He's One of the Boys!

The large man in white-and-blue plaid shirt, sits tall on the black stool that he took from the bed of his blue Chevy pick-up just minutes before.

Soon amps are plugged in and mics are ready; he and three other musicians start tuning their instruments to play hymns and old favorite songs.

It’s after lunch on a sunny Thursday at the Hillsboro Senior Center and “Bob and the Boys” are jamming. The group plays together about three times a month at churches, nursing homes and at the senior center.

The man with bright eyes in the middle of the quartet is 98-year-old Bob Delk. There is no stand for music or notes in front of him—he plays by ear and is known for being able to play almost any tune that can be sung or hummed.

A JAM SESSION WITH BOB AND A FEW OF THE BOYS, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: MERLE UNRUH, BOB DELK, RAY PIERCE AND RICHARD DIRKS (NCHFAAA STAFF PHOTO)

“Take These Chains”, “Just a Closer Walk” and “The Red River Valley” are first on the playlist. While volunteers finish their clean-up work in the center’s kitchen, the musicians ask if anyone has a request.

“Under the Double Eagle” one fan calls out. After only a moment of hesitancy, the group quickly agree on the tune’s key and song details.

“We change to F at the chorus,” Delk says—and that’s what happens.

Soon fans and visitors are clapping and tapping toes as the group’s rendition of this fun, fast paced, 100-year-old classic fills the air.

Delk, who’s aiming to see age 120, seems to especially enjoy the fast-pace of this tune. His fingers deftly and quickly pluck strings and create the chords that resonate from his classic shiny 1976 Gibson Les Paul guitar.

“I like songs with lots of chords—that’s what makes a song beautiful,” he said.

***

From the beginning, music was embedded in Delk’s life. He was born and grew up on his family’s farm situated smack in the middle among the towns of Marion, Peabody and Hillsboro. His dad, John played the violin, his mom Lydia the flat guitar called a Dobro, his sister Betty played piano and he played the four-string banjo. The Delk family musicians played at churches, schools and community events in Marion County from the time Bob was 12.

Growing up, his favorite music group was Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. Delk remembers looking forward to listening to the Playboys on the family’s radio—and also remembers that being a fan caused a few problems at the time.

“They’d come on about the time of the news--so we always had a time.”

After playing with his family for seven years and graduating from Peabody High School, Delk joined Elmer Hanneman, his future brother-in-law’s group called The Peabody Plainsmen.

In the time before television, this group was widely known in Marion County and the surrounding area. Members played the violin, accordion, bass, banjo and guitar. The group’s first gig was at Hillsboro’s County Fair in 1943.

Bob Delk of Hillsboro has been making music with others for more than 86 years. He played with the Peabody Plainsmen and now jams with “Bob and the Boys” (NCFHAAA staff photo)

After Delk and his first wife, Aldene, were married in 1945, the couple farmed and raised four children—Shirley, Donna, Barbara and Robert. Bob continued playing with The Peabody Plainsmen.

The Peabody Plainsmen provided scores of presentations for schools, churches and community events. They also played in many events throughout Kansas including Herington, Gardener, Emporia, Canton and at the State Fair in Hutchinson. Bob and Aldene started a tradition of going to South Texas about 10 days each year to jam with musicians who played his favorite style of country-western music. There were about three to five jam sessions each day.

“Some of those guys would get upset with me because they liked to play simple and I liked to play songs with more chords,” he said.

Sometimes Bob was invited to play with friends in other parts of the country, too.

Bob remembers a session in a town close to Des Moines, Iowa. At this session he and other musicians played from 6 pm until midnight without a break. He recalls an especially gifted woman violinist who played every song right along with the group without any music or notes.

“When I tell people how long we played without a break, nobody believes it—but it’s true. I admire a person who can play and ab lib,” he said. “I consider myself a ‘hard learner’—not a ‘natural.’

Delk has played with other groups over the years including The Singspirationals and Menno Brass. During his 70 years with The Peabody Plainsmen, the group gained enough attention that in the mid-1950s, a Dallas-based group called “The Plainsmen” threatened a lawsuit over the name.

“They found out that we had the name a long time before they did—and it ended there,” Ray Peirce, a member of “Bob and the Boys” who played with the Peabody Plainsmen for about 60 years said and chuckled..

Delk said that still today people remember him.

“People say ‘hi’ to me and call my name—and I don’t always know them,” he said.

In 1999, Aldene, his wife of 54 years, was killed in a tragic accident south of Herington. The couple were on their way home after playing at an event at Herington’s Senior Center. The loss of Aldene was tough on Bob and his family. Somehow, Bob made it through that sad time after his wife’s death

His second wife, Dorothy, was Bob’s travelling companion and groupie. The two ventured throughout the United States and in Europe, Canada and Mexico. And Dorothy accompanied Bob to his South Texas jam sessions in places like Farr, Mason and McAllen — Dorothy was always in the audience.

“I liked to kid back and forth with Dorothy at gigs and on stage,” he said and smiled.

Cancer struck Dorothy in 2017. “When she passed away, it just took the sap out of me,” Bob said quietly.

***

At the jam session at Hillsboro’s senior center, Bob and the Boys have played “Catfish John,” “Have You Not Heard of That Beautiful Stream,” “I’ll Fly Away,” “Steel Guitar Rag,” “Peg O’ My Heart” and “Cold, Cold Heart”

Then, Richard Dirks, the group’s announcer and harmonica-player, suggests it’s time to wrap up the session.

If it were up to Bob Delk, though, the group would keep jamming indefinitely. “I would play all night if it were up to me,” he tells everyone.

And to the delight of listeners Bob and the Boys play one more song.

This article was written by Julie Govert Walter and was first published in the most recent edition of Keynotes (First Quarter 2020).   Please contact us to receive your own copy of Keynotes.