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| Add Photo — Add Link — Add Commentary — Correct this page — Print | | Meridian in Lauderdale County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central) |
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Moe Bandy
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By Mike Stroud, September 13, 2012 | |
| | | 1. Moe Bandy Marker | | |
Inscription. (Front text)
Born in Meridian and the grandson of the railway yard manager where Jimmie Rodgers
worked, Moe Bandy became one of country music’s most popular singers of the 1970s and ‘80s. A master of honky
tonk as well as cowboy songs that reflected his early rodeo work, he was successful as a solo recording artist, as a
member of the “Moe and Joe” duo with Joe Stampley, and later as a prime live attraction in Branson, Missouri.
(Reverse text)
Moe Bandy was born Marion Franklin Bandy, Jr., in Meridian on February 12, 1944. He was the grandson of the
man who employed Jimmie Rodgers at the local railway yard and the son of a guitar-playing father and piano-
playing mother who always had Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams records playing. The Bandy family relocated to
San Antonio, Texas, when Moe (as his father nicknamed him) was six. Raised as a working cowboy, he would
occasionally appear with his dad’s country band but focused more on his main early interest, bronco busting and
bull riding, competing in rodeos professionally by age sixteen. His brother Mike became a celebrated bull rider, and
the brothers were inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2007, but Moe, injured too often in the
competitions, did most of his cowboy work in song. He | | | | 
By Mike Stroud, September 13, 2012 | |
| | | 2. Moe Bandy Marker, reverse side | | |
started a long-time job as a sheet metal worker after
finishing high school, and at night, beginning in 1962, appeared in San Antonio clubs with his country band, Moe
and the Mavericks.
He would see regional television success, but several small label recordings went nowhere. When Bandy self-
financed sessions with producer Ray Baker in 1972-’73, one recording, “I Just Started Hatin’ Cheatin’ Songs Today”
was picked up by GRC Records and became a No. 11 national hit. Honky tonk themes of drinking, loving, losing,
and cheating and the traditional sound of fiddles and steel guitars marked Moe’s highly praised, soulful solo singles
of the decade that followed, his national prominence growing when he signed with Columbia Records in 1975. Such
celebrated songwriters as Dallas Frazier and Whitey Shafer now provided him songs, and Moe also made his first
headlining Jimmie Rodgers Festival appearance that year here in Meridian. Over time, Bandy would have over fifty
charting singles, thirty-four of them top ten hits. In 1979 alone, he had his first No. 1 solo record, a hit honky tonk
duet with Janie Fricke, and was first paired with look-alike label mate Joe Stampley, whom people often mistook for
his brother. The first of their string of successful good time “Moe and Joe” singles, “Just Good Ol’ Boys,” | | | | 
By Mike Stroud, September 13, 2012 | |
| | | 3. Moe Bandy Marker reverse side close-up | | ** Click picture for more detail ** | | |
went to
No. 1; they were the Country Music Association’s Vocal Duo of the Year for 1980.
With a move to MCA/Curb Records in the mid-1980s, Bandy’s recordings, such as the patriotic hit “Americana,”
took on a more updated country sound, and he more often explored gospel songs and cowboy ballads. Having
become a popular attraction in Branson, Missouri, he opened Moe Bandy’s Americana Theatre there in 1991. He
continued to be a popular live performer there and on the road internationally for decades after.
Erected 2012 by Mississippi Country Music Trail , U.S. DOT, MS DOT. (Marker Number 18.)
Marker series. This marker is included in the Mississippi Country Music Trail marker series.
Location. 32° 21.817′ N, 88° 41.846′ W. Marker is in Meridian, Mississippi, in Lauderdale County. Marker is on Front Street near 21st Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Click for map. Located next to Meridian Union Station Parking Lot. Marker is in this post office area: Meridian MS 39301, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. Meridian's "C" Battery (about 300 feet away, in a direct line); Meridian (about 600 feet away); Depot Historic District (about 700 feet away); Jimmie Rodgers & The Blues (approx. 0.2 miles away); Urban Center Historic District (approx. 0.3 miles away); Gillespie V. "Sonny" Montgomery (approx. 1.6 miles away). |
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By Mike Stroud, September 13, 2012 | |
| | | 4. Moe Bandy Marker near Meridian Union Station | | |
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By Mike Stroud, September 13, 2012 | |
| | | 5. Moe Bandy Marker along Front Street | | |
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Credits. This page originally submitted on October 25, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 85 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 28, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
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