Oklahoma Rock Newsblog

Harold Dean “Jody” Taylor (pictured right) of the “Jude ‘n’ Jody” country music duo died Saturday at his home in Lexington. He was 74.

Taylor and childhood friend Julian Delane “Jude” Northcutt formed “Jude ‘n’ Jody” while still teenagers. In 1954, the duo auditioned for and won a spot on a 30-minute weekly show broadcast on KTEN-TV in Ada. Soon they were performing at sock hops, rodeos and county fairs across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.

They went on to make appearances on Hank Thompson’s television show, Jack Beasley’s variety show on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City and “The Mathis Brothers Country Social.”

In 1965, the duo opened Jude ‘N’ Jody Furniture, 509 Southwest 29th in Oklahoma City, and started the country and western music television show “The Jude ‘N’ Jody Show”. Their show featured appearances by Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Mel Tillis, Hank Thompson, Norma Jean Beasler, Wanda Jackson, Red Zellner, Harlow Wilcox and the Oakies and many others. The show appeared on all three local television stations until production on the show stopped in 1975.

Funeral services will be held at 2pm on Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Lexington. Wilson-Little Funeral Home in Purcell is handling arrangements. Taylor’s family ask for memorials to be made to the American Cancer Society.

A guestbook has been set up at legacy.com for those that wish to leave messages.

More on “Jude ‘n’ Jody” after the jump.

From the Lexington Alumni Association newsletter:

Big Dog: Fellow Alumnus worth noting

The year was 1935. Times were tough, indeed. America was suffering through The Great Depression and Oklahoma, along with the rest of the states on the plains, was in the midst of The Dust Bowl. It was the era that would inspire John Steinbeck to write the saga of Okies fleeing the state called The Grapes of Wrath. It was the year that saw the trial of the Lindbergh baby kidnapper, Bruno Richard Hauptman, and the birth of “The King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis Presley. Porky Pig was born that year, so was Monopoly, and Babe Ruth hit his 714th and final home run. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President and The Dust Bowl Troubadour, Oklahoma’s Woody Guthrie, travelled the country entertaining people with his music. In August of that year, Oklahoma and the nation would say goodbye to two of its favorite sons as Will Rogers and Wiley Post perished in the frozen tundra of Alaska. That’s where our story begins. It was the month and year Harold Dean was born.

The date was August 4th. Harold Dean was born an only child. His mother, Dorene, was a homemaker while his father, Ray, owned a local business. The family lived on a farm in Lexington. Harold had met and befriended a boy from Slaughterville named Julian, a lad who was a couple of years his senior. It would be friendship that has endured for over 60 years! In fact, they are so close and their names are so synonymous that a lot of people still believe they are brothers. Now he could have taken over his father’s business, but even at a young age Harold Dean had other plans. He would enroll in college to pursue a different path. His boyhood friend would also attend college to pursue his lifelong goal. Because of a choice they made, neither of them would achieve what they had intended as professions. What was the choice? What was his dad’s business that could have been Harold’s? What would Harold have become had his life continued without the career swerve?

Harold Dean was a good student in Lexington schools and was quite athletic, playing both basketball and baseball. His favorite subject in school was FFA, and it was taught by his favorite teacher, Jim Hunter. Harold was devoted to the Future Farmers of America, where he rose to the office of Vice-President. He was so fond of FFA that, to this very day, he owns two FFA jackets-one of them dated 1951-53. It was also his love of farming and animals that would have helped take him on his original career path. His graduating class included twenty-three people who all hung out together.

After graduating from Lexington High School with the Class of 1953, Harold Dean and Julian, the boyhood friend who graduated from Noble High School in 1950, attended the University of Oklahoma together, seeking their chosen professions. Julian’s education and career were interrupted by the Korean War. On his return from the service, Julian continued his pursuit of his lifelong ambition to become a lawyer. Though he would eventually graduate from law school, he would never take the bar exam. He and Harold had another interest that was calling them, and they decided to dedicate themselves to it. What was it? Flash back a few years.

In 1946, eleven year-old Harold Dean had saved enough money from selling Cloverine Salve to buy his first guitar. Though he had no great influence musically, he fell in love with music and taught himself how to play chords on that guitar. That guitar would forever change the lives of the two friends. That’s the year they started playing music together.

A few years before that, when five year-old Harold would come to town with his parents, often times he would see a man selling tamales. Harold would call the tamale salesman by a name that would, eventually, become his own nickname. Daddy Ray and his buddies began to call Harold the same name the boy called the tamale salesman and the name stuck. Had that not happened, Harold Dean Taylor would never have become our beloved ”Jody.” Oh yeah, just in case you haven’t figured it out by now, the boyhood friend, Julian, is Julian Delane Northcutt, better known now as “Jude.”

The boys started playing anywhere they could find an audience. Their first performances were at church pie socials and high school talent shows. The duo found a way to actually make money with music by playing for
tips at Burkett’s Grocery Store. As their reputation grew, they began to get offers to perform for money. They played their first paying gig at the American Legion Hall in Lexington. Their pay - $20.

Their music was interrupted by the Korean War and Jude’s stint in the United States Army (Jody was in the Air Force Reserves from 1957 to 1963, rising to the rank of Corporal). After Northcutt’s return from the service, the duo teamed up again and called their act “Jude ‘N’ Jody” (that sounds so much catchier than “Julian ‘N’ Harold”, doesn’t it?). Big things were on the horizon and they took every advantage. In 1954, after auditioning for a spot on a 30-minute weekly show that was sponsored by the B.L. Owens Furniture Store in Ardmore and broadcast over KTEN-TV in Ada, they were hired for $50 a week. Being the only station for most of the region and because KTEN’s signal covered most of southeastern Oklahoma and also reached large parts of Arkansas and northeast Texas, Jude ‘N’ Jody’s popularity immediately grew. Before they knew it they were receiving numerous offers to perform at sock hops, rodeos and county fairs.

Soon they caught the attention of, and were hired by, county music star Hank Thompson, who was producing his television show in Oklahoma City. They not only appeared on his show, but also joined Thompson performing on the road in his travelling country music show. In 1955, while spending about two weeks a month on the road and performing on television, Jody was invited by the owner of Big Red Warehouse in Oklahoma City to his store. That’s where Jody began selling furniture. That move would, eventually, prove to be the perfect confluence for their future careers-music and furniture.

With their success on KTEN, Jude ‘N’ Jody were hired, in 1956, by Jack Beasley for a regular guest spot on his television variety show that was broadcast on WKY-TV in Oklahoma City. For the next few years, the popularity of Northcutt and Taylor grew enormously, forcing them to keep a grueling pace of television and personal appearances. Their schedule included appearing on three live television shows a week and making personal appearances for the remainder of the week, all while taking classes at the University of Oklahoma. While a career as a professional musician never occurred to Jude, he couldn’t ignore the fact that between their personal appearances and television appearances, they were making several thousand dollars a week. They were so successful that Jude, after finishing law school, decided to forgo the bar exam to devote his attention to his music career with Jody.

In 1958, a couple of brothers who owned a small furniture and appliance store came calling. To help advertise their store, the two brothers, named Don and Bud, had just started a new television program and wanted Jude and Jody to host the show, called “The Mathis Brothers Country Social.” The Mathis Brothers’ offer included $2,000 per month, their own band (something they really wanted, since, until that point, they had only performed as a duo or with other singer’s bands) and 10% ownership in the furniture store in exchange for Jude and Jody’s exclusive services as performers. While most of us would probably have jumped at the opportunity, Northcutt and Taylor didn’t. They were reluctant to leave their other television shows and the prestigious spot with Hank Thompson. In the end, though, they decided that having their own show was a more important forward step in their careers and accepted the attractive offer. (Remember-”We’ve got those fire blazin’ prices at Mathis Brothers’ Furniture!”?)

Until 1965, the Mathis Brothers arrangement worked quite well. Soon Jude and Jody were adding even more to their incomes by selling furniture at the store. That year, the Mathis brothers’ store had outgrown its original site and a new store was planned. A dispute developed over the exclusion of Jude and Jody’s names on the new store’s title. The Mathis brothers bought out Jude and Jody’s share of the company and began to feature the syndicated “Buck Owens Ranch Show” for their local advertising. They opened their new store at 3434 West Reno. While working for the Mathis brothers, Northcutt and Taylor had learned enough about the furniture business that they decided to open their own store. So, Jude ‘N’ Jody Furniture started in a building at 509 Southwest 29th in Oklahoma City with their new motto-”We Love Folks!” To promote their new venture, the duo began to produce their own weekly television show. It was a far cry from the days at Burkett’s Grocery Store.

The new show, fittingly called “The Jude ‘N’ Jody Show”, followed the same patterns of many of the syndicated country and western music television shows of the time, like “The Porter Wagoner Show.” Their new show featured not only Northcutt and Taylor, but also other singers like Winkie Ware and Wilton O’Neil. It also featured appearances by Jody’s wife, Norma Jean Beasler
(formerly Miss Norma Jean of “The Porter Wagoner Show”), as well as comic performances by the Hokum Sisters and others. “The Jude ‘N’ Jody Show” also figured prominently in the careers of many notable Oklahoma artists such as Maud’s own Wanda Jackson, who made regular appearances throughout her career, as well as Red Zellner, who had several hit records on Capitol Records during the early 1960’s. Red got his start on the show and was discovered on the program by Capitol producer, Bobby Boyd. Jackson would often debut her new songs on the program. The show also was instrumental in the promotion of Harlow Wilcox and the Oakies’ hit single, “Groovy Grubworm.” There was also an agreement with Springlake Amusement Park in Oklahoma City that stipulated that all the artists who appeared at the park on Saturday nights for a concert or dance would first appear on Jude and Jody’s Friday night television show. That allowed most of the major country stars of the time to be featured on “The Jude ‘N’ Jody Show.” Some of the noted performers that appeared on the show were Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Mel Tillis and, of course, Hank Thompson.

The show appeared on all three local television stations for the next several years. Northcutt and Taylor produced their own shows and purchased the air time to broadcast them. That allowed them the freedom to go from one channel to another, based on favorable advertising rates and available program times. The longer the show was on the air, the more expensive it became to produce. At the same time, locally owned television stations were being sold to out-of-town entertainment conglomerates. While that was the most economical choice for stations, station management was (and still is) reluctant to sell air time to anything beyond spot ads, making local programming extremely restrictive. Those two factors were the main reasons why, in 1975, Jude ‘N’ Jody decided to discontinue their program. Their long-running show, “The Jude ‘N’ Jody Show,” would be no more, reducing their advertising to spot ads. It marked the end of an era.

Though they’re not in front of a camera or an audience much these days, Jude and Jody are still taking care of business. Jude ‘N’ Jody Furniture is now Jude ‘N’ Jody & Sons Furniture, but their motto is still “We Love Folks!” Jude operates it and performs on occasion. Jody stays busy running the Jude ‘N’ Jody Ranch in Tribbey, home of the Wildfire Music Festival. Unfortunately, due to a stroke in 1992, Jody can’t play his beloved guitar, so he doesn’t perform much. What a loss for those of us who remember the show and our hometown boy who made good!

Jody lives at 18550 144th Street in Lexington. He is a loving father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was blessed with three children. His son, Randy, married Patty Brown and they have two children, Ashley and Brad. His daughter, Roma, is married to Jim Daniel and she’s the mother of Steven Taylor. Sadly, Jody’s other daughter, Sherrie, is deceased. However, she did leave Jody with two grandsons, Brandon Northrup and Justin Smith (who is married to MeLynda Simpson). Justin and MeLynda have Jody’s only great-grandchild, Kalynn Renee’ Smith.

Jody still tends to his hobbies and has for many years. He has a love for fishing, hunting and collecting antiques. In fact, his passion for hunting has taken Jody on five African safaris. His trophy room is packed with numerous trophies, including the “Big Five” African animals as well as a grizzly bear. In the June 2007, edition of Safari International magazine, his name is listed as an African Big Five Award Recipient. He is also a very in the small community where he grew up, and we thank him for sharing his gift of song. The Lexington Alumni Association proudly thanks Harold Dean “Jody” Taylor for allowing us to celebrate his life and work. He means it when he says, “We Love Folks!” He is known as a warm, friendly man to his classmates and neighbors. I’m sure he would love it if, when you see him (like at the next reunion in 2010), you’ll stop, shake his hand and let him know that folks love him, too!

So, what would he be today if he hadn’t bought that guitar and music hadn’t captured his attention? Would he have taken over his father’s business, Ray Taylor’s Service Station on North Main in Lexington (the site where Mi Casa Restaurant was located and used to be Trussell’s Station)? No, we’d be calling him Dr. Harold Taylor, DVM.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under deaths. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.