Biography

Smiley Burnette was born as Lester Alvin Burnette in Summum, Illinois, on March 18th, 1911. Both of his parents were traveling pastors, so he moved around a lot during his childhood, one of these temporary childhood homes being in Ravenwood, Missouri. By the age of 10, Burnette could play at least ten instruments, the first being the piano. When he was nine years old, he gave his first paid performance at the Young Men’s Christian Association. He gave his performance on musical saw and was paid three dollars. 

Smiley Burnette dropped out of 9th grade due to financial needs and tried a few different jobs to support his family and never finished school. Before performing fulltime, Burnette was a waiter, truck driver, carnival roustabout, delivery-boy, taxi driver, photographer, blacksmith, and electrician. He began on radio station WDG in Tuscola, Illinois, in 1931. On the radio show he told jokes, sang, and played guitar. Gene Autry heard his show when he was looking for an accordion player for his own radio show and hired Burnette to play Accordion on, “National Barn Dance.”
 

In his lifetime, he mastered over 105 instruments, all that he learned to play by ear as he never found the need to learn to read music. Out of all the instruments he played, his favorite was the accordion. He even built some instruments in the workshop at his home, like a “Jassa- a- phone,” which was an organ with pipes, levers, and pull mechanisms that was featured in several movies, the first of which was “The Singing Cowboy.”

Burnette wrote over 350 songs, most with a Western feel. He earned five “Golden Records” for his work. His songs were sung by groups like “The Singing Cowboys,” “The Rancheros,” “The Whippoorwills,” and Georgia Brown, along with the cast of the movies featuring them, and Burnette himself. He played seven instruments simultaneously in “Melody Trial,” “Waterfront Lady,” and “The Old Corral.”