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Essentials in
History
Flying L Ranch Quartet
Updated: 3/29/2004 5:42:00 PM
The Flying L Ranch Quartet had a unique and remarkable career. Starting life as a nameless pick-up quartet, it went on to medal in 1943 and enjoyed a very successful career. Then fate stepped in and took it in an entirely new direction--one unique in the annals of the Society.
When the Wichita, Kansas, Chapter turned up one quartet short for its show, Bill Palmer figured he could round up a few friends to help out. He called on Harry Hall and George McCaslin of the champion Bartlesville Barflies, and Fred Graves of the Okie Four. They took the stage as The Mystic Four, and sailed into fourth place, just behind the other three quartets in the show.
Undaunted, the quartet decided to enter the 1943 National Contest in Chicago. The members also decided to change their name. But this proved a tough nut to crack, and they were still nameless when they boarded the train for Chicago. Somewhere between Joplin and Kansas City, they became The Mainstreeters.
Once in the Windy City, the foursome closeted themselves in their hotel room for some serious rehearsing. The seclusion and hard work paid off when they took third place at Medina Temple.
The Mainstreeters enjoyed great success during the next few years. An appearnce on the Hey Rube show led to a weekly radio program over KTUL in Tulsa. They sang on numerous chapter shows and entertained at many non-Society functions. And then, one evening at the Tulsa Club...
All this and Hereford Heaven too
The quartet was singing at the Tulsa Club one evening when they caught the ear of Roy Turner, rancher, cattleman, and governor of Oklahoma. Entranced, Turner decided they were just what he was looking for.
With friend and fellow rancher Bill Likins, Turner proceeded to give the boys a thorough make-over. Likins became their manager, and the quartet was re-named the Flying L Ranch Quartet after Likins' spread. Though they kept much of their Mainstreeter repertoire, Turner wrote several special songs for them on a subject dear to his heart: Hereford cattle. Within months, they recorded "Beau Blanc Visage (Beautiful White Face)" and "Hereford Heaven" as part of their four-record album entitled "Hereford Heaven."
The quartet entered a whole new phase of its career. Backed by Turner, it became a prominent mascot for the Hereford Heaven Association of Cattle Breeders, and an emissary for the State of Oklahoma.
Movie stars and Presidents
In the summer of 1946, the boys broke into the movies by singing one of Turner's songs in Home in Oklahoma, starring Roy Rogers. They hit it off so well with the cowboy star that they ended up singing at Roy and Dale's wedding, which took place at the Flying L Ranch.
Later that year, the quartet campaigned for Turner in his successful bid for re-election. In January, they entertained at his inaugural ceremony on the steps of the state capitol and attended the inaugural reception, where the governor broke the receiving line to sing with them. Turner kept the quartet busy. They were often part of welcoming receptions for visitng celebrities, and on several occasions called on other governors as Turner's personal representatives.
The quartet's greatest honor came in 1949 with the inauguration of President Truman. After travelling to Washington on a special inaugural train, they sang at the pre-inaugural banquet and the Oklahoma ball on successive evenings, and the following day rode on the Oklahoma State float in the inaugural parade. At an inaugural fete held at Olmstead's Restaurant, reporters noted "the famous Oklahoma State quartet scored the biggest hit, [singing] serenades to all the other delegates."
Empty saddles
The quartet continued to perform well into the 1950s, making appearances throughout the southwest for chapter shows, charity benefits, and business functions. Eventually, however, it became too difficult to maintain everyday jobs as well as quartet work, and the Flying L Ranch Quartet finally disbanded in the late 1950s.
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