New biography explores life of ‘Ozark Jubilee’ producer Si Siman
Today, Si Siman is popularly recognized for helping establish “Ozark Jubilee,” the first regularly-broadcast live country music show on network television, produced in Springfield. But Siman, an area native, had other plans growing up. He wanted to be a professional baseball player.
Throughout childhood, Siman played on numerous local baseball leagues, including as the star player for the Br’er Foxball baseball cub. At 11-years-old, he began working as a batboy for the Springfield Cardinals, handling bats and cleaning uniforms after games. And at 16, Siman became the driver for St. Louis Cardinals Scout Charley Barrett, a job he kept for three summers.
Ultimately, Siman left baseball altogether, after an unsuccessful stint with a team in Beloit, Kansas. After suffering an injury, he didn’t feel strong or fast enough to play with the others.
Stories like these, of Siman’s childhood and life before “Ozark Jubilee,” make up the fabric of Kathryn “Kitty” Ledbetter’s new book, “Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads.” Ledbetter co-authored the book with Siman’s son, Scott Foster Siman.
Both a biography on Siman and an exploration of the “Ozark Jubilee,” the 240page book was published by The University of Arkansas Press and released on Friday.
Getting started
After retiring from Texas State University during the pandemic, Ledbetter wasn’t ready to sit back and just quilt during retirement. She was ready for another project. A former English professor and published author, Ledbetter was interested in exploring a topic important to Springfield’s history.
“I was sorry to find that, after I left Springfield in 1981 to follow radio and academic pursuits, many of the ‘(Ozark) Jubilee’ performers and KWTO staff had passed,” Ledbetter said. Though humble about her experiences, Ledbetter too left a significant mark on Springfield’s radio history. She was Springfield’s first female disc jockey.
“Although there were some excellent articles about Si Siman in Springfield Magazine and the News-Leader, it didn’t seem enough for a guy who was at the center of the Jubilee production and also had a fascinating life story as an entertainment entrepreneur since the age of 10.”
On a whim, Ledbetter sent a message to Siman’s children, Scott Foster Siman and Jaynie Chowning, which she compared to a “job application,” rather than a “query about archives.” The siblings, according to Ledbetter, were both interested in the idea of a book about their father; Chowning had even been working on one herself over the years.
Without even signing a contract, the trio began working together. Scott Siman had a particular interest in researching and writing about his father’s childhood baseball passion and music publishing career. Ledbetter took on the rest.
Ledbetter said it didn’t take her long to fall in love with the Siman family, both through her dealings with Scott and Jaynie and research on Si.
“I’m an only child ... I was alone all the time, and my God, those Siman kids just grew up on a farm out on Rosie Acres on the end of Fremont. Tennessee Ernie Ford would be standing in the driveway when they got off the school bus. They got to be backstage at the (’Ozark) Jubilee’ and they sang and were recorded ... they had these huge family dinners ... and I just fell in love with the family. I didn’t get to meet Rosie or Si, but I love Jaynie and I love Scott. I admired the family from a distance.”
In addition to help from the Siman family, Ledbetter worked closely with Brooks Blevins, the editor of the Ozarks Studies series at The University of Arkansas Press.
It was Blevins, Ledbetter said, who helped re-center her during the writing and editing process when she found herself too “caught up in the emotion” of Siman’s life.
“At the end of a long editing process, he said I needed to rework a chapter one more time,” Ledbetter said of Blevins. “I wrote to him and said, ‘You must really want this book.’ He said, ‘Yes, I do, and you are the only one who can write it.’ His comment is posted in my office next to a quote I found in some magazine: ‘Give someone a book, they’ll read for a day. Teach someone how to write a book, they’ll spend a lifetime mired in paralyzing self-doubt.’”
Who was Si Siman and what was “Ozark Jubilee”?
Ely Earl “Si” Siman Jr. was born to Ely Siman Sr. and Lillian Siman in January 1921 in a two-bedroom house on Normal Street. After a childhood full of baseball and entrepreneurship — Siman was known around his neighborhood for hosting movie nights in his family’s garage and selling popsicles and roasted peanuts from an orange cart on wheels — he joined the Navy in 1942, according to “Broadcasting the Ozarks.” He worked as a weather forecaster for the Navy until 1946.
Upon returning home, Siman approached KWTO co-founder Ralph Foster about a job at the radio station. Siman had worked part-time at the station doing odd jobs when he was only 13 and post-Navy was looking for something more permanent. In addition to working at the station years before, Siman had experience working with musicians in the community.
Before Siman joined the Navy — before he even graduated from high school — he was promoting concerts at venues around Springfield, including the Half-a-Hill dance hall in Galloway and the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine downtown. He promoted concerts for musicians including Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.
Foster didn’t take any convincing. Siman was hired on at KWTO and excelled at promotion and advertisement. When he started, he was paid $70 a week.
After a successful first few years with KWTO, which was established in Springfield in 1933, Foster was interested in exploring television. Specifically, he was interested in barn dance programs, which showcased entertainment on live television.
Foster was inspired by previous television shows that offered barn dance programs like NBC’s “Village Barn” in 1948, ABC’s “Hayloft Hoedown” in 1948 and NBC’s “Saturday Night Jamboree” in 1949, according to “Broadcasting the Ozarks.” But none of these shows lasted long.
It took more than a year for Foster, Siman and their KWTO colleagues to prepare for the launch of “Ozark Jubilee.” Siman took the reigns on many of the connections, helping establish a publishing company, gather the necessary equipment for a live television show and establishing a relationship with network television partners.
The first episode of “Ozark Jubilee” aired on Dec. 26, 1953. The show was broadcast for one hour each week on local television station KYTV. The first episode featured performances by Speedy Haworth, Bob White, Zed Tennis and Willis Brothers.
Only two years after its local debut, “Ozark Jubilee” premiered on national television on ABC in January 1955. The show quickly became a success. Following the national premiere, viewers from 45 states sent in more than 25,000 cards and letters to KYTV expressing their interest in the show.
For the majority of its run, “Ozark Jubilee” was filmed at the Jewell Theatre, an at-the-time-unused theater half a block south of Route 66 on Jefferson Avenue. The theater allowed “Ozark Jubilee” to not only entertain audiences at home but a live audience in Springfield. Due to its popularity, tickets for the show often sold out quickly.
“Ozark Jubilee” put Springfield and the Ozarks at large on the map when it came to country music. Several musicians who started off performing on the show moved on to sign record label contracts in Nashville, many aided by Siman.
Until its conclusion in September 1961, “Ozark Jubilee” hosted musicians including Red Foley, Jean Shepard, Grady Martin, Gene Autry and Chet Atkins, to name a few.
After “Ozark Jubilee,” Siman continued working in entertainment, managing radio and television stations and working with various country music artists.
He died in September 1994 after battling Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma for nearly five years.
Where can you purchase ‘Broadcasting the Ozarks’?
h University of Arkansas Press: paperback for $19.46 or cloth for $29.96
h Amazon: paperback for $25.95 or hardcover for $39.95
h Magers & Quinn Booksellers: hardcover for $39.95
For those interested in learning more about the book’s creation, the Springfield-Greene County Library Center is hosting Ledbetter and Scott Siman for a program, Hillbilly Music in the 1950s: Si Siman and “Ozark Jubilee,” on Thursday, May 2 from 7-8 p.m. Held in the Library Center’s auditorium, Ledbetter and Scott Siman will discuss both their work on the book and Si Siman’s influences. Books will be available for purchasing and signing.
At the end of May, Ledbetter and Scott Siman will visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and International Country Music Conference at Belmont University in Nashville to discuss the book.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com .