Jim Boyd born 28 September 1914

James Alexander “Jim” Boyd  (28 Sep 1914 - 11 Mar 1993) was a singer and multi-instrumentalist who contributed to the creation of the genre of western swing music.

The son of Lemuel and Molly (Jared) Boyd, Jim was born in Fannin County, Texas, four years after his brother Bill Boyd, the noted bandleader. They grew up on a cotton farm. 

Both brothers found their interest in music encouraged by their mother, who helped Jim Boyd find work on an early morning local radio show while still in his teens. Boyd recalled walking four miles to the station in the pre-dawn hours to earn $2.75 per week. Jim and Bill Boyd performed on KFPM radio in Greenville as early as 1926.

Jim Boyd, still a teenager, formed a band with three other musicians and began playing informal dances. Called the Rhythm Aces, the band would seek engagements near Cedar Hill and other small towns around Dallas. The Boyd brothers had moved to Dallas in 1929. One weekly Saturday night gig was an open-air dance, probably on a dance platform, where they brought a camping lantern to warm their hands during chilly winter performances.

In addition to the Rhythm Aces, Boyd was hired by a local bandleader who had an eight-piece outfit that performed on Dallas radio station WRR. He continued to play guitar and sing with that group until 1932 when his brother Bill landed his own show and formed the first incarnation of his seminal group, the Cowboy Ramblers. Jim Boyd was a charter member of the group, who went on to record for RCA Victor in San Antonio in 1934. The younger Boyd claimed to have been involved in every recording made by the Cowboy Ramblers and to have played bass on 90 percent of the recordings.

His success and skills prompted WRR to hire him as a staff musician, where he was called upon to play guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, or whatever instrument might be needed. It was in this capacity that Boyd accompanied a young female singer who, although billed as Kathryn Starling at the time, would go on to national stardom as pop and jazz vocalist Kay Starr. In demand as a sideman, he also began playing with Roy Newman’s band on WRR and at live engagements.

In 1938 Boyd was approached by Parker Willson with the Light Crust Doughboys, who at the time were enjoying enormous popularity on the western swing band circuit and had appeared in two Hollywood films. In need of a bass player who could solo and sing tenor, Willson invited Boyd to audition, probably at the urging of Smokey Montgomery with whom Boyd was acquainted. Boyd auditioned and was immediately hired. Boyd was able to propose to his sweetheart, and they married shortly after he joined the band.

After two years with the Doughboys, Boyd joined the Hillbilly Boys, but moved back to Dallas in 1942. He again found work performing, broadcasting, and recording with his brother’s Cowboy Ramblers for RCA Victor and with side projects, including the Crazy Water Gang. Beginning in 1942, Boyd stepped into the role of bandleader, fronting a group he first called the Texas Mockingbirds before eventually settling on the name Jim Boyd and His Men of the West.

                              

With this group, Boyd secured a recording contract with RCA. He recorded numerous sides for RCA from 1949 to 1951, and by 1952 they had their own regular Saturday night radio program, broadcasting over WFAA. They also were featured on the program Saturday Night Shindig on WFAA’s television affiliate, where they played music and performed comedic skits. Boyd also worked as a disc jockey and advertising sales representative.

Boyd and WFAA entered into a bitter dispute over Boyd’s refusal to move WFAA’s Saturday-night program to Fair Park Music Hall. After being fired by WFAA, Boyd rejoined the Light Crust Doughboys in 1953, reuniting with Marvin Smokey Montgomery with whom he had been band-mates years earlier. Boyd and Montgomery worked together in the Light Crust Doughboys and sometimes as the Wagon Masters. Boyd also frequently played on Big D Jamboree. In the late 1960s through the 1980s, he worked in the house construction business but continued to perform music. He was inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1990. Boyd, featured on guitar, vocals, and bass, remained with the Doughboys until his death.

He was inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame on April 21, 1990.  He died of lung cancer at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas 11 March 1993, age 73.

(Edited mainly from an article by Deirdre Lannon @ The Texas State Historical Association)