William Leon McAuliffe (Jan. 3, 1917 ~ Aug. 20, 1988) was a western swing musician and band leader famous for his steel guitar solos with Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. McAuliffe achieved fame as a steel guitarist in the heyday of Western Swing. His now classic tune Steel Guitar Rag inspired Wills to spotlight McAuliffe by calling out, Look out, friends – here's Leon. Take it away, boys, take it away! McAuliffe began playing both Hawaiian and standard guitar at age fourteen. Leon began appearing on a local radio station as part of the group the Waikiki Strummers in 1931. McAuliffe, at age 16, worked with the Light Crust Doughboys, playing both rhythm guitar and steel guitar. In 1935, he joined Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who would soon become the premier western swing band in existence. Leon stayed with Wills until World War II. While with Wills he helped compose San Antonio Rose (instrumental version). Leon is more noted, however, for his most famous composition, Steel Guitar Rag and his playing, along with that of Houston's Bob Dunn (Light Crust Doughboys) that popularized the steel guitar in the United States. McAuliffe learned to electronically amplify his guitar from Bob Dunn, who later was a member of Milton Brown's Musical Brownies. After the war, McAuliffe returned to Tulsa, Oklahoma (OK) forming his western swing band and releasing a number of recordings, including Panhandle Rag (Columbia 20546) which reached number six in 1949. His signature song was Steel Guitar Rag, a tune he apparently adapted from a combination of Sylvester Weaver's Guitar Rag and part of the Hawaiian song On The Beach At Waikiki. McAuliffe soon opened his Cimarron Ballroom in the remodeled Akdar Shrine Mosque in Tulsa, OK. He and his band, Leon McAuliffe and His Cimarron Boys, named for the ballroom, recorded several songs. The group played regularly on a Tulsa radio station and signed a contract with Columbia Records and McAuliffe's instrumental showcase Panhandle Rag became a top-10 hit in 1949. McAuliffe also opened a recording studio, Cimarron Records. During the heyday of western swing music the phrase Take it away Leon, nearly became a household phrase in the south. It was spoken by Bob Wills and referred to Leon McAuliffe, one of the best and most famous steel guitarists in the world. Though McAuliffe is most famous for his association with the Texas Playboys, he also had a respectable solo career. Around mid-1953, he was doing a daily show over the 50,000 watt KVOO in Tulsa, OK from 12:15pm. Leon also appeared on Wednesday nights at 11:00pm as well as Saturday nights at 10:30pm on a show called the Western Dance Parade. Leon and his band also played every Wednesday and Saturday evenings at the Cimarron Ball Room in Tulsa. In 1954 he purchased radio station KAMO in Rogers, Arkansas. In the late 1950s, he appeared on ABC-TV's Jubilee USA and other broadcasts. McAuliffe funded a music program at Rogers State College in Claremore, Oklahoma, paying for a recording studio and office on campus. For several years McAuliffe taught at Will Rogers State College in the Hank Thompson School of Country Music. It was from this studio and office that Junior Brown taught guitar. McAuliffe was always giving to his students, featuring them in his concerts around northeastern Oklahoma. By the 1960s, western swing had fallen out of vogue and McAuliffe began only playing locally. Later Starday released some of his work with the Cimarron Boys. Leon also recorded a couple of albums during the '60s for Dot and Capitol. Western swing music was re-popularized due to the work of bands like Asleep At The Wheel and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in the early '70s. In 1971 McAuliffe and Wills made a reunion recording with other members of the Texas Playboys and Merle Haggard. After Wills died (1975), McAuliffe participated in a tribute at Fan Fair 1975. Later he would occasionally stage reunions between himself and the Texas Playboys. In 1984, some of his earlier solo work was reissued in Columbia's Historic Edition Series. Leon McAuliffe died after a long illness in Tulsa, OK. The studio gear was donated by Elanore, his widow, to a church McAuliffe favored. Visual of the lot and cemetery office confirm that Mr. McAuliffe's gravesite is unmarked.