Lonzo & Oscar

The comedy team of Lonzo and Oscar began as an idea of country music legend, Eddy Arnold, who by the mid-forties was one of the biggest stars in the country. In 1944, Kentucky native Rollin Sullivan was already being called “Oscar” by his fellow band members, Arnold’s Tennessee Plowboys, having come to the band from Paul Howard’s Arkansas Cotton Pickers. Eddy wanted a comedy team to open his show and asked Oscar and Lloyd George, then the bass player in the band, to work up the act. In 1945, the act was formed and called “Cicero and Oscar.” Shortly thereafter, the band was registering at a hotel when a porter came across the lobby with a load of linens. A maid leading the way called to him, “Come on Lonzo.” The name immediately struck a chord with Eddy, who said to Lloyd, “From now on, your name will be Lonzo!” For the next two years, they opened Eddy’s tent shows and venue performances across the nation, gaining a great following of their own. Their 1947 recording of “I’m My Own Grandpa” became such a big hit that, by the end of 1948, they struck out on their own, having secured regular membership on the Grand Ole Opry, where they remained until their resignation in 1987. Lloyd George left the act in 1950 to begin a solo career under the name Ken Marvin. Oscar’s brother, Johnny, who was a member of the Plowboys band, became the second Lonzo and remained in that position until his death in June 1967. Oscar chose Dave Hooten as the third Lonzo and he remained until they left the Opry. The fourth Lonzo, Mike Johnson, stayed for a short time and was replaced by Cleo Hogan. The act played locally in southern Kentucky, where Oscar had purchased a campground property. When Cleo passed away in 1998, Oscar enlisted the help of Billy Henson as the sixth Lonzo. Billy Henson had been associated with the act from the early to mid sixties. He was a songwriter for the Lonzo and Oscar Music Publishing organization and, as a recording artist, had released five singles and one album on their Nugget Records label. He traveled with Lonzo and Oscar as their lead guitar player and front man throughout the United States and two tours of Germany. He later left to tour as a featured act with the Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart Show for six months. Henson formed his own band and played the military club circuit and worked “package shows” with artists including Red Foley, Martha Carson, Cousin Jody, Sheb Wooley, Stonewall Jackson and Smiley and Kitty Wilson. He also worked as a single act for six months in California. After Hogan’s death, Oscar asked Henson to help with the next edition of the Lonzo and Oscar act. The duo worked festivals as far as Texas and as far north as Michigan, while delighting fans at the Country Music Association’s annual Fan Fair in Nashville. In 1999, due to business obligations at the campground and health concerns, Oscar decided to sell the entire Lonzo and Oscar organization to Billy Henson. Along with his wife, Patsy, Henson had previously acquired the Lonzo and Oscar Music Publishing organization, now known as Lair Music Publishing. In addition, they acquired the Nugget Records, Clark Records, and Vine Street Records labels. Henson began a search for a new comedy team member and finally decided on Ron Ryan, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee musician. Ron performed since 1964 with the instrumental surf / rock group "The Mariners" and worked with groups such as, "We Seven", "The Hula Hounds" and "The Surge!". "The Mariners" were featured on the cover of the March 2002 edition of "New Gandy Dancer", the longest running instrumental rock magazine in the world, and gained a huge following in England and Europe. He currently performs with another of Henson's music projects, "Billy Henson and Summerstorm". While Ron's musical background was in instrumental surf and rock music, his guitar style and voice blended well with that of Billy's. With Ron as the seventh Lonzo and Billy as the second Oscar, the team began performing as the latest edition of Lonzo and Oscar. Henson is amazed and encouraged by the fact that, even though the faces have changed over the years, the act is still well remembered and accepted wherever they perform; “We get encores and standing ovations at our shows, and the people still love us and our brand of clean , old-time country comedy.” And so, after all these years, Lonzo and Oscar are still going strong well into the twenty-first century. Guitar MySpace Layouts - Acoustic Guitar MySpace Layouts Guitar MySpace Layouts