This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll discover yet another Texas connection to the “King” of rock and roll.
Horace Logan was born on August 3, 1916, in Mer Rouge, Louisiana. Working as a DJ in Shreveport after World War II, Logan started a live music program there in 1948 called the Louisiana Hayride. As emcee of the Louisiana Hayride, he helped launch the careers of several young Texas artists, including George Jones, Jim Reeves, and Charline Arthur. However, Logan may be best known for coining the phrase “Elvis has left the building,” which he used to try and calm down a rowdy audience after a 1956 performance by Presley.
Horace Logan moved to Texas in the late 1950s, where he emceed the Big D Jamboree and introduced dozens of now famous artists, including Willie Nelson and Ernest Tubb. Logan died in Victoria, Texas, in 2002.
Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a bluesman who was also a cowboy.
