I thought I knew a lot about country music. I mean, I thought I knew pert near everything there was to know. And then I met Joe Morrison.

I moved to Sioux Falls back in 1999, and by then I had spent 25 years in radio, on the air in Winner, Aberdeen, Brookings and Rapid City.  It was a few years after I was in Sioux Falls that I got to know Joe, and a few years more when I got to work closely with him on a daily basis.

It was a pleasure and will always be one of the best memories I've had in, now, over 40 years in the radio business.

And about that 'I know everything about country music' thought I had. Well, I was (and continue to be) a mere average student in the class that is headed up by the 'Professor of Country Music', Joe Morrison. Not only does Joe know who played on that classic, who wrote that classic, who drove the bus for that legend and what that legend's favorite beer is....he met most of them, and became friends with many.

And that, truth be known, comes as no surprise. For the thousands of us who met Joe over his more than half-century radio career, well, he's become our friend.

And perhaps that is what I'll miss most. Sitting down in the cafeteria shooting the breeze about Webb Pierce, moving on to Harlan Howard, and finishing up with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. I should have kept a notebook, but I did keep that knowledge (at least some of it) up here in my beautifully sculpted bald head.

Joe's 'Bio' reads something like this:

Joe Morrison is KXRB’s resident “Professor of Country Music” – he knows as much about country music as just about anyone. Joe’s interviewed nearly everyone in the business over the years. You’ll hear daily updates on the artists, current hits, the latest country hits and your favorite country classics on his show each day.

Joe hails from the Minneapolis area. He got his start in radio at KJAM in Madison, South Dakota, in 1964. From there, he moved to WIBW-FM, one of the early FM country stations, in Topeka, Kansas.

In 1968, Joe became Operations Manager of a country station in the Kansas City area before taking a similar position at KXRB in 1969.

Joe did the morning show for 6 years, in the early days of KXRB, before pursuing a career as a Sioux Falls Realtor. He continued his popular “Saturday at the Memories” show during the 1980’s on KXRB and became Program/Music Director of the station in 1996

My 'Bio' about Joe reads like this:

Thank You Joe, thank you for the work you did with me....but most of all, thanks for being my friend.

Oh and stop down once in a while, we'll have a cup of 'Joe', and chat about Buck and Hank and Kris and Sherwin.

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