OPINION
Country music

I was talking with an old friend who had been active in the music business in the area and a name came up. I remembered the name and the man, so today we will remember him. Now this is by no means a biography, as I have not looked up the information, but this is just memories.
Back when TV started in Colorado Springs, in the early 1950’s, there was not much National, network programming. The bulk of the shows were local. We had local talk, music, comedy, children’s even drama programing, in addition to news and weather. Much of this was already going on in night clubs and other places and they just moved into a TV studio. KKTV was one of the first local channels, and they had their studio in the old street car “barn” on south Tejon (and the building is still there.) There was plenty of room for background sets. These, in this case, were real building fronts, but they could be moved around. There was an afternoon children’s show, I think it was Sheriff Jim, but there was also another cowboy Uncle Zeb, or something. One evening the same set, moved around a bit, was used for a cowboy music show. The main group was called The Buddies of the West.
Buddy Watkins was the leader of the group, and they did a show live of western and cowboy music. The group was already well known before they went to TV. I think they had started after World War Two at the various chuck wagon dinners, like Flying W and the JayCees at Garden of the Gods. In fact in the late 1950’s they even opened their own over in the Rock Creek Canyon area. It so happens that I met the Watkins family though a friend of my mother. The friend’s husband was brother to one of the Watkins’ wives, and it may have been Buddy’s. The first time I met Buddy I did not connect the man on TV with the man in the easy chair across the room. The guy on TV had hair, this man did not! It was much later that I learned about the band. My mother’s friend came to Colorado Springs often, and when she did, we went to the Watkins home. Buddy and the band have been gone over thirty years, but I still remember some of these visits.
Years later when I started teaching in Fountain, Vernon Watkins was on the school board. We had met several times when I was young, but I do not know if he ever knew who I was. I do however remember Buddy’s TV show!

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