Ely Earl Siman

Background

Ely Earl Siman Jr. was born in Springfield, Missouri, to Ely Earl Siman Sr., an electrical engineer, and Lillian Saxton Siman. He grew up in Springfield and developed an early interest in baseball and entertainment. As a boy he worked as a batboy for the Springfield Cardinals and later spent several summers driving and assisting St. Louis Cardinals scout Charley Barrett. His early experience promoting performers and organizing entertainment in the Ozarks preceded his postwar career in radio, television, talent management, and music publishing.

Education

Siman attended Berea College in 1944 and Duke University in 1945 before completing a Bachelor of Arts degree at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, in 1947. His education followed his wartime service and preceded his return to Springfield, where he began the professional broadcasting and music-business career that made him a central figure in the development of the Ozarks entertainment industry.

Career

After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Siman returned to Springfield and resumed his association with KWTO. He worked as the station’s promotion and sales manager from 1948 to 1950, helping advance the station’s country-music programming and performers. He subsequently became involved with Ralph Foster’s RadiOzark Enterprises and related talent and broadcasting ventures, producing and promoting nationally syndicated radio programs featuring performers such as Tennessee Ernie Ford, George Morgan, Smiley Burnette, and Bill Ring. During the 1950s Siman became one of the principal figures behind the Ozark Jubilee, first as a radio enterprise and then as a nationally broadcast television program. He served as a producer associated with ABC television from 1954 to 1960 and helped bring Red Foley and a large group of country performers to the Springfield-based show. The Jubilee became an important national platform for country music and helped establish Springfield as a center of the genre. Siman also co-founded Top Talent Booking Agency and participated in the development of Crossroads TV Productions and other broadcasting ventures. Siman’s work increasingly concentrated on artist development and music publishing. He was a co-founder and executive of Earl Barton Music, which published songs and represented songwriters associated with Springfield’s country and popular-music scene. He served as vice president of Earl Barton Music and later as president of Rose Bridge Music and Earl Barton Music. Through these companies he worked with songwriters and performers including Ronnie Self, Wayne Carson, and Woody P. Snow, and helped advance songs that became nationally successful recordings. He was also involved in the early careers of Chet Atkins, Porter Wagoner, the Browns, Brenda Lee, and other performers. After retiring from active management of Earl Barton Music in 1987, Siman continued working as an entertainment consultant through Si Siman Associates in Springfield. In 1994 he helped establish Ozarks Pictures Corporation, which developed the feature film A Place to Grow. He died in Springfield on December 16, 1994, after battling cancer.

Achievements

• Helped establish Springfield, Missouri, as a nationally recognized country-music center during the 1950s.

• Co-founded and produced the Ozark Jubilee, one of the first major live country-music programs broadcast nationally on network television.

• Discovered, managed, promoted, or helped develop the careers of Chet Atkins, Porter Wagoner, the Browns, Brenda Lee, Red Foley, and other prominent performers.

• Built Earl Barton Music into a significant music-publishing company whose catalog included nationally successful country and popular songs.

• Helped advance the careers of songwriters including Ronnie Self, Wayne Carson, and Woody P. Snow.

• Donated his professional papers to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991.

• Established the Red Foley Memorial Music Award at Berea College in 1970.

Religion

Siman was identified with the Methodist tradition.

Politics

Siman expressed the view that the state should not control the church and that the church should not dominate the state, while maintaining that religious expression should have a place in public life. He was identified with the Republican Party.

Views

Siman held that neither the state nor the church should dominate the other, while religious expression should remain present in public life. He also expressed a Christian view that human beings live in an unjust, sinful, and violent world but can resist evil and live fully through divine forgiveness.

Membership

Siman was a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He was associated with the Country Music Association and belonged to the Masons, the Shriners, and Hickory Hills Country Club, where he served on the board of directors from 1950 to 1956. He also served as a director of Cox Medical Center from 1950 to 1956 and of the School of the Ozarks Museum from 1975 to 1990. His participation in professional, civic, fraternal, and cultural organizations reflected his continuing involvement in the development of the Ozarks entertainment and community institutions.

• Member and recipient of BMI awards.

  Broadcast Music, Inc. , United States

• Member.

  American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers , United States

• Founding member.

  Country Music Association , United States

• Served on the board of directors.

  Hickory Hills Country Club , United States

  1950 - 1956

• Served on the board of directors.

  Cox Medical Center , United States

  1950 - 1956

• Served as a director.

  School of the Ozarks Museum , United States

  1975 - 1990

• Member.

  Masons , United States

• Member; appointed chief aide in 1980.

  Shriners , United States

Personality

Siman was described in biographical accounts as energetic, persuasive, entrepreneurial, and unusually attentive to emerging talent. His career was marked by a willingness to develop broadcasting, booking, television, and music-publishing ventures from his hometown of Springfield.

Quotes from others about the person

• The Encyclopedia of Country Music characterized Siman as a driving force in the emergence of Springfield, Missouri, as a country-music center during the 1950s.

Interests

• Fishing, hunting, camping, and conservation.

• Sport & Clubs

  Baseball and golf.

• Music & Bands

  Country music and popular music.

Connections

Siman married Rosanne on September 7, 1948. They had three children: Susan Elizabeth, Jayne Louise, and Scott Foster Siman. His professional relationships included Ralph Foster, John B. Mahaffey, Red Foley, Chet Atkins, Porter Wagoner, and numerous Springfield songwriters and performers. His son Scott Siman later became an entertainment executive in Nashville.

Father:

Ely Earl Siman Sr.

Siman’s father was an electrical engineer.

Mother:

Lillian Saxton Siman

Siman’s mother.

Spouse:

Rosanne Siman

Married Siman on September 7, 1948.

child:

Susan Elizabeth Siman

Daughter of Si and Rosanne Siman.

child:

Jayne Louise Siman

Daughter of Si and Rosanne Siman.

child:

Scott Foster Siman

Son of Si and Rosanne Siman; later an entertainment executive in Nashville.

References

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: Si Siman Oral History Documents Siman’s childhood, early promotional work, association with KWTO and RadiOzark Enterprises, development of Earl Barton Music, role in the Ozark Jubilee, work with Porter Wagoner, and formation of Crossroads TV Productions.
  1989
• Broadcasting the Ozarks Biography of Si Siman by Kitty Ledbetter and Scott Siman, describing his formative years, broadcasting career, role in the Ozark Jubilee, music-publishing work, and influence on Springfield’s country-music history.
  2024