Onie Wheeler, Odessa

ONIE WHEELER - Closing Time (Okeh 18037)

Onie Wheeler is easily one of my top 10 all-time favorite country & western artists. I mean the guy is right up there with Fred Crawford, Eddy Arnold, Kenny Rogers, Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Chesney, etc... Obviously, the dude is like god.

But what is a clodhoppin' hillbilly from Missouri doing on a blog about West Texas music? Colin Escott's liners from the EXCELLENT Onie's Bop release give the rundown thusly...

Onie Wheeler, brothers A.J. and Doyal Nelson, and Ernest Thompson had worked the mid-Missippi region pretty hard in 1952 holding down a gig on radio station KSIM and running from honky tonk to honky tonk in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. Deciding to try their luck in golden California the quartet made it as far west as Monahans, Texas where they made a connection with Doc Bryant ("Cotton Pickin' Boogie" on Doc Bryant Records). Doc got them a gig back east here in Odessa for a 6 month stretch. A problem with the state liquor board brought the gig to an end, but Onie stayed on to work- oil field no doubt- while Thompson and the Nelson's headed northeast for Wichita Falls. Onie eventually tracked the boys down and convinced them to return to Odessa to work for a Miss Mack, who would close the honky tonk each night by bellerin' "It's Closin' Time" at her patrons. A few months later, on the advice of "Mr. Personality" Little Jimmy Dickens, the band headed back east in hopes of chasing down a recording contract. They recorded their first session for Columbia subsidiary Okeh on August 28, 1953.

For the second session Onie took Miss Mack's nightly closing salutation, set it to a tune, and called it "Closing Time". Accompanied by Benny "Big Tige" Martin on fiddle, Onie and combo turn in a swift hillbilly shuffler. Onie's lyrics ring familiar to just about anyone that's ever been there when they've shut the joint down for the night. The harmonies thrown in by the Nelson Brothers give the song a gospel feel, a style of music Onie was quite adept at. In a sense Onie was singing about church. Miss Macks was church. It was the place Odessan's prayed, confessed, sang, and cried every Friday and Saturday night. The wine their communion, Miss Mack the leader of flock.

Onie would continue to record some INCREDIBLE music for Columbia, an awesome hopped up honky tonk 45 for Sun, and a handful of great sides for K-Ark and other labels. Though he never even broke the Top 50 he really gave it everything he had. He even died on a stage at Opryland, mic in hand. The man really should be more than the footnote he is today.

Damn the Kenney Chesney's of the world.
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Here's an Onie Wheeler clip that Dave Stuckey posted on Youtube... yeah... amazing, right?! That's the Nelson's to his left and right I do believe.


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I cannot recommend Onie's Bear Family release Onie's Bop enough. Simply incredible. The photo above came from Onie's, uh, Myspace page. Check it HERE. Why doesn't he twitter, though?