Voices of Oklahoma
Mar 2, 2022
Church Studios - Leon Russell & Steve Ripley
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As the Church Studios in Tulsa get ready to open after a major refurbishment, we share the stories of Steve Ripley, who owned the historic studio for many years. Steve knew Leon Russell well, and worked hard to preserve thousands of recordings and the equipment to play them.
You can hear Steve's entire interview on Voices of Oklahoma:
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/ripley-steve/
You can hear Steve's entire interview on Voices of Oklahoma:
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/ripley-steve/
More episodes from Voices of Oklahoma
Mar 16, 2023
Jimmy O'Neill
For those who remember the television show “Shindig!” but may have forgotten the host, this story will remind you of the very talented Jimmy O’Neill, who was from Enid, Oklahoma.
He started his radio career at 16 in Enid, then on to WKY Oklahoma City and KQV Pittsburgh before making his Los Angeles debut at the brand-new KRLA in 1960. The station had just adopted a top-40 format.
At the age of 20, Jimmy O’Neill had the most popular program in his time slot, making him the youngest person ever to have a No. 1 show.Jimmy was 24 when he hosted “Shindig!” which was on ABC television from September 1964 to January 1966 and for a time ran twice a week. Besides the Beatles, among its list of superstars, “Shindig!” featured the Who, the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, the Beach Boys, and the Righteous Brothers.
Jimmy was also the owner of Pandora’s Box, an influential Sunset Strip music venue in West Hollywood, California.Jimmy eventually left Los Angeles for KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then WOW, Omaha, Nebraska, where John Erling worked with him at WOW and KOIL.Jimmy was 73 when he died January 11th, 2013.
For Jimmy’s story, John interviewed Jimmy’s former wife Eve O’Neil, whose brother was actor Troy Donahue.If you search the web for Jimmy O’Neill, you’ll find examples of his extraordinary work. Listen to the Jimmy O’Neill story on the oral history website and podcast VoicesofOklahoma.com.
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Mar 7, 2023
James C. Leake
James C. Leake was a Television pioneer along with his wife Marjory Griffin Lake and brother-in-law John “J.T.” Griffin. In the 1940s, they applied to the FCC for licenses to put television stations in Little Rock, Arkansas (KATV), Tulsa, Oklahoma (KTUL) and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (KWTV). They put these three stations on the air in nine months.
What you are about to hear is James Leake describing the process from application time, their competition, money issues, to building studios, and to when they went on the air, December 1953.It was February 3, 1998, when Mr. Leake recorded this oral history account of Oklahoma and Arkansas television. He was 83 years old when he talked for an hour without an interviewer or notes as he recalled in interesting detail the many challenges they faced in constructing these stations “put on by folks who had never seen it.”
We are grateful to Nancy and Richard Sevenoaks (daughter and son-in-law) of Jimmy Leake for providing this recording. James C. Leake was 86 when he died July 3, 2001.
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Feb 27, 2023
Ernestine Dillard
Ernestine Dillard of Bixby, Oklahoma is perhaps best remembered for her April 23, 1995 performance when she electrified 11,000 mourners and a national television audience with her “God Bless America” vocal arrangement. The medley closed the Oklahoma City Memorial Service honoring the victims of the Murrah Building bombing.
In 1994, Ernestine Dillard ended a 33-year career as a registered nurse—the last two years with the Tulsa County Health Department—to pursue music full time. That same year Dillard won the “American Traditions” competition at Savannah Onstage, an annual music festival in Georgia City.
Her performance career since then has included concert appearances at the American Cathedral in Paris; Geneva, Switzerland; the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Philadelphia’s “Let Freedom Ring” celebration featuring General Colin Powell; the Turner Broadcasting Trumpet Awards during 1996 and 1997 programs in Atlanta, Georgia; and many other prestigious events.
Ernestine Dillard received further awards and honors because of her community service and work with children.
Ernestine died February 16th, 2023.
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