Jim Minor was born in De Valls Bluff, ARK. Minor learned to sing and play the guitar at a very early age. He won the Arkansas Livestock show talent contest when he was just a young teenager and won to play with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper at radio station KLCN in Blytheville,Ar. Minor recorded country music from 1955-1965 for 4 different labels with 2 labels being major labels Mercury Records and United Artists Records. He was the first country and western artist to be on the UA label in 1960. Minor made a guest appearance on the Sat. night Grand Ole Opry show on Sept. 30th, 1961 and then played The Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree radio show. Minor and Bob Cloud were owners of Colt "45" records of Flint, Michigan 1959. This was a country and western/Rockabilly label and the artists on the label were: Connie Dycus, Donna Chrysler/Donah Hyland, Eddie and Don with the Louisiana Playboys and Paul and Larry. The duo published Narvel Felts, Jimmy Edwards (Love Bug Crawl) and Connie Dycus (Rock-a-bye-Baby Rock) all rockabilly. Minor recorded for the Chuck Wagon Record label of Flint, Mi in 1955 where he had a radio show on station WBBC and he was named Michigan Disc Jockey of the year. Minor recorded for Mercury and United Artists in 1960 and his last record was for the Sound, Inc. record label of Detroit in 1965. In 1953 Evansville, Ind. got its first TV station WFIE Channel 62. Minor played in a local band called The Ranch Hands. The TV station hired this band for a live 30 minute hillbilly show titled: Jimmy Minor and the Diamond K Ranch Hands. They made 26 episodes of this show. Show was sponsored by Kay Jewelers. This was the first country music tv show ever in the state of Indiana when it when on the air in Nov. of 1953. At the same time he had 2 other tv shows over in Princeton, Ind. on Channel wray 52 with one of the shows called THE BIG E JAMBOREE. In 1957 Minor and Bob Cloud took Jim Bullington of Flint, Mi., to Nashville and signs him with Mercury records and they change his name to Jimmy Edwards and they redo the Love Bug Crawl and it became an instant hit. Minor and Edwards were then whisked out on tour in Jan. 1958 with Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Everly Bros, Eddie Cochran and many more on Irvin Felds Americas greatest teenage recording stars tour in Jan. of 1958. Minor said the tour was so big it took two bus loads of stars and an eighteen wheeler to haul the equipment. Minor and Cloud took Edwards to National stardom with appearances on the Dick Clark Show American Bandstand, The Louisiana Hayride and the Alan Freed Show along with a few rockabilly tours.
