The story of Si Siman: Springfield's legendary country music producer

Younger Springfieldians might not know this, but the Queen City was a huge player in the country music scene back in the 1950s. This was thanks in part to the “Ozark Jubilee,” a weekly network TV program produced in Springfield that gave people around the country a glimpse at many up-and-coming country music acts like Brenda Lee, Porter Wagoner and Patsy Cline.

But even those aware of “Ozark Jubilee” likely know little, if anything, of the Springfieldian behind it: Si Siman, an equally legendary country music producer who had a distinguished career long after the show ceased production.

Now, former English professor Kitty Ledbetter and Siman's son, Scott, and are looking to get the word out with their new book, “​Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads”, available now through University of Arkansas Press.

The authors are certainly no strangers to the world of country music. Scott Foster Siman is a music business attorney in Nashville and has managed singer Tim McGraw for around 20 years. Ledbetter has the distinction of being Springfield’s first female disc jockey, having worked for KTTS back in 1973 under the radio name “Miss Kitty.” During her 20-plus-year tenure in radio, she found herself interacting with many country music experts. Ledbetter eventually moved into the realm of academia, then retired back to Springfield.

With the help of Siman’s children and the University of Arkansas Press, the book was underway.

“Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads” is available now through University of Arkansas Press. The book’s official launch party, featuring Kitty Ledbetter and Scott Foster Siman, will be Thursday, May 2 at the Library Center in Springfield.

The story of Si Siman

Even as far back as high school, Siman had experience booking bands. In 1953, he co-founded a publishing company called Earl Barton Music. Of course, his biggest claim to fame was producing the “Ozark Jubilee,” making Springfield — the heart of the Ozarks — the only place outside of New York and Los Angeles to broadcast a country music television show.

“For those six years that the ‘Ozark Jubilee' was on TV, they were on for at least an hour once a week with no summer breaks,” Ledbetter says. “Other places might have a show here and there, but this was every day, 365 days a year. This was such a fantastic deal that artists came from all over the United States to live here in Springfield.”

Many of those singers and songwriters are still highly regarded in in the industry today. Tom Whitlock, who wrote “Take My Breath Away” and “Danger Zone” for the movie “Top Gun,” was an Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning writer, Springfield drummer and former Carson Band member. Chet Atkins (formerly “Chester” before being given the nickname “Chet” by Siman) performed regularly alongside Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters (who lived near the intersection of Glenstone Avenue and Walnut Street) on radio station KWTO. A young Brenda Lee attended elementary school in Springfield. Red Foley and Porter Wagoner are a few more of the many who called Springfield home at one time or another.

“All the Jubilee artists, if they weren't commuting, lived here in Springfield,” Ledbetter says. “It established this music community here that we're still living in. There was a whole slew of songwriters who came out of Springfield that went to Los Angeles and did hit records out there.”

Life after the ‘Ozark Jubilee'

After the Jubilee’s cancellation in 1960, however, Siman was at a crossroads. With a wife and three kids to feed, a farm to care for and no job, Siman needed money. Thankfully, he was well connected in Nashville and had experience as a music publisher, so he turned to that.

As before, Siman remained one of the biggest movers and shakers in the country music industry. He continued working alongside Carson, who wrote many of the hit songs of Gary Stewart. Eddy Arnold’s 1965 hit “Somebody Like Me” was Siman’s first hit record as a publisher. He published songs by Ronnie Self, Waylon Jennings, Tina Turner, Moe Bandy and Johnny Paycheck, among many others. One of Siman's biggest publishing successes was the Willie Nelson version of “Always on My Mind,” which netted numerous awards and accolades in the early 1980s. Siman was also a founding member of the Country Music Association.

“Siman knew a hit, and he would doggedly pitch that hit to anybody he could find who could record it until he found a hit record and got it,” Ledbetter says. “Siman and Carson were getting awards in almost every award show in the music business. Talk about a success record.”

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Siman’s career as a country music producer: He didn’t do it from Nashville. He did it all from right here in Springfield.

“He always said, if you want to hunt tigers, you go where the tigers are,” Ledbetter says, “but that's not what he did. He stayed here in Springfield. He liked everything about Springfield. He had built a center for the music industry. Springfield was a pretty good-sized city. Not too big, but not too small, so he could work from here.”

Siman had to do some business in Nashville, but insisted on staying in Springfield.

“He had an office in Nashville, but he would just go down there periodically to have some presence in the music business there,” Ledbetter says. “After the ‘Jubilee,' he considered moving to Nashville, but he just wanted to stay home. He had a nice little farm out at the end of Fremont Street, close to Lake Springfield. He stayed here all his life, helped people get music contracts and hooked them up with important music people in Nashville and Los Angeles.”

Missing piece of music history

Despite his influence on country music both locally and abroad, if you asked the average Springfield resident about Si Siman, odds are, the response you’d get would be, “Who?”

“That's why I did the book,” Ledbetter says. “He is underserved and underpublicized. He really belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. There are people in that Hall of Fame with fewer qualifications than Si. It was one of my missions to explore that area of our 20th century music history, because Si Siman is really the missing piece.”

Si’s son, Scott, took on the writing duties of several of the book’s chapters—specifically, those about his father’s baseball and publishing careers. “Scott was trained in the business, so he knew it better than I do from that perspective,” says Ledbetter. “It was kind of a perfect bookend, him doing the beginning and the end of Si’s career as a promoter, sportsman, music publisher, producer, television producer…all of those things Scott really knew well.”

There are still plenty of older Springfieldians and other residents of the Ozarks who may recall, even have fond memories of the “Ozark Jubilee.” Not as many, however, know the deeper history — and the man — behind it.

“It's part of their history,” Ledbetter says. “They talk about going with their parents to the Ozark Jubilee at the Jewel Theater on Jefferson Street when they were kids every Saturday night. All of downtown Springfield would be crowded with traffic. They would come from all parts of the state to go see it. That was a big deal here. They remember that and cherish those memories and they're not really sure of the facts.”

And many of them are exhilarated to learn.

“I have not believed the excitement surrounding the publication of this book,” Ledbetter adds. “I have book talks and book signings scheduled from here until June, just about every week. They're so excited about it, and so am I.”