Merle Travis wrote the bulk of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" (Merle Travis - Tex Williams). Merle wrote the classic "Sixteen Tons" and "Dark As A Dungeon". Merle was also noted for his finger picking style of playing the guitar. Merle was a feature artist on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band respected LP "Will The Circle Be Unbroken".

Tex (Sollie Paul) Williams and his Western Caravan (Milton Berry, Rex Call, Larry DePaul, Paul Featherstone, Ossie Godson, Manny Klein, Earl Murphey, Eugene Rogers, Hank Sims, Andrew Soldi, Deuce Spriggens and Johnny Weiss) topped the Country and pop charts in 1947. Tex was once the vocalist for the Spade Cooley band.