The Arizona Wranglers

Biography

This group started singing together in 1929 while working at the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-In diner in Phoenix, Arizona. At the time they were referred to as the 'Triple XXX Root Beer Singers'. They became known for their cowboy western songs and their singing was featured in western movies. Around this time they renamed themselves 'The Arizona Wranglers'. Over the years they had accumulated an assortment of singers. Some of the members of the group were Joe Ives (nickname: "Hungry"), Charles Hunter (nickname: "Iron Tail"), J. E. Patterson (nickname: "Nubbins"), L.F. Costello (nickname: "Slicker"), Calvin Short (or Cal Short or Shorts) (nickname: "Sleepy"), Loyal Underwood (nickname: "The Sheriff"), Leonard "Len" Dossey (nickname: "Dynamite"), Jack Jones (Pocatello Kid), Jack Kirk (Pecos/Pappy) and Pete McKinney (Hilo Pete), Glenn Strange (nickname: "Pee Wee"), John Jackson (nickname: "Stony" or "Stoney"), Curtis McPeters (nickname: "Cactus Mack"), and there may have been others over the years. Some members moved on to other country singing groups. The Arizona Wranglers were an important part of the B-Westerns and may have had some influence in the "Singing Cowboy" trend. They were among the first country singing groups to appear in the early years of the sound westerns. Their personal appearances and radio performances helped fuel the popularity of western music. The Arizona Wranglers could be heard regularly on radio station KNX-Hollywood in the 1930's. Some of their songs can be heard in B-westerns, but they usually were uncredited as a group. Most of the time the ones singing in the group also had a acting part in the movie and that's how they were credited. They did perform at Movie Theatres when the movie tied-in included one of/or part of, one of their songs. And they usually performed the song live. Old posters exist of these events, but are hard to come by today. As the Westerns and "the singing cowboy" became less popular in the movie industry. So faded away the Arizona Wranglers. Most of the old members stayed in the movie business. A few left the entertainment life. The Arizona Wranglers had a good run that lasted a decade.