Doc Williams, the face of the WWVA Jamboree, has died at age 96

Doc Williams, the man who served many proud years as the face of WWVA Jamboree, becoming a pioneer for the music business, has passed away at the age of 96.

Williams was born in 1914, the oldest of five children. He learned how to play the cornet, trumpet, accordion and guitar through lessons from his father and his natural love of music.
Williams soon set out to become a country music entertainer, forming a new band and auditioning for radio programs.



He played in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and in 1937 he auditioned for the Saturday night World Original WWVA Jamboree, renamed Jamboree U.S.A. in the 1960s, and the Wheeling Jamboree in 2009, is a pioneering American radio show that featured country music from 1933–2008, and again since January 2009. It has been broadcast from Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA-AM, the first radio station in West Virginia, with the current incarnation now originating on locally-owned Wheeling station WKKX-AM. Numerous acts and stars passed through the annals of the WWVA Jamboree; some reached fame and fortune while others fell into oblivion. It was the second-longest-running live country music show when it closed in 2005, behind the Grand Ole Opry.

Chickie, known as the girl with the lullaby voice, came into Doc’s life when she wrote him asking for an appearance at a Pennsylvania dance hall. The two married in 1939 and made a home in Wheeling with three daughters Barbara, Madeline and Karen.

Williams officially retired in 2006 at WWVA, aside from brief periods in Tennessee and Maryland in the 1940s. He even was offered a job with the Grand Ole Opry, but Doc and Chickie’s first daughter was on the way, and Chickie was determined to give birth in Wheeling.
Doc Williams’ County Store operated for about 20 years in downtown Wheeling, across from the Capitol Music Hall.
Chickie died in November 2007. The couple had four grandsons.


Here are some historical facts about Doc and Chickie:

• Doc and Chickie Williams were inducted into Jamboree USA's Walkway of Stars as two of Jamboree's most enduring and popular entertainers. In 1987, they celebrated Doc's 50th Anniversary on the Jamboree with a special videotaped concert at the Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling (the home of Jamboree USA). The couple also celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1989 with a special videotaped concert, again at the Capitol Music Hall.
• Doc was a member of the World's Original WWVA Jamboree for 61 years. Chickie was a member for 52 years.
• The city of Wheeling honored Doc Williams by inducting him into the Wheeling Hall of Fame in 1984, in the Music and Fine Arts category. The state of West Virginia, by gubernatorial proclamation, has hailed him as "West Virginia's Official Country Music Ambassador of Good Will."  Doc and Chickie Williams were honored by  the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame as 2009 Inductees.
• At one time, Doc was a leading artist for Quality Records in Toronto, Canada, and his Quality record of "The Cat Came Back" became a Gold Record in Canada.