Bonnie Lou & Buster first gained fame touring the U.S. in the late 40’s, playing country, bluegrass, and gospel. The couple worked in radio for several years before becoming one of Johnson City’s first live acts on WJHL in the early 50’s. They later became regulars with Knoxville’s WATE radio while remaining on tour with their act.
‘Bonnie Lou’ Margaret Moore first began playing when she sat in for a sick member of Buster’s band, the Dixie Partners. Fans loved her so much she was asked to be a permanent fixture in the group. They remained on the Jim Walter Jubilee for 21 years until the show went off the air in 1982. The Knoxville shows were recorded on 2-inch quad master tape, and because television signals were comparatively weak back then, the tapes had to be bussed — or “bicycled” — to TV stations from Ohio to Florida that served the growing market for Jim Walter Homes.
In the early ‘70s, Bonnie Lou & Buster created the Coliseum Theater in Pigeon Forge, and began performing their Smoky Mountain Hayride Show, which continued until 1994. Bonnie Lou has a 14 minute mini-doc telling her story in her own words featured on the archive:
Bonnie Lou and Buster were offered a national contract to make commercials for an unnamed beer, but turned it down because of their religious beliefs. Avery Sue Brooks, Bonnie’s youngest sister recalls, “when Bonnie Lou and Buster first went to Pigeon Forge, there was nothing in the town, except for Porpoise Island. They had to live in a camper.” Bonnie reflects on “The Bonnie Lou & Buster Show” in this accompanying clip by WBIR Channel 10:
This album was released in 1986 and was manufactured by Crystal INC. ETSU’s archives were paramount in accessing this information. Listen in our archive below and on YouTube as well.