Music has nearly always been a part of life for Shirley McClain. “I guess at age two I sang my first solo: The Cat Song!,” revealed the former Shirley Hickey, who grew up in Sanborn. “I remember singing on several occasions until I was 10 or so. I sang in the choir in high school and participated in contests. I also played trumpet in the band. I took piano lessons when I was in grade school.”
Shirley came from a musical family. “My uncle was a musician and my Mother played piano and organ for church and she played for silent movies in Sanborn,” said Shirley. “My sisters also participated in all music events and opportunities in high school.”
This talented musician relocated to Des Moines where she still lives in the house she moved into in 1964. This area provides opportunities where, at the age of 85, she can continue to sing and play in front of an audience. “I have friends in a band ‘Company’s Comin’ that ask me to sing with them every so often at a VFW,” said the part-time entertainer. “I have played keyboard and performed with them at Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair for several years. I will again this year on August 11th. I also cantor at Mass on Sundays.”
Shirley has been featured entertainment at a number of Sanborn summer celebrations. “Donna Carlson and Allene Huibregste (Chamber of Commerce secretaries) asked me to sing,” recalled Shirley. “I sang at the golf course, at the school by the big tree, at a restaurant one year.” As part of Sanborn’s Centennial Celebration in 1978 Shirley rode on a float and sang at the street dance with another musically gifted Sanborn native, Donnie Rohrs.
The road that leads from Shirley’s first song at age two to performances at the Iowa State Fair has a number of twists and turns. After graduating from Sanborn High School with the Class of 1954 she went on to college and then taught school. She was married in 1957. Music still found its way into Shirley’s life. “I learned how to play guitar in the early ‘60s,” she said.
The move to Des Moines opened up new doors. “I joined the Professional Musicians Club of Iowa and that’s where I met up with a lot of fellow musicians,” said the singer, guitarist and keyboard player. “My first band was with Larry Heaberlins Hoe Down USA and we played every weekend at Cutty’s campgrounds in Des Moines. After that I played with Jim Bowman and the Bluenotes.”
It was at this time that Shirley added “recording artist” to her resume. “I cut a record at Kajac recording studio in Carlisle, IA in 1972,” she noted. “When I cut my record (under the name of Shirley Ramus) I thought I was going to be a professional singer and some day go to Nashville,” Shirley recollected. “We sent my record to all the radio stations in Iowa and I sent many to my friends and relatives. Back then they had the Billboard Magazine that rated songs every week. I think I made the top 15 for awhile. My song was ‘It Took A Long Time’. It was written by Gus Horn, a newsman for WHO in Des Moines.” The platter did lead to a trip to Music City. “I got to go to Nashville with the people from Kajac recording studio to maybe promote the record and meet some producers,” said Shirley. A recording contract wasn’t in Shirley’s future but that part of her story is preserved at Sanborn’s Yesterday’s Memories Museum. “Johnny Vander Haag so graciously is displaying my record at his museum!” gushed Shirley.
Then, Shirley said, her life changed. “I got divorced in 1973,” she explained. “For two years my livelihood was singing and playing keyboard five nights a week with a band at the Pendulum Lounge in Des Moines.” That performing career was then put on hold. “I woke up one day and decided that was not very smart to be gone at night while raising four children,” shared Shirley. “So I gave up singing and went to work for American Federal Savings and Loan.”
As it turned out, performing would once more be a part of Shirley’s life. “As the kids got older and were graduating I started singing again,” she noted. “After American Federal I worked for Principal Financial and retired in 1998. While working days I still played in the band on weekends.”
Shirley, who has played in bands for over 30 years, recalled one long time musical association. “I was in the band Travelin for 25 years,” she said. “We played jobs and parties all over Des Moines but the best was playing at Diamond Jacks at the Iowa State Fair for 10 years in a row. We played every night from four to midnight. Those were the best musical years of my life! Then I played with Dominic and the Dominoes for a couple years and gave up playing and singing in a band in 2001.
Sanborn’s musical treasure, who once actually sang in the Weill Recital Hall inside New York’s Carnegie Hall, took a hiatus from performing, but as noted earlier she is never far away from a stage. Said Shirley, “Every once in awhile someone might ask me to play for a night and I do. I still love it!”