On this day, January 3, 1917, steel guitar player and Texas Playboy Leon McAuliffe was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, This Day in Country Music

January 3rd: On this day

1917
Born on this day in Houston, was Leon McAuliffe who played steel guitar for Bob Wills' Texas Playboys from 1935-1942. He scored his own instrumental hit in 1949 with "Panhandle Rag."

Leon McAuliffe

Birth name: William Leon McAuliffe
Born: January 3, 1917; Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died: August 20, 1988 (aged 71); Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.

William Leon McAuliffe (January 3, 1917 – August 20, 1988) was an American Western swing guitarist who was a member of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys during the 1930s. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that band, and was a member of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

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Biography

When he was sixteen he was a member of the Light Crust Doughboys, playing both rhythm guitar and steel guitar. In 1935, at age 18, he played with Bob Wills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He stayed with Wills until World War II.

With Wills, he helped compose "San Antonio Rose". He is more noted, however, for his most famous composition, "Steel Guitar Rag", and his playing, along with that of Robert Lee Dunn (of Milton Brown's Musical Brownies), that popularized the steel guitar in the United States.

His playing (and Dunn's) is also credited with inspiring the rhythm and blues electric guitar style occurring some 20 years later.

After the war, McAuliffe returned to Tulsa and formed a Western swing band named the Cimarron Boys. In 1949, their song "Panhandle Rag" (Columbia) reached No. 6 on the Billboard country chart. McAuliffe recorded through the 1960s. In the 1970s, he participated in a reunion of the Texas Playboys.

In the 1980s, McAuliffe along with Eldon Shamblin and Junior Brown, taught music at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma.

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Awwwwww, kick it off, Leon.

Leon McAuliffe - Steel Guitar Rag
11,446 views Jan 3, 2018

When The Cowboy Sings
274K subscribers
Leon McAuliffe Steel Guitar Rag live perfomance

{snip}

When The Cowboy Sings website
http://whenthecowboysings.com/
KWC Americana Radio Station
http://kwcamericanars.com/

Leon McAuliffe got drafted in World War II, so he wasn't performing during the war years. We pick up his career again in 1950.

#20706
BONAPARTE'S RETREAT ~ Leon McAuliffe (1950)
30,994 views Aug 22, 2010

MrRJDB1969
81.8K subscribers

"Bonaparte's Retreat" ~ Leon McAuliffe & His Western Swing Band (1950) Columbia #20706.
The flip side of, "What, Where, & When"
Previously a steel guitarist for Bob Wills, Leon McAuliffe was born in Houston, Texas in 1917 and passed away in 1988.
"Bonaparte's Retreat" was composed by Pee Wee King.

Take it away, Leon; take it away.

Leon McAuliffe And Cimarron Boys - San Antonio Rose
5,578 views Nov 11, 2016

When The Cowboy Sings
274K subscribers

Leon McAuliffe And Cimarron Boys San Antonio Rose live {performance}

One more. I don't know what show this is.

LeonMcAulliffe
29,362 views Mar 2, 2010

KoolKlipsFromDeke
2.6K subscribers

Here's a great clip of Leon McAuliffe (the "Take It Away Leon" man himself from Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys) and his solo band playing a steel guitar boogie tune (they never give the title, but Steel Guitar Boogie will do!).

Wed Jan 3, 2024: On this day, January 3, 1917, steel guitar player and Texas Playboy Leon McAuliffe was born.

Tue Jan 3, 2023: On this day, January 3, 1917, steel guitar player and Texas Playboy Leon McAuliffe was born.

Mon Jan 3, 2022: On this day, January 3, 1917, Texas Playboy Leon McAuliffe was born.