Adolph Hofner

Adolph John Hofner, Jr. (8 June 1916 Moulton, Texas – 2 June 2000 San Antonio) was an American western swing bandleader.

Hofner was born into a family of Czech-German origin. He grew up listening to Czech and Hawaiian music. When he was ten years old his family moved to San Antonio. He and his younger brother Emil, together with Simon Garcia, formed the "Hawaiian Serenaders" performing locally. Influenced by Milton Brown and His Brownies, Hofner decided to become a singer in a Western Swing band. In the mid-1930s, he joined Jimmie Revard's (né James O. Revard; 1909–1991) Oklahoma Playboys and in October 1936, he made his first recordings with them as singer and guitarist. Hofner made his solo debut in 1938 when he was offered a contract with Bluebird Records. With support from Eli Oberstein, the recording manager of Bluebird, Hofner formed a swing band "Adolph Hofner and His Texans." They made their recording debut on April 5, 1938 and they played their first gig outside Leming on May 13, 1939. Meanwhile, he recorded with "Tom Dickey's Show Boys." Hofner had his first and biggest hit in 1940 with "Maria Elena."

In 1941, Hofner signed a recording contract with Okeh. During World War II, he and his band was hired by Burt "Foreman" Phillips' chain of dance halls to perform around Los Angeles under the name of "Dolph Hofner and His San Antonians." Some of his hits during this period were "Cotton-Eyed Joe," "Alamo Rag," and "Jessie Polka." Despite his relative success, he failed to have his contract renewed and he returned to Texas. Sponsored by Pearl Beer in 1950, Hofner formed the "Pearl Wranglers" performing at KTSA in San Antonio with their musical mix of swing, country, rockabilly, and polka. They recorded for the obscure Sarg label.

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