Bill Allen (aka "Hossman" or "Hoss"; born William Trousdale Allen III, Gallatin, Tennessee; died February 25, 1997, Nashville, Tennessee) was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame and notoriety from the 1950s through the 1990s for playing rhythm and blues and black gospel music on Nashville radio station WLAC. Gallatin is a city in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States. ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Music City Location in Davidson County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates: Country United States State Tennessee Counties Davidson County Founded: 1779 Incorporated: 1806 Mayor Bill Purcell (D) Area    - City 526. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... Rhythm and blues (aka R&B or RnB) is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences — first performed by African American artists. ... hi ... WLAC is a clear channel radio station based in Nashville, Tennessee, operating at 1510 kHz on the AM dial. ...

Allen, the youngest of a quartet of jockeys that included Gene Nobles, "John R." (Richbourg), and Herman Grizzard, wound up having perhaps the longest career of any of them, managing to work for radio stations for some 45 years before his 1993 retirement. Like Richbourg, he also had extensive involvement with Nashville's small but vibrant blues and gospel music scenes, from the 1960s through the 1980s or so. John R. (born John Richbourg, Manning, South Carolina, circa 1910; died February 15, 1986, Nashville, Tennessee) was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame and notoriety in the 1950s and 1960s for playing rhythm and blues music on Nashville radio station WLAC. Richbourg was arguably the most popular and... Blues music redirects here. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ...

Early history

Allen was reared in the small town of Gallatin, some 35 miles northeast of Nashville, by an African-American domestic who worked for his grandparents. Because she was primarily responsible for his nurturing and upbringing (which included taking the young Bill Allen to church with her on Sundays, where he first heard gospel music), he identified primarily with black youngsters as playmates and peers, something highly unusual for the still strongly-segregated South. Allen got the nickname "Hoss" from his grandfather, because of his tall, athletic frame. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... // A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Bob, Rob, Robby, Robbie, Robi, Bobby, Rab, Bert, Bertie, Butch, Bobbers, Bobert, Beto, Bobadito, and Robban (in Sweden), are all short for Robert). ...

He became a jazz musician as a youngster and played, during World War II, in USO shows abroad. After peace came, he enrolled as an English major at Vanderbilt University, where he developed a reputation as a strong amateur actor. Although he considered joining the professional theater at one point, Allen decided instead to enter the more promising field of radio instead, going to work for Gallatin station WIHN in 1948. There, he imitated Gene Nobles' routine of playing R&B and jazz tunes, mixed in with standard pop music. His success was so great, that, after only a few months, he got the courage to approach WLAC for a job there. Jazz is an original American musical art form that originated around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in African American musical styles blended with Western music technique and theory. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... USO is a TLA that may stand for: Unidentified submarine object Udaipur Solar Observatory Ultra stable oscillator Unidentified submarine object or Unidentified swimming object or Unidentified submersible object Union der Schülerorganisationen (uso. ... Vanderbilt University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ... For popular music (music produced commercially rather than art or folk music), see Popular music. ...

Joining WLAC's "50,000 Watt Quartet"

Much like John Richbourg, Allen first went on air at WLAC as, of all things, a talk-show host, but eventually parlayed that into selling ads and producing programs. But the real aim of his labors would open itself up in the mid-1950s, when Nobles took a several-years-long leave of absence from his nightly program. Allen established himself in that slot, peppering liberal amounts of songs by the likes of Ray Charles, Little Richard, Fats Domino and John Lee Hooker with "jive talk"-style commercials, most notably for sponsors Royal Crown Hair Dressing (unrelated to the cola drink) and Buckley's Record Shop, a Nashville-based mail-order business. Ray Charles was the stage name of Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004). ... Little Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman, December 5, 1932 in Macon, Georgia) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Fats Domino (born February 26, 1928 or possibly May 10, 1929 in New Orleans, Louisiana), is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter and pianist. ... John Lee Hooker. ... R.C. Cola (or Royal Crown Cola) is a cola soft drink developed in 1905 by Columbus, Georgia pharmacist Claud A. Hatcher. ...

The "Hugh Baby" interlude

Allen's popularity grew steadily until the early 1960s, when he decided to branch out into the record business itself, taking a job with a label as a field representative. Replacing him at the station for several years was "Hugh Baby" Jarrett, a former member of The Jordannaires vocal group, which backed Elvis Presley at his height of stardom. Jarrett took the "hep cat" idiom into a younger direction, staging sock hop dances, rotating more rockabilly and rock and roll into the blues/R&B playlist, and "pushing the envelope" by dropping sexually suggestive double entendres in the product advertisements. The latter practice eventually led to his termination by WLAC, after receiving a reprimand by the FCC over an incident; Jarrett later lived down that career mistake by compiling a lengthy run on several Atlanta-area stations. Happily, Allen was willing to return to the station afterward, and he resumed his nightly programs. Elvis Aron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often known simply as Elvis and also called The King of Rock n Roll or simply The King, was an American singer, musician and actor. ... A sock hop is a term coined in the 1950s in the United States, following the growth in popularity of rock and roll, to refer to informal sponsored dances at American high schools, typically held on the grounds of the high school itself in the gymnasium or cafeteria. ... 1950s Rockabilly book by Harlan Ellison Rockabilly is one of the earliest forms of rock and roll as a distinct style of music. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... A double entendre or innuendo is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. ... The FCCs official seal. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ...

Keeping the beat into the 1970s

Allen kept spinning the newest releases from the likes of Sam Cooke, Muddy Waters, and Aretha Franklin, while paying attention to the new soul scenes developing in the mid-1960s in two nearby cities: Memphis and Muscle Shoals. His playlist varied from Richbourg, Nobles, and Grizzard mainly in that he emphasized, to a somewhat greater extent, newer releases on his one-to-two-hour shows, heard six nights per week. Sam Cooke (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was a popular and influential American gospel, R&B, soul, pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 or 1913 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the father of Chicago blues. ... Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American gospel, soul and R&B singer born in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The River City, The Bluff City, M-Town Location Location in Shelby County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Tennessee Shelby County Mayor W. W. Herenton (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 294. ... Muscle Shoals is a city located in Colbert County, Alabama, USA. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 11,924, and is included in The Shoals MSA. // Geography Muscle Shoals is located at 34°453 North, 87°391 West (34. ...

Furthermore, "the Hossman" took full advantage of his fame to indulge in passions such as drinking and womanizing, according to Wes Smith, author of "The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll: Radio Deejays of the 50s and 60s" (Longstreet Press, 1989). These activities led to several run-ins with station management and the occasional problem with police. But Allen finally admitted to alcoholism in the early 1970s and obtained treatment for his condition, quite likely prolonging his life. Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ...

Allen hosted a short-lived syndicated television show in 1966 titled "The!!!Beat". This program, of course, featured most of the same artists he played on radio. Episodes of this program were recorded at a Dallas television station, where color facilities were available, something none of the Nashville stations had yet. In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ... Dallas redirects here. ...

All 26 episodes of the show are currently available on DVD. Allen hosts all but the last show. Reportedly, Allen was so distraught that the show had been cancelled, that his drinking got the best of him and he was unable to host the final show. A very understanding and enthusiastic Otis Redding stepped in as host. Otis Ray Redding, Jr. ...

Surviving the purge

In the early 1970s, when longtime cohorts Richbourg and Nobles decided to quit rather than tailor their programs to a new management's desire for the entire station schedule to conform to a pop hits format, Allen opted instead, because he was years away from retirement age, to quietly adjust toward more funk and smooth soul offerings, discontinuing most of the oldies he had been playing. By early 1975, "the Hossman" was the lone jockey still working at WLAC from five years earlier; after a brief absence from the airwaves, he reformatted his show as "Early Morning Gospel Time With The Hossman," a showcase for national and regional soul gospel acts, moving it to the overnight shift from late evening. Since he had been taping his programs from about 1970 onward, this proved to be little if any problem. Funk music was originated by African Americans, e. ...

For about ten years after that move, Allen assumed a much lower public profile, working in his off-station time as a music producer for several local acts. However, WLAC's sister station, WLAC-FM (now WNRQ), used his voice in the mid-1980s for a promotional campaign. This brought his memorable drawling sound back to public consciousness, and ad agencies began to enlist him to supply voiceovers on various radio and television commercials. This became a quite lucrative business for him for several years. WNRQ is an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee broadcasting on a frequency of 105. ...

Meanwhile, Allen continued his gospel show, a favorite among his old African-American listeners in particular, until 1993, some years after WLAC abandoned all other music altogether in favor of a news and talk format in the daytime and paid religion in the evening hours. Although he made a brief attempt to revive his R&B/soul/blues show on Saturday evenings in 1986 and 1987, it collapsed due to lack of promotion and pre-emptions by Vanderbilt football and basketball coverage, to which WLAC held the rights at the time.

After stepping down from regular work on radio, Allen continued his instantly recognizable voiceover projects until about a year or so before his death. Allen was the final of the four jockeys that constituted what fans termed "the 50,000 Watt Quartet."

Famous phrases

"All around, down for Royal Crown"--said during commercials for the hair-care product, used by some African-American youngsters in the 1950s and 1960s; product is still sold as of 2006
"Bless your heart"--Allen used this phrase constantly; derived from a traditional Southern religious greeting
"Camelot time"--informal name for his nightly shows
"Git down time"--phrase originally referred, in the mid 20th-century, to the beginning of prostitution activities at nightfall in places like Gallatin and Nashville; later became a teenage/African-American slang term for dancing, thanks to Allen's frequent use
"Just a touch ... means so DOG-GONE much!"--slogan for Royal Crown Hair Dressing and Pomade
"Well, hello, darlin', hello, darlin'"--Allen's standard greeting to begin his shows
"That's Randy, R-A-N-D-Y, Gallatin, G-A-L-L-A-T-I-N ... Gallatin, Tennessee!"--the closing catch phrase used on 60-second commercials for Randy's Record Shop, a sponsor of "The Hossman"'s (and also Gene Nobles') program for many years on WLAC
"...then YOU have a DISEASED SCALP! And now it's time to CURE UP that diseased scalp...you don't want no itchy head!"--another catch phrase used in the middle of a 60-second spot for a certain mail-order product used to treat psoriasis voiced by Hoss Allen. Commercials for mail-order products and services such as these were a frequent mainstay during his overnight gospel program. The name Southern has applied to a number of things over the years. ... Whore redirects here. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ...

External links

• WLAC Radio: The Unofficial Webpage - station history
• airchecks
• commercial site offering DVD videos of Allen's 1966 TV show "The!!!Beat"