O.W. Mayo

Born in Booneville, Mississippi, in 1901, O.W. Mayo became the manager of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys and in 1934 moved with them to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the group found great success in a partnership with radio station KVOO. They began broadcasting live from Cain's Ballroom, often with Mayo as the announcer. He eventually bought the club in 1944. As a songwriter, Mayo contributed to several songs performed and recorded by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys and Johnnie Lee Wills & His Boys, the most famous of which was “Blues for Dixie”, a tribute to his birthplace. He also partnered with the Wills brothers in rodeo promotion and eventually became a civic leader in Tulsa, where he died in 1994 at the age of 93.