Broadcaster and journalist. As announcer "Brother Gatemouth" in Little Rock, Ark., introduced blues to a generation of middle-class youth, including Robert Zimmerman, later known as Bob Dylan. In October 1954, he was the first announcer to introduce a young Elvis Presley to a paying audience. The dean of Louisiana broadcasters, he worked from the late 1930s until his retirement, in his 80s, in 2005.
-------------------------------
Frank Page, veteran regional broadcaster and a legend in the music world through his work at the Louisiana Hayride, died late Wednesday after a bout with a severe respiratory infection.
Page, 87, had been in the intensive care unit at WK Pierremont Health Center. Until the last few hours of his life he received visits from family, friends and caretakers.
Survivors include his widow, Helen, and a brother. Funeral details are pending. Page, long considered the dean of Shreveport broadcasters, retired from KWKH Radio in 2005 after 65 years behind microphones.
It was during the 1950s when Page cemented his place in history by introducing Elvis Presley for the first time to a paying audience in April 1954 at the Louisiana Hayride.
"Unbeknownst to me, it was what some since have called 'a seminal moment in the history of the world,'" Page told The Times several years ago in an interview. "He was a shy, well-mannered young man and just impressed the hell out of everybody."
Joey Kent, a local music and film producer and son of the late David Kent, a former owner of the Louisiana Hayride, worked with Page on projects concerning the radio show and noted that Page, an unusually modest man in broadcasting, downplayed his role in Elvis's early years.
"As Frank (would have been) the first to tell you, he fell into his most famous role, as the man who introduced Elvis to worldwide radio audiences quite by accident," Kent said. "Horace Logan generally introduced the well-known acts. It was through the fact that Elvis was an unknown that the job was pitched to Frank. Without much fanfare, he simply introduced Elvis by reporting what they knew, that he had a record out that had been getting some play on KWKH and other area radio stations and it had been getting a good response."
Page and the early Hayride provided an uncritical and forgiving environment that allowed Presley to mature as an artist and take his talent to a national level, Kent said.
Page's radio career began in 1940 in Little Rock, Ark., and a decade later he was broadcasting from Shreveport's KWKH. It was through one of his radio personas, "Brother Gatemouth," that he brought blues to a generation of middle-class youth through the 50,000-watt station.
One of the people listening was a young Robert Zimmerman, of Hibbings, Minn., who grew up to be Bob Dylan. Several Dylan biographies credit Page with influencing the music stylist.
Page also recorded his World War II memories for the Norton Art Gallery's continuing program to capture the memories of veterans. In a story in The Times four years ago, he recalled being on the air in Little Rock in early December 1941, age 17, when history happened.
"We were playing classical music from CBS when we were interrupted by the announcer, who mispronounced 'Oahu,'" he recalled. The interruption said the Navy base at Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the nation was at war. "I was shocked and immediately called station management, who called in staffers to answer the phones. ... I worked the rest of the day, and the next day, Monday, went down to join the military service, like most other young men of the day."
He was turned down. Not because he was too young, but rather, at well over 6 feet, was too tall. He later was drafted, wound up in the Signal Corps, and wound up in occupied Berlin at the end of the war, lodging in the house of former world heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling and sleeping in the boxer's bed because it was one of the few that could accommodate his frame.
After the war, Page returned to Little Rock, where he partnered on air with later-legendary sportscaster Bob Fulton, who later gained fame as the "voice of the Carolina Gamecocks." After Little Rock, he worked in West Memphis, Ark., where he learned of an opening at KWKH, then owned by The Times. "I did a demo and got a letter back saying 'come on,'" he told The Times in a past interview.
Page joined KWKH just before Thanksgiving 1947. It was two years later that he became an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride, where he introduced stars ranging from Hank Williams Sr. and Slim Whitman to Johnny Horton and Red Sovine. Page also worked with fellow KWKH announcers who would carve substantial careers in country music, including "Gentleman" Jim Reeves and Nat Stuckey.
------------------------------------
Raymond Franklin Page
Services celebrating the life of Frank Page will be held at 11am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Rose- Neath Funeral Home Marshall Street Chapel. Officiating the service will be, Bro. James Duncan of Hickory Hill Baptist Church, Avinger, TX. Interment will follow at Forest Park St. Vincent Avenue. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, on Monday January 14, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm.
Raymond Franklin Page passed away on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 after a brief illness. He is survived by; his wife of 68 years, Helen Louise Hulett Page, their daughter, Patti Lea Page Stephens, and her husband Ronald W. Stephens, grandson, Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, CO, brother, Larry E. Page and his wife MaryAnn of Shreveport, LA.
Frank was born July 16, 1925 in Malvern, Arkansas. He was the son of Raymond Foster Page and Stella Irene Coston Page. He attended school in Harlingen, Texas; Malvern, Arkansas and North Little Rock, Arkansas. Frank proudly served his country in the United States Army during WWII.
Frank and Helen moved to Shreveport on Thanksgiving Day 1947. He had a storied career in radio with KWKH of 58 years. He was involved in the "Louisiana Hayride" from 1949 to the 1980s. He was associated with the "Greats" of Country Music and Rock & Roll. He is known best for having first introduced Elvis Presley to an international audience. The recording of that introduction has been released in album form in 25 languages. He received countless awards and recognition included being inducted into the Shreveport Walk of Stars. Frank loved Radio, his audience, and was affectionately known as "Mr. KWKH" and the "Dean of Shreveport Radio". A book, "Frank & Helen Page: A Lifetime at KWKH" was published in 2007, which chronicled their life together.
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the American Heart Association , 745 Olive Street Shreveport, LA 71101, The Wounded Warrier Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org or to the charity of the donor's choice .
∼Country Music Radio Broadcaster.
-------------------------------
Frank Page, veteran regional broadcaster and a legend in the music world through his work at the Louisiana Hayride, died late Wednesday after a bout with a severe respiratory infection.
Page, 87, had been in the intensive care unit at WK Pierremont Health Center. Until the last few hours of his life he received visits from family, friends and caretakers.
Survivors include his widow, Helen, and a brother. Funeral details are pending. Page, long considered the dean of Shreveport broadcasters, retired from KWKH Radio in 2005 after 65 years behind microphones.
It was during the 1950s when Page cemented his place in history by introducing Elvis Presley for the first time to a paying audience in April 1954 at the Louisiana Hayride.
"Unbeknownst to me, it was what some since have called 'a seminal moment in the history of the world,'" Page told The Times several years ago in an interview. "He was a shy, well-mannered young man and just impressed the hell out of everybody."
Joey Kent, a local music and film producer and son of the late David Kent, a former owner of the Louisiana Hayride, worked with Page on projects concerning the radio show and noted that Page, an unusually modest man in broadcasting, downplayed his role in Elvis's early years.
"As Frank (would have been) the first to tell you, he fell into his most famous role, as the man who introduced Elvis to worldwide radio audiences quite by accident," Kent said. "Horace Logan generally introduced the well-known acts. It was through the fact that Elvis was an unknown that the job was pitched to Frank. Without much fanfare, he simply introduced Elvis by reporting what they knew, that he had a record out that had been getting some play on KWKH and other area radio stations and it had been getting a good response."
Page and the early Hayride provided an uncritical and forgiving environment that allowed Presley to mature as an artist and take his talent to a national level, Kent said.
Page's radio career began in 1940 in Little Rock, Ark., and a decade later he was broadcasting from Shreveport's KWKH. It was through one of his radio personas, "Brother Gatemouth," that he brought blues to a generation of middle-class youth through the 50,000-watt station.
One of the people listening was a young Robert Zimmerman, of Hibbings, Minn., who grew up to be Bob Dylan. Several Dylan biographies credit Page with influencing the music stylist.
Page also recorded his World War II memories for the Norton Art Gallery's continuing program to capture the memories of veterans. In a story in The Times four years ago, he recalled being on the air in Little Rock in early December 1941, age 17, when history happened.
"We were playing classical music from CBS when we were interrupted by the announcer, who mispronounced 'Oahu,'" he recalled. The interruption said the Navy base at Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the nation was at war. "I was shocked and immediately called station management, who called in staffers to answer the phones. ... I worked the rest of the day, and the next day, Monday, went down to join the military service, like most other young men of the day."
He was turned down. Not because he was too young, but rather, at well over 6 feet, was too tall. He later was drafted, wound up in the Signal Corps, and wound up in occupied Berlin at the end of the war, lodging in the house of former world heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling and sleeping in the boxer's bed because it was one of the few that could accommodate his frame.
After the war, Page returned to Little Rock, where he partnered on air with later-legendary sportscaster Bob Fulton, who later gained fame as the "voice of the Carolina Gamecocks." After Little Rock, he worked in West Memphis, Ark., where he learned of an opening at KWKH, then owned by The Times. "I did a demo and got a letter back saying 'come on,'" he told The Times in a past interview.
Page joined KWKH just before Thanksgiving 1947. It was two years later that he became an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride, where he introduced stars ranging from Hank Williams Sr. and Slim Whitman to Johnny Horton and Red Sovine. Page also worked with fellow KWKH announcers who would carve substantial careers in country music, including "Gentleman" Jim Reeves and Nat Stuckey.
------------------------------------
Raymond Franklin Page
Services celebrating the life of Frank Page will be held at 11am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Rose- Neath Funeral Home Marshall Street Chapel. Officiating the service will be, Bro. James Duncan of Hickory Hill Baptist Church, Avinger, TX. Interment will follow at Forest Park St. Vincent Avenue. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, on Monday January 14, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm.
Raymond Franklin Page passed away on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 after a brief illness. He is survived by; his wife of 68 years, Helen Louise Hulett Page, their daughter, Patti Lea Page Stephens, and her husband Ronald W. Stephens, grandson, Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, CO, brother, Larry E. Page and his wife MaryAnn of Shreveport, LA.
Frank was born July 16, 1925 in Malvern, Arkansas. He was the son of Raymond Foster Page and Stella Irene Coston Page. He attended school in Harlingen, Texas; Malvern, Arkansas and North Little Rock, Arkansas. Frank proudly served his country in the United States Army during WWII.
Frank and Helen moved to Shreveport on Thanksgiving Day 1947. He had a storied career in radio with KWKH of 58 years. He was involved in the "Louisiana Hayride" from 1949 to the 1980s. He was associated with the "Greats" of Country Music and Rock & Roll. He is known best for having first introduced Elvis Presley to an international audience. The recording of that introduction has been released in album form in 25 languages. He received countless awards and recognition included being inducted into the Shreveport Walk of Stars. Frank loved Radio, his audience, and was affectionately known as "Mr. KWKH" and the "Dean of Shreveport Radio". A book, "Frank & Helen Page: A Lifetime at KWKH" was published in 2007, which chronicled their life together.
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the American Heart Association , 745 Olive Street Shreveport, LA 71101, The Wounded Warrier Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org or to the charity of the donor's choice .
∼Country Music Radio Broadcaster.
Broadcaster and journalist. As announcer "Brother Gatemouth" in Little Rock, Ark., introduced blues to a generation of middle-class youth, including Robert Zimmerman, later known as Bob Dylan. In October 1954, he was the first announcer to introduce a young Elvis Presley to a paying audience. The dean of Louisiana broadcasters, he worked from the late 1930s until his retirement, in his 80s, in 2005.
-------------------------------
Frank Page, veteran regional broadcaster and a legend in the music world through his work at the Louisiana Hayride, died late Wednesday after a bout with a severe respiratory infection.
Page, 87, had been in the intensive care unit at WK Pierremont Health Center. Until the last few hours of his life he received visits from family, friends and caretakers.
Survivors include his widow, Helen, and a brother. Funeral details are pending. Page, long considered the dean of Shreveport broadcasters, retired from KWKH Radio in 2005 after 65 years behind microphones.
It was during the 1950s when Page cemented his place in history by introducing Elvis Presley for the first time to a paying audience in April 1954 at the Louisiana Hayride.
"Unbeknownst to me, it was what some since have called 'a seminal moment in the history of the world,'" Page told The Times several years ago in an interview. "He was a shy, well-mannered young man and just impressed the hell out of everybody."
Joey Kent, a local music and film producer and son of the late David Kent, a former owner of the Louisiana Hayride, worked with Page on projects concerning the radio show and noted that Page, an unusually modest man in broadcasting, downplayed his role in Elvis's early years.
"As Frank (would have been) the first to tell you, he fell into his most famous role, as the man who introduced Elvis to worldwide radio audiences quite by accident," Kent said. "Horace Logan generally introduced the well-known acts. It was through the fact that Elvis was an unknown that the job was pitched to Frank. Without much fanfare, he simply introduced Elvis by reporting what they knew, that he had a record out that had been getting some play on KWKH and other area radio stations and it had been getting a good response."
Page and the early Hayride provided an uncritical and forgiving environment that allowed Presley to mature as an artist and take his talent to a national level, Kent said.
Page's radio career began in 1940 in Little Rock, Ark., and a decade later he was broadcasting from Shreveport's KWKH. It was through one of his radio personas, "Brother Gatemouth," that he brought blues to a generation of middle-class youth through the 50,000-watt station.
One of the people listening was a young Robert Zimmerman, of Hibbings, Minn., who grew up to be Bob Dylan. Several Dylan biographies credit Page with influencing the music stylist.
Page also recorded his World War II memories for the Norton Art Gallery's continuing program to capture the memories of veterans. In a story in The Times four years ago, he recalled being on the air in Little Rock in early December 1941, age 17, when history happened.
"We were playing classical music from CBS when we were interrupted by the announcer, who mispronounced 'Oahu,'" he recalled. The interruption said the Navy base at Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the nation was at war. "I was shocked and immediately called station management, who called in staffers to answer the phones. ... I worked the rest of the day, and the next day, Monday, went down to join the military service, like most other young men of the day."
He was turned down. Not because he was too young, but rather, at well over 6 feet, was too tall. He later was drafted, wound up in the Signal Corps, and wound up in occupied Berlin at the end of the war, lodging in the house of former world heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling and sleeping in the boxer's bed because it was one of the few that could accommodate his frame.
After the war, Page returned to Little Rock, where he partnered on air with later-legendary sportscaster Bob Fulton, who later gained fame as the "voice of the Carolina Gamecocks." After Little Rock, he worked in West Memphis, Ark., where he learned of an opening at KWKH, then owned by The Times. "I did a demo and got a letter back saying 'come on,'" he told The Times in a past interview.
Page joined KWKH just before Thanksgiving 1947. It was two years later that he became an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride, where he introduced stars ranging from Hank Williams Sr. and Slim Whitman to Johnny Horton and Red Sovine. Page also worked with fellow KWKH announcers who would carve substantial careers in country music, including "Gentleman" Jim Reeves and Nat Stuckey.
------------------------------------
Raymond Franklin Page
Services celebrating the life of Frank Page will be held at 11am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Rose- Neath Funeral Home Marshall Street Chapel. Officiating the service will be, Bro. James Duncan of Hickory Hill Baptist Church, Avinger, TX. Interment will follow at Forest Park St. Vincent Avenue. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, on Monday January 14, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm.
Raymond Franklin Page passed away on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 after a brief illness. He is survived by; his wife of 68 years, Helen Louise Hulett Page, their daughter, Patti Lea Page Stephens, and her husband Ronald W. Stephens, grandson, Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, CO, brother, Larry E. Page and his wife MaryAnn of Shreveport, LA.
Frank was born July 16, 1925 in Malvern, Arkansas. He was the son of Raymond Foster Page and Stella Irene Coston Page. He attended school in Harlingen, Texas; Malvern, Arkansas and North Little Rock, Arkansas. Frank proudly served his country in the United States Army during WWII.
Frank and Helen moved to Shreveport on Thanksgiving Day 1947. He had a storied career in radio with KWKH of 58 years. He was involved in the "Louisiana Hayride" from 1949 to the 1980s. He was associated with the "Greats" of Country Music and Rock & Roll. He is known best for having first introduced Elvis Presley to an international audience. The recording of that introduction has been released in album form in 25 languages. He received countless awards and recognition included being inducted into the Shreveport Walk of Stars. Frank loved Radio, his audience, and was affectionately known as "Mr. KWKH" and the "Dean of Shreveport Radio". A book, "Frank & Helen Page: A Lifetime at KWKH" was published in 2007, which chronicled their life together.
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the American Heart Association , 745 Olive Street Shreveport, LA 71101, The Wounded Warrier Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org or to the charity of the donor's choice .
∼Country Music Radio Broadcaster.
-------------------------------
Frank Page, veteran regional broadcaster and a legend in the music world through his work at the Louisiana Hayride, died late Wednesday after a bout with a severe respiratory infection.
Page, 87, had been in the intensive care unit at WK Pierremont Health Center. Until the last few hours of his life he received visits from family, friends and caretakers.
Survivors include his widow, Helen, and a brother. Funeral details are pending. Page, long considered the dean of Shreveport broadcasters, retired from KWKH Radio in 2005 after 65 years behind microphones.
It was during the 1950s when Page cemented his place in history by introducing Elvis Presley for the first time to a paying audience in April 1954 at the Louisiana Hayride.
"Unbeknownst to me, it was what some since have called 'a seminal moment in the history of the world,'" Page told The Times several years ago in an interview. "He was a shy, well-mannered young man and just impressed the hell out of everybody."
Joey Kent, a local music and film producer and son of the late David Kent, a former owner of the Louisiana Hayride, worked with Page on projects concerning the radio show and noted that Page, an unusually modest man in broadcasting, downplayed his role in Elvis's early years.
"As Frank (would have been) the first to tell you, he fell into his most famous role, as the man who introduced Elvis to worldwide radio audiences quite by accident," Kent said. "Horace Logan generally introduced the well-known acts. It was through the fact that Elvis was an unknown that the job was pitched to Frank. Without much fanfare, he simply introduced Elvis by reporting what they knew, that he had a record out that had been getting some play on KWKH and other area radio stations and it had been getting a good response."
Page and the early Hayride provided an uncritical and forgiving environment that allowed Presley to mature as an artist and take his talent to a national level, Kent said.
Page's radio career began in 1940 in Little Rock, Ark., and a decade later he was broadcasting from Shreveport's KWKH. It was through one of his radio personas, "Brother Gatemouth," that he brought blues to a generation of middle-class youth through the 50,000-watt station.
One of the people listening was a young Robert Zimmerman, of Hibbings, Minn., who grew up to be Bob Dylan. Several Dylan biographies credit Page with influencing the music stylist.
Page also recorded his World War II memories for the Norton Art Gallery's continuing program to capture the memories of veterans. In a story in The Times four years ago, he recalled being on the air in Little Rock in early December 1941, age 17, when history happened.
"We were playing classical music from CBS when we were interrupted by the announcer, who mispronounced 'Oahu,'" he recalled. The interruption said the Navy base at Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the nation was at war. "I was shocked and immediately called station management, who called in staffers to answer the phones. ... I worked the rest of the day, and the next day, Monday, went down to join the military service, like most other young men of the day."
He was turned down. Not because he was too young, but rather, at well over 6 feet, was too tall. He later was drafted, wound up in the Signal Corps, and wound up in occupied Berlin at the end of the war, lodging in the house of former world heavyweight boxing champ Max Schmeling and sleeping in the boxer's bed because it was one of the few that could accommodate his frame.
After the war, Page returned to Little Rock, where he partnered on air with later-legendary sportscaster Bob Fulton, who later gained fame as the "voice of the Carolina Gamecocks." After Little Rock, he worked in West Memphis, Ark., where he learned of an opening at KWKH, then owned by The Times. "I did a demo and got a letter back saying 'come on,'" he told The Times in a past interview.
Page joined KWKH just before Thanksgiving 1947. It was two years later that he became an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride, where he introduced stars ranging from Hank Williams Sr. and Slim Whitman to Johnny Horton and Red Sovine. Page also worked with fellow KWKH announcers who would carve substantial careers in country music, including "Gentleman" Jim Reeves and Nat Stuckey.
------------------------------------
Raymond Franklin Page
Services celebrating the life of Frank Page will be held at 11am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Rose- Neath Funeral Home Marshall Street Chapel. Officiating the service will be, Bro. James Duncan of Hickory Hill Baptist Church, Avinger, TX. Interment will follow at Forest Park St. Vincent Avenue. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, on Monday January 14, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm.
Raymond Franklin Page passed away on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 after a brief illness. He is survived by; his wife of 68 years, Helen Louise Hulett Page, their daughter, Patti Lea Page Stephens, and her husband Ronald W. Stephens, grandson, Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, CO, brother, Larry E. Page and his wife MaryAnn of Shreveport, LA.
Frank was born July 16, 1925 in Malvern, Arkansas. He was the son of Raymond Foster Page and Stella Irene Coston Page. He attended school in Harlingen, Texas; Malvern, Arkansas and North Little Rock, Arkansas. Frank proudly served his country in the United States Army during WWII.
Frank and Helen moved to Shreveport on Thanksgiving Day 1947. He had a storied career in radio with KWKH of 58 years. He was involved in the "Louisiana Hayride" from 1949 to the 1980s. He was associated with the "Greats" of Country Music and Rock & Roll. He is known best for having first introduced Elvis Presley to an international audience. The recording of that introduction has been released in album form in 25 languages. He received countless awards and recognition included being inducted into the Shreveport Walk of Stars. Frank loved Radio, his audience, and was affectionately known as "Mr. KWKH" and the "Dean of Shreveport Radio". A book, "Frank & Helen Page: A Lifetime at KWKH" was published in 2007, which chronicled their life together.
The family suggests that memorials may be made to the American Heart Association , 745 Olive Street Shreveport, LA 71101, The Wounded Warrier Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org or to the charity of the donor's choice .
∼Country Music Radio Broadcaster.
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