by Randy Willis

Introduction

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Gordon Kennedy takes his nine-year-old son, Jerry Kennedy, to his first guitar lesson on a Friday, June 23, 1950. Tillman Franks, bassist and guitarist on the Louisiana Hayride, is his teacher. Gordon dies unexpectedly the following Monday. Franks becomes a surrogate father and mentor to Jerry Kennedy.

Jerry Kennedy’s father, Gordon Kennedy, was a deputy sheriff in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Gordon died on Monday, June 26, 1950, of a heart attack while working. Jerry and Linda Brannon Kennedy named their first son Gordon eight years later, after Jerry’s father.

Franks teaches the youngster to play and sing simple three-chord songs. Jerry Kennedy’s learning is meteoric. His progress is so impressive that Franks has him teach other students. Kennedy uses a Martin 00-18.

His mother, Essie, bought the guitar for him at a significant financial sacrifice. In 1950, a Martin 00-18 cost $70 without the case. The annual per capita income in Louisiana in 1950 was only $1,132, before taxes. Little did she know that her love of music and sacrifice would launch her son into a world few would experience by age eleven.

At only 11, Kennedy signs a recording contract with RCA Victor under the name “Jerry Glenn.”

Jerry Kennedy aka “Jerry Glenn,” note to Tillman Franks. *Courtesy of Gordon Kennedy, Jerry’s son.

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Elvis and Johnny Horton Backstage at the Louisiana Hayride (1959).

Narrative

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Johnny Horton is about to perform in Temple, Texas, in 1958, when things go a “tad south.” Before the performance, his teenage guitarist and banjo picker, Jerry Kennedy, sits on the loading dock behind the backstage. As the Texas sun sets over the open countryside showtime approaches.

Seventeen-year-old Kennedy is anxious for the Johnny Horton Show to start. He and his wife, Linda Brannon Kennedy, will take the stage in minutes to open before a sold-out crowd. But there is an interruption.

An olive-drab-colored automobile pulls next to the loading dock. A man in an Army Green Uniform steps out of the vehicle, followed by a carload of soldiers. He approaches Kennedy with a serious look. “Are you in charge of the back door, young man?”

“No, sir, I’m not, I am in the band,” Kennedy said.

“Well then, can you open the door for us?” the soldier asked as the others’ eyes are fixed on Kennedy.

“No, sir, I have no right to do that, and the show is sold out.” Another car door opens, and another soldier steps out in G.I. fatigues into the sunset shadows. Kennedy extinguishes his cigarette and turns pale. He allows an exception to his newly created “back door rule.”

The soldier shakes his hand and says, “Hello, I’m Elvis Presley. We’re here to watch Johnny’s show.”

Elvis requests that Kennedy tell no one he is there. Kennedy agrees. He knows he must tell his boss, though, Johnny Horton, with the caveat not to tell anyone, as Elvis instructed.

Elvis requests to watch from the side of the stage, hidden from the audience by the other soldiers. It is time for Linda, Jerry’s teenage bride (also 17), to open the show with Jerry backing her on guitar and banjo.

After several numbers, Linda sings, “All Grown Up,” which begins with, “Hey daddy, hey daddy, I’m all grown up.” Jerry joins in with a high falsetto voice. The song is Horton’s cue that he’s up next.

Remaining on stage for Horton’s set, Jerry whispers to Horton as he grabs his guitar neck. “Elvis is here, but he asks that we tell no one.” Horton nods with a grin from ear to ear.

The temptation is too hard for Horton to resist. After a few numbers, he does the inevitable. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special guest here tonight—he’s a brave young man—serving our country.” He pauses as the crowd presses forward. Temple is only 30 minutes from Fort Hood. Elvis is stationed there.

People talk about Elvis in every cafe in Bell County. They discuss him in barber shops, beauty salons, school cafeterias, and on the front porches of feed and seed stores.

The entire audience begins to whisper the name “Elvis.” “No, it can’t be him,” a Mary Hardin-Baylor coed yells. “I would just die and go to Heaven.”

The crowd rushes the stage at the mere mention of Elvis’s name by Horton. Jerry Kennedy yanks his guitar cable out of his amp. He runs out the back door. But not before he grabs his teenage bride, Linda’s hand, to keep them from being trampled. Horton joins them and the rest of the band, including Tillman Franks and Tommy Tomlinson.

The only ones to beat them to the exit are Elvis, followed by his entourage. By now, they are all familiar with the “drill” as much as “basic training” at Fort Hood.

Linda says to Jerry, “I wish I could have gotten his autograph,” as Elvis’s tires screech into the darkness. The short show is over, but no one requests a refund. No, Elvis did not say “Thank you, thank you very much.” He didn’t have time to say a word.

This is not the first time Jerry Kennedy has seen a crowd’s reaction to Elvis, especially the females. Four years earlier, when he was a mere 13, Kennedy witnessed Elvis’s fans “enthusiasm on steroids.” He watched as Elvis sang That’s All Right at the Louisiana Hayride.

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Johnny Horton signs a contract with the Louisiana Hayride the year after the Temple show. He appears on the same marquee with Byrd High School’s teenage sensation, Jerry Kennedy. He also shares the spotlight with Ram Records’ best-selling artist Linda Brannon at the Hayride. Tickets escalate to 60 cents.

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On October 16, 1954, Elvis Presley performed on the Louisiana Hayride. Jerry Kennedy attends the event with his friend Roy Dea, whom Jerry had known since first grade. “We rode together to the show on Roy’s motor scooter,” Jerry told me. “It could not have been very safe.”

Jerry recalled their frustration with the young girls screaming incessantly. Their screams prevented Jerry and Roy from during the performance. “We got mad at all of the girls screamin’ because we couldn’t hear Scotty when Elvis was doin’ his shakin’. It upset us that we couldn’t hear the guitar.”

Scotty Moore, Elvis, and Bill Black on the Louisiana Hayride, October 16, 1954. Two local boys, Jerry Kennedy and Roy Dea are there to see Scotty Moore, not Elvis. “I had never heard the name Elvis Presley before that night,” Kennedy said. Jerry also told me he first heard of Scotty Moore from Shreveport disc jockey T. Tommy Cutrer. Kennedy and Cutrer were friends, and Cutrer was an inside source for what’s happening in the music scene.

Jerry Kennedy worked with Elvis on October 15, 1961. This was at RCA’s legendary Studio B, on Music Row in Nashville. Jerry played guitar on “Good Luck Charm.” Elvis and Jerry Kennedy recounted their first encounter in Temple three years before and laughed. 

Jerry also played on Elvis’s (You’re the) Devil in Disguise album in 1963. He worked on the soundtrack for Elvis’s movie Kissin’ Cousins in 1964. And many more sides.

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Contract signing for the Louisiana Hayride. Johnny Horton is seated with pen in hand. Linda Brannon and Johnny Mathis are standing, waiting to sign their contracts. Tillman Franks is seated beside Johnny Horton.

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Linda Brannon, who co-starred with Johnny Horton on the Louisiana Hayride, married Jerry Kennedy in 1958. They were only 17. The next year, Jerry Kennedy played on a demo for Johnny Horton entitled The Battle of New Orleans. Johnny Horton’s final version, recorded at Bradley Studios in Nashville, scored number 1 on the Billboard 100 in 1959. Johnny Horton was at the pinnacle of his music career. The Battle of New Orleans stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks. It achieved sales of over one million and was ranked as Billboard’s #1 song for 1959.

But not everyone liked the song. Jerry Kennedy told me a story from their show in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A man stood near him in front of the stage. He kept telling Kennedy, “Tell Horton not to play that song again.” Kennedy ignored him; Horton played the song repeatedly because it was requested numerous times.

In a rage, the man attempted to force his way on stage to stop Horton. He was from Great Britain and was insulted by the lyrics. “I’m not sure which lines in The Battle of New Orleans he had an issue with. Here’s what I suspect he was unhappy about,” Jerry said.

“We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’t as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico”

Horton had already cut a special version of the Battle of New Orleans without the above lyrics. This version was for release in Great Britain.

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Johnny Horton was booked to play the Skyline Club on November 4, 1960, by Tillman Franks. The club was then located four miles north of Austin’s city limits. Linda Brannon Kennedy, with her husband, Jerry Kennedy, playing backup, was Johnny Horton’s opening act on many of his shows. Jerry Kennedy would join Johnny Horton’s sets, playing guitar and banjo. Tommy Tomlinson on guitar, with Tillman Franks playing upright bass, was Horton’s core band. Franks was also Johnny Horton’s manager.

It was not Tillman Franks first time to bring a cavalcade of stars to the Skyline Club. In 1954. Tillman Franks was the manager of talent for the Louisiana Hayride. He and the Hayride’s producer Horace Logan became aware of a young singer from Memphis named Elvis Presley.

They booked him to perform on the Hayride on October 16, 1954. It was Elvis’s first introduction to a national radio audience. Elvis was quickly signed to appear weekly on the Hayride and to tour with other regular Hayride performers.

One of those tours booked by Tillman Franks was the Skyline Club near Austin on Thursday, October 6, 1955. Franks includes himself, Hayride producer Horace Logan, and Johnny Horton on the show.

The Austin American-Statesman, below, on October 2, 1955, labels Elvis as the “young Western music sensation.” Such was the feudal attempt to label him then as it is now. The following month, on November 21, 1955, Colonel Tom Parker officially signed Elvis to a formal management agreement.

Austin American-Statesman, October 2, 1955. A complete backstory is near the bottom of this article.

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The Skyline Club, Austin, Texas, was demolished in 1989.

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During its honky-tonk heyday, the Skyline booked Bob Wills. He had an unusual addition to his band when he arrived with the Texas Playboys: a tour bus.  Jim Reeves purchased a bus on January 23, 1961, for $7,005.60, financed by the Third National Bank in Nashville. So rare was this that the buses became “celebrities” and later tourist attractions.

As late as 1960, other superstars who played at the famed honky-tonk, the Skyline, traveled by automobile. The list included Elvis, Johnny Cash, and George Jones. It also had Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzell, and Kitty Wells. Additional names were Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves, and Marty Robbins. None of them owned a tour bus in 1960. Who could afford $7,000 in 1960? You could buy a home for that.

Automobiles, in 1960, were the primary means of transportation for a band to reach their destination, although there were exceptions. One would set the stage for one of Johnny Horton’s premonitions.

Premonition: “A feeling or belief that something is going to happen when there is no definite reason to believe it will.” —Britannica Dictionary

More than a “gut feeling.”

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The year before Johnny Horton’s Skyline show, Linda Brannon Kennedy was nine months pregnant on November 28, 1959. On that day, Johnny Horton boarded a chartered bus in Shreveport. Jerry Kennedy was part of Horton’s entourage. The bus was loaded with the Louisiana Hayride cast and crew. They were headed to Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley for a huge show. As they progressed down the road, Horton was seated towards the front of the bus.

Horton stood and walked to the back of the bus, where Kennedy was seated. Horton said but three words to Jerry Kennedy and returned to his seat: “Linda just dominoed.”

That’s all he said. Jerry did not know what to think, for the then-popular metaphor could mean several things. Jerry could not have the bus driver call Linda because the bus did not have a two-way radio. One metaphor for “dominoed” was to have a male baby. The metaphor for a baby girl was “bingoed.” No, that’s not it, Kennedy surmised, for how could Johnny Horton know that? Jerry had just kissed Linda goodbye a couple of hours before.

Then they all heard the Texas Highway Patrol siren. As the flashing lights lit up the side of the bus, the officer boarded. His first words were, ” Is there a Jerry Kennedy on this bus?”

“Yes, sir, I’m him,” Jerry said as he stood, wondering if he was in trouble.

“Congratulations, your wife has had a baby boy.” It was not the first time Johnny Horton’s premonitions had come true. Nor would it be the last. Johnny Horton’s last one almost involved Jerry Kennedy and Linda Brannon Kennedy, too. It would change all of their lives and the history of country music.

Teenage Linda Brannon, the Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport. Radio and later television shows.

Johnny Horton loads his 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special before a road trip.

Johnny Horton had a premonition that he would die young at the hands of an intoxicated person. The late Merle Kilgore, Horton’s neighbor, shared that story, as did many others, including Jerry Kennedy.

Johnny Horton told family and friends he would die soon, and his death would be alcohol related. Johnny Horton never drank. When asked if he’d like a beer or mixed drink, Horton often replied, “No, thank you. I’m a ‘teetotaler’ or ‘I’m on the wagon,”‘ according to Jerry Kennedy. Both were popular polite idioms describing someone who does not drink alcohol without sounding self-righteous.

As Horton’s apprehension grew. He visited his mother in her home near Rusk, Texas. This was on the way to his show at the Skyline. He graduated from nearby Gallatin High School. His roots were deep in Cherokee County, Texas. Horton’s father died the year before. He needed time alone with his mother whenever the opportunity afforded itself.

Jerry Kennedy told me recently (August 2025) that Horton always stopped when they were in the area. He would have a cup of coffee at his mother’s home. Jerry added, “We stopped at least a half dozen times. Johnny would always tell us to wait in the car. After a cup of coffee, he returned to the car, and we were off again.”

Johnny Horton began to question traveling to some dates. When Tillman Franks booked a show in Corpus Christi, Texas, Horton was in Canada. Billie Jean, Horton’s wife, bought a used Cadillac to drive the band to Corpus Christi. Horton was to fly to Corpus Christi. When Billie Jean and the band approached Crystal Lake, Texas, they were pulled over for having an expired license plate. The officer asked to see the title. Billie Jean, in her haste, had neither in her possession.

The officer refused to let them go. Around 5:00 in the morning, Billie Jean’s father arrived. He was the police chief from Bossier City. He had the “authority” to get a license plate after Bossier City Hall’s offices were closed. They were then off to Corpus Christi. By this time, Horton refused to meet them. Fear of his possible pending death had him on “high alert.” Whether Horton took their delay as a sign, no one knows that I know, including Jerry Kennedy.

I asked Jerry Kennedy what Tillman Franks, Horton’s manager, did then. “He brought in another act he managed.” As a talent manager, I was taught to “make it happen” when “things go south.” Tillman Franks was a master of making the best of a bad situation. I was fortunate to get to know him in the latter years of his life and “pick his brain.” He first called me when I managed Johnny Rodriguez, whom Jerry Kennedy signed to Mercury Records. Jerry Kennedy, along with Roy Dea, produced six number-one hits for Johnny and numerous top 10s.

Mr. Franks was fun to talk to. He was a storyteller in a classic Deep South way. I grew up with this type of storytelling. The kind I never got tired of hearing over and over again. When I was a boy in Longleaf, Louisiana, we would sit on a front porch. The adults sat in rocking chairs. The kids sat on the never-painted wooden plank floor, which was always in need of repair.

I loved listening to Mr. Franks and was mesmerized. I began to write on a Big Chief Writing Tablet as a boy. I wanted to preserve stories so they wouldn’t be lost in time. I did that with Mr. Franks. I have done the same as I visit with my cousin Jerry Kennedy. Always wanting more details, cross-examining like an attorney. But neither Jerry Kennedy nor Tillman Franks ever seemed to be bothered by my incessant desire for minute details.

Some stories are painful to write. Some questions are difficult to ask.

November 5, 1960. The Skyline Club Austin, Texas

Johnny Horton reaches the Skyline Club on November 5, 1960. His concern for his life grows to a fever pitch. Horton refuses to go into the Skyline’s bar and dining hall for food, for fear a drunk will start a fight and kill him.

The Skyline closes at midnight due to liquor laws. Horton’s trepidation hopefully will pass once he gets back home to Shreveport. Horton plans to meet up-and-coming country singer Claude King in the morning, the first day of duck-hunting season. They had built a duck blind. Johnny Horton never made it.

On Hwy 79 in Milano, northeast of Austin, Horton was driving his Cadillac Fleetwood. As he crossed a bridge over a railroad trestle, a Ford Ranchero pickup coming his way clipped the guardrail. It then careened into Horton’s car head-on. The beloved singer is pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in Cameron at 1:45 a.m.

Johnny Horton was 35. Passengers Tillman Franks, his bass-playing manager, and guitarist Tommy Tomlinson survived the accident but were severely hurt. Tomlinson requires a leg amputation. Franks has internal injuries and a head injury.

The other driver, an intoxicated 19-year-old Texas A&M student named James Evan Davis, had only minor injuries. The year after the drunk-driving accident, James Evan Davis was found guilty of murder without malice. He received two years’ probation.

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In the September 14, 1975, article “A Widow of 2 Legends” in the Shreveport Times, Billie Jean Horton spoke about her husband. She talked about Johnny Horton’s last night. She shared what Tillman Franks told her.

“As they approached Milano, Johnny Horton looked at Franks and said, “Tillman, you know, God has been very good to me.” A few minutes later, Horton was dead. Following graduation from high school in 1944, Johnny Horton attended a Methodist seminary with the intent of joining the ministry.

Johnny Horton no doubt remembered Milano. It was the town he was passing through when he first heard about Hank Williams’ death on the radio.

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Johnny Horton’s widow was the former Billie Jean Jones Williams. She had previously been married to Hank Williams. Hank died in a Cadillac eight years before, on New Year’s Day 1953. Hank’s final public performance was also at the Skyline Club on December 19, 1952.

Horton married Billie Jean Williams on September 26, 1953, nine months after Hank’s death. By age 27, she would tragically lose her second husband. She would take on the MGM depiction of her in the movie “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and win. She would go on establishing copyrights and estates. Currently, she resides in an assisted-living facility in Shreveport. She is 92.

In an interview, Billie Jean stated that she got an eerie feeling. It happened when her husband, Johnny Horton, kissed her goodbye for the last time. Hank Williams had also kissed her on the same spot on her cheek. It happened when he left on his way to his performance two weeks after playing the Skyline Club. Hank Williams never made it. He died en route to a concert in Canton, Ohio, in the back seat of a Cadillac.

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There is no plaque marking the site of the venue, where Johnny Horton and Hank Williams last performed publicly. I once told the folks at CVS Pharmacy, where the Skyline once was, a little history of their location. I said, “Hank Williams, Johnny Horton, and Elvis once played on this very site.” I thought they were going to cancel my prescription, although I wasn’t slurring my words.

Another time, my friend from our teen years, Johnny Rodriguez, and I stopped at the same CVS Pharmacy. We discussed what if Jerry Kennedy had traveled with Horton that tragic night. If he had, Rodriguez might never have been signed to Mercury Records by Kennedy. Life is an endless litany of “what ifs.”

As believers in Christ, we must trust in the sovereignty of God. Although sometimes our journey in life makes no sense. That’s when walking by faith, not by sight, can become difficult. But it is necessary for peace with God. It will all become clear in Heaven.

Jerry Kennedy and I have often discussed our faith in Jesus. He is a strong man of faith. We both descend from a preacher named Joseph Willis.

Can you imagine hearing Hank Williams sing I Saw the Light with an angelic choir backing him? Or Johnny Horton singing Church by the Side of the Road with Gabriel in charge of production?

Hank Williams married 19-year-old Billie Jean on October 18, 1952. This was two and a half months before his death on New Year’s Day 1953.

Billie Jean Jones is introduced to Hank Williams by her then-boyfriend, country singer Faron Young. There are numerous versions of how she ended up marrying Hank Williams. I’ll choose one, lest I write another Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”

Faron Young’s version: Hank Williams meets Billie Jean Jones during Faron Young’s first guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. Hank introduces Faron on stage that night. Hank spots Billie Jean with Faron after his performance. Hank introduces himself and says, “I’m going to marry you.” He then tells Faron that Billie Jean is going to be his girl.

On YouTube, in a video entitled “Faron Young interview 1989 – Bill Collie – Faron Young Audio Biography,” Faron Young tells his version of the events. Around 28 minutes into the video, Hank Williams introduces Faron Young on the Opry.

Later in the video, Faron, at Williams’ home, says Hank pulls a gun on him. Faron responds: “Take her, take her, don’t shoot me.” Three weeks later, Hank marries Billie Jean Jones, according to Faron. Has this story been embellished? I don’t know, but you can see why screenwriters love the story. But the idiom “truth is stranger than fiction” comes to my mind.

Tommy Hill, Hank Williams, Socko Sokolowski, and Johnny Horton. September 1952, The Louisiana Hayride, in Shreveport. Hank Williams returned to the Louisiana Hayride in September 1952. The Grand Ole Opry fired Hank the previous month.

The Louisiana Hayride, where he appeared often, drew Horton to Shreveport in 1952.  Horton had his first hit with Honky Tonk Man in 1956.  Though he’d been recording since 1950, Horton didn’t have his first No. 1 hit on the country charts until 1959, with “When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below).” Horton and Tillman Franks pinned the song.

As a struggling singer in the early 1950s, Horton became friends with Hank Williams. Like many of Horton’s friends, they fished together. Johnny Horton’s passion was hunting and fishing. Horton was known as “The Singing Fisherman.”

Hank loved to fish, too. Williams’s song Long Gone Lonesome Blues was inspired by a fishing trip. It begins with the lyric, “I went down to the river to watch the fish swim by.” Jambalaya (On the Bayou) was inspired by a fishing trip, too. It also starts with a fishing line. “Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh, my oh. Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou.”

Hank Williams and Johnny Horton are fishing in 1952. Horton did not drink or smoke. I am not sure what that is in his mouth. According to Hank’s then-wife, Billie Jean Williams, Hank introduced her to Horton. She did not know Horton well until after Hank’s death, she said.

In an interview in the Shreveport Times Billie Jean Horton said: “Hank was actually a fan of Johnny’s and used to listen to every record Johnny would come out with,” she recalled. “He would stop the car if we were riding along and Johnny came on the radio.”

“I remember the last record Hank heard him sing — ‘The Child’s Side of Life,’ which was a real dog, too. Hank said, ‘Wait a minute, baby, let’s hear this kid.’ After it was over, he turned it off and he said, ‘No son, this one ain’t gonna make it!’ But he told me that one day Johnny would be one of the biggest stars in the business.”‘

Best friends Johnny Horton and Johnny Cash with wives Billie Jean Horton and Vivian Cash.

Johnny Horton and Johnny Cash. It looks as if Cash has a bite.

I lived within a mile of the Skyline Club at 12319 Blue Water Drive for over two decades. Everyone else in Texas was at the Skyline Club when Hank Williams performed on my third birthday, December 19, 1952.

For decades, I have spoken to scores of people who attended Hank Williams’s last performance on December 19, 1952. Others claimed they were at Johnny Horton’s last performance on November 4, 1960. A few said they were at both. If all of these stories were true, the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin could not have held the crowd.

And one said she was at the crash scene in Milano after midnight that tragic night.  She said she and the others did not believe the driver was Johnny Horton, for he appeared almost bald. What they did not know was that Johnny Horton wore a toupee. Several gawkers, including her, even took “souvenirs” from the crash site, she said.

Johnny Horton’s Cadillac. November 5, 1960. Milano, Texas. The bridge over a railroad trestle has been widened from two to four lanes since the tragic accident. Milano was the town Johnny Horton was passing through when he first heard about Hank Williams’s death on the radio.

Recently (August 2025), Gordon Kennedy shared with me a story his father, Jerry Kennedy, told to his grandson, Dylan Kennedy. It occurred a few years ago.

Gordon and his son Dylan visited Jerry’s home in Brentwood, Tennessee. He had lived there since 1976. Jerry’s grandson Dylan played a tune, Over the Rainbow, on his mandolin during the visit. Jerry asked Dylan whose arrangement that was.

“Jethro Burns,” Dylan said. That answer brought a story to Jerry’s mind from long ago. Neither Dylan nor his father Gordon had heard this part of the story before.

Tillman Franks told Jerry and his wife, Linda Brannon Kennedy, they might be needed for a show in Austin, Texas. It was scheduled at the Skyline Club on November 4, 1960. Franks had booked Johnny Horton as the headliner. The trip from Shreveport to Austin would be in Horton’s Cadillac. Linda was often Johnny Horton’s opening act, with Jerry playing backup and then doing the same for Horton’s sets.

Jerry and Linda Kennedy had a prior commitment. They had driven from Shreveport to Nashville with Tommy Tomlinson to finalize his and Jerry’s album entitled “Tom and Jerry.”

Dylan Kennedy’s rendition of Over the Rainbow made Jerry reminisce about that ill-fated night in 1960.

Jerry Kennedy shared with Dylan and his father, Gordon, his plans for November 4, 1960. He and Linda had tickets compliments of Shelby Singleton. They were going to see Homer and Jethro at a CMA dinner. Homer and Jethro released Over the Rainbow in 1947. As a mandolinist in the country comedy duo Homer & Jethro, Jethro Burns was one of Nashville’s finest. They were a big deal in 1960. And they were funny. What a great fun way to celebrate and relax after the completion of “Tom and Jerry.”

Tommy Tomlinson flew back to Shreveport to meet Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks for their trip to the Skyline Club in Austin. Johnny Horton would be killed, and Tommy would lose a leg. Tillman received internal injuries and a head injury.

Jerry and Linda Kennedy declined Tillman Franks’s request to open and back Johnny Horton at the Skyline Club on November 4, 1960. They had tickets to see Homer and Jethro at a CMA dinner on that date. I know, “what if?”

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Jerry and Linda Kennedy were staying at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. Early the next morning, they were awoken by a knock on their door, according to Jerry. The man was crying uncontrollably. All he could say was “Johnny Horton has been killed in a car wreck.” His name was Johnny Cash.

My former pastor, the late Dr. Ralph Smith, at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, once told me something memorable. In every counseling session he had conducted over 35 years, one word always came up. That word is “if.”

Jerry Kennedy’s music runs through his bloodline.

Jerry and his three sons. Gordon Kennedy, Jerry Kennedy, Bryan Kennedy, and Shelby Kennedy. They continue the multi-talented music industry legacy of their parents. “Bryan is the tour manager and “all-purpose multi-threat guy for Garth,” explains Gordon. He is a 3-time #1 hit songwriter, an author, actor, novelist, playwright, and life coach. Youngest brother Shelby is a multifaceted entertainment executive, music publisher, producer, songwriter, artist manager, and studio vocalist.

When I asked Jerry how good a musician his son Gordon was. He said, “I couldn’t carry his guitar case.” I am writing a story of Gordon. It’s a work in progress. I keep getting interrupted by the “cares of life.” Gordon’s story is amazing. But, you’re welcome to view a very rough, unedited draft of it at this link: Gordon Kennedy: It all Begins with a Song – Randy Willis: Short Stories & Biographies

Gordon and Tracey Kennedy’s Children: Caitlin & Dylan at the Grammy Awards. Dyan is a mandolin player following in the musical path of his father and grandfather. Caitlin works for the Music Health Alliance, a music industry nonprofit.

The movie North to Alaska, starring John Wayne, was released two days after Johnny Horton’s death. Johnny Horton sang the theme song to the movie by the same name during the opening credits of the film.

Tillman Franks co-wrote the song with Mike Phillips (who was part of the movie’s production; those in the music business will understand that).

North to Alaska reached #1 on Billboard’s Country singles chart. The song was released on August 22, 1960, three months before the movie was released.

Although Johnny Horton is not listed as a writer, he was, according to Jerry. Most songs, as do books, require several rewrites. I know, my books often need many.

Jerry Kennedy told me he was lying down in the backseat of Johnny Horton’s car. During that drive, Horton added a line to North to Alaska. Tillman Frank and Johnny Horton were in the front seat. They worked on North to Alaska as they drove down the road. I asked Jerry who was driving. “Tillman never drove. I can never remember him driving anywhere. He would not drive a car.”

Jerry said he cannot remember why he was lying down. However, he does remember Horton adding a line to the song that Kennedy thought “didn’t work.”

The added lyric was: “It’s so tough in Nome, Alaska, that the canary bird sang base.” It is not in the final cut or movie soundtrack, but I did locate it on YouTube. Go figure, everything is online today. The latter deleted line is at the end of the song.

If you’re a music and movie trivia buff like me, listen to this unreleased version of the song. “To me, Horton’s voice is even better on this demo than the film’s opening with North to Alaska,” Jerry said.

“The movie’s producer did not like Rusty Goodman’s bass part on the demo,” Jerry said. Rusty was a member of the legendary Happy Goodman Family.

Jerry knew I was a big fan of Vestal Goodman and Southern Gospel. I once asked him if he had ever met Dottie Rambo. Jerry said he passed her in a hall once. Jerry had a memory for details like a steel trap.

But what impressed me most was Jerry’s humility. He was never a self-promoter. And always downplayed his part in a song’s success. It was like pulling teeth to get him to “fess up” about his contributions to an artist’s success. Soft-spoken and kindhearted.

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Jerry Kennedy and Linda Brannon worked with Johnny Horton and were close friends to him. Jerry Kennedy and Linda Brannon married in 1958. They were only 17. At the time, she was on Ram Records. She would later record for Epic Records (63-64). Jerry produced her on Epic.

Jerry Kennedy and Linda Brannon.

Jerry Kennedy and Linda Brannon.

Linda Brannon and Jerry Kennedy

Linda Brannon with Jerry Kennedy on the right. Jerry said they sang, Short Shorts on the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. What a fun song to sing for two teenagers in love.

 [Intro] *Whistle* Hmm, man, dig that crazy chick [Verse] 

Who wears short shorts?
We wear short shorts
They’re such short shorts
We like short shorts
Who wears short shorts?
We wear short shorts

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Jerry Kennedy moved to Nashville in 1961 with his wife, Linda. They brought their 14-month-old son, Gordon, who was named after his late grandfather. Jerry was seeking session work in the booming Nashville recording scene. After only a few weeks, homesick, he decided to return to Shreveport. Then he landed a job as Shelby Singleton’s assistant at Smash Records (a subsidiary of Mercury Records founded in 1961). When Shelby left Mercury, 24-year-old Jerry Kennedy began a 21-year run as the head of Mercury Records in Nashville.

Jerry Kennedy made a significant mark as a producer for Smash Records. He achieved this with the colossal crossover hits he scored with artist Roger Miller. When Miller mentioned he needed $1,600 to move to Los Angeles, Kennedy agreed to give him the money. He would do this if Miller cut sixteen songs.

The payment was set at $100 per side for Smash. With Jerry producing, Miller cut the songs in three sessions over two days. The first single, Dang Me, hit the country charts in June of 1964. It went straight to Number 1 and stayed there for six weeks. Then, it crossed over to No. 7 on the pop charts. Its follow-up, “Chug-a-Lug,” was also a pop Top 10.

Their biggest hit came the following year with the multi-million-selling King of the Road. Jerry Kennedy soon gained recognition as one of Nashville’s hottest producers. He helped Miller earn 11 Grammy’s in 1964 and 1965.

When Jerry met with the Mercury executives at their Chicago headquarters, Roger Miller’s Dang Me was not his first choice. Jerry’s choice for Roger Miller’s first single was You Got 2 Again.

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When Jerry receives the test pressing vinyl record in the mail, to ensure that the sound quality and physical characteristics meet expectations, his four-year-old son Gordon and his two-year-old brother Bryan run into the room in their underwear when Dang Me comes on.

As they boogie to the song, Jerry says, “Ut oh.” He calls Irwin Steinberg, the president of Mercury Records in Chicago and ask, “How hard is it to change the “A” side on Roger’s first single?”

Mr. Steinberg responds, “How sure are you about this? We’ve pressed 5,000 already.”

“I’m sure,” Jerry said. Mercury changed Roger Miller’s first single to Dang Me based on the two new “A&R boys” in their underwear’s, reaction. Dang Me sold over a million units.

Later, in 1971, Jerry Kennedy received a massive box of sorted records, which he did several times a year, that included all the Mercury artists. Rod Stewart’s new album, Every Picture Tells a Story is in the box.

Mr. Steinberg asks Jerry Kennedy to ask his son Gordon which song on the album he likes. Gordon listens to the album and reports that his favorite is Maggie May. Later, it is released as a single, selling 2.5 million units worldwide.

Jerry Kennedy’s iconic opening riff on Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman

Roy Orbison signing the Mercury contract in February 1974. Clockwise from the top left: Jerry Kennedy (head of Mercury Nashville), Wesley Rose (Roy’s manager), Roy, and Irwin Steinberg (co-founder of Mercury). In 1974, Jerry produced Roy’s Mercury Records album “I’m Still in Love with You.”

Julia Roberts decked out to the nines on Rodeo Drive. You can hear Jerry Kennedy’s opening licks on Oh, Pretty Woman as Robert walks down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

Jerry Kennedy plays his 1961 Gibson ES335. Jerry’s Shreveport guitar-picking buddy Billy Sanford joins in, using a Gibson ES-125 electric guitar. Guitarist Wayne Moss also joins in. “If you listen real close, you’ll hear Orbison’s 12-string,” Jerry said.

Bob Dylan used Jerry Kennedy in recording his classic album Blonde on Blonde in 1966.

Jerry Kennedy has received four Grammy Awards. His Dobro and guitar playing have been featured on the albums of varied artists. These artists include Elvis Presley, Kris Kristofferson, and Ringo Starr.

Jerry is one of the lead architects who created the Nashville sound. He played the hound-dog dobro on Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” and on many of Tom T. Hall’s most iconic songs. He guided Jerry Lee Lewis through a decade of sessions. These sessions resulted in some of the most incredible country music that has ever been made.

As Mercury Records’ head Nashville producer from 1962 to 1984, Jerry Kennedy crafted some of Nashville’s most enduring recordings. These include works from Roger Miller to Charlie Rich. They include Jerry Lee Lewis, Reba McEntire, Tom T. Hall, and The Statler Brothers.

Jerry Kennedy and The Statler Brothers.

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Jerry Kennedy-produced song on Roger Miller would soon sell five times more than “Dang Me.” It was entitled King of the Road, and it would become one of the biggest hits in history. The song won Roger Miller five Grammy Awards in 1966.

Jerry Kennedy told me that he had put a hold on a song for Jerry Lee Lewis that they were going to cut. Before they could, Jerry Lee was admitted to the hospital. The news was that he would not survive. Jerry called the publisher and told them that he wished to release the hold.

Then, to Kennedy’s surprise, Lewis called and said I’m coming into the studio to cut that song. Jerry quickly made arrangements. When Lewis arrived, it was clear he was not in good health. He was “white as a sheet,” according to Kennedy. “Pig” Robins was on piano, not Lewis. After the first take, Lewis said, “I’ve got to go.”

The song “Middle Age Crazy” peaked at number 4 on the Billboard country charts. It would be Lewis’s last big hit on Mercury. The movie by the same name was based on the song written by a friend of mine, Sonny Throckmorton.

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Jerry Kennedy ran Mercury Records in Nashville for 21 years (Vice President of A&R for Country Music for Mercury Records). I was brought up as a boy in Longleaf, Louisiana. I knew several of Jerry’s aunts and cousins. Jerry was born in Shreveport. We are both descendants of Rev. Joseph Willis, a Baptist preacher who swam the Mississippi River on a mule in 1798 to enter the Louisiana Territory. He was the first Protestant preacher West of the Mississippi River.

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Dedicated to Linda Brannon Kennedy

“Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” —Dorothy Ann (Willis) Richards 45th Governor of Texas

In 1955, Mira Ann Smith (often credited as Myra Smith) founded Royal Audio Music, Inc. (a.k.a. Ram Records and became one of the first women to own a record company. Linda Brannon was Ram Records’ best-selling artist. Smith used the talents of some of Shreveport’s best musicians, including James Burton and Jerry Kennedy. The first recording by 16-year-old guitarist James Burton was on Ram Records. He also backed Linda Brannon long before Ricky Nelson and Elvis.

Gordon Kennedy with his mother, Linda Brannon Kennedy. Sadly, she died at age 50 on March 9, 1991. She had been diagnosed with cancer two years before. This photo, as were many others, is courtesy of Gordon Kennedy.

Jerry Kenendy’s Sound

Jerry Kennedy wanted to create his own sound. He hired local inventor and guitarist Dean Porter. Dean custom-made levers that would bend strings up or down a full step. This was to mimic a steel guitar. The parts came from a local hardware store, including a chrome sink stopper.

I had read that Jerry used his newly created “bender guitar” on Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” in 1964. So, I called Jerry (August 24, 2025) to ask about that. He, too, had read that. He said, “That’s not true. The first song I recorded with the bender was in 1967. It was Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad, Tammy Wynette.” Producer Billy Sherrill liked the sound.

Jerry added, “I was not the only one using a bender at the time. Grady Martin did too.” Jerry suggested I watch Marty Stuart. “He has a B-Bender guitar. Watch when he pushes the guitar down on the strap,” Jerry said.

“Nor did I use the bender on every song after that,” Jerry added. Jerry and I discussed a lot of misinformation written today about days gone by. We both laughed. We do that more and more as the winter of life creeps up on both of us.

I also wanted to know who his favorite steel guitar player was. His bender mimics a steel guitar, and my father played the steel, too.

“There are too many to say just one, but I worked a lot with Pete Drake. He was a great one. But my bender would drive him crazy when we played at the same time.” Jerry added, “I loved Buddy Emmons, too.” Pete Drake acknowledged Jimmy Day as his musical inspiration.

“How about Jimmy Day?” I asked. I knew he was a fan of Day during his childhood. “I don’t recall ever working with Jimmy, but I did a lot with Floyd Cramer.”

There went my segue into another story. My dad taught Jimmy Day his first licks. My Dad’s, and my connection to Jimmy Day can be found at https://randywillisbooks.com/jimmy-day-jake-willis/

I closed our conversation with a mention of the politics in the music biz these days. “Oh, it’s always been that way,” Jerry said. “Once, after producing Faster Horses on Tom T. Hall, a record promoter for Mercury Records, Frank Mull got a call after hearing the demo. It was from a disc jockey from a city I will not mention, lest someone guess who it was.

The DJ said he would not play the song on his radio show. He insisted the annoying banjo in the background had to be removed. The song reached #1 in 1975. The song became one of Hall’s signature tunes.

Acknowledgement

*Photos are courtesy of Jerry Kennedy and/or Gordon Kennedy in many cases. I am not the copyright owner. Therefore, I do not have the right to grant exclusive rights to reproduce, display, and create derivative works. Some photos are in the public domain.

Prologue

Jerry Kennedy is my cousin. This is our family’s story, but you’re welcome to eavesdrop. It too has many “what ifs” in it. You didn’t ask, but I will tell you anyway. I don’t believe in luck or happenstance. I believe in the providence of God. —Randy Willis

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Our family’s story does not begin in Louisiana. It starts with a 12-year-old girl, Anna Canady (Willis). She was born in 1843 in Ireland, two years before the Great Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1852. Without her remarkable journey to America from Dublin, Ireland, there would be no Jerry Kennedy.

I’ve written about Anna before. Here is an excerpt from Flock of Angels based upon her extraordinary life. My research includes letters to me from Jerry Kennedy’s aunts and Anna’s granddaughters. They were written many years ago (early 1980s).

Flock of Angels is a true story. It is rooted in the hope of a better life when there seems to be none on the horizon. This is especially true in the face of poverty. And faith in the God of the impossible, whom their grandmother spoke of. And her vow to herself: “So help me God, I will never be abused again.”

Join me as Anna’s story unfolds in Flock of Angels….

Flock of Angels

Anna Canady was born in 1843 in Ireland, two years before the Great Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1852. The Famine was characterized by mass starvation and disease.

Irish, once a vibrant language, has become synonymous with poverty and destitution. One million people died of hunger and diseases. Almost two million Irish men, women, and children emigrated to America.

Anna Canada’s middle-class parents are forced to choose between several options, none of which are good. They hear of opportunities in America. However, the journey is a six- to eight-week stint on a “coffin ship.” This is not much of a choice.

Anna’s parents must escape the devastation before the seven-year famine becomes impossible to rebound from.

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The family sailed from Dublin in 1855. Anna Canady is only twelve. She vividly remembers waving to her grandmother from the Dublin Port with tears in both of their eyes. She would never see her grandmother again but would cling to her last words.

The Irish huddled masses cold on a “coffin ship.” They hold onto the hope of a better future in America and maintained their faith in God.

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During the famine, 75 percent of the Irish immigrants to America arrived in New York. By 1850, one in four living in New York is Irish-born.

New York will be their new home if they survive the coffin ship. The Industrial Revolution, the transition from hand production methods to machines and iron production, will provide ample work.

New Orleans is a much cheaper port—$1.50 for the transatlantic voyage, half price for children. However, slaves do all the manual labor in Louisiana.

Emigrants sail free when used as human ballast in the cargo hulls of empty ships. The weight is needed on their return voyages to New Orleans after unloading their heavy cotton cargo.

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The infamous coffin ships exceed their reputation on Anna’s ship. The 400 starving refugees are without toilets, with entire families in one buck and very little food.

Coffin ships carrying emigrants are crowded and disease-ridden. There is poor access to clean water, resulting in the deaths of many Irish as they cross the Atlantic. This led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic.

Coffin Ships provided little food, water, and living space.

Anna’s parents die from the disease on the voyage when an outbreak sweeps the ship. Anna watches as her mother and father are buried at sea. Sharks appear within minutes. Anna turns away.

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The twelve-year-old devastated child is alone with no hope, even if she survives. Just when it seems things cannot get worse, they do. Due to the epidemic onboard, the ship cannot dock on the East Coast of America.

Their only hope is the faraway city of slaves, New Orleans. The city of New Orleans is the largest slave market in the United States.

How can a twelve-year-old alone, malnourished, traumatized, filthy little girl survive? What difference will it make if one more soul is added to the list? A million Irish died during the famine.

The Irish are pouring into New Orleans. Most women do not have the skills or education, especially a twelve-year-old malnourished girl. Over 9,000, 8% of the population, died of yellow fever in New Orleans two years before. Many of the dead in New Orleans are recent Irish immigrants without any acquired immunity.

Child abuse and prostitution are commonplace for the poorest immigrants. The New Orleans’s Brothels are well represented when Anna’s ship docks in New Orleans.

Contrary to popular belief, the Irish are not only employed as common laborers. Half of the Irish men listed in the 1850 New Orleans census have other occupations. Irish males are represented in nearly every field, from medicine to education to engineering.

A twelve-year-old Irish Orphan, an Irish Cop and a New Orleans Brothel Madam

Twelve-year-old and alone, Anna Canady debarks on a New Orleans’s levee and is noticed by two people.

The first, a brothel madam, walks towards her with a smile. The other, who she later calls an angel, is a New Orleans’s cop. Not any cop, but an Irish cop. The Irish cop addresses Anna in Irish Gaelic. He is her First Angel.

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When Anna debarks the ship, two other New Orleans occupations are represented. One is an Irish cop, and the other is a brothel madam on New Orleans’s dock. The latter smiles. She turns and walks away when the cop sternly stares at her. The Irish cop escorts young Anna to the Ursuline Convent of New Orleans. He softly speaks Irish Gaelic and holds her hand the entire walk. Anna has a glimmer of hope.

Upon her arrival, the well-meaning Ursuline Convent boards Anna out to a family. Anna receives food and shelter for her manual labor.

Anna knows it will be hard work. She doesn’t know that over the next five years, she will endure horrible abuse.

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The conversation in Anna’s abuser’s home is as in all homes in the South. The North is sure to put a stranglehold on the mighty Mississippi River, the lifeline of Louisiana. Anna overhears these conversations.

Going into the presidential election of 1860, the issue of slavery heats the nation to a boiling point. If Abraham Lincoln is elected, southern secession threats would become a reality. Fear grips Louisiana.

The Mississippi River is a military highway. It borders ten states and is divided between Union and Confederate loyalties. It also serves as a superhighway for food, merchandise, and trade.

Anna vows never to be abused again but is aware she is surrounded by marshes and swamps.

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Anna Canady’s Great Escape

If Anna is ever to escape, it must be now. The North is sure to blockade the Mississippi River. At 17, Anna Canady escapes her abusers. Anna recalls the scripture from Psalms. Her grandmother quoted it to her as she left Ireland: He shall give His angels charge over you.

Anna clings to a log. She swims an alligator and water-moccasin-infested swamp. She clings to the hope of angelic protection. When Anna’s ship docked in New Orleans, she was misinformed by the Captain. She is told many other cities are filled with Irish immigrants. Cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston are only two or three days from New Orleans by horse. Anna clings to that hope.

Anna soon encounters a swollen stream between her and the Mississippi River, her only hope of escape. She commandeers another log. But this time, the flooded bayou sweeps her back toward her abuser’s home.

“So help me God, I will never be abused again,” Anna’s vow echoes in her mind.

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Anna sees an old man on horseback downstream and screams for help. He rides into the bayou and throws a wide loop. The old man pulls her to shore with his rope firmly attached to his saddle horn.

The old man swings a wide loop to rope Anna in a Louisiana swamp. He is her Second Angel.

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Anna is emaciated and can hardly stand. He feeds her, explaining he is a Christian. Anna mumbles, “Catholic, are you Catholic?”

“Baptist,” the old man says. Her hopes are once again crushed as she discovers he is a Protestant. The same group that oppressed her family in Ireland. The same people from England refused to intervene in Ireland’s famine because they were superior in their minds.

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The old man nurtures her to health. Afterward, they board a steamer on the Mississippi River. They travel to the Red River and then north to the port city of Alexandria. How can a Protestant be so kind, caring, and gentle? Why does this Protestant treat me as an equal? What’s in it for him?

The old man tells her of a young friend who helps him farm and work his cows, mules, and horses. He is a fifteen-year-old boy who will transport them by wagon to his family’s modest home near Oakdale, Louisiana. The old man adds, “The boy is a member of a Baptist Church his grandfather founded.” Anna is unimpressed.

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Upon arrival, the boy is polite and addresses Anna as ma’am. She barely speaks a word but is intrigued by his smile and, most of all, his enthusiasm and joy.

“Who are you,” Anna asked. “Are you a Baptist too?”

“Just a stranger ma’am, a wayfaring stranger.”

The old man tells Polk she is Irish. The boy begins to sing an Irish tune to impress her.

“What’s your name?” she asked again.

“I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger,” Polk begins to sing.

“Traveling through this world below
There is no sickness, no toil, no danger
In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my father
And all my loved ones who’ve gone on.”

Perplexed, Anna asked, “What’s your Christian name?”

“James K. Polk Willis, but my friends call me Polk. I was named after the President elected the year I was born.” Polk explains he cared for his grandfather in his later years. He believes he can help Anna recover, too. Polk’s grandpa, Joseph Willis, passed six years ago. Anna is confused and more concerned than ever. But, assures herself, “I have come a long way. Surely the east coast in no more than a good two or three day walk from Oakdale.”

New Orleans is Captured

Anna Canada’s dangerous escape was the right decision. The rumors of Louisiana seceding from the United States became true in a few months, on January 21, 1861. The Union’s response to Louisiana joining the Confederacy followed in the Spring of 1862. The North blockaded the mighty Mississippi River south of New Orleans on April 1, 1862. Within three weeks, the Union began its capture of the Confederate crown jewel, New Orleans.

In April 1862, the Confederate Flag stopped flying from the balconies of New Orleans. However, something else would soon fly.

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The women of New Orleans express contempt by insulting Union troops. Their husbands and male friends are off fighting in the “War of Northern Aggression.”

The genteel Southern Belles have an unusual tactic. A few of them dump their chamber pots from their balconies. They do this as the Yankee soldiers walk below. They are urinals.

Benjamin Butler Chamber Pot

On May 15, 1862, Butler issues an order. The order has harsh consequences for the women of New Orleans. If any woman insults an officer or soldier of the United States, she will face severe repercussions. She will be “Treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.” The charge of solicitation of prostitution is Butler’s way of degrading Southern women. It backfires on him, not only in the South. Northern women opposed it. The backlash extends all the way to Great Britain with public protests.

If a woman punches a soldier, he can punch her back. Known as the Woman’s Order, it is very controversial in the South, North, and abroad. Especially since it’s at the soldier’s discretion to determine if the woman hit him.

Women throughout New Orleans interpret it as Butler legalizing rape. However, the order has no sexual connotation. The general dislike of No. 28 is widespread and significant. Some people print his portrait on the bottom of chamber pots. This adds insult to injury. The demand for Butler’s removal becomes a rallying cry in New Orleans and even Abraham Lincoln’s camp. On December 16, 1862, Major General Butler was removed. His command of New Orleans only lasted eight months.

Today, Benjamin Butler chamber pots are sold online. Many find it a funny story. However, I can’t imagine what went through an abused and traumatized teenage girl after this story broke. Soon, Union soldiers surrounded her new family’s home near Oakdale, stealing food and livestock.

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Polk Willis’s Sister Caroline Willis Strother

Polk Willis’s sister, Caroline Willis, married John Houston Strother, Sr in 1864. Union soldiers shot his father, Alexander Asaria Strother. They shot and hung him in front of his wife and young son, John Houston Strother, Sr., while stealing their food and horses. Anna Canady, 21, has lived in fear for half her life.

Polk’s brother Crawford Willis died in April 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh. Polk and Crawford’s father, Lemuel Willis, also fought at Shiloh near the banks of the Tennessee River. Lemuel died in 1862 as well. Lemuel Willis died in the Civil War while serving the Confederate States of America. Like his son Crawford, he served during the conflict. Anna Canady was close to all of them.

In 1864. Union soldiers shot Alexander Asaria Strother. They then hung him in front of his wife and young son, John Houston Strother. They stole their food and horses. Alexander’s grandson, Greene Wallace Strother, gave me all of his research in 1981. He was 89. He also gave me all of his late brother’s research. He wrote me, “The baton has been passed to you.”

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Polk’s Grandpa’s stories of triumph over impossible odds inspire Anna and bring hope to the family. His life of victory over adversity and triumph over tragedy helps Anna begin to heal. But she needs more—much more. She needs to understand why.

Polk Willis’s Grandpa, Rev. Joseph Willis’s story did not captivate Anna, not even when Polk mentioned she died young. But when Polk says under his breath that Sarah is an Irish orphan, Anna’s head turns. Her eyes focus on Polk’s. She asked Polk to repeat the last sentence. She asks questions. Why would Joseph marry an Irish orphan? To polite society, she is the least of the least. Why would he give up his dreams over her?

The old preacher told his grandson Polk a story, and Polk told Anna. The story changed Joseph Willis, Polk Willis, Louisiana history, American history, and Anna Canady. Thus began Anna’s quest to know why.

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“A person’s character is measured by the challenges they face. It reflects how difficult it is to deter them from what God has called them to do.” —Joseph Willis 1798 on the banks of the mile-wide Mississippi River.

In 1794, Joseph Willis and his first wife, Rachel Bradford Willis, moved to South Carolina from Bladen County, North Carolina. Rachel Bradford is a direct descendant of William Bradford. He traveled to America on the Mayflower. William Bradford started what is now Thanksgiving.

The family settled on the south side of the Reedy River in Greenville County. A greedy uncle cheated Joseph Willis out of his inheritance. Joseph’s uncle, Daniel Willis, cited the 1741 laws in North Carolina. These laws stated that no person of a dark-skinned race could inherit property. Joseph’s father, Agerton Willis’s will, which left everything to Joseph, was overturned. Joseph Willis would have been one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina.

Joseph and Rachel enjoyed planning for a family. Rachel first gives birth to Agerton. He is named after Joseph’s father. Mary Willis and Joseph Willis, Jr. follow.

The delivery of Rachel’s 4th child, her namesake, did not go well. Proper medical attention is scarce, even in developing territories. Many a strong wife succumbs to infection, blood loss, and delivery complications. Rachel dies in childbirth.

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Joseph Willis is called by God to preach the Gospel. He attempts ordination through his local Baptist Church, but they refuse him because of his swarthy Cherokee skin.

Joseph marries a second time. She is an Irish orphan named Sarah. Sarah died in 1798.

Joseph Willis’s Encounter with Jesus

Joseph has been rejected and cheated by his family. His church denies him ordination because of his dark skin.

Joseph Willis is 40, broke, has five children, and has no helpmate. The average life expectancy for men is around 50.

The days become weeks, and weeks become months. At age 40, being of mixed race and with five children still needing care, Joseph Willis felt abandoned by God.

“I’m already forty. I must have misunderstood His call,” Joseph writes in his journal.

Joseph Willis mounted his mule and rode to the banks of the Pee Dee River. “Lord, not my will but Thine,” he prays. He felt older than his years.

Depression set in. He wondered about the ups and downs of his fitful life. These included the deaths of two loving wives. They also included the joy of five beautiful children. Lastly, they included the harsh life of a backwoods preacher.

His pockets lacked gold, his home was humble, his clothes were frayed, his mule swayed, and his muscles were sore. He leaned forward, a broken man, sobbing over his failure to accomplish anything significant. Tears blurred his vision, his breath came in short gasps, and his hands began to shake. “Why has God abandoned me? ” he dropped to his knees.

Lord, someone has set darkness in my path, Joseph cried.

Suddenly, as though in a trance, he looked to Heaven. Was it his imagination? Was it a vision? Was it a dream? He had no judgment on this. He was clear on one thing: Christ appeared to him with an outstretched hand.

“It is I who has called you. Go as I have spoken.”

“But, Lord, I have nothing.”

“I will be with you—I am all that you need. In your weakness will be my strength.”

His shaking stopped, his breathing slowed, and his vision cleared. No, this had been no nightmare, magician’s trick, illusion, or child’s make-believe fantasy. He was convinced the Lord Almighty had spoken to him with a directive to spread the Gospel. He would obey.

Slowly, Joseph rides home, meditating on his life-changing experience.

“Children, the Lord spoke to me. I am not too old, not too poor, not too timid. He has impressed upon me to do His bidding in spreading His holy word West of here. We must depart.”

“Where, Daddy?” his five children ask one by one.

I’m told it is in a foreign land called the Louisiana Territory, west of a mighty river.

“I’m told it is in a foreign land called the Louisiana Territory, west of a mighty river.”

Present-day Kingston, Tennessee

In the Spring of 1780, Richard Curtis and others left South Carolina. They traveled by land to the northeastern corner of Tennessee, to the banks of the Holston River.

There, they built three flat boats. Toward the end of the year, the Holston River reaches sufficient depth. They set out for the Natchez Country of Mississippi via the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.

The Cherokee attacked them at the Tennessee River and Clinch River confluence. The location is near present-day Kingston, Tennessee.

The first two boats escape, but the third, traveling far from the other two, is captured. The Cherokee pay a high price for the attack. They contract smallpox, and many die because they have no immunity to the disease. The passengers on the first two boats continue their voyage. They land safely at the mouth of Cole’s Creek, 18 miles above Natchez.

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Richard Curtis set the stage for a second trip in 1798 on the same rivers he traveled in 1780. This time, he brings a friend. Joseph Willis, a half-Cherokee, plans to venture farther than Curtis. Joseph intends to explore the Louisiana Territory. He also aims to venture into “No Man’s Land,” between the lawless Calcasieu and Sabine rivers. No Protestant has ever preached in the Louisiana Territory. No Protestant has ever preached west of the Mississippi River. It is eight years before Lewis and Clark begin their journey west.

And, no person of any faith ever dared preach in No Man’s Land. It is a haven for outlaws, outcasts, pirates, runaway slaves, Indians, and people of many races and nationalities. It is a “tailor-made” mission field for an outcast, rejected, swarthy Cherokee preacher named Joseph Willis.

In 1798, Joseph Willis crossed the mighty Mississippi River into the Louisiana Territory at Natchez. The Code Noir, the “Black Code,” ruled the Louisiana Territory. The decree from King Louis XIV regulated the condition of slavery and controlled the activities of free people of color.

The Black Code restricted religion to only Roman Catholicism, forbidding the exercise of any other religion. It was the law until the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, 1803. In reality, it hindered the preaching of the Gospel for many decades after the Louisiana Purchase.

Joseph Willis swam the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez at the peril of his life, riding a mule! He would ride his mule into the heartland of the Black Code, south Louisiana. It almost cost him his life.

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Polk shares with Anna what his grandpa told him and his sister Olive. He recounts the story of Joseph Willis’s life as he travels to an unknown land like her.

Joseph Willis crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez in 1798. He faced great peril by swimming the Mississippi on a mule.

✯ Joseph Willis was born into slavery. His mother is Cherokee, and his father was a wealthy English plantation owner.

✯ His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance. This inheritance would have made him the wealthiest plantation owner in Baden County, North Carolina, in 1776.

✯ He fought as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War. He served under the most colorful American general, Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox.

✯ His first wife died in childbirth. His second wife, an Irish orphan named Sarah, died only six years later. She left him with five small children.

✯ He crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez in 1798. He faced peril by swimming the Mississippi on a mule.

✯ He entered hostile Spanish-controlled Louisiana Territory when the dreaded Code Noir (Black Code) was in effect. It forbade any Protestant ministers who came into the territory from preaching.

✯ His life was threatened because of the message he brought to Spanish-controlled Louisiana!

✯ His denomination refused to ordain him because of his race.

✯ Joseph Willis preached (1798) the first Gospel sermon by a Protestant west of the Mississippi River.

✯ On November 13, 1812, Joseph Willis constituted Calvary Baptist Church at Bayou Chicot, Louisiana. He went on to plant over twenty churches in Louisiana.

✯ On October 31, 1818, Joseph Willis founded the Louisiana Baptist Association. He had followers who came from the Carolinas with him. They established it at Beulah Baptist in Cheneyville. Joseph had also founded all five charter member churches.

✯ After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, he blazed a trail for others for another half-century that changed American history.

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Anna is impressed with the story of Joseph Willis when she discovers his wife Sarah was an Irish orphan. Her healing needs time, though. She needs the guidance of a woman, not a man.

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Polk shares with Anna that his Grandpa, Joseph Willis, prayed daily for his descendants. He prayed for the living and for those born in future generations. Anna adopts this daily prayer routine. She seeks to know the God of Joseph and Polk. She does not seek religion or a denomination but Jesus.

Young Anna Canady needs to confide in a woman, one like her mother and grandmother in Ireland. One she can trust, and learn from. She soon meets such a woman. And she is an Irish orphan too, from Anna’s mother’s generation. Her name is Anna Slaughter.

Joseph Willis’s eldest child was Agerton Willis. Agerton was an uncle to Polk Willis and the eldest brother to Polk’s father, Lemuel Willis.

Agerton Willis was named after Joseph Willis’s father. He was a neighbor to Jim Bowie’s brother, Rezin Bowie, for four years (1824-1827) in the village of Bayou Boeuf. Holmesville on Bayou Boeuf is known for its connection to the brutal plantation owner Edwin Epps. Sixty miles from Oakdale. A hard two-day ride on a good saddle horse.

Epps enslaved Solomon Northup from 1845 to 1853, the last eight years of Northup’s twelve years as a slave. Before that, Soloman Northup’s pastor was Joseph Willis at Spring Hill Baptist Church near Forest Hill, Louisiana. After he gained his freedom, Solomon Northup wrote his memoir Twelve Years a Slave. This story, not the movie, inspired my novel Twice a Slave.

Another Irish Orphan named Anna

An Irish orphan named Anna Slaughter (1820-1876) was brought from Tennessee by Mr. Park, who lived near Holmesville, Louisiana. Anna Slaughter married Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr. (1817-1887) on March 15, 1838. Both are buried at Amiable Baptist Church Cemetery near Longleaf, Louisiana. It is down the road from where I lived the first four years of my life. Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis Sr. and Anna Slaughter Willis were my great-great-grandparents. His daughter-in-law and my Great-grandmother Julia Anne Graham Willis said he was the greatest man she had ever met.

Rev. Joseph Willis’s grandson, Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr., was the first of many descendants to follow him into the ministry. He is Polk Willis’s first cousin and my Great-Great-Grandfather.

Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr., was called by W.E. Paxton in A History of the Baptist of Louisiana, from the Earliest Times to the Present (1888) “one of the most respected ministers in the Louisiana Association.” He established many churches himself and was blind in his later years. His daughter would read the scriptures, and he would preach. He was the pastor of Amiable Baptist Church near Longleaf, and Spring Hill Baptist Church near Forest Hill, and others.

Rev. Joseph Willis’s grandson was Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr (1817-1887). He was the first of his many descendants to follow Joseph Willis into the ministry. He was my great-great-grandfather and Polk Willis’s first cousin. After the death of Joseph Willis in 1854, he was the Willis Family’s Pastor.

Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis would lead Anna Canady Willis to Christ. His wife, Anna Slaughter Willis, is 23 years older than Anna Canady Willis. She is also an Irish orphan. Anna Slaughter Willis shares with the younger Anna her life story in Ireland and Louisiana. And most of all about the Lord Jesus, the Christ of the Bible.

The stories of Joseph Willis inspire Anna Canady, but sitting face to face with an older Irish woman surpasses that. The encounter is what Anna needs to trust herself again, trust mankind again, trust God again, and begin to heal. But it will take time—the healing hands of time.

Anna Canady Willis listens intently. Anna Slaughter Willis, an Irish orphan a generation before, shares her journey. She talks about healing from loss, pain, abuse, and rejection in Ireland and their new home Louisiana. The two Irish orphans share their innermost feelings. The elder Anna surprises the younger Anna with her wisdom. They are married to first cousins Polk Willis and the older Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis. Both are grandsons of Rev. Joseph Willis, who died a decade before. The elder Anna is her 3rd Angel.

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James K. Polk Willis and Anna Canady Marry

Anna Canady married Polk Willis three years after the Civil War (1868). Irish women are slow to marry and, in Anna’s case, slow to trust. She had known Polk for eight years before marriage. They were friends for 61 years and married for 53 years. Their descendants, like Joseph Willis’s, would change American history. Polk Willis is Anna’s fourth Angel.

The Great Famine decimates Anna’s native Irish language, including the pronunciation of her last name. However, it did not destroy her stories or her love of music. Both have a profound effect on her descendants. One rises to the pinnacle of music success in Louisiana and a city called Nashville.

In a strange dichotomy, this story involves me, too. Looking back over a half-century, I stand amazed.

Ca: 1888. Polk Willis and Anna Canady Willis with their youngest child, Lettie Caroline Willis (16) and Marshall Willis (15). Polk and Anna raised their grandson Marshall. Lettie’s daughters provided me with much of this story.

James K. Polk Willis

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Polk and Anna Willis told their children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces her life story. I interviewed seven of them in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were seven of the most incredible people I have ever known. I’m sure their kindness and humility were from Polk and Anna.

Polk and Anna’s Youngest Child

Polk and Anna Willis’s youngest child was Lettie Caroline Willis. She married Hardy Laird at age 16. He was barely older than her.

Three of Lettie Caroline’s daughters wrote me a series of letters. Savannah Laird Willis, Agnes Mae Laird Johnson, and Billie Laird Arthur sent them in the early 1980s. The letters were about their grandparents, Polk and Anna Willis. We also spoke on the phone.

Billie Laird Arthur wrote me: “My mother, Lettie, said you could always hear him [Polk] coming on his horse singing. His favorite song was ‘Wayfaring Stranger.’ Grandpa was outgoing, cheerful, and always helping people.”’

In another letter, Billie Laird Arthur wrote: “Mama [Lettie Caroline] believed to her dying day that her children and all the descendants of Joseph [Rev. Joseph Willis] was being blessed by the prayers of this man.”

Savannah Laird Willis wrote me: “He [Polk] was always in politics and had ridden his horse to Alexandria. When he came home, he was wet and cold and had pneumonia. I remember my mother around his bed, helping to nurse him.”

Joseph Willis not only prayed for his future descendants but for God to bless them with Godly husbands and wives.

Polk Willis sitting straight in the saddle. His horse is well cared for. This tells me a lot about him. Polk was 76 and still making 80 mile round trips horseback in bad weather to help a friend. Polk died a few days after this photo in 1921. He rode 40 miles one way to Alexandria in the rain to help a friend in need. He died of pneumonia on November 21, 1921.

Polk Willis always sang “Wayfaring Stranger” when he was within earshot of home. Anna requested it be sung at his funeral.

Polk Willis visited the home of W.H. Flowers the week before his death. W.H. was married to Eliza Willis Flowers. Eliza was the daughter of Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis Sr. and Anna Slaughter. And a sister to my great-grandfather Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr.

“The Good Lord sent a flock of Angels to surround Polk and me. Today, one of them took Polk home,” Anna said.

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Polk and Anna’s nephews tell me of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Christ. Joseph Willis’s great-grandson, my cousin Dr. Greene Wallace Strother, was the second most decorated soldier besides the famed Sgt. York in World War I. He was also a Southern Baptist missionary emeritus to China and Malaysia.

Greene Strother’s mother was Polk Willis’s sister, Caroline Matilda Willis Strother, the youngest daughter of Lemuel Willis (son of Rev. Joseph Willis).

Greene Wallace Strother and his sister, Nellie Vernice Strother, are pictured above. They shared stories of their Uncle Polk and Aunt Olive Willis with me. Greene Strother gave me all his research on Joseph Willis. He included his late brother John Houston Strother, Jr’s research. Writing to me, he said, “The baton is now passed to you.”

John Pinckney Durham and John S. Ramond Baptist Builders in Louisiana (Shreveport, Louisiana, Durham-Ramond, 1934). Pages 312-313

Willie Strother was another of Caroline Matilda Willis Strother’s sons. Caroline Matilda Willis Strother was Polk Willis’s sister.

You Are My Sunshine

“Willie Strother was a history professor for 35 years at Louisiana College. A young sharecropper’s son named Jimmie Davis attended his history classes. He wished to get his degree in history.

“After acquiring a job in the cafeteria [named after Willie’s sister Hattie Strother], he joined the glee club. Professor Dunwoody assigned him to the college quartet.” He sang lead and received a gift: a used guitar. As winter approached, Jimmie became desperate for money. He started singing with his guitar on street corners in Alexandria, Louisiana. This location is just across the Red River from Pineville, where Louisiana College was and is located. When an officer told him to move on, he moved to another street corner.

Two encounters on the campus of Louisiana College changed Jimmie Davis’s life. In his last year of college, Jimmie did not have the money to continue his education. He tried banks for loans, but they all turned him down.

“Everyone ought to be hungry and try to borrow money at least once in their life. To be broke and turned down, well, it’s something,” Jimmie said.

Jimmie put his dreams on hold. He found himself in the back of a mule again. He was plowing and picking cotton from sunup to sundown. After one year in the cotton fields, he was able to return to Louisiana College with Willie Strother’s help. Jimmie obtained his degree in history. Willie Strother loaned him $120. Jimmie mentioned this in his biography, You Are My Sunshine: The Jimmie Davis Story.

Jimmie had another encounter on the Louisiana College campus, which had an even more significant impact on his life. While walking across campus, a man introduced himself to Jimmie.

“The stranger was striking looking, well dressed, and friendly,” Jimmie said in his biography. “At first, we talked about football and baseball.” The man was the son of a sharecropper, too.

He began asking Jimmie questions and explained who he was: “I’m Robert G. Lee, and I’m holding a revival in Pineville at First Baptist tonight. Please be my guest. Jimmie, may I ask you something? If the Lord would call you today, would you be ready to go?”

“Dr. Lee, I hope He doesn’t call me today because I don’t think I could make it,” Jimmie said.

“The Lord’s been good to you, and it’s something you ought to think about. I hope you’ll come to church tonight.”

“I realized that everything I had, everything I had ever had, and everything I would ever hope to have on this earth had come and would come through the grace of God,” Jimmie said.

That night, Jimmie went to church. Dr. Lee gave his most famous and beloved sermon, “Pay Day, Some Day.”

“There’s no doubt of it; the man had the finest command of the English language I’ve ever heard. Before he had finished, I was ready to go down the aisle. He gave the invitation. I was the first one down. I made public my profession of faith. I united with that church,” Jimmie said.

Willie Strother was there. He was a deacon in the church. Willie knew pain, too, on the campus of Louisiana College. His brother Harry Winfield Strother died in 1920 from a head injury playing football for Louisiana College.

Today, the Hattie Strother Cafeteria is called the Strother Dining Hall (Wildcat Café). Hattie Bernice Strother (1896-1948) was the beloved Dean of Women at Louisiana College for 21 years. I am thankful the college known as Louisiana Christian University today has not removed the Strother name. Perhaps Harry Strother, a Wildcat and Hattie and Willie’s brother, should be added.

You Are My Sunshine: The State Song of Louisiana

President John F. Kennedy and Governor of Louisiana, James “Jimmie” Davis attend a dedication ceremony. The event is for the Nashville Avenue Wharf. It is a new dockside terminal at the Port of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.  May 2, 1962. Jimmie Davis’s song You Are My Sunshine released in 1940, made him famous worldwide. It is the state song of Louisiana.

Willie Strother married Effie Tatum. Effie Tatum Strother’s nephew Dr. Scott Tatum became my friend. I first met him when he stayed in my home during a revival in 1982 at First Baptist Wimberley. Calling him a friend for the next 36 years was an honor and privilege.

Dr. Scott Tatum told me several times. He had a gavel made from a piece of lumber. He acquired the lumber from the original Calvary Baptist Church in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana. Joseph Willis established that church in 1812.

Dr. Scott Tatum, Pastor Emeritus of Broadmoor Baptist Church, reached his eternal home in heaven on September 21, 2018. He was a Professor of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, too.

The first to share the story of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Christ to me was Rev. Elmer Perkins, whom I interviewed in 1980 on his back porch in DeRidder, Louisiana. I have that interview on tape, and it is also available online. Elmer Perkins mother was Addie Willis Morgan. Addie too was a daughter of Polk and Anna Willis.

According to Joseph Willis, he prayed for Jesus to appear several times, but He never did.

Please note: The story of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Jesus is true and depicts real historical figures. It includes actual events interwoven with imaginary conversations. Fiction’s storytelling techniques are used. The same is true with the story of Anna Canady’s first encounter with Polk Willis and a few other places.

Anna never weighed more than a hundred pounds. She was quiet, reserved, and unassuming. She loved to read and often spoke of her grandmother’s books and China glass in Ireland. She loved playing with her grandchildren and often sang songs with a gospel message.

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The Famine Memorial, officially titled Famine, is a memorial in Dublin, Ireland. The memorial stands on Customs House Quay. It is in remembrance of the Great Famine. The Great Famine saw the population of the country halved through death and emigration.

March is Louisiana’s Irish American Heritage Month. Irish immigrants helped New Orleans become one of the world’s cosmopolitan cities. They shaped the accent and built the New Basin Canal. That all began during the Irish Famine.

Lettie Caroline Willis (left) with her mother Anna Canady Willis, Oakdale, Louisiana

These Irish emigrants survived with only the hope of a better life and their trust in God.

Irish culture has permeated every aspect of our society. They have risen to the highest echelons of business, medicine, science, government, music, and the arts.

Anna lived in Ireland in a small rural settlement that farmed potatoes. Her family was close-knit, spoke the Irish language, and was Irish Catholic.

Anna Canady Willis passed her love of stories and song to her daughter. Lettie Caroline Willis would do the same to her children and grandchildren. Thus began an incredible journey to the pinnacle of the music industry.

Lettie Caroline Willis married Hardy Laird in 1904. She was only 16, and Hardy was a year older, 17. As mentioned, I interviewed three of her daughters and numerous other family members. Lettie died in 1974. Another daughter of Lettie was Essie Laird Kennedy. She married Gordon Kennedy.

Lettie Caroline Willis, the daughter of Polk and Anna Canady Willis married Hardy Laird in 1904. She was only 16. Hardy was 17. I interviewed three of her daughters. Their grandson was Jerry Kennedy. She was a member of Southside Baptist Church, Shreveport. 

Jerry Kennedy’s mother, Essie, was a fan of country music. Her full name is Essie Laird Kennedy. She married Gordon Kennedy.

Jerry Kennedy and I both are fourth great-grandsons of Reverend Joseph Willis (1758-1854) . Jerry descends from Joseph’s son Lemuel Willis and I from Joseph’s son Agerton Willis. Therefore Jerry’s great-great Grandfather is Polk Willis and my great-great Grandfather is Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis. Polk and Daniel were first-cousins. Thus our story begins. Write that down. There will be a test later.

Jerry Kennedy played a crucial role in the early success of my friend, Johnny Rodriguez. Johnny and I met as teenagers at Garner State Park in Texas. Jerry, along with his friend since the first grade, Roy Dea, made Rodriguez a star at Mercury Records, not only by signing him but also by producing all six of his number-one Billboard hits from 1973 to 1975. “Ridin’ My Thump to Mexico” was about hitching to Mexico from Garner State Park.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans, March 2, 1974.

On March 2, 1974, Dolly Parton and Johnny Rodriguez performed at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was a package show which also featured Billy “Crash” Craddock.

Dolly’s first number one hit, Joshua, was in February of 1971, followed by Coat of Many Colors later that year.

On the day of their show at LSU, Dolly’s song Jolene peaked at number one! Four months before, Johnny’s song Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico reached number one. It was his second number one single. Jerry Kennedy produced both. We drove to New Orleans after the LSU show to celebrate along with Dolly’s best friend, Judy Ogle. Johnny and I remained friends until his death this year. Sixty years is a good run for a friendship.

Anna Canady Willis Research

Now, for those needing clarification about the spelling of Anna’s last name, she said it was Canady. She signed her marriage license almost as boldly as John Hancock signed his name on the Declaration of Independence.

Now, I grant you that Irish names’ spelling and overall form vary widely. The original Gaelic form of the name Canady is O’Cinneide.

“Anna Canada, wife of Polk Willis, ” inscribed on her gravestone.” These mistakes were common with Tombstones makers, who often guess uncommon names.  She is buried in Oakhill Baptist Cemetery Oakdale, Louisiana, near where she found a safe harbor for six decades.

Anna’s marker reads, “Her life was a guiding star to Heaven. Canady is misspelled.

A hundred years after Joseph Willis’s death, a monument was erected with the wrong birth year: 1764. No other document has that year. I later became friends with three men who dedicated the memorial in 1955. None of them had a clue how that mistake happened.

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I recommend taking Anna’s signature and her conversations with her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as the truth. They treated them as the “Bible” on that subject matter. The hundred-pound, soaking wet, always quiet Irish lady was making a statement with her bold signature on her marriage license. The Great Irish Famine decimated the Irish language in America and Ireland.

Polk and Anna Canady Willis’s marriage license. October 25, 1868.

Anna Cannady [sic] is mentioned in the first sentence after “Be it Remembered.” I suspect John Strother filled in the latter part upon their arrival.

I also suspect the marriage license was filled out before Polk and Anna’s arrival. Therefore, Kennedy is listed in places that need no signature.

At the top of the page, clerk WM D. Chandler dated that part on the 23rd, two days before the signature dates at the bottom. He/She also used the most common Irish Catholic name, Kennedy.

Nevertheless, none of her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren I interviewed said she was a Kennedy. They all said Canady.

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Anna Canady Willis’s granddaughter Billie Laird Arthur’s letter to Randy Willis

Anna Canady Willis’s granddaughter Billie Laird Arthur’s letters to Randy Willis

Letter from Nellie V. Strother to Randy Willis. Nellie was a sister to Greene Strother and a niece to Polk and Anna Canady Willis.

As mentioned before, I’m working on a story about Jerry Kennedy’s son Gordon. It is a work-in progress. Here is a link to a rough draft: Gordon Kennedy: It all Begins with a Song – Randy Willis: Short Stories & Biographies

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Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ. —Randy Willis

Your heart should be so hidden in Christ that a person has to seek Him to know you. —Randy Willis