Ralph D. Foster
Encyclopedia
Ralph David Foster was an American
broadcasting
pioneer and philanthropist
who created the framework for Springfield, Missouri
to challenge Nashville, Tennessee
as the nation's country music
capital during the 1950s
. His KWTO-AM
was a stepping-stone for many top country artists; and with his music businesses, led to creation of Ozark Jubilee
, the first U.S. network television
program to feature country's top stars.
radio station with his partner, Jerry Hall, in a corner of their Firestone
dealership, Foster-Hall Tire Co., in St. Joseph. It began as a hobby, but as local businesses increasingly sought to advertise on the station, it became a full-time occupation. He increased its power and on June 30, 1926, it was licensed
as KGBX
on 1040 kHz. Foster built a new service station and glassed-in studios for the radio station a few blocks north. A singer himself, he and Hall performed on the station as The Radio Rubber Twins.
and moved it to Springfield, signing on December 25, 1933 on 560 kHz. He requested and received the call letters KWTO and used the on-air slogan, "Keep Watching the Ozarks." As president and general manager, Foster made KWTO-AM the dominant station in the region. In 1944, KGBX-AM (operating by then on 1260 kHz) was sold under new FCC ownership rules.
Foster began to realize radio's full potential after World War II. The Assembly of God
, with national headquarters in Springfield, sponsored a 30-minute program on KWTO called Sermons in Song. He began transcribing the show for other stations, and eventually 200 carried the program. To expand his business into country music, Foster started RadiOzark Enterprises, Inc. with Si Siman as vice president and local businessman Lester E. Cox as a financial backer. They produced transcription disks of programs starring Smiley Burnette
, George Morgan
, Bill Ring and Tennessee Ernie Ford
(Ring was producer for 260 15-minute episodes of The Tennessee Ernie Show), and ABC Radio picked up Ring's show, sponsored by General Mills. Eventually, more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian stations aired their programs.
Live broadcasts, however, dominated KWTO's programming. Many country music stars either got their start or performed on the station, including Porter Wagoner
, Chet Atkins
, the Carter Family
, The Browns
, Wynn Stewart
, Les Paul
, Homer and Jethro
, and Slim Wilson
. Korn’s-A-Krackin’, a weekly “hillbilly
variety” program, was carried nationally by the Mutual radio network
.
to become the "crossroads of country music," and knew his best opportunity would be to put his local TV
show, Ozark Jubilee
, on national television. He named his new enterprise Crossroads TV Productions, Inc., with Siman and Foster's nephew, John B. Mahaffey, as managing vice presidents and KWTO commercial manager Leslie I. Kennon as vice president.
In April 1954, Siman lured Red Foley
, considered America's top country music star, from Nashville
with the promise of hosting a national TV program. Foster leased the Jewell Theatre and spent nearly $100,000 to outfit it for live TV production. On January 22, 1955, Ozark Jubilee debuted on ABC-TV
, the first network television
series featuring national country music stars, which ran for almost six years. Known by the cast and crew as "the Skipper," Foster made his only appearance on its final telecast (by then renamed Jubilee USA) on September 24, 1960, singing "Woodman, Spare That Tree".
Crossroads TV also produced the show's spin-off
, NBC-TV
's Five Star Jubilee
(1961); as well as The Eddy Arnold Show
(1956) and Talent Varieties
(1955), both ABC. From 1960–1961, the company produced Today on the Farm for NBC from Chicago
.
The networks, however, passed on two other efforts to expand programming from Springfield: early in 1957, Crossroads produced a pilot
for a proposed ABC-TV series to originate from Springfield called Pig 'N Poke, a quiz show (popular at the time) with a country theme hosted by Smiley Burnette; and in January 1960, Crossroads videotaped a pilot for a pop-variety TV series, Snooky Lanson
Time. Guests were Brenda Lee
, the Anita Kerr
Singers, Betty Ann Grove
and Paul Mitchell's instrumental combo.
To represent the regular performers on KWTO and the Jubilee, Foster established Top Talent, Inc. (under General Manager W.E. "Lucky" Moeller); and to publish their compositions, he founded Earl Barton Music, Inc., originally headed by C.R. "Lou" Black, KWTO's program director, who was succeeded after his death in 1956 by Moeller. Crossroads also sold outdoor advertising
. The combined companies grossed $2.5 million annually.
Foster was a member of the board of directors for the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield for more than 20 years and was involved in many other civic activities. He died August 11, 1984 in Springfield and was buried in St. Joseph Memorial Park Cemetery. His widow, Harriett, died December 5, 1986.
and Western
artifacts and firearms for many years, and in the 1960s donated a large collection to The School of the Ozarks museum in Point Lookout, Missouri
near Branson
. In 1969, Foster's financial donations saw to the addition of a new wing, a new entrance, and a new name: the Ralph Foster Museum.
The museum's focus is the history and culture of the Ozarks region. Exhibits include the original vehicle used in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies
, antiques, weapons, dolls, circus toys and miniature model circus, metal banks and toys, furniture and household items, glassware, natural history, mounted animal displays, personal hobby collections and a display on Ozark music personalities.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
pioneer and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who created the framework for Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
to challenge Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
as the nation's country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
capital during the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. His KWTO-AM
KWTO
KWTO refers to two radio stations in Springfield, Missouri, USA. On AM, KWTO can be found at 560 kHz, where it airs a news-talk format. On FM, KWTO operates at 98.7 MHz and carries a sports talk format....
was a stepping-stone for many top country artists; and with his music businesses, led to creation of Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
, the first U.S. network television
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
program to feature country's top stars.
Biography
Foster was born April 25, 1893 in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1924, at age 31, he set up a low-power AMAM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
radio station with his partner, Jerry Hall, in a corner of their Firestone
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company...
dealership, Foster-Hall Tire Co., in St. Joseph. It began as a hobby, but as local businesses increasingly sought to advertise on the station, it became a full-time occupation. He increased its power and on June 30, 1926, it was licensed
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
as KGBX
KSGF (AM)
KSGF is a radio station licensed to serve Springfield, Missouri, USA. The station, which launched in 1926 as KGBX, is owned by the Journal Broadcast Corporation. The station also simulcast on 104.1 FM, which is licensed to Ash Grove, Missouri, USA....
on 1040 kHz. Foster built a new service station and glassed-in studios for the radio station a few blocks north. A singer himself, he and Hall performed on the station as The Radio Rubber Twins.
"Keep Watching the Ozarks"
In 1932 Hall moved to California, and Foster and his brother-in-law, Art Johnson, relocated the station to Springfield (KGBX-AM was licensed for 1310 kHz on November 3). Unable to get its transmitting power increased, the next year he bought the license of a station in Grant CityGrant City, Missouri
Grant City is a city in Worth County in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 926 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a town. It is the county seat of Worth County.-Geography:Grant City is located at...
and moved it to Springfield, signing on December 25, 1933 on 560 kHz. He requested and received the call letters KWTO and used the on-air slogan, "Keep Watching the Ozarks." As president and general manager, Foster made KWTO-AM the dominant station in the region. In 1944, KGBX-AM (operating by then on 1260 kHz) was sold under new FCC ownership rules.
Foster began to realize radio's full potential after World War II. The Assembly of God
General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States
The General Council of the Assemblies of God in the United States of America or Assemblies of God USA is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas. With a constituency of over 3 million, it was...
, with national headquarters in Springfield, sponsored a 30-minute program on KWTO called Sermons in Song. He began transcribing the show for other stations, and eventually 200 carried the program. To expand his business into country music, Foster started RadiOzark Enterprises, Inc. with Si Siman as vice president and local businessman Lester E. Cox as a financial backer. They produced transcription disks of programs starring Smiley Burnette
Smiley Burnette
Lester Alvin Burnett , better known as Smiley Burnette, was a popular American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 musical...
, George Morgan
George Morgan (singer)
George Thomas Morgan was a mid-20th century American country music singer. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a former member of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:...
, Bill Ring and Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
(Ring was producer for 260 15-minute episodes of The Tennessee Ernie Show), and ABC Radio picked up Ring's show, sponsored by General Mills. Eventually, more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian stations aired their programs.
Live broadcasts, however, dominated KWTO's programming. Many country music stars either got their start or performed on the station, including Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
, Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, the Carter Family
Carter Family
The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
, The Browns
The Browns
The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also...
, Wynn Stewart
Wynn Stewart
Winford Lindsey Stewart , better known as Wynn Stewart, was an American country music performer. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound...
, Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
, and Slim Wilson
Slim Wilson
Clyde Carol Wilson , better known as Slim Wilson, was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio and TV personality who was a cornerstone of country music in the Ozarks for more than 50 years beginning in the 1930s; both in his own right, and as a member of The Goodwill Family and The...
. Korn’s-A-Krackin’, a weekly “hillbilly
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
variety” program, was carried nationally by the Mutual radio network
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
.
Crossroads of country music
Foster believed Springfield might overtake Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
to become the "crossroads of country music," and knew his best opportunity would be to put his local TV
KYTV (TV)
KYTV, virtual channel 3, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Ozark Plateau area of Southwestern Missouri that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter in Fordland...
show, Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
, on national television. He named his new enterprise Crossroads TV Productions, Inc., with Siman and Foster's nephew, John B. Mahaffey, as managing vice presidents and KWTO commercial manager Leslie I. Kennon as vice president.
In April 1954, Siman lured Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
, considered America's top country music star, from Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
with the promise of hosting a national TV program. Foster leased the Jewell Theatre and spent nearly $100,000 to outfit it for live TV production. On January 22, 1955, Ozark Jubilee debuted on ABC-TV
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, the first network television
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
series featuring national country music stars, which ran for almost six years. Known by the cast and crew as "the Skipper," Foster made his only appearance on its final telecast (by then renamed Jubilee USA) on September 24, 1960, singing "Woodman, Spare That Tree".
Crossroads TV also produced the show's spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, NBC-TV
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee
Five Star Jubilee was an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.From March 17 to May 5, the...
(1961); as well as The Eddy Arnold Show
The Eddy Arnold Show
The Eddy Arnold Show is the name of three similar American network television summer variety programs during the 1950s hosted by Eddy Arnold and featuring popular music stars of the day...
(1956) and Talent Varieties
Talent Varieties
Talent Varieties is a country music talent show on American network television and radio in 1955 that featured performers hoping to achieve fame in the entertainment business....
(1955), both ABC. From 1960–1961, the company produced Today on the Farm for NBC from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The networks, however, passed on two other efforts to expand programming from Springfield: early in 1957, Crossroads produced a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a proposed ABC-TV series to originate from Springfield called Pig 'N Poke, a quiz show (popular at the time) with a country theme hosted by Smiley Burnette; and in January 1960, Crossroads videotaped a pilot for a pop-variety TV series, Snooky Lanson
Snooky Lanson
Roy Landman , better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC television series Your Hit Parade....
Time. Guests were Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, the Anita Kerr
Anita Kerr
Anita Jean Grilli , known profesioanlly as Anita Kerr, is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.-Nashville:Kerr was born in Memphis, Tennessee...
Singers, Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove
Betty Ann Grove is an American actress and singer. A petite redhead with a powerful voice, she recorded in the 1950s. In 1950, she debuted on Broadway in the 1948 original production of Kiss Me Kate, playing Lois Lane/Bianca, a lead role that was originated by Lisa Kirk...
and Paul Mitchell's instrumental combo.
To represent the regular performers on KWTO and the Jubilee, Foster established Top Talent, Inc. (under General Manager W.E. "Lucky" Moeller); and to publish their compositions, he founded Earl Barton Music, Inc., originally headed by C.R. "Lou" Black, KWTO's program director, who was succeeded after his death in 1956 by Moeller. Crossroads also sold outdoor advertising
Billboard (advertising)
A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...
. The combined companies grossed $2.5 million annually.
Later years
In 1963, Foster, Siman and Mahaffey formed Tele-Color, Inc., which in 1964 filmed color segments for ABC's Wide World of Sports and other programs.Foster was a member of the board of directors for the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield for more than 20 years and was involved in many other civic activities. He died August 11, 1984 in Springfield and was buried in St. Joseph Memorial Park Cemetery. His widow, Harriett, died December 5, 1986.
Ralph Foster Museum
Foster was an avid hunter and fisherman and a strong conservationist. He collected Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
and Western
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
artifacts and firearms for many years, and in the 1960s donated a large collection to The School of the Ozarks museum in Point Lookout, Missouri
Point Lookout, Missouri
Point Lookout is an unincorporated community in Taney County, Missouri, United States, near Branson and Hollister. A college town, it is next to Lake Taneycomo and is home to the College of the Ozarks. College of the Ozarks hosts the NAIA Division II basketball tournament annually.Point Lookout is...
near Branson
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
. In 1969, Foster's financial donations saw to the addition of a new wing, a new entrance, and a new name: the Ralph Foster Museum.
The museum's focus is the history and culture of the Ozarks region. Exhibits include the original vehicle used in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, antiques, weapons, dolls, circus toys and miniature model circus, metal banks and toys, furniture and household items, glassware, natural history, mounted animal displays, personal hobby collections and a display on Ozark music personalities.