The kids grew up to be boys

At a time when entertainment was fun and could be watched by the whole family, a group called the Cass County Boys played music and sang with the likes of Gene Autry and Bing Crosby. Fred Martin (1916-2010), the accordion player and singer was born here in Cass County, in Linden, baritone Jerry Scoggins (1911-2004) from nearby Mount Pleasant, and later tenor Bert Dodson (1915-1994) on bass from St. Petersburg, Florida.

In the 1930s they were staff musicians on Dallas radio station WFAA. The pair were told to fill in airtime between programs and began performing together. They shortly invited bassist Bert Dodson (1915-1994) to join them. Dodson, at the time, was playing bass for the Light Crust Doughboys. It was during that time they adopted the Cass County name after a WFAA radio announcer called them the “Cass County Kids”.

Music Mountain research of the Boy’s highlights that “In the early 1940s, Gene Autry had Jimmy Wakely, Eddie Dean and others doing musical support on his MELODY RANCH radio program. And then Autry left for World War II duty in the Air Corps and the half-hour MELODY RANCH went on hiatus for about two years, from late Summer, 1943 through late September 1945. Upon his return to civilian life, Gene invited the Cass County Kids to join him. The three members were in their thirties and no longer “kids” ...and the group became the ‘Cass County Boys’.”

Among some of the notable things, “They were on MELODY RANCH through the final broadcast in 1956. The trio also did extensive touring and personal appearances with Autry and can be seen in Gene’s TV program as well as several of his post-World War II Republic and Columbia westerns. They also worked in a few Durango Kid oaters with Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures.” ~Music Mountain.

They were also included on several record tracks including their own, “Round-Up in the Sky 72 record tracks.AllMusic.com notes that the Cass County Boys were inducted into the Western Music Hall Of Fame in 1996.

In a recent interview with the Sun, Lemora Martin, the daughter of talks about his time in Linden, the background of the Cass County Boys and her unique perspective as the daughter of Fred Martin.

The story begins when Fred “was born in Linden on June 22, 1916, and he left around 1930-31 due to a falling out with his father, Harry Martin. Harry broke into Fred’s chest and stole $300 that dad kept in there, earnings from accordion jobs. There was also an evil stepmother, Mary Martin,” says Lemora.

In Linden, was a mixed bag explains Lemora, “He loved his uncle Tom Burns and cousins Pearl and Monroe Allen. Dad was self-taught on the accordion and he honed his skills playing for local festivals and county fairs. However, Cass County was “hard times” in those days. Harry and Ellen Martin got a divorce and Harry re-married Mary, who was abusive to the four kids. All of them ran away from home. When Ellen opened a restaurant in another town, Fred’s two sisters Ruth and Ruby Jo, went to live with their mother. Fred got adopted by Virgil Stamps in 1932 (Harry and Mary died of pneumonia in late December.) Mr. Stamps basically saved dad’s life and gave him his professional start. Dad moved to Abilene and began performing with the Stamps Gospel Music Quartet.”

According to Lemora, “Dad and Jerry Scoggins both worked for WFAA Radio Station, out of the Baker Hotel, in Dallas, Texas. (In 1935, dad dropped out of Hardin Simmons University to take a job with WFAA. It was the Depression, and dad probably figured he could go back to college any old time.) One day, in 1938, Dad and Jerry were jamming (called “chinking” in the typed memo I read) to fill dead airspace and announcer Ralph Nimmons ad-libbed that the Cass County Kids were playing. This was totally spontaneous. Jerry wasn’t from Cass County, but Ralph knew that dad was from there and it was euphonious. So, it stuck. Bert Dodson joined them and they became a trio shortly after that day. I’m not exactly sure when. Seven years later, when they moved to California to work for Gene Autry, someone at a film studio changed their name to the Cass County Boys, because “you’re all men in your thirties, married, with families.” I saw the letter making this change back in 1994 and haven’t been able to find it since. I don’t know if this was someone in Autry’s office or who it was, unfortunately. The letter was dated 1945.”

For Lemora, she got a kick out of “seeing dad on TV on the Melody Ranch Show and in the Autry Westerns. I don’t remember seeing him playing with other famous people, unfortunately. I know the Cass County Boys did work with Bing Crosby in the early 1950s. They were all Decca Recording Artists. (I sold the poster to a collector.)” She even remembers being in the studio audience watching the Melody Ranch TV Show while it was being filmed.

In the beginning, she doesn’t remember much since the Melody Ranch Show was filmed at CBS in Hollywood. “Until I began kindergarten in the fall of 1953, mom and I traveled all over the United States, wherever Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys were on tour. We also traveled extensively when just the Cass County Boys performed. My best memories are of Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden, and Lake Tahoe (in California) in the summertime. I wish my memories were clearer, but this was a long, long time ago!”

Lemora fondly recalls that “The Boys” were a tight-knit group. “They were together for almost 20 years, from 1938 until 1956. There were a few performances after 1956. They all got along wonderfully and there were no personnel changes. The last time I saw dad perform was with Jerry Scoggins (don’t remember why Bert Dodson wasn’t there) at the Pioneer Broadcasters Luncheon in 1985, when the Cass County Boys won the Golden Boot Award.”

Among some of the noteworthy things, she remembers the Cass County Boys did include their time with Gene Autry from 1945 through 1956.

“There was the Melody Ranch Radio Show, the TV show (which I can’t remember the exact name for) the movies, and touring cabarets, arenas, and rodeos. I know he played with Bing Crosby, but I don’t know who else. I think he was on a record with Doye O’Dell (about 1956) and probably others.”

Fred was proud of all his accomplishments as a musician, says Lemora. “I think mainly he was most proud of being self-taught on the accordion, and getting recognized and appreciated for that talent.”

For Lemora her most favorite times with her dad as a musician were “traveling with him, as a family, and seeing and hearing the Cass County Boys play when I was a little girl, drinking Shirley Temples, and thinking, “Wow, that’s my dad!” I was aware that my dad did something special and out of the ordinary to earn a living.

It never occurred to me that for the musicians, what they were doing was hard work, or that holding a heavy accordion for several hours was difficult. I thought they were all just having fun. Oh, the innocence of childhood.”