Roy Made His First Public Appearance On A Saturday Morning Radio Show, At Age 8 In Vernon, Singing His Favorite Song "Jole Blon".  From Here It Was Off To Wink, Texas (1949) Where His Dad Would Work In The Oil Field.  The First Band:  Charles Evans (Bass) James Morrow (Mandolin) Roy (15 At The Time Owned An Expensive Red Gibson Electric Guitar)  A Short Time Later Added:  Richard West (Piano) & Billy Ellis (Drums)...."The Wink Westerners"  Roy's Early Musical Influence Was Lefty Frizzell.  Roy Graduated In 54' & Then Attended North Texas.  When He Heard Elvis-Scotty-Bill's "That's Alright Moma" (On A Denton Radio Station) And A Short Time Later Two North Texas Students Perform A Song They'd Written "Ooby Dooby"  Roy  Quickly Switched To Rockabilly..."The Westerners" To "The Teen Kings"  New Members Included Johnny Wilson (Rhythm Guitar) & Jack Kennelly (Up-Right Bass)).  Their Weekly TV Shows From Odessa (55'), Sponsored By Pioneer Furniture, Were Transmitted To All The Local Texan Networks.  Meeting Elvis At Panther Hall, In Ft. Worth, Roy Invited Elvis To Be A Guest On Their Radio Show.  Roy, (Playing A Gold Les Paul Guitar) & The Teen Kings Recorded Their Only Charted Record, 1956, At Sun Studios In Memphis "Ooby Dooby" That Reached #59 (That Same Year Played To 1200 People At The San Angelo City Auditorium).  Roy's Early Guitar Solo On "Ooby Dooby", Playing A Gibson Les Paul Gold Top, Is One Of The Very Best In Rockabilly History.

The Wink Westerners with Slim Whitman. From Left; Billy Pat Ellis, Roy,

Richard West, Slim Whitman, James Morrow, Charles Evans

Remember ELROY DIETZEL & The Rhythm Bandits?  Only If You Were  A Teeny  Bopper (From The Fifties) & Lived In West Texas Or A Record Collector.  Like The Teen Kings Very First Rockabilly Record "Ooby Dooby" That Goes For Big Bucks ($2500.00)  Elroy's 45 Goes For Big Enough Bucks ($250.00).  Two Reasons For Both Being In Demand:  The Records Were A-Ok And Could Have Been Hits With The Right Distribution & Promotion Plus They're Very Rare.  The Teen Kings Re-Recorded Ooby At Sun But The Original, on Je-Wel, Is The Collector Version.  Like Orbison, Elroy Was Also A Talented Writer & Even Had Joe Melson In His Group. (Joe Later Co-Wrote "Crying & "Only The Lonely" With Roy)  It Was At Age 14 That Elroy Moved, With His Foster Parents, To Midland From Santa Anna, Texas And It Was Here (1955) He Organized The Rhythm Bandits  (Larry Parks-Bill  Chance-Richard Matlock-Joe Melson)  In 1956 Jesse Smith (Bo-Kay Records) Took The Boys To Clovis, N.M. To Record At Norman Petty Studios And A Short Time Later Both Sides Became Regional Hits Getting Airplay On Most Of The Radio Stations Across West Texas.  The Country Stations Played  "Precious Desires"  The Rock Stations Played "Teenage Ball".  Elroy Had TV & Radio Shows Becoming A 50's West Texas Teen Idol.  In 1959 The Area's Greatest Pure Rockabilly Singer Hung Up His Rock & Roll Shoes Forever.