3 Radio Days

Chapter 3 Radio Days No matter what the kids at school thought, Dolly's family was always proud of her. They saw that she was special and talented, and they did a lot to help her succeed. Uncle Louis noticed Dolly singing all the time and playing a guitar she had made for herself. When she was about eight, he gave her a guitar. It was an old one, but it was real. Dolly's uncle Bill Owens was a musician. He

wanted to help Dolly, too. He got her a chance to sing on the Cas Walker Radio Show, in Knoxville, Tennessee, forty miles away. Dolly had wanted to be on that show since going there on a class field trip. Cas Walker watched the small ten-year-old stand up to the microphone and sing a church song. The audience loved her. Cas hired her on the spot! Dolly sang on the show on Saturdays, during vacations, and all summer. Sometimes she even skipped school to perform. Soon Cas Walker also had a TV show, and Dolly got to be on it. But Dolly's family couldn't watch her, because they didn't have a TV. Once, Cas Walker did a publicity stunt before his show. He dared people to climb a fifty-foot pole to get a fifty-dollar bill at the top. The pole had grease on it and was very slippery. No one could

do it. Dolly had an idea. After she got herself all wet, she rolled around in sand. Then she scooted right up the pole and grabbed the money! It was enough to buy her family a TV! What would Dolly have done without her family? Uncle Bill drove Dolly to her shows. Uncle Louis took Dolly to make tapes of her songs and sent them to record companies and the Grand Ole Opry. Uncle Bill helped Dolly to write a song, "Puppy Love." Another uncle, John Henry, paid for Dolly and her grandmother to go to

Louisiana so Dolly could record the song in a studio there. It was the first time either of them had ever been out of Tennessee. It was a hard trip. They missed a bus in Alabama. What would they do now? They didn't even have money for food. Somehow Dolly and her grandma got to the studio and back, and the record was made.

Dolly was still singing on the Cas Walker Show. She was only thirteen when she moved in with her Aunt Estelle near Knoxville to be closer to the show. THE CAS WALKER RADIO SHOW CAS WALKER STARTED THE RADIO SHOW TO ADVERTISE HIS GROCERY STORES. HE HIRED MANY WELL-KNOWN COUNTRY, GOSPEL, AND BLUEGRASS

MUSICIANS TO PERFORM IN PERSON. THE EVERLY BROTHERS, WHO WERE TEENAGED STARS, WERE OFTEN ON THE SHOW IN THE MID-1950S. THAT MUST HAVE MADE DOLLY WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW EVEN MORE. Uncle Bill took Dolly to Nashville to try to get her on the Grand Ole Opry. It was almost impossible because she was so young. Backstage before the show, Uncle Bill begged the performers to let Dolly go on. One of them let Dolly take his place. This was Dolly's biggest