Bob Atcher
Atcher as the host of "Meadow Gold Ranch", a children's show on WENR-TV in the early 1950s.
Atcher as the host of "Meadow Gold Ranch", a children's show on WENR-TV in the early 1950s.
Background information
Birth nameJames Robert Owen Atcher
BornMay 11, 1914 (1914-05-11)
Hardin County, Kentucky, US
DiedOctober 31, 1993(1993-10-31) (aged 79)
Prospect, Kentucky, US
GenresCountry
Instrument(s)Guitar, fiddle
Years active1937-1966
LabelsARC, Okeh Records, Columbia Records, Capitol Records, Kapp Records

James Robert Owen "Bob" Atcher (May 11, 1914[1] – October 31, 1993)[2] was an American country musician.

Biography

Atcher was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States,[1] and learned violin and guitar from his father, who was a champion fiddle player.[2] He started out on radio in Louisville on WHAS, and was offered spots on a number of other stations in the American South and Midwest.[1] In 1939, he was offered a regular gig on Chicago station WBBM which was broadcast nationally by CBS.[2] The show made him a national star, and he signed with ARC just before CBS bought the company. After the purchase Atcher was transferred to Okeh Records and then to Columbia Records, both CBS subsidiaries.[2]

Productive Years

Between 1939 and 1942, he recorded many duets with Loeta Applegate, who went by the stage name "Bonnie Blue Eyes."[1] Among these was the first No. 1 of Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine".[1] He scored two solo hits with versions of "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes"[1] and Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor Over You". On May 5, 1942, in his last session before joining the United States Army, he and Bonnie Blue Eyes recorded "Pins and Needles (In My Heart)" by Fred Rose, which charted for most of 1943, and went on to become a standard for the wartime era.

Post WWII

After returning to performing in 1946, he charted hits, including "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" and "I Must Have Been Wrong".[1] Bob's younger brother Randy Atcher also appeared on some of his records.[2] In 1948, Atcher signed on with WLS and became a performer on their National Barn Dance.[1] He also released a long play (LP) entitled Early American Folk Songs in 1948, which was among the earliest LPs released by Columbia.[2] In 1950, he signed with Capitol Records, and later in the 1950s moved to Kapp Records.[2] In 1950, he recorded "Christmas Island" with the Dinning Sisters. He continued with the Barn Dance well into the 1960s, and re-signed to Columbia that decade, re-recording many of his songs in stereo.[2]

Atcher was the star of Junior Rodeo, a television program that debuted on ABC on November 15, 1952. Broadcast on alternate Saturday mornings from Chicago, the Western children's program had members of the audience participating in follow-the-leader activities.[3]

Atcher, like Gene Autry, was a shrewd businessman, and bought several businesses and invested in banking, with the proceeds from his career.[2] He was also the mayor of Schaumburg, Illinois from 1959 to 1975.[1] He died on Halloween day in 1993.

Atcher Pool in Schaumburg is named after him. Shortly before he died, the Municipal Center in Schaumburg was named in his honor. The center was dedicated in March 1995.

"You Are My Sunshine"
Single by Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes
B-side"Crying Myself To Sleep"
PublishedJanuary 30, 1940 (1940-01-30) Southern Music Publishing Co Inc
ReleasedFebruary 1940 (1940-02)
RecordedJanuary 17, 1940 (1940-01-17)[4]
StudioStevens Hotel, 720 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, Ill
GenreHillbilly
Length2:40
LabelVocalion 05370[5]
Songwriter(s)Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell

Hillbilly-Folk Chart Hits

Year Pos Artist Label Record Date Title composer(s)
19401Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue EyesVocalion Single 05370February 1940[4]You Are My SunshineFirst #1 record June 1940[6][7]
19417Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue EyesOkeh single 06395April 27, 1941[4]Doesn't Matter AnymoreLahn
19422Bob AtcherOkeh single 05134September 15, 1939[4]I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue EyesAlvin Pleasant Carter
19423Bob AtcherOkeh single 06496November 11, 1941[4]Walking the Floor Over YouErnest Tubb
19428Bob AtcherOkeh single 06639January 20, 1942[4]Don't Let Your Sweet Love DieRoy Hall
194215Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue EyesOkeh single 06496November 11, 1941[4]Sweethearts Or StrangersJimmie Davis and Lou Wayne
194229Bob AtcherOkeh single 06686May 5, 1942[4]Sorrow On My MindFloyd Jenkins aka Fred Rose
19432Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue EyesOkeh single 06689May 5, 1942[4]Pins and Needles (In My Heart)Floyd Jenkins
194315Bob AtcherOkeh single 06689January 20, 1942[4]Time AloneFloyd Jenkins
19467Bob AtcherColumbia single 36983February 25, 1946I Must Have Been WrongBob Atcher[8]
19486Bob AtcherColumbia single 37991November 3, 1947Signed, Sealed And DeliveredCowboy Copas, Lois Mann aka Sydney Nathan[8]
19499Bob AtcherColumbia single 20611July 22, 1949Why Don't You Haul Off And Love MeLonnie Glosson, Wayne Raney[8]
194912Bob AtcherColumbia single 20557February 6, 1949Tennessee BorderJimmy Work[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 0-85112-726-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Bob Atcher | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Last Week's Network Changes". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. November 16, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-19-513989-5.
  5. ↑ Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes; Davis; Mitchell (1940), You Are My Sunshine, Internet Archive, Okeh, retrieved August 23, 2021
  6. ↑ You Are My Sunshine - Bob Atcher | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-08-30
  7. ↑ "The Billboard July 27, 1940 p84". worldradiohistory.com. July 27, 1940. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 35.
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