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25 unusual facts about Bakersfield


A. J. Jefferson

Jefferson was born and raised in Bakersfield, California and graduated from West High School of Bakersfield in 2006.

Act Naturally

By 1963, Russell was writing with a woman named Voni Morrison, who also worked with a Bakersfield, California-based singer named Buck Owens.

Bakersfield, Nottingham

There are extremely fine vistas to be had from the top of Colwick Woods, with panoramic views of the Trent Valley (as far as Belvoir Castle) and across the city to Wollaton, Clifton and the Ratcliffe on Soar power station.

Bob McCaffrey

Robert Alan McCaffrey (born April 16, 1952 in Bakersfield, California) is a retired National Football League center who had a notable career while a student athlete on the University of Southern California Trojans football team.

Bodie and Brock Thoene

Born in Bakersfield, California, the couple first met each other when they were three years old.

Brent McClanahan

Brent McClanahan (born September 21, 1950 in Bakersfield, California) is a former professional American football player who played running back for seven seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.

California Hot Rod Reunion

California Hot Rod Reunion is a gathering of drag racers, hot rod enthusiasts and street rodders held in Bakersfield, California.

Checkers speech

When the Dick Nixon Special arrived in Bakersfield, California, that day, the candidate, still oblivious to the developing furor, made a speech promoting the Republican ticket, and backing local congressman Thomas H. Werdel.

Cousin Creep

In late 2004 he relocated to Bakersfield, California in the United States where he continued to work in broadcasting at KKXX & KERN.

Dewitt Peck

Peck was born May 29, 1894 in Bakersfield, California and after joining the Marine Corps participated in numerous conflicts, rising to the position of Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Hot Rod Lincoln

His song, however, keeps the same location as "Hot Rod Race", namely Grapevine Hill, which is an old-time local southern California nickname for the long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California, between San Pedro, Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

James Colley

Raised in Bakersfield, California, Colley found his musical inspiration in the works of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and Lou Reed.

Joe Maphis

Later based in Bakersfield, California, he rose to prominence with his own hits such as "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)" as well as playing with acts like Johnny Burnette, Doyle Holly, The Collins Kids, Wanda Jackson, Rose Maddox and Ricky Nelson.

Kern City

Kern City, Bakersfield, California, a former unincorporated community southwest of Bakersfield, California

Lynn Culbreath Noel

Hired by KMGH, Channel 7 as a news reporter in 1965, she was promoted to Public Affairs Director and transferred to Channel 7’s affiliate in Bakersfield, California in 1973, remaining with the station until her retirement in 1996.

Megan Langenfeld

She attended Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she plays infielder and pitcher.

Mike Ariey

Ariey was born Michael August Ariey on March 12, 1964 in Bakersfield, California.

Mike Yurosek

Mike Yurosek and his son David promoted the baby carrot in the early 1980s in Bakersfield, California through their Bunny Luv produce company.

Rebel Love Song

A majority of the music video was shot in front of the Fox Theater in Bakersfield, California.

Rob Wolchek

He worked in radio as a disc jockey for many years before moving on to become news reporter for stations in Fresno and Bakersfield.

Rudy Salas

Prior to being elected to the State Assembly, he was a Bakersfield city councilmember.

Streets of Bakersfield

Actor and comedian Vince Vaughn sang the song live with Dwight Yoakam to a live audience in Bakersfield, California on his Wild West Comedy Tour.

The Paradons

The Paradons were an American doo wop group from Bakersfield, California.

Walter W. Stiern

For his home district, Stiern's work in the Senate produced California State College, Bakersfield, which became California State University, Bakersfield.

Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas

Track 3 of side three and 1 and 2 of side four recorded at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield, California, October 22, 1975.


Bakersfield sound

Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Tommy Collins, and Merle Haggard and the Strangers, are the most successful artists of the original Bakersfield sound era.

Love of the Bakersfield Sound has never died, carried on by artists such as the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers in the 1960s-70s, Highway 101, Hillman and The Desert Rose Band, and Marty Stuart in the 1980s and '90s, and Big House, Dwight Yoakam, Red Simpson, Ferlin Husky.

In the early 1960s, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, among others, brought the Bakersfield sound to mainstream audiences, and it soon became one of the most popular kinds of country music, also influencing later country stars such as Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Brad Paisley, The Mavericks, and The Derailers.

Musicians from Bakersfield's musical golden era who are still playing locally include Red Simpson and Tommy Hays.

Beatrice Kozera

In 1947 she met Jack Kerouac in Bakersfield, California and the two began a brief relationship.

Carolina Cotton

Carolina Cotton born Helen Hagstrom October 20, 1925 in Cash, Arkansas; died June 10, 1997 in Bakersfield, California was an American singer and actress known as the "Yodeling Blonde Bombshell", the "Girl of the Golden West" and the "Queen of the Range".

East Bakersfield, California

East Bakersfield has four high schools, Highland High School (Bakersfield, California), East Bakersfield High School Foothill High School, and Mira Monte High School.

Elizabeth Borton de Treviño

Elizabeth was born in Bakersfield, California, the daughter of attorney Fred Ellsworth Borton and Carrie Louise Christensen.

Far Away Eyes

The Stones, longtime country music fans, incorporated many aspects of Bakersfield-style country music into this song.

Fort Jackson National Cemetery

Areas not served by an existing National Cemetery and containing at least 170,000 veteran residents included Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Jacksonville, Florida; Sarasota County, Florida; southeastern Pennsylvania and Columbia-Greenville, South Carolina.

Irma Jackson

"Irma Jackson" is a song by Bakersfield, California-based outlaw country artist Merle Haggard, released on his 1972 album Let Me Tell You About a Song.

Isabella Dam

State Route 178, which travels through the canyon between Bakersfield and Lake Isabella, became unstable, and one lane was closed due to the high water levels.

KABE

KABE-CD, a low-power television station (channel 39) licensed to Bakersfield, California, United States

KBAK

KBAK-TV, a television station (channel 29 analog/33 digital) licensed to Bakersfield, California, United States

KBFX

KBFX-CD, a television station (channel 29) licensed to serve Bakersfield, California, United States

KBTF

KBTF-CD, a low-power television station (channel 31) licensed to serve Bakersfield, California, United States

KGET-DT2

The fate of the CW in the Bakersfield market remained unknown until just days before The CW was scheduled to launch, when Clear Channel Communications (the owner of KGET at the time) obtained the rights to The CW Plus affiliation for the Bakersfield market on a new digital subchannel of KGET.

KJTV

KGET-TV, a television station (channel 17) licensed to serve Bakersfield, California, which used the call sign KJTV from 1969 to 1978.

KMPH-TV

The television station's airwaves extend northward to Mariposa, California and the southern Sierra Nevada, and sometimes can be received to the south in Kern County for those who live about north of Bakersfield.

Lake Isabella

Lake Isabella can be reached by car from Bakersfield via state Highway 178 and from Delano via Highway 155.

Marty Raymond

In January 2011, Raymond was named in the lawsuit filed by Jason Bailey in which Bailey alleges that he was "forced to endure a barrage of anti-Semitic, offensive and degrading verbal attacks regarding his Jewish faith," from Bakersfield Condors head coach Marty Raymond and "suffered severe and/or pervasive harassment," from assistant coach Mark Pederson.

Pine Mountain Club, California

Connections can be made in Frazier Park or Lebec to a scheduled service to Grapevine and Bakersfield and further connection there to Greyhound and Amtrak.

Rabobank Arena

A separate display on the western concourse honors the founders of Bakersfield and Kern County, as well as country music legend Buck Owens and current athletes and dignitaries from Bakersfield and Kern County.

Semie Moseley

Two years after his bankruptcy, Semie was able to get back the Mosrite name, and in 1970 he started making guitars again in Pumpkin Center near Bakersfield.

South Fork Kern River

California State Route 178 runs through the valley, linking Bakersfield and Inyokern, which lie on opposite sides of the Sierra, via Walker Pass.