Personalities | Louise Massey & The Westerners | Cowboys & Playboys | Country

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1930s–40s)

Louise Massey And The Westerners are largely forgotten today, but in their heyday, this was one of the most successful western acts in the USA. Polished, versatile and influential, they boasted a smooth sound that obscured their origins as rural musicians under their fiddling father Henry’s tutelage in New Mexico. The band included three Masseys – Louise (vocals; 1902–83), Allen (guitar, vocals, 1907–83), Curt (fiddle, trumpet, vocals, 1910–91), as well as Louise’s husband, bassist Milt Mabie, and accordionist Larry Wellington. They hit stride upon arrival at Chicago’s WLS in 1933. Louise was the group’s nominal focal point, her fame peaking with her classic 1941 hit ‘My Adobe Hacienda’. However, Curt was arguably the band’s true star. An excellent jazz fiddler and trumpeter, as well as a fine pop-tinged vocalist, he enjoyed a major hit with ‘The Honey Song’ in 1942, and when the band broke up soon after, he went on to mainstream media stardom in California.

Styles & Forms | Cowboys & Playboys | Country
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Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

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