Before rock ‘n’ roll swept the nation, or Dwight Eisenhower launched his unprecedented “I like Ike” media campaign, children from rural Clinton were already climbing the airwaves. Their story will be told in “Voices from the Past: Jackie Butler and his Playmates,” a new documentary from the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum (NCBHM), premiering on PBS-NC, Oct. 16, at 9:30 p.m. The cinematographer and director is Duplin County native, Denver Hollingsworth, and producer is Mike Weeks.

In 1951, a band of children from Clinton — led by 11-year-old Jackie Butler — recorded their first single on the Decoy label. With titles like “Just Lookin’” and “Pa Ain’t Got a Cent (to throw away on groceries),” their music combined homespun humor with country charm, quickly winning fans across the regi

See Full Page