The Lost Masters-Sons of the Pioneers Trio:Ken Curtis & the Ranch Hands-Memorial
In 1951, the Sons of the Pioneers hosted a radio show called The Lucky-U Ranch. The group featured a vocal trio of Lloyd Perryman (the group’s leader), Tommy Doss (who had replaced Bob Nolan when Nolan left the touring group in 1949) and Ken Curtis. Curtis was the lead singer and had replaced Tim Spencer in 1949. Previously, he had been a singing cowboy star in the movies. Years later, he was to become “Festus” on the TV series, Gunsmoke. In February 1953, the Pioneers decided to leave the show but Curtis preferred to stay behind and host a new show called simply The Lucky-U, dropping the word, Ranch. Some of the old Ranch crew stayed with Ken and the new show. The new trio consisted of Curtis with Rex Dennis and Buddy Dooley. In the Spring of 1955, the Lucky-U trio filmed a series of programs for TV titled Song Stories of the West. Unfortunately, the series never aired and the video images have deteriorated to the point that copies have not been made. But Ken and Nora managed to lift the soundtracks from those old TV tapes and you’ll hear some of that music on this CD. Better still, Tommy Doss and Lloyd Perryman were invited back to appear on some of those TV shows, and many listeners will agree that the selections featuring these three gentlemen, while focusing on Curtis, are the real gems here. You’ll hear them clearly on “Grand Canyon” and “The Old High Lonesome.”
Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer, Stan Jones, Cindy Walker  (Composer),     Ken Curtis and the Ranch Hands  (Performer),     Ken Curtis (Festus), Rex Dennis and Buddy Dooley  (Artist)    &                   1                  more   Format: Audio CD
{"Package Dimensions": "5.75 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 5.6 Ounces", "Manufacturer": "Pioneer Music Productions", "Run time": "1 hour and 24 minutes", "Date First Available": "January 11, 2012", "Label": "Pioneer Music Productions", "Number of discs": "1"}