Jones to join Texas Country Hall

Born in a log cabin on an oil patch settlement in a remote East Texas region known as the Big Thicket, Jones found early refuge in music from the rages of an alcoholic father. As a child, he sang for tips in the streets of Beaumont, Texas, where, at an early age, he moved with his parents into a government-subsidized housing project. Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, and Lefty Frizzell comprised Jones' youthful influences. Jones launched his recording career in East Texas in the early 1950s.

Dexter was a musician and songwriter. He is best known for Pistol Packin' Mama, a 1944 hit that was one of the most popular recordings of the World War II years and later became a hit again with a cover by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. Dexter was the first country singer to perform on Broadway, and in 1971, was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died Jan. 28, 1984 at 78.

Winkler was a songwriter, who co-wrote Jim Reeves' hit Welcome to My World. He died in 1998.

The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame/Tex Ritter Museum opened in August 2002. The museum started in 1993 as the Tex Ritter Museum and expanded to include friends of Tex and other Texas-born country music legends. In August 2004, the museum expanded to add a Jim Reeves display, which features the radio equipment from Reeves' radio station KGRI in Henderson.