The first recordings of the Williams-Ellis team were made in the studios of WHRV. The fact that Red was well known as a gospel bluegrass DJ probably opened doors for live performances. Red Ellis and Jimmy Williams both wrote songs - sometimes co-writing a song. By the later part of 1958, the two had put together a band and recorded several songs for what was to become their first release. Red and Jimmy started getting together to pick - Jimmy on mandolin and Red on guitar. Jimmy was living in Detroit and working at a Cadillac plant at the time.
Red says "I didn't much believe him, but invited him out, and when I heard him play I believed him." The caller was Jimmy Williams who by this time had worked with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Mac Wiseman's Country Boys, as well as the Stanley Brothers. In the fall of 1958, Red was playing a Stanley Brothers record on the radio ("I think it was 'Memories Of Mother'"), and he received a call from a fellow who said he was playing mandolin on the record. Many of the factory workers in and around Detroit were from the Appalachians who enjoyed the country and bluegrass music that Red played on the radio. In 1957, Red added DJ responsibilities to his work at WHRV. WHRV (later WAAM) in nearby Ann Arbor as an engineer. Agee cowrote some of the songs that Red recorded, and she sang harmony on several songs.Īfter the move to Ypsilanti, Red went to work at Ford Motor Company and at radio station Before moving to Michigan, Red married Agee Nugent.
His license led to a job offer from American Airlines and a move to Ypsilanti, Michigan near Detroit in 1955. He then passed the FCC test for his First-Class Radio Telephone license. In 1953, he decided to go to the Draughon School of Radio and Television in Little Rock. Upon his honorable discharge as a corporal late in 1952, Red returned to Malvern. Red is using his talent for a ministry in hopes that through it someone may accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. During that time in Korea he wrote a letter to Jesus which he later adapted as a song.īefore his induction into the Army, he and Troy Smith were playing gospel and non gospel music, both got saved at a church service and have done only sacred and gospel music ever since. Red did not know if he would get out of Korea alive. The first time shrapnel knocked out a tooth, and the second time it struck him in the leg. In 1951 at age 21, Red was drafted into the Army, and went to Korea as a medic. Click on any outlined photo to see a larger version. In addition to performing together on the radio program, Red and Troy did personal appearances at schools and jamborees. Red recalls he also learned a good deal about guitar playing from Troy Smith. They did and were joined occasionally by Edd Coston, who taught Red a lot about harmony singing. At this time, Troy Smith had a radio program on KTHS in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The three of them played at jamborees (music festivals) in the Malvern, Hot Springs, and Benton areas in Arkansas. Currington, who played guitar and acoustic bass, and T.F.'s father, who played fiddle. When Red was about 18 years old (1947), he started playing country music with T.F. When he was in the 8th grade, the family moved to Malvern, Arkansas. Red Ellis was born in 1929 on a farm near Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Red has been known to help some friends by playing in the band - sometimes playing several instruments by way of multi-track recording. He plays guitar, mandolin, bass, and sometimes fiddle. Red has written and helped write several songs. At other times the group members were likely performing with other groups or as solists. They may have gotten together to perform only several times a year. They were well known in their region and among gospel bluegrass or country gospel fans, but were never considered nationally famous.
Some of the groups Red sang and played with appeared on radio, TV and recordings.