Letter: Las Vegas is fertile ground for Halsey country music

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The Jim Halsey Co. pioneered name Country music artists as main attractions in Las Vegas and Reno where casinos prevailed. First, Hank Thompson and his Brazos Valley Boys, Wanda Jackson and then Roy Clark played weeks out of each year. Long term deals were made at the famous Golden Nugget Casino and Saloon in downtown Las Vegas.

The famous Las Vegas Strip of luxury hotels and casinos was several miles from downtown and featured only the biggest, Pop stars … Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., Ginger Rogers and others headlined these major venues. Country music was not considered.

Howard Hughes owned six of the major hotel/casinos: The Frontier, The Sands, Desert Inn, Landmark, Hacienda and the 1890’s era Silver Slipper Gambling Hall. Walter Kane, his entertainment director, was called the entertainment czar of Las Vegas. He booked all of Hughes venues. After months of trying for an appointment, I made it into Mr. Kane’s office.

I finally convinced Mr. Kane to try Country music on the famous Las Vegas Strip. It was a major breakthrough and our company began to supply all country music entertainment in the big showrooms of Las Vegas. Roy Clark was the first, followed by The Oak Ridge Boys, Lee Greenwood, Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, Mel Tillis, Reba McEntire, The Judds and others. Our success in these venues opened up other Las Vegas bookings such as the MGM Grand, Hilton and Caesar’s Palace for our roster of stars.

Mr. Kane became an important mentor to me. Our Jim Halsey Co. pioneered and opened the famous Las Vegas Strip to Country music. We were the exclusive providers for years. During an important Fair Buyers convention, eighteen of our star artists headlined nine major hotels/casinos ON THE STRIP, ALL AT ONE TIME! No single company had done that before or since.

The “Jim Halsey’s Legends of Country Music” exhibit at The Wagoner History Center, 122 S. Main St., Wagoner, OK, has exclusive, interesting memorabilia from that era.