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Raymond Michael O'Daniel
October 16, 1944
July 29, 2006
Mike O'Daniel Memorial
Scholarship Fund
Citizens National Bank of Texas
% Jim Odom
PO Box 717
Waxahachie TX 75168-0717
Mike O’Daniel carried on a
family tradition in the music and entertainment business. Mike began
playing the guitar at age 6, was performing by age ten and was a
professional musician by age sixteen. His great-uncle was the
legendary W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel, whose Light Crust Doughboys were among
the first in the great Western Swing tradition. Mike was influenced primarily by his father, singer and songwriter Raymond Lee (Buck) O’Daniel.
Mike recorded, performed and wrote songs with his father.
In his performing career, Mike has played
with a wide variety of musicians. He started with his own band, The
HighLifes, featuring Ronnie Dawson. Later on, both he and Ronnie
performed with Ed Burnet and the Levee Singers at the Levee Club, during
its heyday. Since that time, Mike has been privileged to perform with
Tommy Morrell, Hank Thompson, Smokey Montgomery & the Light Crust
Doughboys and a host of others. His biggest thrill is being a recurring
guest performer with Leon Rausch and Bob Will’s Texas Playboys. Mike’s
prowess at the guitar as well as his singing came to the attention of
Hollywood in the 1980’s. Actor Robert Duval went on tour with Mike for
eight weeks to research the role of a Texas honky-tonk musician for his
Oscar-winning role in the film TENDER MERCIES. Duval, Mike and Wilford
Brimley became fast friends after that, and Mike was able to bring Texas
music to the film community through a year of playing jobs for Duval.
From Los Angeles to New York, where he entertained the cast of THE
NATURAL, starring Robert Redford, to Uvalde, Texas, where he regularly
played for the cast and crew of LONESOME DOVE, Mike is pleased to have
been an ambassador for country music. His biggest honor was to bring his
band to play for Wilford Brimley Day in Salt Lake City. He was also asked to play for the
dedication of the Lefty Frizzell statue dedication in Corsicana.
After that time, Mike has been involved in film and commercial casting in
the Dallas area. He cast such projects as the Texaco and the
Coca-Cola commercials for the 2000 Olympics, Bob Dole’s Super Bowl
commercial for Visa, and the Deion Sander’s Nike commercials. Film
casting projects include CBS’s DALLAS movies, the Clint Black movie
CADILLAC JACK AND PONDER, George Strait’s PURE COUNTRY and LeAnn Rime’s HOLIDAY IN YOUR
HEART. Mike joined the staff of KBEC radio, 1390 AM, in Waxahachie, Texas, in
1985. KBEC, know for its tradition of playing Classic Country music and
Western Swing, was the perfect venue for Mike to be a deejay and radio
personality. In 2004, the station was named Radio Station of the Year
Region II by the Academy of Western Artist. In March 2004 Mike was
presented the Texas Heritage Music Award by the Cowtown Opry.
Through his friend Larry Scott, Mike began emceeing various music
festivals, including the Lincoln County Symposium in Ruidoso, New Mexico,
and the Legends of Western Swing at Snyder and Wichita Falls. From his
rich family background in music, through his career in the entertainment
business, Mike was proud to keep the Western Swing and Country music
tradition alive and growing during his lifetime.
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AWA Award KBEC 1390 AM Station of the Year