Tiny Stokes

Dwight "Tiny" Stokes (1920-1999) who was best known as the bass player and lead tenor of the comedic country group, Captain Stubby & The Buccaneers. The Chicago-based group was together for several decades, most notably starring on the WLS National Barn Dance program, as well as local and nationally syndicated programs on the ABC network. Stokes was born in Springfield, Missouri but like many entertainers in the radio era he moved around a lot, living in Monticello, Indiana and Helena, Montana among other places, before retiring down in Florida. It was up in Montana in the early 'Sixties while working as a radio deejay that Tiny Stokes met a factory worker and aspiring country singer named Charley Pride, whose career he championed, introducing the future chart-topper to Red Foley, who helped then Pride break into the Nashville scene. Though not known as a solo artist, Stokes recorded prolifically with the Buccaneers, both on Decca singles and countless airshots; he was also known for the hillbilly hit, "Blackfoot Boogie," a Montana-themed novelty number he recorded in 1956 with a group called the Frontiersmen. (The song name-checks every country bar in the state, one by one, city by city, and is about as specific a shout-out song as you'll ever hear...)