Otto Gray & His Oklahoma Cowboys, Part 1 (1929)

Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys were the first nationally famous cowboy band, and the first cowboy band to appear on the cover of Billboard (June 6, 1931). Formed in Ripley, Oklahoma in the early 1920s, the band was first known as McGinty’s Oklahoma Cowboy Band, for the leader, Billy McGinty, a well-known cowboy, former Rough Rider, and world champion rider with Buffalo Bill’s show. The band members were authentic cowboys from ranches in and around Ripley. Their first promoter, George Youngblood, i