Jack Reno born 30 November 1935

Jack Reno (b. 30 November 1935 - 1 November 2008, Florence, Kentucky, USA) was an American country singer and guitarist..

Jack Reno was born near Bloomfield, Iowa, USA, In his teens he would do the local talent shows and would earn recognition or prizes. When the fairs came around, he was a part of the entertainment segment usually as part of the 'local acts' that were usually the opening acts to the more well-known entertainers that came to town.

In 1951, and just 16 years old, Jack was doing a live radio show over station KCOG out of Centerville, Iowa. He earned a regular disc jockey stint at that station. That show was only 15-minutes each day. After graduating from High School in 1953 he earned a spot on the staff of radio station WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota.

In March 1954 when Jack was about 18 years old, he began doing appearances in the area with Billy Dean and the WNAX band.  He was making regular appearances on the WNAX Missouri Valley Barn Dance show that would travel to various cities within its broadcasting signal. Jack was also appearing over station KVTV in Sioux City, Iowa.

In 1955, things really started to look up for Jack. His musical talent led to an opportunity on the ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee that was hosted by Country Music Hall of Famer, Red Foley. Soon, he was doing personal appearances with such stars as Red Foley, Jimmy Gately and Harold Morrison. He wrote several songs, including "Mexican Joe" and "Tijuana," which was recorded by Jim Reeves.

He continued working on radio while both in and out of the armed forces, and had his first record success in the US country charts with ‘Repeat After Me’ on the JAB label. 

He appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1960s and played with Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton. Around 1968 or so, Movie Mirror magazine conducted a poll asking fas to vote for their favorite DJ. Jack was the only country DJ on that ballot. In fact, he was named the DJ of the Year in 1968 by the magazine. Another movie type magazine featured Jack in an article, TV Mirror.

 Here's "What's The World Coming Too" from above 1972 album

In 1971, he had perhaps one of his biggest hits, "Hitchin' A Ride" that rode to the umber 12 spot on the national charts and was on the charts for 15 weeks. Onther notable single was ‘I Want One’ for Dot Records, but he also charted with country versions of pop hits, ‘Do You Want to Dance?,’ ‘Beautiful Sunday,’ and ‘Let the Four Winds Blow,’ with his last chart entry, ‘Jukebox,’ in 1974. He recorded a total of seven albums and over 60 sides for various record labels, many of which made it to the country music charts..

He was a long-time country music DJ, with stints in Cincinnati, Ohio and Omaha and, Nebraska which led to his nickname of "The Ramblin' Reno." His awards include the Country Music Association’s Disc Jockey of the Year in 1978, but his career was curtailed by Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He recovered and began recording duets with his daughter Sheila in 1986. It was about this time he decided to retire from radio and return to Greater Cincinnati. 

Hired by Boone County Sheriff Elmer Wright in 1989, he served as a deputy providing service of process out of the county courthouse in Burlington. He retired in 1999.

Jack Reno died of brain cancer on November 1, 2008 in Florence, Kentucky.

(Info edited mainly from Hill-billy music.com & All Music)