From The Houston Tribune
JEANNA CLARE AND DON MAHONEY
by Gloria Cambell Cross
"Without a song, the day would never end. Without a song, a man ain’t got a friend. Without a song, the road would never bend. So I keep singing the song." –Elvis Presley, 1970.
He was a singing cowboy and she was a country girl from Beaumont, Texas, with a big singing voice. They were pioneers in the fledgling industry of television, syndicating their Houston based television show for children to air in New York City and several other cities around the country. "My name was really Vera Rowley and my nickname was Dido. We were working in television and I wanted to change my name. Since Saint Clare is the patron saint of television, I chose Clare as a last name and used Jeanna in memory of my sister," she told me.
Jeanna Clare is best known as the sidekick of singing cowboy, Don Mahoney, but before she met Don, she established her own musical career singing on the radio with her brother, Jerry Rowley and his wife, Evelyn, in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas. They were known as the "Rowley Trio." Dido played the bass fiddle, Jerry played the fiddle, and Evelyn played the piano. Traveling through Beaumont, Fabor Robinson, the manager for Johnny Horton and the owner of Fabor Records, heard them on the radio. He liked their sound and asked them to audition for the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana.
They became regular performers on the popular show. When Fabor began managing Jim Reeves, he asked the trio to join their tour, and they began traveling all over the United States. Touring the country, the trio met all the country and western singers of the time. One night in Longview, Texas, Hank Williams walked up to Jeanna and said, "Hey good looking, what you got cooking?" They shared a laugh together. Slim Whitman, the Brown Trio, Johnny Cash, and a very young George Jones were among their friends. George asked them if he could sing on the radio with them. They added George to their little group and changed their name to "The Rowley Trio Plus One–George Jones." The radio station let their listeners phone in and request songs and who they wanted to sing, Jerry, George, or Dido (Jeanna).
The Louisiana Hayride remained their base, and the trio was singing there when a very bashful, very humble Elvis Presley came to sing at the Hayride. He was just breaking into show business. Jim Reeves flew out to Hollywood for a screen test, and one night sitting backstage with Jeanna, Elvis wistfully asked her, "Do you think I will ever get a screen test?"
"Sure," she told him. "You’ll be the biggest star ever." Elvis was surprised by her answer, and asked, "Do you really think I’ll really become a big star?" Jeanna told him, "Yes, its written all over you." Elvis introduced his mother and father to Jeanna when they came to hear him sing.
Eventually Jerry and Evelyn wanted to start a family and settle down, so the group broke up. George Jones joined the Marines and Jeanna flew to Hollywood to sign a singing contract with Imperial Records. Later she asked for permission from Imperial Records to sing for Fabor Records. When Jeanna’s mother became sick, she moved back to Beaumont to help take care of her, and began working in the restaurant at the Jefferson Airport.
Don started his career during the 1940’s, making movies in the genre of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. He actually left Hollywood and moved home to Houston because he was losing his eyesight. Growing up in Houston, he wanted to be back in familiar territory. He once told a reporter, "I remember when Kirby Drive dead-ended at Bissonnet. I would ride my horse right down Kirby to Westheimer, ride on up Westheimer to the Tower Theatre, tie up my horse, and see a movie."
Al Jolson, a friend of Don’s told him, "There are four things to use in show business if you want to be successful. Work with kids, wave the flag, have something to do with animals, or have something to do about mothers." Using that advice, Don started a children’s television show called, "Don Mahoney and His Kiddie Troupers." The set for the television show was an old barn with an old water barrel, and an American flag hung on the wall. They rode in on horses and had mothers and children as guests. Following Al Jolson’s advice, the show became very successful. Soon Don was doing six live television shows per week. He would fly to Lubbock for a show one day (where young Buddy Holly was once a guest), then off to Fort Worth the next day (where Elvis appeared on the show), then to San Antonio, Beaumont, and Houston. The talent show format and Al Jolson’s good advice were working, but as his vision deteriorated, he was a cowboy in need of a sidekick.
A friend working at the airport with Jeanna told her about a fellow who flew in every week to tape a television show and that maybe Jeanna should meet him. That was a fateful meeting in 1957 for Vera "Dido" Rowley and Don Mahoney. Jeanna gave him one of her records to listen to, and he was impressed. He invited her to be on his television show the next week. That was the beginning of not just a new career but also the beginning of a life-changing friendship between the two. When Jeanna joined the show, Don changed the name to "Don Mahoney and Jeanna Clare and Their Kiddie Troupers." She moved to Houston to live with Don, his wife, Christine, and their four daughters. They worked side by side for many years. Jeanna dressed up in cowgirl outfits to match Don’s flashy duds, and they both wore big hats. When they were not taping the television show, Don and Jeanna made special personal appearances at supermarkets and malls throughout Texas, promoting their book, "Don Mahoney: The Man With a Million Eyes."
I asked Jeanna why they chose that name for the book. She told me, "Before he met me, he followed the crowd to get where he needed to be, so he felt like he had a million eyes." Jeanna was not just his singing partner and his television saddle pal; she became his eyes. It is not just coincidence that Jeanna chose Clare for her last name. Saint Clare is also the Patron Saint of eye disease.
Don is deceased and Jeanna lives quietly in the Heights. She remembers the words of Elvis and from time to time she still sings her songs for special occasions at the retirement home where she lives.
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Posted Friday, September 1, 2006 at 1:29 PM
Posted Friday, September 1, 2006 at 2:41 PM
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