Loyd Jones

Mention Western Swing in conversation and several names immediately come to mind. Of course, Bob and Billy Jack Wills would be among the first but, if you’re from Northern California, one name in particular is synonymous with Western Swing. That name is Loyd Jones.

When interviewing Loyd for this article, the first question I asked him was, “Define Western Swing.” He laughed and asked if I had plenty of paper and time. However, it was lunch hour and I only had one pad of paper with me so he gave me his condensed definition as follows: “We use a big band style rhythm section and our instrumentation features more strings than horns. The selections tend to be more country-oriented but we also play old dance standards such as ‘All of Me’ and ‘I Saw Your Face in the Moon’. In short,” says Loyd, “it’s not the song, it’s how you play it.”

The man who has been playing it for us for more than 30 years was born Loyd Hampton Jones on August 18, 1926, in Prairie Branch, Texas, where he lived until he was ten years old. The Jones family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1936. Here Loyd’s interest in music was first aroused when he would gather with friends and family, around a crystal radio set and listen to Bob Wills broadcasting from Fort Worth, Texas. Although Loyd took violin lessons in school, it was his oldest brother, Cleo, who really got him started. The school lessons were classical and boring; Cleo was Western Swing. He played the fiddle and guitar and when Loyd was in the eight grade, Cleo pressed him into service as guitar accompanist.

Loyd first played professionally as a fiddler with a three-piece square dance group in Las Cruces. He then went on to form his own band, The Western Swing Stars, which played out of El Paso, Texas. To use Loyd’s own word, “poverty” caused him to move to California in 1948 where he played guitar with Jelly Sanders from Porterville. That lasted about a year and, in 1949, Loyd moved his family to Sacramento. Here he has played with such well-knowns as Bud Hobbs, and MGM recording star at that time, and Billy Jack Wills. Loyd says he played with Billy Jack’s first band and his last band but not his great band.

It was that “great band” that was responsible for the first “Loyd Jones and the Western Swing Band”. Those of you who have lived in Sacramento for some time will remember Wills Point. When Billy Jack broke one of brother Bob’s cardinal rules and married Evelyn

McKinney, one of Bob’s female vocalists, they both were forced to leave the band. However, Bob opened Wills Point and set up Billy Jack’s group as the house band. Loyd was a member of this first band. Billy Jack and the Texas Playboys became so popular that they began to take out-of-town bookings. Loyd wasn’t interested in going on the road so he stayed on at Wills Point and formed his own group.

During the years 1958 and ‘59, Loyd again played guitar with Billy Jack for a weekly television show broadcast on Channel 3. This group included not only Billy Jack and Loyd, but also Bill Pray, Bobby Reeves, Truitt Cunningham, and Billy Jack’s wife, Evelyn. When the show went off the air, Loyd once again formed his Western Swing Band with Bill Pray, Bobby Reeves, Hoyt Shaw, and Loyd’s son, Perry. During this time, Jay Riley also sat in occasionally with his steel guitar. From this group evolved today’s Western Swing Band with few changes. Hoyt and Jay have retired, Perry has been replaced by Johnny Peacock, and Gene Albright has been added. Featured female vocalists of the first group were Bonnie Jones and Betty Reeves.

I asked Loyd if there are any members of his family who aren’t musical to which he replied, “No”. Son Perry is well known for his group, The Southern Empire Band. As well as being a singer, Perry plays the drums and guitar, he writes some pretty good songs, and he is the music manager of Tex’s Saloon and Nashville West. Loyd’s oldest daughter, Becky, is a beautiful singer who we are sometimes lucky enough to hear at our monthly jam sessions. Youngest daughter, Lolly, is in Loyd’s words, “the most musically talented person I know”. Lolly plays the fiddle, bass, rhythm, and lead guitars, piano, banjo, and she’s a singer. She has traveled all over the world with her music and we look forward to hearing a lot more from Lolly in the future.

Loyd’s wife, Bonnie, has a family who are no strangers to the music stage either. Uncle Paul Adams was a world-class fiddler and Uncle Luke Adams was well known for his skill on the guitar and piano.

In conclusion, I asked Loyd what, if any, are his plans for the future of his music. He says that he just wants to keep playing as long as it’s fun. We in the Western Swing Society hope it stays fun for Loyd for a long, long time.