Ben Hall (2)

West Texas country singer, songwriter, recording engineer and disc jockey in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Alvord, Texas on June 13, 1924. Died July 6, 2010. Father of Monty Mendenhall. In 1945 he began performing on radio station KSTB in Breckenridge, Texas. With just his guitar, at first, but later organized his first band, the Mesa Valley Boys, which played every Saturday at the station. Hall also worked there as a disc jockey and announcer with a 90 minute country music program. During this time he began a live Saturday night country music show at the 250-seat American Legion Hall called Country Roundup. In early 1953 Hall moved to Lubbock, Texas and worked as a disc jockey at KSEL. He performed on the live broadcasts of the KSEL Western Jamboree, often using local musicians in his band. At various times, Hall's band included Sonny Curtis, Buddy Holly, Weldon Myrick and Hall's wife Dena Hall on bass. Hall left KSEL in late 1953 and moved to KDAV, where he stayed until the end of 1954. During this time, he wrote "Blue Days, Black Nights," which became Buddy Holly's first single in April 1956. Hall went on to work at radio and television stations in various Texas markets including Wichita Falls, Vernon, Fort Worth and Dublin until 1956 when he went to work at a television station in Big Spring, Texas, where he stayed for the next 10 years. Hall performed on the television station with Weldon Myrick and Dena Hall as the Circle Four Ramblers. In 1958, he built a small recording studio in his garage to record demos of his songs. He named it High Fidelity House, and it became the first professional recording facility in the area, attracting many regional artists. Dena Hall worked in the studio as a bass player. At this studio Hall released singles by The Continentals, The Elgins and the Shades, but his first artist was Sammy Lara. In 1964 the studio produced the smash hit 'Bread and Butter' by the Newbeats which rose to #2 on the pop charts. Hall and Dena also started their own label, Gaylo Records (2). In 1968, Hall and his wife moved to Nashville and setup a brand new studio.