Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

J. P. RICHARDSON
Jiles Perry Richardson, or the Big Bopper to the rock-and-roll generation,
was born in Sabine Pass, Texas, on October 24, 1930. Richardson attended
high school in Beaumont after his family moved there, and he also began prelaw
studies at Lamar College while working part time at Radio Station KTRM.
In 1949 Richardson opted for full-time employment with the radio station
and over the next few years worked as an announcer and disk jockey in
various time slots, beginning with a late morning “Dishwasher’s Serenade,”
late afternoon, and eventually 9:00 p.m. until midnight. Except for two years
in the U.S. Army, Richardson worked at KTRM for the remainder of his life; in
1957 he set a record for most continuous on-air broadcasting at five days, two
hours, and eight minutes, for which he earned $746 overtime compensation.
Richardson composed songs for country music entertainers George Jones
and Johnny Preston, and in 1958, as the Big Bopper, recorded Chantilly Lace,
which remained in the Top 40 for twenty-two weeks and is a classic song
today. Because of its success, Richardson joined Buddy Holly and Ritchie
Vallens on a tour. Richardson, Holly, and Vallens, died on February 3, 1959,
when their chartered airplane went down en route to Fargo, North Dakota. In
a later recording, artist Don McLean referred to this event in his anthem, The
Day The Music Died.
❖
J. P. Richardson, Jr., “The Big Bopper,”
wrote the hits Chantilly Lace and
Running Bear.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST,
PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS.
Like Charles Dickens’ earlier tale of two (or
more) cities, the south Jefferson County’s
centennial was the best of times for some, the
worst of time for others. A century after their
impact, some citizens had read of Arthur
Stilwell and John Warne Gates in
commemorative issues of the Port Arthur News
or other regional papers, but not all knew of the
rancor between them, or which was the
visionary and which the practical developer.
Just about everyone in the area, dwelling as they
did amongst oil refineries and chemical plants
and close to the Gulf of Mexico, had an
awareness of the important role producing and
refining petroleum and shipping its products to
markets throughout the world had played in the
economic development of the area. They were
aware, too, of the multicultural rainbow
L EE
H AZELWOOD
Barton Lee Hazelwood was born in Mannford, Oklahoma, on July 9, 1929. His father, Gabe
Hazelwood, a wildcatter and dance promoter, moved his family frequently, so Hazelwood attended
high school in Port Neches. Hazelwood’s association with country music, including meeting Bob
Wills when he was still an infant, and his itinerant lifestyle, began with this parental influence.
Hazelwood briefly attended Lon Morris College before serving in the Army in Korea and Alaska
as a member of the Fourth Army Division Band. He married high school sweetheart Naomi
Shackleford in ceremonies held in Port Neches.
Hazelwood attended Spears Broadcasting School in Los Angeles, then became a disc jockey for
Station KCKY in Coolidge, Arizona, the first of many such employments before he became a
successful performer, music writer and producer, and foreign traveler. There he met Al Casey and
Duane Eddy, who also became famous musical performers.
Hazelwood developed his unique “twangy guitar” sound on the way to becoming a headliner
in the 1960s. He wrote and arranged musical scores, performed in movies, and produced records,
most memorably These Boots Are Made For Walking with Nancy Sinatra in 1966.
Thereafter Hazelwood lived and worked mostly in Sweden, England, France, and Spain. He
died on August 4, 2007.
44 ✦ WATER, RAILS & OIL