Jack Rhodes

Wikipedia says Rhodes was born in Martin's Mill, in Van Zandt County, left school after the sixth grade and worked in the Houston shipyards during the war. It reports that he formed bands with his stepbrother Leon Payne, among them the Lone Star Buddies, regulars on the Louisiana Hayride, and that he cut demos at KWKH in Shreveport before building his own Mineola studio. Songs he wrote for Gene Vincent include Rockin' Bones. Porter Wagoner's recording of A Satisfied Mind reached number one on the country chart, and Rhodes memorabilia is on view at the Mineola Historical Museum.

What the plaque says

Jack Rhodes Born on January 12, 1907, Andrew Jackson "Jack" Rhodes was a musician, songwriter, and music producer. He made significant contributions to country and western music and is a leading figure in the emergence of rockabilly music. Rhodes began his musical career in the early 1940s after an injury sustained while working in a shipyard saw him take up music to fill his time in recovery. He would go on to form his own western swing bands. Rhodes appeared on the Louisiana Hayride show and performed in music circuits in Louisiana and Texas. In the early 1950s, Rhodes stopped performing to focus primarily on songwriting and recording. He operated the Trail 80 Motor Courts in Mineola, where he built a recording studio. Rhodes would write and record country and western and rockabilly music and serve as a promoter and mentor to up-and-coming musicians. He also signed on as a contract writer for Central Songs, which allowed his music to reach artists signed to Capitol Records. In the 1960s, Rhodes formed his own record label, national sounds. He also owned All Roads Music Publishing and Red Ball Music Publishing. Rhodes is credited as a writer/co-writer on over six hundred songs, including "A Satisfied Mind," "Rockin' Blues," and "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." The latter garnered him a BMI Award. Rhodes passed away on October 11, 1968. He is buried at Cedars Memorial Gardens in Mineola. For his contributions to North American music, Rhodes was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. His music continues to be covered by artists spanning multiple decades and musical genres. (2023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Governor Hogg Shrine — 9.1 mi
  Quitman's 27-acre city park, once a state historical park, where two houses tied to James Stephen Hogg's marriage stand beside an arboretum, a nature walk and the grounds of the Old Settlers Reunion.
• Tyler State Park — 17 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 22 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.
• Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum — 24 mi
  A Tyler house begun in 1859 as four rooms, enlarged by the Goodman family over 73 years, and left to the city in 1939 with its furnishings, in a garden that fills a city block.

More markers nearby

• C. W. Raines — steps away
• Mineola — steps away
• Gov. James Stephen Hogg and Wood County — steps away
• Mineola Opera Houses — steps away