Cripple Creek - Dub Adams and His K-Bar Ranch Hands (1948)

Today we have another local Western act, this time from Texas. Dub Adams and His K-Bar Ranch Hands did way more radio work and live performing than record making, but today we have one of the eight sides they ever recorded. This is their instrumental take on the traditional banjo or fiddle tune "Cripple Creek" that hails from the mid 1800's, and boy does Jelly Green do a fine job making his fiddle sing in this tune. Columbus William “Dub” Adams was born on June 20, 1919 in Comstock, Texas and grew up mainly in West Texas. I couldn't find too much about his early life, but I do know he learned to play the guitar and fiddle along the way. Around 1945, he formed a Western swing band called Dub Adams and The K-Bar Ranch Hands. Early on, they played on the radio, starting on KIUN in Pecos. Soon, Adams relocated to San Angelo and his band's popularity started to pick up steam. The group would grow from radio and start playing local dance halls like the Hanger Club or the Ace Of Clubs in Odessa, or the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. They would even play several shows with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and the Light Crust Doughboys. The groups repertoire grew to cover all sorts of genres, from the classics to modern Western swing to line dancing or square dancing, complete with a caller, that was quite popular at the time. In 1947, Adams met DJ and studio owner Jim Beck who was working for radio KSKY. He also owned the Dude Records label. Around the same time, the band made a recording of two traditional fiddle songs on the Bullet Records label, but nothing came of it. They would end up releasing three records on the Dude label. Although Adams' name was out front, he had no problems giving others credit where it was due, often specifically citing the main soloist on certain songs. For these recordings, Adams was more of a backing musician, letting Jelly Greene (fiddle), "Roly Poly" Pete Atchison (steel guitar), Bill Freeman (piano), Gordon "Jelly" Teagarden (drums), Elgin "Tex" Johnson (bass), and Hal Tennyson (clarinet) do what they do best. Other members of the band through the years included Joe Penny (guitar), Claude Fewell (fiddle), Vivian Earle (piano), Charlie "Snuffy" Smith (bass), Bud Ashcraft (steel guitar), and Mal Rhinehart (drums), among others. By 1950, their recording days were done, although they still did live work in person and via radio, being heard on KVOU in Uvalde until around 1954. Upon retirement, Adams went into cattle ranching. Beginning with common cattle, he began to specialize in Charolais cattle. In fact, he personally brought over the first six Charolais cattle to the US. He would go on to found the American Cattle Breeders Hall of Fame and was a member of the International Charolais Cattle Association. He would pass away in 1987 at the age of 67.