Johnny Western
WMA Hall of Fame Member

When Johnny Western was 5 years old, he saw his first Gene Autry-Smiley Burnette movie, 'Guns and Guitars.' From then on, Johnny wanted to be a singing cowboy.

His musical tastes were formed by listening to Gene and other stars of the era, and he received his first guitar at age 12. By his next birthday, he had already sung on the radio with it. Two years later, Johnny had his own radio show. In 1951, before finishing high school, he was booked on a rodeo tour with the Sons of the Pioneers.

In 1954, Johnny had his own tv show, 'Circle 6 Ranch Time' where, as the singing cowboy host, he introduced the daily western movie. This helped make it possible for him to open for Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Rex Allen and others when they performed in the area, and he often had them as guests on his show.

Western idolized Johnny Bond. He has been quoted as saying, "Every guitar note that I ever learned, I learned from listening to Johnny Bond on Gene Autry records." When Bond left Gene Autry's touring show in 1956, Gene, who was already familiar with Western's ability, hired him to go on the road. Working with musical legends Gene Autry, Merle Travis and the Cass County Boys was clearly one of the highlights of his career. Subsequently, Johnny appeared in western films with John Russell, Joel McCrea, Ben Johnson and others, and later worked in tv westerns. His tv work led to his best-known composition and recording, "The Ballad of Paladin."

Western was to record that song again on his classic album, 'Have Gun, Will Travel,' on which he was accompanied by the Sons of the Pioneers. Later, he composed the theme for the Chuck Conners film, 'Geronimo.' He also wrote and recorded the theme from the Hugh O'Brien film, 'The Streets of Old Dodge City' and toured and recorded several albums with Johnny Cash.

Johnny Western continues to perform western music on stage and to play it for thousands of fans as an award-winning disc jockey on KFDI in Wichita.