Such a fond memory of this simpler time. If I was up I'd turn on the TV just to close the night out with this beautiful rendition and sign off. Brings a tear to my eye today.
I can't tell you how many nights I sat up and watched this very ending to a long day after a date. There is nothing quite like hearing All My Trials at the end of the day. Beautiful scenery and brings back so many memories. Long Live Dixie!
Pups said it all in the comment below. I grew up east of Tyler and we watched Shreveport stations. This sign off is still one of my favorite memories...what a great song and what great memories. I lost both my mom and dad in 2016 and I miss them every day. Listening to this makes me feel just a little bit closer to them. Thanks spufferama for posting this. It is so very meaningful to me.
I still remember staying up and seeing this right after the "Big Movie" on Saturday night. Now I recall how Reisor Bowden and other announcers referred to the station as "Television Three" through the early 80's. Lovely, even though it used stock footage. I wish someone could dig out Channel 12's sign-on film they used around the same time. If I remember it correctly, they probably shot all of it themselves with beautiful scenery around the Shreveport area, and then aerial footage of their tower near Mooringsport (before it fell down that one time). The music used was a John Denver instrumental. I can't remember the announcer's name but he also did local commercials like for Powell Buick-GMC.
I remember staying up past bedtime and after this was over you would just get a constant tone. Times were so much better and simple. Sometimes I wish we could go back in some ways. Wow! Brings back lots of memories.
From the original ABC Shreveport, Louisiana Affiliate KTBS-TV sign-off, we will be hearing "An American Trilogy" by Mickey Newbury. This very same song, also played on its CBS Lafayette, Louisiana Affiliate KLFY-TV sign-off, and this reminds us of the old KXII-TV Channel 12 sign-off back in the '70s when it was played at Midnight on its then dual NBC and CBS Ardmore-Sherman-Denison-Ada Affiliate (Now CBS 12 Fox 12 and my 12) . And we love this sign-off to bring back memories.
This was the last thing I listened to on NON schoolnights. Life was clean simple living. You didn't absorb yourself in electronics. Families went to church every Sunday night and Wednesday. You ALL sat down at the dinner table and talked about the day. You didn't hear of kids shooting up school's or mass murders. You played with others outside got along and didn't have the bullying and hatered. People didn't walk around with attitudes cuz they thought it was cool. There was love in this world. It was simple. It was good. It was the best times of my life. Today? I really can't stand what has become of all this.
Back then, television was much more, how should I say it? Humble? Carefree? I dunno. But back then there was little to no infomercials, no 12 hour news, and it signed off and on every night and morning. I wish I was alive back then to experience it.
This sign-off had special meaning one night in August 1975. The ark-la-tex would have been informed by News that evening, of Hank Williams Jr.'s near death experience that afternoon in Montana. Maybe these same thoughts of "Dixie" resonated in Hank's mind as he lay helpless on that Mountain side.
