Starday 174 Cool Pre-Rockabilly Born William F. Nettles, 13 March 1903 (1907, according to Joel Whitburn), Natchitoches, Louisiana Died 5 April 1967, Monroe, Louisiana Bill Nettles was a noted songwriter and country singer over a span of three decades. A disabled navy veteran of World War I, Nettles and his brother Norman were the core of various ensembles in Shreveport - the Dixie Blue Boys, and the Nettles Brothers for example - popular on KWKH radio, and oft recorded by Vocalion and Bluebird/RCA (1937-45). In addition, Nettles is reported to have written the huge 1934 hit "Nobody's Darling But Mine" for Jimmie Davis. Nettles's own early recordings often bear Davis's name as co-writer, and in later years Nettles wrote a song about the Davis hit called "The Story Of Nobody's Darling". Nettles's beautiful "Have I Waited Too Long?" was introduced at KWKH in 1943 by Radio Dot and Smoky, and later became Faron Young's theme song. Along with Harmie Smith, Bob Shelton, Dick Hart, young Webb Pierce, and host Hal Burns, Nettles & His Dixie Blue Boys helped to launch a twice-weekly Louisiana Hayride program on KWKH in the summer of 1945 that predated the more famous auditorium show by almost three years. Nettles moved to Monroe, LA., in 1946, and except for short performance stays in Jackson, Mississippi, and Orange, Texas, he remained there for the rest of his life. He continued to record, on the Bullet and Imperial labels, and then found his greatest success with Mercury <b>...</b>
Hillbilly
Boogie
