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destroyed the front of the Holleys’ car. He got the job and started drawing blueprints for Panhandle Steel. Around this time he considered electrical engineering as a profession. During his last two years of school he dreamed of becoming a recording artist, but he was enough of a realist to know that the chances against this happening were overwhelming. He knew he had to have something to fall back on.
    Working every angle to break into local radio, he boldly invaded station KSEL one day and informed a startled employee that he wanted to see Ben Hall, the DJ who was taking the one-to-three- P.M. shift. Impressed with Buddy’s moxie, Hall, a singer-songwriter, invited Buddy to perform with him at a local sports arena where occasional musical programs were held. For their first gig together Buddy arrived carrying an electric guitar and wearing a large white cowboy hat. Weldon Myrick, an outstanding young steel guitarist who’d played with Jim Reeves and Ferlin Husky by the time he was sixteen, performed with Buddy and Jack Neal that night. The gig went so well that, afterwards, Hall frequently used Buddy as a backup instrumentalist. In 1953, Hall and the entire staff of KSEL bolted and moved to KDAV, establishing America’s first all-C&W radio station. Buddy had his heart set on appearing on KDAV’s popular “Sunday Party,” hosted by station owner Dave Pinkston, whose professional name was “Pappy” Dave Stone. Pinkston once explained that his surname was too hard for callers to the station to pronounce, so he dropped the first syllable of his surname and changed “ston” to Stone.
    Buddy and Jack Neal were still doing Saturday morning kiddie shows, which were regularly scouted by KDAV assistant manager Hi Pockets Duncan. In the latter part of September 1953, Hi Pockets auditioned them. They sang a duet at KDAV’s studio at 6602 Quirt Avenue. Hi Pockets described their music as C&W “with a little upbeat” or rockabilly, as it would shortly be known.
    “You have a beat of your own,” Hi Pockets told Buddy. “You’re destined to be a star.” He offered to host Buddy’s radio debut. “The Buddy and Jack Show” went on the air November 8, 1953, opening with Hank Williams’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” The newly discovered pair received fan mail almost immediately. Their fans wrote out the titles of songs they wanted to hear them sing on the air.
    Grateful to Hi Pockets for discovering him, Buddy carefully hand-tooled a western belt and presented it to his benefactor. Larry described the belt as “a beautiful professional job.” Unfortunately, it was too small for the paunchy Hi Pockets, who nevertheless kept it and treasured it for many years.
    William Joseph “Hi Pockets” Duncan, Buddy’s champion and staunchest supporter, was a big, bright-eyed, good-natured DJ with a toothy grin like actor James Whitmore’s. Injured in World War II, he walked with a cane for years before completely recovering from his wounds. Originally from Amarillo, Texas, he launched his nickname by opening a fifteen-minute hillbilly radio show with the impromptu announcement, “This is Hi Pocket Hank’s Hillbilly Hop presented by Henry Clay’s Food Store.” He also formed a band, Hi Pockets Duncan and His Texas Hot Shots, and played local events like Lubbock’s 1953 Labor Day dance at the VFW Hall.
    Now a hit at KDAV, Buddy and Jack felt free to hang out there, teaching themselves everything there was to know about broadcasting and recording equipment and listening to the station’s extensive record collection. Hi Pockets and Ben Hall always greeted them warmly and made them feel at home. Dave Stone, another ardent advocate of Buddy’s, recorded the duo on acetate on November 10, 1953. Buddy played lead guitar and Jack sang “I Saw the Moon Crying Last Night” and “I Hear the Lord Callin’ for Me.”
    Because Neal had a girlfriend he was serious about, he was holding down a full-time job as an electrical