Jerry Jericho

In the Houston, TX area honky-tonk scene Jerry Jericho was known as Smilin’ Jerry Jericho. Early in his career, Jericho served as vocalist for Ben Christian’s Texas Cowboys. His career wasn’t big enough to get him listed in The Handbook of Texas Music. However, historian and prolific liner-notes writer Andrew Brown notes in his blog that Jericho was “a star in Texas.” But unlike George Jones, Claude Gray, Sleepy LaBeef, and Moon Mullican, among others, Jericho was never able to make a national breakout in spite of many local/regional recordings and a handful of local hits. As for why, in spite of 20-plus years of regional popularity, Jericho never became a national star like Gray, Jones, or LaBeef, Bush — who drummed in Jericho’s band in the late 1950s — surmises his uncle “didn’t keep up with the times.” “Another factor was he didn’t really want to leave Houston,” adds Bush. “He had a bunch of offers to be part of the Louisiana Hayride, but he didn’t want to do it because they didn’t pay you anything. The people that ran the Hayride thought the exposure you got being on the show and on the weekly radio program was enough compensation because you could then go play shows and advertise yourself that way, just like the Grand Ole Opry worked. That’s how Elvis and Hank and others got jump-started, but Jerry had a nice house here and a family and he just wouldn’t do it for no pay. He had plenty of work.” Jericho passed away in 1993.