Bobby Lord

After graduating from high school, Bobby Lord was offered the chance to host his own television show while a freshman at the University of Tampa. The Bobby Lord Homefolks Show was an hour-long program on Saturday nights on WSUN-TV in St. Petersburg and featured Lord singing with a backing band. In 1952, he won a nationwide talent competition sponsored by TV Guide which led to an appearance on Paul Whiteman’s TV Teen Club on ABC-TV from Philadelphia.

Soon after, songwriter Boudleaux Bryant heard one of Lord’s demo tapes and passed it on to Columbia Records, which signed him in 1953. At age 19, he was the label’s youngest recording star. He began releasing Country and Rockabilly hits for Columbia, and in 1955 joined Ozark Jubilee, an ABC-TV program based in Springfield, Missouri.

In 1960, the Jubilee was canceled and Lord moved to Nashville, where he was immediately offered a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. He continued appearing on the Opry well into the 1970s. He recorded for Hickory Records starting in 1961 and Decca Records from 1967. During this time he also hosted a daily afternoon show on WSM-TV in Nashville, which was the counterpart to Ralph Emery’s morning show on that station, “Opry Almanac”. Under the auspices of WSM-TV, he also hosted a weekly syndicated half-hour program featuring popular Country artists. Lord’s backing band on the syndicated show included Jerry Byrd on steel guitar, Jerry Whitehurst on piano and Spider Wilson on guitar.