See indiviudal listings for biographical information on Dido Rowley and Jerry Rowley.
Jerry and Dido Rowley were brother and sister, born and raised near Beaumont Texas in Nederland Texas. Their careers started in Beaumont as backup band on Radio Station KFDM for Lefty Frizzell, a position they continued at the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport Louisiana for Johnny Horton. As a trio, Jerry and Dido were joined by Jerry Rowley's wife, Evelyn.
The trio backed Johnny Horton's first work at the Louisiana Hayride. They performed on their own at the Louisiana Hayride but also backed Johnny Horton and traveled with him performing throughout the West. Dido played the bass and guitar, Jerry played the fiddle and Evelyn played the piano. Working with Johnny Horton as "The Singing Fisherman and the Rowley Trio" and then as "Johnny Horton and the Roadrunners,” they were also responsible for getting Johnny to his next gigs. He was notorious for wanting to stop to hunt or fish along the way. In fact, during this period of Johnny Horton's career, he also worked as a fishing tackle demonstrator to make ends meet. This was the source of his moniker, "The Singing Fisherman."
The various configurations of Rowley performances on Abbott Records reflect the way the label operated. Fabor Robison had a studio complex in Malibu, California, where musicians and sometimes artists resided while working. They played without concern for studio time on the clock because it was an inhouse facility for the label and Robison’s music-publishing company, Dandelion Music. He was known to have many takes on the recordings and try different configurations of artists. “My Little King,” for instance, which Dido Rowley recorded, was also recorded by the song’s writer, Dusty Rose. The same experimental attitude applied to the groups, where the Rowleys might perform singly, doubly or as a trio, depending on what Robison thought might work.
