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Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel drifted into Texas in 1925 and became the manager of the Burris Flour Mills in Ft. Worth, Texas. While at Burris he started the Light Crust Doughboys to advertise Burris' Light Crust Flour and hired Bob Wills, Leon McAuliffe, and Herman Arnspiger as the backbone of what was to become one of the earliest and best Western Swing Bands. After getting fired from Burris in 1935, Pappy Lee started his own company, W Lee O'Daniels Hillbilly Brand Flour also based in Ft. Worth. O'Daniel, though he couldn't play an instrument or sing, was one of the biggest contributors to the Texas music scene. His ability to promote and buy air time on the most powerful radio stations made his Light Crust Doughboys and later, his Hillbilly Boys Bands immensely popular in the Southwest and sent Bob Wills and many other performers on their way to fame. And without those same publicity skills and flair for dramatization, O'Daniel would not have gained the celebrity status needed to win two terms as Texas Governor. Pappy, as he was called, promoted his Hillbilly Boys music on his own Texas Quality Network which bought air time on KPRC Houston, WOAI San Antonio, KOMA Oklahoma City and flagship WBAP Ft. Worth.
In the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" the character of music promoting Mississippi Governor O'Daniel was a direct take off of the real O'Daniel. The real Pappy Lee was selfish, unfair and ruthless according to those who worked for him, but as a radio announcer for the bands radio shows he was an asset according to Bob Wills. Pappy Lee carried a decades long vendetta against Wills. Pappy had fired Wills from the Light Crust Doughboys, or some would say Wills got fed up with Pappy, but whatever the case, Wills had become more famous than O'Daniel and that did not fit into Pappy's long term plans to become governor. Wills got the best of the situation by running off with the best members of the Doughboys and starting his own band which broadcast over WACO in ~ where else but Waco, Texas.
Pappy Lee was so enraged that he bought a large block of advertising on WACO, but only if they would fire Wills, which they did. Wills took off for Tulsa where he was soon heard over powerful KVOO (Voice of Oklahoma) which could be heard from the Rockies to the East Coast. Pappy Lee tried the same stunt with KVOO but the station manager said he preferred Wills' popularity over Hillbilly Flour ad money.
O'Daniel served two terms as Texas Governor and later two terms as US Senator from Texas by defeating a former Houston school teacher named Lyndon B. Johnson. After retiring from the Senate, Pappy ran for a third term as Texas Governor but was easily defeated. Time had passed him by. He settled into real estate investing and ranching in the Dallas Ft. Worth area.
Thanks to Old Time Radio, The Handbook of Texas and The Texas Archives for most of the information in this video.