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Left: October 1952 at radio station KTAT in Frederick, Oklahoma, where Lew had a twice-a-week show. This picture was shot for a story in the local paper to publicize the show.

Right: Lew is giving a copy of Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop and Something I Said to Abe Lincoln, disc jockey on KTRN in Wichita Falls, Texas and owner of Abe's Record Shop, in October 1956. (Note the '60 Freshman Beanie on Abe's head.)

This shot of Lew holding the record (with Abe cropped out) was the only photo anyone had of him until the release of the Bear Family Cat Talk CD. The photo appeared in a story about him in the July 1957 issue of Folk and Country Songs. Then the picture in that publication was photographed and used in some of the notes of both the United Artists' and EMI's Imperial Rockabilly LP compilations in the late 70s and early 80s. It was also used in the liner notes of the 1998 Bear Family CD That'll Flat Git It &151; Volume 12 &151; Rockabilly from the Vaults of Imperial Records.

Left: Taken about January, 1957 - just prior to the release of Centipede and Abracadabra.

Right: In 1953, Lew had a country band billed as "Lew Williams and the Texas Drifters," made up of students from Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, Texas and service men stationed nearby at Sheppard Air Force Base. The band played traditional country, but also did some pop numbers.

Left: Taken in Lew's dorm room at Midwestern University in early fall 1952. Several students were having a jam session, and Lew's room mate took this snapshot of him.

Right: Backstage at a show Lew appeared on in Wichita Falls in late 1954: Dub Dickerson, Lew, Little Jimmy Dickens and an unidentified artist. Lew is wearing cat clothes rather than country clothes. This show was after his two Cat Music sessions earlier in the year. It was several months after the release of his country record on the Flair label, and he didn't have a recording contract at the time. He was no longer singing country music, and on this particular show he did Shake Rattle and Roll and That's All Right. A group from the Grand 'Ole Opry were the headliners which, in addition to Little Jimmy Dickens, included Cousin Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones.

Left: Lew and several friends in the snack bar of the Student Center at Midwestern University in 1957 listening to one of his records on the juke box.

Right: Lew getting his mail at the campus post office in the Student Center at Midwestern University in 1957.

Left: In 1955-56 "The Madwesterners from Midwestern" was broadcast on Monday nights on radio station KSYD in Wichita Falls. Students from Midwestern University handled the show. Lew did the Rock & Roll segment, and here he's playing one of the requests.

Right: November 1957. Lew was on six-months active duty in the U.S. Army at Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas as required by the Texas National Guard.

Left: Shot in Lew's dorm room in January 1957 at the time of the semester final exams at Midwestern University. It was to depict "cramming for exams." The picture ran in the local paper and the college paper with a caption saying in effect that Lew had been so busy preparing for the release of a new record, Centipede and Abracadabra, due out in a week or so, that he suddenly realized he didn't have much time left to cram for the exams, which were just starting.

Right: Promotional photo made in October 1956 for the release of Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop and Something I Said.

Left: Football practice at W. H. Adamson High School, Dallas, Texas in the fall of 1950, when Lew was a senior. This was shot for the yearbook.

Right: Getting his diploma, W. H. Adamson High School graduation, Dallas, Texas in May 1951.

Left: Lew's 1951 high school yearbook picture - the year he graduated. The photo was taken in the fall of 1950.

Right: Deep in thought in an empty classroom at Midwestern University in 1957, a few months before he graduated.

Left: September 1957. Lew is wearing a shirt made for him by his fan club president's mother.

Right: This photo was made in 1955 for a story about Lew in the Wichita Falls, Texas daily newspaper and the campus newspaper at Midwestern University.

Left: After leaving the music business, Lew produced numerous shows and events. Here he is at a convention exhibit booth with Willie Mae Johnson, winner of his Miss Tan America Pageant in 1965.

Right: "The Madwesterners from Midwestern" discussing campus events on KSYD, Wichita Falls in 1955. Left to right, Ron Peden, Mary Clayton (Mrs. Ron Peden), Celie Slack and Lew.

Left: In 1953 Lew had a band was called "The Texas Drifters". All of Lew's country songs on the Cat Talk CD were recorded in 1953.

Right: Promotional photo made in January 1957 - before Centipede and Abracadabra were released.

Left: Shot in October 1956 as a promotional photo prior to the release of Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop and Something I Said.

Right: Painted for Lew by a talented 15 year old teenager, Barbara Hutchins, in 1957.

All photos © Lew Williams
©2005 Iffic Publishing Company