Posted by Bill Aken

1954 - ZANE ASHTON - COLD TEXAS BEER - (Hometown Jamboree) In 1954 some of the younger (17 years old and still basically amateur) performers like myself on 'Hometown Jamboree' would record our songs in advance in the studio, then "Lip-Sync" the song on the Saturday night TV show. This was necessary to prevent nervous screw-ups while appearing on the television show. I am sure the audience knew what was going on, because you can't 'sing with yourself' live..... but they were overwhelmingly supportive of teenage entertainers like myself, Molly Bee, and a few others.... In spite of our occasional screw-ups.... But I was steadily improving from my first amateurish television debut in 1953... HOMETOWN JAMBOREE - Cliffie Stone was instrumental in helping various young musicians get their start in television, such as guitarist Zane Ashton (aka Bill Aken) who would also write songs for Stone's Central Songs publishing firm. His 'Hometown Jamboree' premiered as a weekly TV broadcast in December 1949 over KCOP-TV in Pasadena; in 1953 it moved to KTLA-TV, where it ran until its cancellation in 1959. "For a long time it was almost like racial discrimination when you said you were country," Cliffie said in 1993, pleased to have lived to see today's acceptance of the music. "It used to be if you were listening to country music on your radio at a boulevard stop, you'd turn your radio down so nobody would know you were listening to it. It was looked down on by the musicians union, everybody. We were like second-class citizens, which was OK because we did nothing but make money." The song is "Cold Texas Beer," one of my own songs that I got to do on television. 'The Hometown Boys' are backing me up with Billy Strange on lead guitar.... And I wasn't even old enough to drink..... Over the years. everybody from Marty Robbins to Hank Thompson and George Strait turned this song down until Eddie Dean decided to record it 43 years later... Arrangement & Lead Guitar: Billy Strange Writer: Bill Aken BMI