By Jon
Mayhew (Denver) – What
many people know is that Doug
Mayes blazed a trail in the early
1950s, serving as WBTV's
“Your Esso Reporter” at
a time when television and
television news was fledgling in
Charlotte. WBTV was the first
television station on-air in the
Carolinas in 1949; Doug joined
the station in 1952 as its first
news anchor and reporter.
What many people may not know is
the job almost didn't happen for
Mayes, who was working at the
time at WSIX-AM radio in
Nashville, Tennessee.
“There were a total of six
of us eligible to audition for
the Esso reporter's job (at
WBTV),” said Mayes.
“Clyde 'Cloudy' McLean
wasn't eligible because Shell Oil
sponsored his radio news.”
The six whittled down to three
according to Mayes.
“It was me, a guy from
Columbia and a very young Charles
Kurault,” said Mayes.
“The program director didn't
want to stand in the way of
Kurault's schooling, so they sent
him on his way.”
Station management also thought
Mayes sounded too much like
legendary announcer the late Jim
Patterson. Mayes went back to
Tennessee while station
management tried to make a
decision.
It was late 1951. In
February 1952, he received a
telephone call that would change
his life.
“They told me they didn't
care if I sounded like Jim
Patterson, they wanted me,”
said Mayes. “They didn't
think it would be too much of a
detriment.”
A New Face
in a New Medium
Doug Mayes
promotional photo
Television news was
different in the 50s than today
because the entire newscast was
sponsored by one major sponsor.
In Mayes' case, Esso sponsored
the news on WBTV.
Many people then could have been
cautious in delivering the news,
fearful of upsetting the sponsor.
Mayes was not one of those people
and has referred to television
itself as “the big
show.”
“There was no intervention
on the part of the sponsor,”
said Mayes. “The sponsor was
very good about not leaning on us
or influencing our news.”
Mayes said he worked as
“Your Esso Reporter”
for between three and four months
with a producer, whose job was to
mainly write news. Mayes
remembered a meeting with Esso
representatives early on in his
career.
“We asked them how we do a
news story on an Esso tanker
hitting a Charlotte-Mecklenburg
School bus with 29 students on
board, half of the students dead.
We asked Esso how they expect us
to cover it,” said Mayes.
“Their response was the same
way as if it was any oil company
tanker. It was a freedom we loved
because we didn't have a sponsor
beating us over the head.”
For over 20 years, Mayes brought
the news into Charlotte-area
homes. He's worked with the likes
of Janet England, Bob Inman and
others.
In 1982, he received a phone call
from WSOC-TV (Channel 9), asking
if he would like to go back to
anchoring the news. Mayes said he
had voluntarily stepped away from
the anchor's desk at WBTV several
years ago because he was
suffering from burnout.
“WSOC-TV was carrying
network programming and had a
very low rating as opposed to
WBTV's very high rating,”
said Mayes. “I wanted to
help WSOC become number one in
news. It took four years, but
WSOC became number one.”
Doug
Mayes spoke with The Carolina
Scoop's publisher Jon Mayhew from
Mayes' residence in Denver.
The team Mayes
played a role in assembling at
WSOC-TV included co anchor Janet
England and weather forecaster,
the late Bill Dollar. The show
was called “Midday with
Mayes.”
Mayes was not the type of anchor
to simply sit behind a desk. He
actually went out and covered
stories.
“Anchor people had the
liberty to rewrite a reporter's
leads,” said Mayes.
“That was to get the people
wanting to hear the rest of the
story.”
From
Charlotte to Denver
Before coming to
East Lincoln, Mayes lived in
Charlotte. One day, a close
friend of his told him about a
new community called Westport.
“My friend bought three lots
in Westport during the
neighborhood's formative
stages,” said Mayes.
“He told me about the
southside lot.”
Mayes and his family came out and
spent a weekend at a cottage and
discovered Lake Norman. Mayes
admits he's not a water sports
enthusiast.
“My friend said it would
make a great retirement residence
for us,” said Mayes.
The Mayes family broke ground on
Thanksgiving Day 1970.
Construction was finished on
their residence in 1971.
“This was supposed to be our
summer home,” said Mayes.
Mayes and his wife, Ruby, raised
two children. Son Joe is retiring
as an aerial commercial
photographer, shooting the growth
of Charlotte over the years.
Daughter Brenda is a manager for
her husband's band and other
musicians in Rhode Island.
According to Mayes, Brenda also
handles the bookkeeping.
Mayes has one granddaughter,
Heather, who recently celebrated
her 35th birthday. Heather is a
QVC producer out of Philadelphia.
Mayes said his wife, Ruby, was
the best critic he ever had.
“Ruby liked my performance
best when I kept my broadcast
'down to earth,'” said
Mayes.
Mayes and
Country Music
One thing that
hasn't changed is Doug's love for
country music, from growing up in
a country music family to playing
on the Grand Ole Opry.
Mayes had been playing country
music in public and on-the-air at
a radio station in Nashville when
a group from the Grand Ole Opry
called the Fruit Jar Drinkers
came to his high school
auditorium for a concert. Mayes
stayed after school, hoping to
get to meet the band.
Mayes said he heard a voice he
recognized as an announcer for
the Grand Ole Opry and asked the
announcer where the bass fiddle
player was.
“The announcer said we don't
have a bass player with us,”
said Mayes. “He asked if I
played bass and if I had a bass
fiddle.”
Mayes told the announcer yes and
the announcer said to go home and
get his bass fiddle.
“The announcer told me the
band would listen to me, and if I
was good enough, I could play
with the band on the stage that
night,” said Mayes.
Mayes said he didn't know how he
got home and back so fast because
he lived a mile from the high
school in Westmoreland,
Tennessee.
“I played with them that
night and they liked it,”
said Mayes. “The announcer
invited me to come play at the
Grand Ole Opry.”
Bill Monroe was listening to
Mayes play with the Crook
Brothers Band on the Grand Ole
Opry and told Mayes he needed a
bass player.
“He said he liked what he
heard,” said Mayes. “He
asked me to play with him on The
Opry and I did.”
Mayes playing with Monroe and his
Bluegrass Boys continued
throughout the summer of 1940
until Mayes left to come to North
Carolina with another band from
“The Opry.”
Many people don't know Mayes
given name is Carl. Douglas is a
middle name. While living in
Tennessee and playing country
music, his country music friends
called him Carl. It wasn't until
Mayes went into the Navy that he
started using the name Doug.
“I've picked with the likes
of Earl Scruggs, Don Gibson and
Bill Monroe over the years,”
said Mayes.
He recalled a conversation he
once had with Gibson, who is from
Cleveland County and has roots on
WOHS-AM radio. Gibson is known
for writing and recording such
hits as “Oh Lonesome
Me” and “I Can't Stop
Loving You.”
Mayes once asked Gibson how many
people recorded “I Can't
Stop Loving You.”.
“He said (at the time) he
counted 98 people,” said
Mayes. “I told him with
that, he could drive a new
Cadillac every month and he said
no, he could drive one every
week.”
Life in
Retirement
Mayes has a love for
television news, something that
was evident in his style of
anchoring seen by hundreds of
thousands of Carolinas television
viewers over many decades.
“I couldn't wait to get to
work everyday to see what was
happening,” confesses Mayes.
Mayes retired from the anchor
desk in 1988. After retirement,
WSOC-TV management asked him to
continue to work.
During a series of historical
stories, Mayes covered the
Lincoln County iron industry,
which built cannonballs for the
War of 1812. Mayes credited the
iron industry in Lincoln for
bringing the textile industry to
the South.
“At one time, I was told
Lincoln County was producing more
steel than in Pittsburgh,”
said Mayes. “It changed the
economy of the whole South and
this is something that isn't
being taught in schools. It's so
important because the industry
bought jobs and technology.”
During his retirement, Mayes also
wrote a book on Charlotte called
“Charlotte, Nothing Could be
Finer.” He also once wrote
columns for the Lincoln
Times-News.
Mayes said he has been fortunate
throughout his career, whether in
country music, television or
other media.
“All my life has been like
this,” said Mayes.
“Everywhere I turned, there
have been obstacles. Then someone
comes along and opens a door for
me. I have been richly
blessed.”
