Jimmie Revard - Top 61 Classics - The Very Best of Jimmie Revard (2019)

Born into a musical Oklahoma family that had fiddled for generations, Jimmie Revard moved to Texas before he became a teenager, but honored his home state when he named his band Jimmie Revard's Oklahoma Playboys. Revard's foray into the western swing scene of 1930s Texas began at St. Mary's University and soon after, he recruited the Hofner brothers, singer/guitarist Adolph and steel guitarist Emil. The band so impressed a rep from Bluebird Records who had stopped by San Antonio to hear them that he decided to record them immediately; "Oh! Swing It" was released in October 1936. After traveling around Texas, Revard moved the band north to play at KOAM in Pittsburgh, but the pay was low, the weather was cold, and the businessman behind the deal eventually went bust. Adolph Hofner left first to start his own band in Texas. By October 1938, Revard returned as well, but by 1939 he had had enough of the traveling musician's life and quit at 30. After completing his recording contract in 1940, he become a San Antonio policeman. After the war, Revard performed locally, but never made another serious attempt to record.