Barnett, List Administrator here....good morning, again. BLUEGRASS connection and information immediately following quick ancestry rundown: If you are a BLUEGRASS music fan or just might be deciding after hearing the music from "OH, BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?" that you might like to get to know BLUEGRASS music just a little bit better, I just wanted to let you know some information about my father, Billy Earle "Bill" MYRICK, (a JENNINGS descendant of his paternal 7th great grandfather, John JENNINGS, immigrant,) and a longtime friend of recently deceased JENNINGS descendant, WAYLON JENNINGS. Daddy's ancestry is: John JENNINGS, immigrant from England to Rappahannock Co., VA in the mid-1600's, & wife, Margaret PAYNE, (dau of John PAYNE & Margrett ROBINSON?, (not proven,) (dau of Richard ROBINSON, immigrant,) later Mrs. Christopher EDRINGTON, Sr.) > William JENNINGS, Sr. & wife, Mary WILLOUGHBY, > William JENNINGS, Jr. & Ann KELLY, (dau of (Capt.) John KELLY, (son of Penelope ? & Matthew (1) KELLY,) & Amy DONIPHAN, (dau of Amie PARTRIDGE & (Capt.) Alexander DONIPHAN, Sr.,) > Edward Salley JENNINGS, Sr., (became 'ward' of uncle Augustine JENNINGS & Hannah WILLIAMS after parents early deaths,) & Sarah MOORE?, (parents: ??,) > John JENNINGS, (RS,) & Rachel JORDAN, (parents: ??,) > Bailey JENNINGS & 1st wife, Kitty EARLE, (2nd wife, Mrs. Sally LEA LEE, (widow of William LEE,) (dau of Tabitha WILLIAMS, (desc. from 1600's BILLINGTON - WILLIAMS & PEMBERTON - WILLIAMS,) & Samuel EARLE, IV, (RS/Sgt.,) (2nd son of his name,) (son of (Major) Samuel EARLE, III, (1st member, House of Burgesses holding seat later held by (Gen.) George WASHINGTON, (related to family in various ways,) and great grandson of immigrant, (Sir) John EARLE & wife, Mary SYMONS,) & 2nd wife, Elizabeth HOL(D)BROOK(E), (his 1st wife: Anna SORRELL,) > Sarah "Sally" JENNINGS, (2nd/3rd wife of,) & Jeremiah "Jerry" PARKER, (parents: ??,) > Spencer B. PARKER, (2nd/3rd husband,) & Mrs. Rachael Moranda "Randy" LEWIS COLEMAN? BRIGHT PARKER > Allie Artimissa PARKER & James Martin "Jim" MYRICK, (son of Harriet Katherine "Hattie" HERRINGTON & Calvin Pierce "Callie" MYRICK,) > Billy Earle "Bill" MYRICK, (my father.) The BLUEGRASS connection information is regarding my father: Billy Earle "Bill" MYRICK who started his country music/bluegrass music recording career immediately after leaving the Army after WWII where as a teenager fresh out of high school he served as a Corporal and a Medic in the Pacifc in Japan, Hawaii and the Phillipines under (General) Douglas MacARTHUR. Daddy, BILL MYRICK, began his career on the road in concert and at the GRAND OLE OPRY with BILL MONROE AND THE BLUEGRASS BOYS before going on to form his own Bluegrass group, BILL MYRICK AND THE MAYFIELD BROTHERS. As I was growing up Daddy was also on the road with REX ALLEN and JIMMY DEAN and THE MILLER BROTHERS BAND among others and performed at the LOUISIANA HAY RIDE with friend, HANK WILLIAMS, and was involved in the early years of the careers of ELVIS PRESLEY, BUDDY HOLLY, ROY ORBISON, PATSY CLINE, and his longtime friend, JENNINGS' relative, WAYLON JENNINGS, from his days with BUDDY HOLLY and as a disc jockey at KOYL RADIO in Odessa, Ector County, Texas, (West Texas.) Daddy had several radio and television shows over the years including the PIONEER JAMBOREE which was both a television show and live once a month, "OPRY" type of venue where stars such as the aforementioned ROY ORBISON, ELVIS PRESLEY and others appeared. Daddy was a friend of and opening act for ELVIS on several occasions and also a friend of another of BUDDY HOLLY'S CRICKETS, in addition to WAYLON JENNINGS, TOMMY ALSUP, along with country fiddle great, RED HAYES, and brother, drummer, LEON HAYES, and BLUEGRASS greats, CHUBBY WISE and MAC WISEMAN in addtion to TEXAS swing legend, HANK THOMPSON and many others. At any rate, when I was about 13 years old, Daddy got off the road and 'out of the business' to live a 'normal' life with his family, (NOT that ANY of us are 'normal' by any means! <lol>) A few years ago he retired from his 3 decades with BIG 3 LIQUID OXYGEN, INC. which had a few years prior to his retirement become AIR LIQUIDE, INC., a French company, where he had been Transportation Director and Safety Consultant. Since his retirement, with a couple of weeks taken off about 3 years ago for a massive heart attack followed by triple bypass surgery, Daddy resumed his music involvement as he began traveling the country emceeing, (and sometimes singing in,) BLUEGRASS FESTIVALS in addition to hosting two BLUEGRASS radio shows one of which is broadcast on KOCV-FM out of Odessa Junior College in Odessa, Texas as a PBS, (Public Broadcasting System,) radio show. This show is called "SILVERGRASS AND PURPLE SAGE," and has for a few years now been being broadcast on the internet via the THE ODESSA AMERICAN NEWSPAPER website at: www.oaoa.com on SUNDAY NIGHTS....CENTRAL STANDARD TIME.....7:00PM - 9:00PM ....due to go to 3 HOURS shortly but not sure when.....almost every Sunday night's show is live except for the very odd occasion when he is out of town on a Sunday night and there is a previously taped show on but that is a rare occasion. on that webpage if you scroll down about 1/2 to 3/4 of the page you will see the link to click on and then if you do not already have the device with which to hear the broadcast you can download it very quickly. Of course, all of the features for listening to broadcasts on the internet have not been completely perfected especially if you have an older computer so the connection may sort of 'come and go' sometimes....but it is GREAT listening if you are a BLUEGRASS fan and if you really don't know much about BLUEGRASS you are really in for a treat as Daddy...BILL MYRICK....is truly one of the most knowledgable people that you can find about the genre. And he is so terrific to listen to on the radio. When Daddy first began his career as a country music DJ, most DJ's had that particular 'DJ' style of delivery that everyone immitated in every form of music but when Daddy hit the airwaves his approach was very much a unique one at the time as he might say, "Well, hey there, Mama, are you gettin' a little tired of that nasty ol' waxy buildup on yore kitchin floor? I got jist the thing for ya....JOHNSON's FLOOR WAX....it is mighty good stuff...." etc. plus he has a very personable, warm sounding rich voice that is filled with the emotions of whatever he is talking about....as he remembers all of those that he personally worked with in years gone by in addition to the admiration of such new artists as Allison KRAUSE and RICKY SKAGGS, VINCE GILL, etc. in the business today....and what a wonderful BLUEGRASS music accolade the movie and sound track of "OH, BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?" has been! (Not to mention how cute George CLOONEY is! The Clark GABLE of our era! And I have always....always loved his auntie ROSIE!!!!) Daddy plays the music and tells the stories of BLUEGRASS music...so, if you're a fan...tune in and if you're not...well, when you get through listening to his show....you probably will be. Before Daddy started on the internet and was in, I believe, Andrews, Texas emceeing their BLUEGRASS festival, he, (BILL MYRICK,) was so surprised to receive a call from my mother telling him that he had a guest that would be arriving at any moment from Japan to Andrews. Daddy was a bit surprised as he met the man who is now referred to as my 'other brother from Japan' though I have yet to meet him. His name or nickname is 'Shu' and he is a major BLUEGRASS music fan who had researched BLUEGRASS music extensively and doing so came across music of and information about BILL MYRICK AND THE MAYFIELD BROTHERS as well as BILL MONROE AND THE BLUEGRASS BOYS, of course, and has since become a big fan of Daddy's. Shu then made his first of now several trips over from Japan to BLUEGRASS festivals in America where Daddy is performing. He never misses their birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. and my mother the teetotaler is even thrilled when she receives his gifts of Japanese sake....she loves the bottles of course. When I was in Japan a couple of decades ago, I visited a country music nightclub and it was great fun! They are into country and Bluegrass in a big way. Shu had read a book called, "PRAIRIE NIGHTS TO NEON LIGHTS," a wonderful book written by JOE CARR/KERR? AND ALAN MUNDE, published by TEXAS TECH PRESS, I believe that's correct. They are MUSIC PROFESSORS who have specialized in BLUEGRASS music and the book is wonderful!!! And they really capsulized Daddy's career very well in it including some wonderful pictures as well as many of the others that were so instrumental in the legendary history of COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS AND ROCK-A-BILLY music that came out of West Texas especially in the 1950's. (Daddy has one particularly funny story that I don't think was in the book but can't remember of one time when ELVIS was still on the road with BILL and SCOTTY, I believe, and came through Odessa where his car broke down, and while waiting on his car to be fixed, he and ELVIS went to see ELVIS's new movie, "JAILHOUSE ROCK," during the middle of the afternoon and ELVIS was filling him in on some 'behind the scenes' happenings as the movie was progressing only to be royally hushed up by two young ladies behind them that were "trying to hear what ELVIS was saying on the screen." Well, my father couldn't wait for the movie to be over to walk over to the two girls as they were leaving the building to giggle and tell them to take a look across the lobby to see whom it was that they had hushed up.") Well, he's got a lot of really neat stories of BLUEGRASS and COUNTRY/ROCK-A-BILLY music that you will hear from time to time on the air as he is one of THE great storytellers of all time.....and his delivery is so.....well, sooooooo MISSISSIPPI gone to LOUISIANA gone to TEXAS and everything else that is a mix of who he is and where he's been... and is truly a fun time to listen to. And the music really covers the BEST OF BLUEGRASS music.....after listening to it you will be very surprised how much variety there is in BLUEGRASS. That's all for now. Hope you'll join us on Sunday nights! Sincerely, Bellinda Myrick - Barnett JENNINGS-L@rootsweb.com List Administrator