| Johnny Western | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 28, 1934 |
| Occupations | singer-songwriter, actor, radio show host (current) |
| Associated acts | Gene Autry, Johnny Cash |
Johnny Western (born October 28, 1934) is an American country singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and radio show host. He is a member of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame and the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.
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Johnny Western was born in Two Harbors, Minnesota but was primarily raised in Northfield, Minnesota.[1] According to a high school friend, Elaine Alice Tollefson who also attended Northfield High School his last name was actually Westerlin or Westerlind, which he changed to Western for his singing career. His father was an instructor and officer in several Civilian Conservation Corps camps, which is where he spent many of his earlier years. He also lived on Indian reservations along the Canada–United States border.[2]
When he was five years old, Western's parents took him to see the western film Guns and Guitars, which starred the actor and singer Gene Autry. The young boy decided he wanted to be a singing cowboy. At the age of 12, he received a guitar. Within a year, he was performing professionally.[2]
His professional career began as a young teenager, singing and playing rhythm guitar with a collegiate singing trio. He got a job on radio at the age of 13,[3] which got him named in Billboard magazine as the youngest disc jockey and singer on American radio.[2] At age 16, he started playing on bills with the Sons of the Pioneers.
He performed with Gene Autry and was a part of the Johnny Cash road show from 1958 till 1997. He wrote and performed the theme song "The Ballad of Paladin" for the television program Have Gun – Will Travel. In collaboration with Johnny Cash, he re-wrote the lyrics of "The Rebel - Johnny Yuma" (from the TV series The Rebel) and "Bonanza" (originally fom Bonanza) before Cash recorded them for his own albums. [3]
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Columbia |
| 1980 | Johnny Western | JRC Records |
| 1981 | The Gunfighter | Bear Family |
| 1984 | Sings 20 Great Classics & Legends | Americana Records |
| 1989 | Gunfight at O.K. Corral | Bear Family |
| 1993 | Heroes and Cowboys | Bear Family |
| Year | Song | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Ballad of Palindrome | Riders in the Sky | A Great Big Western Howdy! |
| 2007 | Pancho and Lefty | Rex Allen, Jr. | The New West |
Western has appeared in several television programs and movies. He was seen in the television programs Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun – Will Travel, Flight, and Boots and Saddles. He's had roles in several movies including The Night Rider, Fort Bowie, and The Dalton Girls.[5]
In February 1986, Western returned to radio with a daily country music show on KFDI (1070 AM, later KFTI) a country music station calling itself "The Radio Ranch" in Wichita, Kansas.[6] The station and sister station KFDI-FM were sold to Journal Broadcast Group in July 1999.[7][8] In early April 2010, Johnny announced that he would retire from broadcasting. His last day on the air was Saturday, April 10, 2010. Just over a month and a half later the station would switch to an oldies format.
The Johnny Western Theatre in Wild West World, a theme park located in Park City, Kansas near Wichita, had concerts scheduled to begin in October, 2007. However, the park declared bankruptcy in July 2007.[9] Reasons given included a tornado that struck Greensburg, Kansas on May 4, 2007, one day before the park's official opening, and foul weather that continued for 50 days of the park's three month run.