{"id":12033,"date":"2024-02-22T15:59:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T20:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=12033"},"modified":"2024-02-23T11:24:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T16:24:07","slug":"the-silver-voiced-cyclone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/the-silver-voiced-cyclone","title":{"rendered":"The Silver-Voiced Cyclone"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Collection of Brother Cy Williams of Doc Williams & the Border Riders<\/h2>\n

By Sean Duffy, with Salli J. Barach<\/p>\n

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Note: Thanks to his niece Salli J. Barach, the Ohio County Public Library recently acquired a collection of artifacts once belonging to Cy Williams, fiddle player for the band, \u201cDoc Williams & the Border Riders.\u201d The artifacts are currently on display in the main exhibit area at the Library. Read Salli\u2019s statement.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cCy had a unique, smooth sound on the fiddle and, as brothers, we had a close harmony . . . As I look back, I was truly blessed to have him as part of my show.\u201d \u2013 Doc Williams<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Cy Williams with his sweet-voiced fiddle, Ca 1939. Photo by George Kossuth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Milo Smik (1918-2006) was born July 31, 1918 to Slovak immigrant parents, Andrew and Susie Smik, in Cowansville, PA, north of Pittsburgh. Young Milo learned to play the fiddle from his coal miner father, who also played the Mandolin back in Prague.<\/p>\n

As a \u201chillbilly music\u201d performer, Milo adopted the stage name \u201cCy Williams.\u201d Cy was short for \u201cCyclone,\u201d a nickname earned for his powerful fiddle playing, though his brother Andrew (stage name \u201cDoc Williams\u201d) insisted Cy was \u201cThe boy with the silver-voiced fiddle.\u201d Many of his fans simply claimed Cy was the best fiddle player they\u2019d ever heard.<\/p>\n

The collection contains and a typed list<\/a> of an amazing 105 fiddle tunes known by Cy. We are left wondering what #106 was to be.<\/p>\n

The instrumental song, \u201cMy Little Ole Home in West Virginia,\u201d perhaps best showcases Cy\u2019s fiddle skills.<\/p>\n

Listen to the song.<\/a><\/p>\n

For an example of Cy\u2019s vocals, try My Sinner Friend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Cy later recalled: \u201cI bought this hand-made violin from a distant relative in Cleveland, my hometown, and originally paid $300 for it. My relative used it as a practice violin in the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Curly Sims, who played mandolin for Doc, in the early days at WWVA, used to sandpaper his mandolin to get the right tone. So I started doing this on my violin. I sandpapered the bridges and the body of the violin until I got the tone I wanted. I had really good tones on the high strings, like a gypsy tone. I still have this fiddle. It\u2019s always been my favorite fiddle even though I\u2019ve owned and played several other fiddles on stage and over the radio with Doc.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot for a fiddle during that era. Cy got his first for only $7.50 and learned to play at Doc\u2019s urging as Doc (who had started on the cornet, then the fiddle) learned guitar.<\/p>\n

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Note Cy\u2019s billing as \u201cBobby Sox Crooner.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two brothers started performing together at square dances for their father. While in Cleveland, Doc formed the Allegheny Ramblers with Cy and Curley Sims.\u00a0 In Pittsburgh, in 1935, Doc and Cy performed over KQV-WJAS. Known as the \u201cBobby-Sox Crooner\u201d in his early years, Cy sang harmony with Doc and also did solo work. Cy would then play fiddle for his brother\u2019s band, \u201cDoc Williams and the Border Riders\u201d from 1935 to 1953.<\/p>\n

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Cy with his fiddle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Doc Williams Sound\u201d consisted of Doc on guitar, Marion Martin on accordion, and Cy on fiddle. In addition to the Williams brothers, members of the Border Riders included \u201cSunflower\u201d (Mary Calvas), comedian \u201cRawhide\u201d Fincher, \u201cBig Slim the Lone Cowboy,\u201d and Curly Sims. Doc\u2019s wife Chickie (Jesse Wanda Crupe) joined in 1946.<\/p>\n

Cy also frequently participated in the comedy skits, which were part of the act.<\/p>\n

Doc Williams and the Border Riders traveled the eastern United States and most of Canada to perform. They first performed on \u201cThe World\u2019s Original WWVA Jamboree,\u201d which was broadcast on radio station WWVA, in May 1937. A year later they won the station\u2019s popularity contest with 15,877 write-in votes from their fans.<\/p>\n

But Cy\u2019s contribution wasn\u2019t appreciated by everyone. When some radio station employees claimed the fiddle was no longer popular in country music (ca. 1940), his brother Doc asked for requests for fiddle tunes during a live show. A week later, they had more than 900 requests.<\/p>\n

Cy and Sunflower (Mary Calvas) married in 1938 but divorced shortly Cy served in the U. S. Army in the Philippines during and after WWII from July of 1944 to April 1946.<\/p>\n

After the war, when Doc and Cy performed at Doc\u2019s Music Park at Musselman\u2019s Grove in Claysburg, PA from 1947-49, Cy operated a concession stand, the \u201ccook shack,\u201d between shows, selling hamburgers and hot dogs. He was a meticulous record keeper. His ledgers and hamburger press are in the collection.<\/p>\n

Cy Williams met Dorothy Lenko at one of the Saturday night Jamborees at the Virginia Theatre. He married her on October 9, 1952 and retired from Doc Williams and the Border Riders in 1953. After a year at C.A. House Music in Wheeling selling instruments, he went to work for the Wheeling Post Office, retiring in 1983. He passed in 2006.<\/p>\n

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Doc Williams and the Border Riders, ca late 1930s. L to R: \u201cRawhide\u201d Hamilton Fincher, Cy, Doc, and \u201cSunflower\u201d Mary Calvas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Cy Williams Collection & Exhibit<\/h2>\n
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The Ohio County Public Library now has a collection of Cy William\u2019s memorabilia and artifacts on display in its main exhibit area.<\/p>\n

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\"\"The collection includes:<\/p>\n