Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,minibrut
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 08:40 AM

Yes, Juanita Picklesimer married Lee Moore in the 1930's and played music with him for a long time before they divorced. She was my aunt. I have a few of their song books.- minibrut

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Allan S.
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 12:42 PM

Sourdough.   Don't remember if I told you but Frank Collin passed away about 3 years ago

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Gary
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 01:43 AM

Lee Moore on WWVA was always on my car radio as I delivered the Cleveland Plain Dealer in '56 and '57 in the wee hours of the morning. Besides "The Cat Came Back", my second favorite song was "It's Dark as a Dungeon Way Down in the Mine". Anyone else remember that one? And wasn't there a Lee Moore record shop across from the Capitol Theater in the '90s?

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Louis L.
Date: 10 Nov 09 - 03:34 PM

I listened to Lee Moore in Tracadie, New Brunswick, Canada(on the Gulf of St Lawrence about a 150 miles north of Maine). We could only get the station WWVA evenings & nights but we listened to it EVERY night: that was in the 1950's. I can still hear him saying:"this is Lee Moore your old coffee-drinking nighthawk". And the wonderful music!!

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Derfington
Date: 16 Nov 09 - 11:08 AM

"Kendall" just HAS to be a Morse! Kin to Gene Hooper is my key.

Anyone remember a song Lee Moore & Juanita used to sing?

"Oh those hills that I love
Oh thosw mountains that're my home
Oh those hills that I love
From those hills never more will I roam"

Title please? Anyone have a recording of this tune? Been searching for an auio for 60 of my 75 years for it. I'd die happy if I could hear this (as a duet). Oh, I'd take a copy if it were a voice like Lee's, though.

PLEASE e-mail me - - - [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 10:03 AM

Gordon- I remember getting up around 6 in the mornings in the mid 50's.My dad got me up to keep the fire going after he left for work.
I have many fond memories of hearing "The cat came back" by the old coffee drinkin nighthawk. Those were truly the "good old days"of country music.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Amos
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 12:05 PM

Here's Lee singing "When Father Hung the Paper on the Wall requested above.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 12:49 PM

Thanks, Amos.

It was fun reading this thread again. I was at the entrance to my life when I became so fond of Lee Moore and now I'm at the entrance to the ending!

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: kendall
Date: 13 Dec 09 - 01:42 PM

I am indeed a cousin to Genial Gene Hooper. He taught me my first "F" chord which damn near put me off playing.

Poor Gene is in a nursing home with a broken hip.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Roger in Montreal
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 01:34 AM

In the 50's I listened to Lee Moore in my hometown of Montreal, Canada, nearly every night. When I traveled west to Toronto, north to Timmins, Ontario, east to New Brunswick or south to New York, I always got the signal of WWVA and the friendly voice of Lee Mooe coming in loud and clear in my car radio. And I noticed that the night time employees at the gas stations where I stopped were also tuned in to that same station. So many people tuned in to the same frequency (1170AM) at the same time was a phenomenom that will probably never happen again,in this world of multi-diversity. I recall that Lee ended his show with these words. ``May the good Lord smile down on all the path that lies ahead of you``. Thanks to you, humble d.j. May I say now that you were the greatest? I sometimes zap at night on the AM band hoping that I could hear your voice again. I wish you could come back like did the cat in your famous song. You made us love true country music forever. A million thanks!

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 02:45 PM

There was a Nova Scotia radio station operating at or about the same frequency that would jam the signal but late at night they would shut the transmitter down for a few hours. By then WWVA probably upped their power and changed their transmission pattern. That along with a dropped ionosphere would give us a decent signal.
Kendall, that "F" chord gave me a lot of discouragement as well. In polite society I won't repeat what I claimed that the "F" stood for.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Jim McConnell
Date: 13 May 10 - 12:48 PM

I remember Lee Moore. My dad was a truck driver and I used to go with him during the summers when I wasn't in school. He listened to Lee Moore on WWVA all night. He sent away and bought me a Doc Williams guitar course and although I knew something about playing the guitar, I really learned how to play country music from that course. I'm 64 years old now and still playing in a country band.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 10 - 02:17 PM

Last time I knew, Gene Hooper was still alive and living in Maine. He was one of my heroes when I was a teeager.
...Bill

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jul 10 - 09:27 PM

I hope Kendall sees your remark, Guest Bill. He can update you on Genial Gene Hooper, his cousin.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 03:45 PM

How can I become a member of this great forum? I, too am looking for the lyrics to the song Lee sang: "Oh Those Hills That I Love." I have a short recording of what I remember of the song on my You Tube channel: Cariboubill's Channel.
...Bill

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 08:17 PM

Bill, just click on "Membership" at the top of this page and fill in the form

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 11:05 PM

Iam from montreal quebec, many years ago I was a trucker I drove the eastern shore shore board of the united states. I remember he had his coffee in a glass cup and spoon. then laler he had his coffee in a sterophone cup I would hear open the sterophone turning back and forth. MAIGAR.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Severn
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 12:40 PM

Was Lee Moore's image ever honored like some of the WWVA personalities were on a souvenier dinner plate? My Doc Williams & The Border Riders plate got broken, alas, during a move, but I still have two plates commemorating Red Belcher & Family (wife Ellen-Jane, Red, sleeping infant Sharon Lou and her dog held by Ellen and her dog "Freddie Duncan, Jr.", held by Red. The photos were sepia tone on a white plate with two gold rings and a fancy edge). Does anybody out thhere know who else on the station had these plates for sale? I'd like more and I'd trade a Red Belcher for a different artist.

The comedian with the Border Riders on the Doc Williams plate was bearded and was pre-Smokey Pleacher.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Cabinwood
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 03:19 PM

Severn,

I've never seen Lee Moore on a plate, but do have Doc Williams and severaldifferent Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper plates. I'd be willing to trade one for Red Belcher if you are still interested. I'm also looking for a plate with only Wilma Lee and her banjo.

Terry

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,cabinwood
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 03:43 PM

However, Lee did have his face on a coffee mug that read "Enjoy Your Coffee Break" with Lee Moore. It was made by Fire-King and was white w/ a black line drawing of Lee. I'm thinking it's from the late 50's -early 60's.

Terry

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Cabinwood
Date: 31 Oct 10 - 03:47 PM

http://s542.photobucket.com/albums/gg436/chasleroy/?action=view¤t=100_2529-1.jpg&newest=1

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,jplaaten
Date: 11 Mar 11 - 02:57 PM

Great thread! Yes, when I was just out of HS in the mid 60,s and taken with the folk craze and playing myself, I would sit in my car late at night (got out of work at 11 pm) and there on the AM dial was WWVA with Lee Moore, your coffee drinkin' night owl (not nighthawk) and he would sing and play and tell stories and people would come by and sing and play and it was one of the best programs that I have EVER heard on the radio! The sunspot cycle must have been up at that time as I was in CT and he would blast in loud and clear on that AM band! I think someone else said 1170 which sounds right. Lee Moore should be in a hall of fame somewhere for what he did.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 11 Mar 11 - 04:18 PM

I thought that I posted this on another thread but can't find it now so here it is again:

          THE MUSIC STOVE
When I was just a little lad so many years ago
Upon our kitchen table sat a Fleetwood radio
It was not a top line model and its tubes were growing weak
But I'd turn that dial for hours as stations I would seek
The local ones worked fine you see and music it would play
But others that I wanted were located far away
I tried to get the Opry but it would do no good
The Louisiana Hayride I really never could
But another one I wanted I could sometimes get, you see
It came from West Virginia and was called The Jamboree

To listen to Doc Williams, I would try my level best
But I'd hear the first verse of a song but then would lose the rest
I'd swear in frustration and underneath my breath
I'd threaten that old radio that it faced certain death
My father asked me what was wrong when he came in the door
A big wood-burning cook stove stood upon our kitchen floor
He took a piece of wire and he tied it to the stove
In loops around the radio the other end he wove
The signal was much stronger and I swear to you it's so
That I heard country music from an old wood burning stove

© Sept. 17, 2008
Alexander McLean
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: kendall
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 02:45 PM

Sandy, do you remember a DJ named Genial Gene Hooper? He was on WWVA back in the 60s. He was a cousin of mine and sad to say he passed on last year at the age of 87.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 12 Mar 11 - 09:54 PM

Hi Kendall,
   I can't honestly say that I remember him now but I was probably familiar with him back then. I do think that I remember you talking of him on another thread. Sorry about his passing! It's sad that so many of the stars and promoters of "real country" have been lost in recent years! WWVA was a great station! Another one was CFNB in Fredricton NB which also played country all night long.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: kendall
Date: 13 Mar 11 - 05:47 AM

I grew up listening to Canadian radio. Wilf Carter, Don Messer, Ned Landry, etc.

When we were on weather patrol in the north Atlantic up in the Davis Straits WWVA was the only station we could get on the radio. Those city boys were not happy. I was.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Cabinwood
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 09:43 PM

I remember Gene Hooper. I used to listen to him out of Machias, Maine, I think. I know he did work at WWVA before that. He was a great DJ.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Cabinwood
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 09:51 PM

Lee Moore Guitar

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Cabinwood
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 10:01 PM

Sorry, I can't get the link to work!

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: kendall
Date: 13 Apr 11 - 08:52 AM

Gene was a cousin; he taught me my first chords on a guitar.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Cabinwood
Date: 14 Apr 11 - 07:25 AM

The thing I remember most about Gene was that he played real country music at a time when the rest of them(Radio DJ's) were playing "What was called country". At the time he played a lot of Carl and Pearl Butler and I remember he played "There Ain't No Country Music on This Jukebox" By Earl Scruggs and Tom T. Hall a lot.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: kendall
Date: 14 Apr 11 - 08:06 AM

And that's why the world just rolled over him. He refused to change.

He had one of the best voices I have ever heard.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Cabinwood
Date: 14 Apr 11 - 06:33 PM

I'm glad he didn't change. Lee never did, either.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,punkinface
Date: 14 Aug 11 - 04:24 PM

Grew up on a farm in Ontario and we would tune in to Lee on WWVA - it was great for us as we had very little in the way of entertainment back then. Loved the mans music and was fortunate enough to meet him in Wheeling years later. I always wondered how he got that special sound on his guitar and found out he played out of the A chord. TW

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Boston Bob
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 09:00 PM

Thanks for this great site. I first found Lee Moore on WWVA when I was a kid, way before I was in High School. I don't know how many nights I woke up almost automatically after midnight to tune him in on my old Philco Upright. I loved everything he used to play. I haven't heard his rendition of "Dark as a Dungeon" on You Tube nor has it been referenced in anything I've read about Lee on various websites. He did the best rendition of this song that I have ever heard.

Like many others on this post, Lee was my introduction to real country music and he was certainly a bridge to the folk revival of the 60's and 70's. We have a great 24 hour a day folk music station here in Boston with the call letters WUMB. You can get it on line and there's a wonderful program called "Traditional Folk" with Sandy Sheehan on Sunday nights from 9 PM to midnight. It reminds me a bit of Lee. Sandy even drinks coffee in the studio.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: Crowhugger
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 09:17 PM

Thanks, BB -- I typed wumb.org into my browser, found "current program" and now I'm enjoying tonight's show hugely!

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jul 12 - 12:50 AM

This site brings tears to me, I'm was about 10 or 11 living 35miles from Pittsburgh, live in the country on Spring Run Rd. and listened to WWVA all night, Yes it was the Coffee Drinking Nighthawk that was my passage into the Heart of American Country. My favorts were Abbie Neal and her Ranch Girls, forever in my Heart. loved that women. sweet , kind , talented and a staple in my live forever The Worlds Orignal WWVA Jamboree, Nothing was as good or better.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Pete
Date: 24 Aug 13 - 10:47 PM

In 1955 as a teenager I wired up parts of an old Philco radio under my bed and listened to Lee.
Reading these posts brings back lots of memories, most of all The Cat Came Back.....

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Abbie Neal , Ranch Girls Fan
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 01:29 AM

I also was a fan of wwva, listened every sat night, to hear rusty and doug, wilma lee and stony cooper , and my favorite Abbie Neal and Her Ranch girls. nothing can bring back that feeling of listing on my radio all night to Lee Moore. The Coffee Drinking Nighthawk. Just to hear Abbies Ranch Girls sing , Riding Down to Santa Fe.

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,Gordon
Date: 14 Oct 13 - 01:56 PM

I have fond memories of listening to Lee Moore in the mid 50's when I was a young teenager growing up in Newfoundland. Used to love his version of "The cat came back"

Subject: RE: Coffee Drinking Nighthawk - WWVA
From: GUEST,ed trickett
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 07:34 PM

I used to listen to him under the covers at night in Washington DC in the 50s. My favorite memory was his advertising a product which he said was a signed last supper tablecloth!!