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Dixie Bill Hilton
and the Calgary Range Riders
Born:  October 25, 1920
Died:  February 1, 1991
CFOR Orilla, ON
CKBI Prince Albert, SK (1938)
CJVI Victoria, BC (1940)

About The Artist

His real name was William Dixon Hilton and he was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. His boyhood was spent on his dad's farm and he was strumming the uke when he was just eight years old. One day, his dad gave him four dollars and with that, he got his first guitar. About the time Dixie Bill began making a name for himself, Wilf Carter was winning a lot of fans with his yodeling and singing. Dixie Bill began entering some contests and doing Wilf Carter songs and winning those contests.

When he was 16, he was at radio station CKBI (CKIB?) in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Then later, he moved to Victoria, British Columbia. World War II intervened and he served a five-year stint with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

When Dixie Bill got out of the service, he formed his own band/group, called the 'Calgary Range Riders' and was based in Calgary, Alberta, the home of the legendardy 'Calgary Stampede'.

He wrote all of his songs and recorded on the Aragon label and had over 200 songs in his library. In 1953, he was at radio station CFOR out of Orillia, Ontario in Canada. They had also started appearing on the two hour broadcast of the "Radio Jamboree" that aired over CFOR, in which a half-hour of the program was aired over the Dominion Network in Canada on Saturday nights.

Timeline & Trivia Notes
Group Members:

  • Dixie Bill Hilton, lead singer
  • Murray Dunlop, bass
  • Al Koochin, Spanish guitar
  • Lucky Ambo, fiddle
  • Don Thompson, steel guitar
  • Tiny Stoltz, accordion

Credits & Sources

  • Cowboy Songs No.32; March-April 1954, American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT
  • Country Song Roundup; No. 20; October 1952; American Folk Publications, Inc.; Derby, CT

Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
 
Apex
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  26364 A Thousand Miles At Sea
  26364 B Careless Ways
  26365 A Reward
  26365 B Midnight Waltz
 
Aragon
Rec. No. Side Song Title
  201 A Don't Be Blue, Linda Lou
  201 B Calgary Waltz
  232 A Orange Blossom Special
  232 B Too Old To Be Young Anymore


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