Bud Hobbs

Bud Hobbs (October 16, 1919 – July 18, 1958) was an American country singer and songwriter who is often cited as an early pioneer of the Bakersfield sound. Known for straddling the stylistic divide between Western swing and honky-tonk, Hobbs possessed a distinctive country-crooner vocal style.

During a career cut short by his death at the age of 38, Hobbs recorded roughly 30 studio sides, three of which reached the Billboard country charts. Four of his releases featured guitarist Buck Owens in an early studio role. Another report that year in the Palm Springs Limelight-News praised his playing and stage presence in dialectal style, noting that "ole Bud Hobbs bang-up good musick" drew dancers to the floor.

From about 1945 to 1948 Hobbs performed with Dude Martin and His Round-Up Gang in San Francisco,

In his native Bakersfield he played regularly at venues such as the Rainbow Gardens, hosted by bandleader Bill Woods of the Blackboard Club. During this period Hobbs also shared stages with leading country acts including Roy Acuff, Tex Williams, Lefty Frizzell, T. Texas Tyler, Ernest Tubb, and Jimmy Wakely. A follow-up Wooley composition, "I Heard About You" (MGM 10305), peaked at number 12 in January 1949, as did his cover of George Morgan's "Candy Kisses" (MGM 10366), issued in May of that year.

Among Hobbs's later recordings, "Louisiana Swing" (MGM 11964, 1954) has been cited as one of the first discs to embody the style later identified as the Bakersfield sound. Written by Sheb Wooley and cut at Radio Recorders, the track featured Buck Owens on guitar with Jelly Sanders and Oscar Whittington on twin fiddles. Its B-side, the ballad "I'm Gonna Set You Free," was co-written by Hobbs with Dusty Rhodes.

Disk jockey and television host Hobbs pursued a parallel career as a radio personality that spanned more than two decades. He began broadcasting at age 17 on KVEC in San Luis Obispo, and by 1946 was hosting his own program on KYA in San Francisco. He later worked for stations including KVAN in Vancouver, Washington, and KXOA in Sacramento. Hobbs also made appearances on coast-to-coast radio programs during this period. A decade later, during his time in Sacramento, the Sacramento Bee ran the headline "Police Search for Bud Hobbs Is Pressed" in connection with another incident.

Accounts from family members emphasize a different side of his personality, describing him as ebullient and generous. While living in Los Angeles he socialized with fellow entertainers, and on one occasion brought Clayton Moore, television's Lone Ranger, to meet his young relatives in Bakersfield.

Death and legacy Hobbs worked for a period at Floyd's Hardware in Bakersfield. On July 18, 1958, he died at a Bakersfield hospital at the age of 38.

In the 21st century, Hobbs's complete recordings for MGM were reissued by the British Archive of Country Music (BACM).

He was inducted into the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame in 1984.