-
Mona and Darrell McCall
The Llano Country Opry will be staged on Saturday, October 8, at the Lantex Theater in downtown Llano. The show begins at 2:30 p.m. and will feature Darrell and Mona McCall. Tickets are $15 for general admission or $20 for reserved seating and on sale online at <www.heartoftexascountry. com>, Llano Chamber of Commerce or by calling (325) 247-5354.
Darrell McCall grew up listening to the music and guitar picking of Merle Travis. He started his own Saturday morning country deejay show on WSRW radio in Hillsboro, Ohio, at the age of 15. McCall began playing dances as a musician and joined the United States Army Reserves after high school.
McCall and Johnny Paycheck moved to Nashville in 1958 and formed the “Young Brothers.” McCall began to work as a harmony singer with such artists as George Jones, Faron Young, Freddie Hart, Carl Smith and Ray Price. He joined Price as a member of his Cherokee Cowboys and later joined the bands of both Faron Young and Hank Williams Jr.
McCall got his first hit with the song “A Stranger Was Here” and followed it with appearances in the movies “Nashville Rebel,” “Road To Nashville” and “What Am I Bid?” in 1965 and 1966. In 1968, McCall signed with Wayside Records and recorded his debut album “Meet Darrell McCall.”
In 1972, he penned the number one hit “Eleven Roses” for Hank Williams Jr. The seventies brought several top hits for McCall including “There’s Still A Lot of Love In San Antone,” “Pins and Needles (In My Heart),” “Down The Road To Daddy’s Dreams,” “Dreams of A Dreamer” and “It’s The Water.” McCall and Willie Nelson recorded the Top 40 single “Lily Dale.” It was the very first duet recording for Nelson and resulted in a very successful album by the same title.
Bear Family Records from Germany recently put together a box set of McCall’s recordings including all of his songs and even some rare demos and radio commercials. The comprehensive collection “The Real McCall” takes a very serious look at this dynamic entertainer.
McCall still performs all over the Country with his wife Mona and makes frequent appearances on the world famous Grand Ole Opry. They most recently moved back to Texas and are now residents of the small community of Fredonia.
McCall signed with Heart of Texas Records and his first project was released in 2004. “Old Memories and Wine” was produced by Justin Trevino and features both old standards and new songs. Mona McCall also contributes two songs to the project. Darrell’s son, Cody, is a featured harmony singer on the album and his daughter, Guyanne, wrote the title track on the album.
Heart of Texas Records released “The Essential Darrell McCall” in 2007 featuring some of his most requested songs including “Helpless,” “Down The Road Of Daddy’s Dreams” and “It’s The Water.” In 2008, Heart of Texas Records released the landmark album “Lily Dale” which features Willie Nelson on two compositions along with several of McCall’s dance hall favorites. His newest studio album is “Country From The Heart.”
“We love the Central Texas and Hill Country area and all the people there,” McCall said. “As a matter of fact, we loved it so much that we moved here! We are looking forward to hitting the stage and entertaining some of our favorite people in the whole world.”
Other entertainers also include Bode Barker, Kaye Tolson, Charlie Walton, Tom Tolson, Benny Fred Kothmann and Bucille Snotgrass. Tracy Pitcox will MC the show.