Bud Andrews

Curcy Hendricks Andrews, Jr., known as Bud Andrews (born July 5, 1940), is a retired deejay at Radio KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, who in 1970 is said to have "discovered" the Mississippi-based humorist Jerry Clower.

Early career

Andrews (first name pronounced SER CEE) was born in Lubbock to Curcy Andrews, Sr., originally from Honey Grove in Fannin County in northeast Texas, and the former Ollie Lee Townsend (1907–1993), who grew up on a ranch in Plains near Brownfield in West Texas. Andrews graduated in 1958 from Monterey High School, one of his classmates having been the actor Barry Corbin. He attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock but did not graduate.

He then launched his broadcasting career in October 1960. He has been affiliated with stations KSEL AM 950, KLLL AM 1460, KKAM AM 1340, KCBD AM 1590, and KFYO AM 790, where for sixteen years he was both program director and music director.^[1] He spent six years as general manager and co-host of the "Big Ed in the Morning Show" with Edwin "Big Ed" Wilkes on KRFE AM 580. In addition to his morning show, Andrews also voiced many commercials carried on KDAV.^[2]

Producer

Andrews and Wilkes were the first producers ever to place Clower on a record. Originally a fertilizer salesman, Andrews spotted Clower as he spoke to a luncheon group in Lubbock and suggested that the fledgling comedian cut a record of his monologue. The result was Clower's "The Coon Hunt" on MCA Records, which was later awarded a platinum album for sales in excess of $1 million at the retail level. Andrews handled Clower's first five albums.^[3]

In 1975, Andrews produced "Phone Call from God" by Jerry Jordan, a gospel singer from Brownfield, the seat of Terry County west of Lubbock. This recording subsequently received a gold record from MCA, the recognition of the sale of one million records. Jordan is also an artist, who maintains a gallery in Taos, New Mexico.^[4]

Thereafter, through Southern Track Records of Atlanta, Andrews produced Robert W. "Bob" Murphey, an attorney and country comedian from Nacogdoches in east Texas. Murphey, a nephew of former Texas Governor Coke R. Stevenson, was also a former sergeant-at-arms of the Texas House of Representatives.^[5][6]

Presidential citation

After the Lubbock Tornado on May 11, 1970, Andrews, while at KFYO, was awarded a citation from U.S. President Richard M. Nixon for outstanding public service during the disaster.^[6][7]

Radio Station Ownership

Andrews was a partner-founder (along with Billy B. Reynolds, Charles "Charlie" Wilson, and DRA, Inc., which included the Brownfield lawyer Jim Rudd, in the Brownfield FM now known as 104.3 KTTU-FM. The application was filed in mid-1980 and granted after a hearing in 1984. The station signed on as KKTC, and the company was known as BBC Brownfield Broadcasting Company. Andrews and Reynolds had worked at KFYO (AM) and had noticed that the former news director of KLVT (AM), Del Kirby, had started a station called KHOC (FM), now KJDL-FM, in Levelland, the seat of Hockley County west of Lubbock. The two broadcasters offered to buy the station but were unsuccessful. Other staff at KFYO (Roger Hiveley or Chuck Kinney, or perhaps David Stewart who is known to have worked at KFYO in this time frame) made them aware of other FM outlets available in other towns, Ralls, Floydada, and Brownfield. Of those choices, Brownfield was the largest community.

KKTC went on air with a country format and studio on the square in Brownfield. The initial ownership was Bud Andrews and Bill Reynolds, each 26 percent interest. Charlie Wilson, an electronics teacher at Lubbock Independent School District and the founder of KLSD (FM) (now KOHM) and the engineer who combined KJAK and KHOC, held 24 percent. So did DRA, Inc., which included partners of the law firm of Jim Rudd, also a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives.

The station was not an instant success because start-up costs were much higher than expected. Partners expected to come up with necessary equipment underperformed, and the two partners who actually worked at the station disagreed on operating policy, whether to live in the town and how to sell ads on the station. Reynolds soon bought out Andrews' interest. Wilson was bought out by a man named Dennison whose son worked at the station and had a car dealership in Hobbs, New Mexico. About a year later, Dennison bought out Reynolds and then held some three fourths of the station.

Andrews returned to KFYO as program director and worked there throughout the 1980s.

Current activities

Andrews was formerly teamed with William Ralph "Bill" Clement (born 1948), on the "Bud and Billy C. Show" on KDAV on weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. CST. Andrews retired in October 2010 after fifty-one years in broadcasting and record production. He still resides in Lubbock.

On March 15, 2008, Andrews was featured on a segment of Bob Phillips's television series Texas Country Reporter, with the emphasis on the discovery of Jerry Clower and the recording of "The Coon Hunt" by Jerry Clower on MCA records in Hollywood, California. Andrews received a Platinum Album for sales exceeding one million units.

Personal life

Andrews is divorced from the former Shirley Herndon of Lubbock. The couple has three children: Michael Todd Andrews (born 1963), Chance Andrews (born 1964), and Shirl Andrews Chidester (born 1965).

In 2004, Andrews married the former Carolyn Harkey.

References