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MEMORIAL TO DALE WARREN

Dale Henry Warren was born June 1, 1925, in Rockford, Ill., son of Henry Greene and Wava Adams Warren. He was a member of The Sons of the Pioneers since December 1952. He was leader of the group from 1977 until his passing-31 YEARS!He performed with all members including the ones performing currently at Shepherd of the Hills Historic Homestead in Branson,Missouri. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran and was of the Baptist faith. He had been a resident of Branson for 20+ years.
2008 found Dale Warren celebrating his 56th year with the group, and his 31st year as Trail Boss. Dale passed away Aug.9,2008 in Forsyth,Missouri.He will be sorely missed.There are many of the group’s current fans and followers who imagine that he is now with Lloyd Perryman and the other Pioneers who have already ridden to the last round-up, singing to their hearts content. Here's to you "MR PIONEER!"

DALE'S TENURE WITH THE PIONEERS

On December 8, 1952, Dale Warren stood in the home of Lloyd Perryman, in Burbank, California, having just auditioned for an opening with the Sons of the Pioneers, and waited with Perryman’s wife, Buddie, while the Pioneers huddled outside to decide if he was in or out. Having just sung “Blue Shadows On The Trail” and “Way Out There” with Perryman and Tommy Doss, Warren described the tension of not knowing if he “made the grade” as nerve-wracking, but it was a short wait, and well worth it. Perryman, Doss, and the Farr brothers, Hugh and Karl, unanimously agreed that he was the man to replace Ken Curtis, who had been lead singer in the Pioneers’ trademark trio harmony, and had left to pursue a small and big-screen acting career, that would lead to one of the most endearing roles of all time, as Festus Hagan on the long-running western TV series, Gunsmoke. As had been the case when founding members Len Slye (a.k.a. Roy Rogers), Bob Nolan, and Tim Spencer left the group, there were large boots to be filled with Curtis’ departure, and much speculation that the Pioneer trio might never be the same. But as with Slye, Nolan and Spencer, the world-wide stature of the “gold standard” of western singing groups never missed a beat, and by the observations of many serious Pioneer followers and historians the resulting trio of Warren, Perryman, and Tommy Doss became the greatest, most polished, and best blended Pioneer trio of all time. Warren’s smooth, mellow baritone vocals gave the trio a solid anchor to secure to, and whether blending harmonies or singing solo, Dale Warren exhibited a musical ear and vocal flair second to none.

Having grown up in a musical family, Dale learned all about music and performance from his Dad, Uncle Henry of Uncle Henry’s Kentucky Mountaineers, and his Mom, whose radio name was Sally, the Mountain Gal. Along the way, Dale not only sang with the family show, but also had his own group with his wife, Margie, a violin/fiddle prodigy whose stage name was “Fiddlin’ Kate,” and others, including Sunny Spencer, called the Jimmy Dale Quartet. He also performed with Cliffie Stone’s Hometown Jamboree, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, and the All American Jamboree, where he was heard and recommended to the Pioneers. He sang on all the RCA Victor recordings of the Pioneers from 1958 to 1967, leaving his greatest mark on the Trail Dust and Tumbleweed Trail albums, according to renowned Pioneer historian and author of “Hear My Song,” Ken Griffis. Dale identified “Autumn on the Trail” from the Trail Dust album as one of his personal favorites in Griffis’ book, and it clearly demonstrates the range and beauty of his voice.

In 1977, the man Dale Warren to this day calls Mr. Pioneer, Lloyd Perryman, who had been the group’s Trail Boss for twenty-eight years, passed away, and that role logically shifted to Warren. Tommy Doss had completely left the group in 1967, and therefore Dale was the logical successor to Perryman, although it was never a position he aspired to achieve. His willingness to step up to the task at hand clearly provided the leadership and stability that this historic group needed to make the transition to new times, facing the new challenges of new decades and new audiences. At a time when the group was no longer under a national recording contract, audiences were changing, the music, movie, and television industries were changing, and all of the Pioneers, except for Dale Warren, who had built four decades of name and vocal recognition with this legendary group had passed from the scene, it would have been easy, and understandable, if the legacy of the Pioneers had passed from the American music landscape, as well. Yet, Dale Warren has taken the Pioneers from being a primarily road-based act to a primarily stationary act, dividing time between their summer and fall home in Branson, and their winter and spring home in Tucson, while simultaneously maintaining their ability to command top dollar and draw capacity crowds when they do road dates. But most importantly, Dale has navigated the Pioneers through this challenging time, and maintained the quality of the Pioneer sound, bringing new members in as necessary, and utilizing shifting talent strengths to their optimum advantage. As he described it in Griffis’ book, “The Pioneers have always played to the strength of the entire group. With Hugh and Karl we made one sound. With Billy Armstrong, Roy Lanham, Luther Nallie, and Billy Liebert we went a slightly different path. The same held true of the trio. Each trio has had a slightly different sound. When Sunny Spencer and Gary LeMaster joined, not only were they able to do different things, they also came along at a time when our performance requirements were changing. In the early years, most of our appearances covered a few days, seldom more than one or two weeks. Now we can appear in one place for several weeks or even months. That places a special burden on the group and we have found we must offer an act that is more varied than was once required. But through it all, we have never lost sight of the fact of who we are. We are the Sons of the Pioneers. That is a sound the fans expect, and that is a sound we give them. We take pride in our present trio. One need only attend one of our performances to see how greatly the fans appreciate what we are doing. That makes every member of the group very happy.”