Donnie Bowshier / Donnie Bowser

Springfield, 1950-2002

Donnie Bowshier had a 50+ year career that featured one national hit record and a few near misses. It's likely he could have been a bigger star had he been able to tour the country with his contemporaries. Donnie had polio when he was 3 years old and had to spend his life in a wheelchair. 

Donnie in junior high school, from 1950, Earliest reference we could find to him as a performer.

Donnie's physical limtations did not stop him from becoming a singer and guitarist. He grew up in a musical family with a grandfather who was a square dance caller and who gave Donnie an early chance at public singing. Donnie's father Odes played fiddle. Donnie formed his own band while a student at Springfield's Keifer Junior High School, the JR Melody Boys, or Junior Melody Boys. This led to a deal with King records where they recorded a couple records with some local success. A couple of sources have the members listed as Paul Hopkins (guitar), Zeke Turner (guitar), and Charlie Gore (fiddle). However, a story about Turner in 1953 does not say anything about Turner playing with the band. It's possible that Turner played with Donnie at some point, maybe 1956-ish. Charlie Gore was a member of the Rural Rangers, another WLW Midwest Hayride group, and alos not mentioned in period accounts. Turner and Gore may have played on the two records, though.

July, 1954 ad

The group played locally, opening for some touring acts, and had a radio show on Springfield's WJEL. The deal they had with King was short lived, and in the summer of 1954 they released a 45 on their own. The record was credited to Donnie and Slim Redman, and stylisticly is moving towards the rockabilly sound. The A side was "Strut My Stuff". The record was mentioned in the Springfield record store ad, There is nothing else we could find about Slim Redman, most likely a stage name. The songwriter was listed as Dorothy Slone. Dorothy was the wife of Earl Slone, who is credited on the first King label 45, and likely a member of the Junior Melody Boys. Earl was no junior in age, he would have been about 30 years old at the time. We could find out much more about them, either.

High School talent show, 1954 style. Using blacklights a decade before the hippies!

Donnie's career got a bost in 1957 when he recorded a 45 for the new Dess label. Dess was based in Wilmington, about 45 miles south of Springfield. The record had "Stone Heart" on the A side and "Rock And Roll Joys" on the B side. "Rock And Roll Joys" is a classic rockabilly record that shows Donnie was up with the trends and latest sounds. "Stone Heart" was a song that Donnie wrote a few years before he recorded it, while still in school. The Radio Ranch Boys are the band on the record. There is some question about the players on the record. The name Radio Ranch Boys was used for a few Dess label records, including one from 1967/8 when the label was using the Dessco name. Roger Bowshier, Donnie's brother, was the bass player for the JJR Melody Boys and on this record. Gene Sisco was also one of the players. The record was moderately successful for a local release. 

This 1958 ad lists the band as the Strollers, just before the release of Sage version of "Stone Heart"

Donnie recorded a follow up record a few months later, two originals that are country, with some Buddy Holly type influences, again with the Radio Ranch Boys as the credited band. This record, accoring to an 2000 interview with Donnie, included Homer Wooten on guitar, Sonny Curtis (not the Crickets member) on steel guitar, and Gene Sisco on fiddle, with Roger Bowshier, and Terry Bowshier, another brother, on drums. It's likely the same players were on the first Dess 45.

This 1957 ad with Donnie and the Radio Ranch Boys. How many 1 year olds entered the amateur contest?

The sales of the Dess records inspired Donnie to name his band the Stonehearts, a name he used into the 1970s, with a number of different members. The next step was to re-record "Stone Heart" with a better production, backed with a re-recording of "I Love You Baby'. With the backing of Sage records the song was a hit, although more of a case where a record was a big hit in some markets but not a true national hit. The record was shortly re-released by Fraternity, the another release by Robbins, and finally another shot at a national release with the Era records from Los Angeles, a label not known for country and they were probably trying to break the 'pop' top 40 market. The Era release was in 1960. The record was also released by Quality in Canada. Donnie had changed his professional name to Bowser prior to the Sage 45 as he was tired of the mispellings of his real name.

Musical mixing with the Dayton R&B group backed by Donnie and his band

"Stone Heart" was Donnie's biggest record and his signature song. He recorded a second 45 for Sage while "Stone Heart" was still being rolled out. He made another 45 for the Bamboo label in 1961. The Bamboo label was an ambitious attempt at a 'big city' rock-n-roll sound with saxes. The record was cut in Nashville but could have been New York City. It's a really good record but ultimately not really his style. The band mermbers included the three brothers. Ronnie Carpenter is mentioned as a guitarist, about whom we could not find anything, he may have not been a local.

Donnie spent the next few years performing locally. He was not able to make the leap to a national recording act, one of reasons being the difficulties of touring in a wheelchair. He put his energy into his family and his job. He returned to recording in 1964 with a local release, a country A side with a really cool version of the Hank Williams standard that has an R&B feel and even some teenbeat influence. One of Donnie's assets was that he kept up with the times and continued to use rock-style guitar sounds and production, never sounding trapped by countrypolitan pop.

Donnie recorded his first LP in 1966, released on Dayton's Top Tennessee label. After the LP he had another quiet period where he would play occasionally in the Springfield/Dayton area. Brother Roger was still playing with him.

Staring in 1970 he recorded a run of 45s that began with a 45 on the Nashvilee based Chalet label, and was more active in performing. He did pretty well with a 1972 45 on the Stop label. During this time Donnie played some major shows, including the WSM Grand Ole Orpy and the Cowtown Jubilee in Fort Worth, Texas. The Texas trip was in the spring/summer of 1970, where he had a regular gig at the Rustler's Rest. He recorded a few more 45s on QCA and Rome/Starr. 

This article from 1972 shows how much Donnie was appreciated by his fans

Donnie continued to stay active until the early 1990s. He started calling his show "Country On Wheels". In 1989 he finally made the national chart again with "Falling For You", released on the Florida based Ridgewood label.

Donnie had the respect and admiration of many Ohio musicians. One of the was Bobby Bare, who partnered with Donnie on an album in 1989/90. The album was released on cassette, with one song issued as a promo 45. That turned out to be Donnie's last recordings. He had some health problems that curtailed his live shows. Some of his family members were involved with music and Donnie would make an occasional guest appearance.

Donnie passed away in 2002.

Discography:
Bull Frog Boogie / We'll Never Part - King 1219 (45 and 78), 1953
Tight Shoe Boogie / I Cried In My Sleep - King 1245 (45 and 78), 1953
Strut My Stuff / Southbound Special - Skip 100, June 1954
Stone Heart / Rock And Roll Joys - Dess 7002, 1957
I Love You Baby / Love So Rare - Dess 7004, 1957
Stone Heart - I Love You Baby - Sage 265 / Fraternity 801/ Robbins 1009 / Era 3029 , 1959
It's Our Secret / Got The Best Of Me - Sage 276, 1959
Tomorrow / Talk To Me Baby - Bamboo 508, 1961
Sing A Sad Song / Move It On Over - JD 0379, 1964
LP - Donnie Bowser Sings - Top Tennessee 1935, 1966
I Thought I Heard You Call My Name / Tomorrow - Chalet 1071, 1970
I Hope You Hear (Sad Songs) / Pretty Things - Stop 406, 1972
Make The World Go Away / That's What I Need - QCA 406, 1973
My Heart Still Loves You / Girl I See In My Glass - Rome 4130, March 1975
On My Mind / Honestly I Do - Starr 479, April 1979
Just No Way Of Getting Over You / There'll Never Be Another (Someone Like You) - Bill-Don 8805, 1988 (Jewel custom number)
Falling For You / You've Got My Arms To Come Back To - Ridgewood 3002, 1989
Another One Of My Near Mrs. (Misses) / same - Playback 1342, 1990
Album (cassette only) - Playback 13021, 1990