From Hillbilly-Music.com: “Chuck Harding’s musical background was a bit different than most hillbilly musicians of the day. He was a trained musician and taught fretted instruments at the Chicago School of Music for three years.”

“The Colorado Cowhands were a group of artists that were quite spread out in their roots. R.T. Mercer, was from Dyer, Tennessee and sang the ‘more serious folk ballads’ and Spanish guitar. Pee Wee Truehitt (or was it Truckett as mentioned in the caption with the picture?) was out of Waco, Texas. As they often said, he slapped the bass fiddle and offered the comedy parts of the act. Adrian Childress was from Knobel, Arkansas and played the fiddle and did vocals. Then there was Jerry La Masters who was a celebrated fiddle virtuoso and was said to have a remarkable breakdown style. The manager of the group was “Scotty” who was also Mrs. Chuck Harding.”

“Around 1950, the group were appearing over radio station KBOA in Kennett, Missouri where they had a two and half hour show each day. They also made personal appearances almost nightly in a 300 mile radius around Kennett.”

“Chuck Harding Around that same time, Dome Records signed up Chuck Harding to a recording contract. Chuck wrote a lot of his own songs and his recordings included tunes such as “Jump Jackrabbit Jump”, “Poor Little Girl”, “Bald Headed Boogie”, “Cotton Pickin’ Blues”, “Talking the Blues” and more.”

“Chuck also had his tunes recorded by other artists. These tunes, (but they didn’t mention who recorded them) included “I’m Going To Write To Heaven”, “A Picture, A Ring, And A Curl”, “Teardrops Every Time It Rains”, “I’m Living In A Lonely World”, “Wasted Love” and more.”

Group Members included: Chuck Harding; R.T. Mercer (Spanish guitar); “Scotty” Adrian Childress (fiddle); Pee Wee Truckett (Truehitt?) (bass); Henry Shropshire (drums) went on to considerable fame as a drummer for many country acts in and around Bakersfield CA. He left Missouri in 1957 after working on and off with Chuck for years. 

The Colorado Cowhands in KBOA’s big, live studio.

The photo above appears to have been taken during a live broadcast. That’s Chuck Harding talking to the little girls. People along the wall are just there to enjoy the show.

Photo courtesy of Brandon Rowe

Chuck Harding’s wife, Oneda. Photo courtesy of Brandon Rowe