WWVA Jamboree

The Wheeling Jamboree is a pioneering American radio show that features country music and has aired since 1933. It was broadcast from Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA, the first radio station in West Virginia and a 50,000-watt clear-channel station, from its launch through approximately 2008. As of 2016, the Jamboree now only broadcasts on a 6-watt low-power station and is, for the most part, no longer broadcast live. Numerous acts and stars passed through the annals of the Jamboree; some reached fame and fortune while others fell into oblivion. It is the second oldest country music broadcast in the United States after the Grand Ole Opry.

WWVA was granted a license on December 6, 1926 and its initial broadcast, via a 50-watt transmitter, was on December 13. Two-and-a-half years later, on July 1, 1929, WWVA had increased its power to 5,000 watts. Holland Engel and Howard Donahoe were among the first announcers, and in 1927, the station signed William Wallace "Bill" Jones and the Sparkling Four as its first hillbilly act. The quartet played requests made over the telephone. Jones received so many requests for yodeling songs—because of the popularity of the Blue Yodeler Jimmie Rodgers—that he was dubbed Silver Yodelin' Bill Jones. The new program director, George W. Smith, was appointed in 1931 and he quickly saw the potential of country music. Other acts such as ballad singer Fred Craddock and His Happy Five and the traditionalist Elmer Crowe joined the Jamboree. The professional trio of Cap, Andy and Flip also signed with WWVA in 1932.

On January 7, 1933, the Saturday night Jamboree began and three months later, on April 1, a live audience was added. The live-audience premiere of The World's Original WWVA Jamboree took place at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling. The following years, the Jamboree broadcast from a different location each Saturday. The Sparkling Four disbanded in 1933 and Bill Jones formed the Rhythm Rogues. On November 11, 1933, Cowboy Loye (Loye Donald Pack) joined the show, and based on the amount of mail he received, became one of the biggest stars of the Jamboree. Cowboy Loye often performed together with "Just Plain" John Oldham. Four years later, in 1937, Cowboy Loye left WWVA and moved to Nebraska. He died in 1941.

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