Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Working on Wednesday: Elmer Lee Scarborough (1905 - 1966) - Guitarist & Band Leader

By the time Elmer Scarborough* was 18 he was running an amateur radio transmitting station out of his parent's home in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the 1930 U.S. Census he was still living at home and was working as a pressman for a printer. But by 1932 he had become the leader of a country swing group called the Hi-Flyers** who had a regular program on a local radio station.

[The Hi-Flyers, Elmer is on the left.]

The band made a number of recordings between 1937 and 1941 and I was able to find two of their songs on YouTube.

[Roadside Rag]

[Mable Ain't Able]

The group disbanded during World War II, but reformed in 1946 with Elmer still in charge.

[Fort Worth Star-Telegram Wednesday, Mar 20, 1946 Fort Worth, TX Page: 5.
Source: Genealogy Bank]

Sadly, the reunion lasted only about a year and as far as I can tell from city directories and his 1966 death certificate, Elmer's musical career was over.


*He's my fourth cousin, through my father's Freeman line:

[Ancestry.com]

**Here's Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary's history of the Hi-Flyerslisten to them on AllMusic or buy a CD of some of their music on Amazon.






© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

1 comment:

  1. I'm always surprised by how much I enjoy this kind of music. Maybe it comes from having lived with my grandparents when I was little. Usually lifts my spirits. Texas still has Asleep at the Wheel to carry on the musical tradition.

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