Baggett 'a good, old-fashioned country musician'

For many of his 50 years on and off in Yuma entertainment, Don Baggett and his Sun Valley Boys opened their gigs with the song, "From a Jack to a King," written by Ned Miller.

Baggett, who often quoted country musician George Jones as saying "no rockin' chair for me," passed away Oct. 19, 2007, at his home in Livingston, Mont., at the "old enough to know better" age, his wife, Connie, said.

Former fellow musicians and friends will hold a memorial to Baggett from 6 to 7:30 p.m. today (Saturday)at the Jaycee clubhouse, 2577 E. County 14 St.

Lyle and Jean Blaker had visited Baggett in August in Montana. "We remembered many of the times we played together," Blaker, a bass player, said. "I knew him for about 26 years, and played with the band at one place or another for years. We played for several of the Jaycees Silver Spur Rodeo dances.

"He was a good, old-fashioned, country musician, followed the Merle Haggard and Buck Owens styles."

Baggett was raised in the Yuma area and, in the Air Force, trained to be a line mechanic at a jet school in Camarillo, Texas.

In an interview in 1997, Baggett said he had been stationed in Greenville, Miss., until one of his officers was transferred to what was then Vincent Air force Base in Yuma, now the site of the Marine Corps Air Station.

Not too long after his discharge in January, 1956, Baggett got back into music, and started his own Sun Valley Boys band.

Among the many groups he had played with were Labe Underwood and Jim Allen in Salome, Ariz. He also played with Leon Watson at the Veterans of Foreign Wars clubhouse, then

located at Prison Hill.

A lead guitar player and vocalist, Baggett performed in nearly every club in Yuma, Winterhaven, Brawley and Somerton. Highlights were at Joe Hunt's and the Saddle Club.

In a younger generation of musicians, Rusty Griffin, singer and guitarist with the old Saddletramp band, said, "When I first started playing, Don said he liked my style and told me to keep playing country like it should be!"

Sam Gray played bass guitar with Baggett many times at the Elks Club. "At the Elks, we had a couple musicians come sit in with us. Tinker Dan, from Wyoming, sang with us and Ron Wentworth played bass and sang. He has his own band playing at the VFW Club on Highway 95," Gray said.

For about 18 years, Gray and Mario Lopez, drummer, were with Baggett and the Sun Valley Boys at the Cocopah Bend RV and Golf Resort.

Some of the favorite tunes the "Boys" played were "Apartment #9," "Silver Wings," "Mamma Tried," and "Okie from Muskogee."

Another favorite of Baggett's, an appropriate one for the memorial, is "Walk Through This World With Me," made popular by George Jones, Gray said.

Survivors, along with his wife, Connie, are a son, Danny, of Lame Deer, Mont., brother Ralph, in Missouri, and two grandchif=Abadi MT Cn Lt±ldren.

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Pam M. Smith can be reached at

psmith@yumasun.com or 539-6856.