The Wingate Valley Boys were a country rock band whose members hailed primarily from Church Rock, NM. The small community is nestled below majestic red rock formations along old Route 66 in west-central New Mexico. The Wingate Valley Boys are considered to be one of the Navajo Nation's premier cover bands. 

The band began in the late 50s performing local shows in and around the Navajo Reservation. By the mid-1960s, the Wingate Valley Boys were opening for notable country legends like Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard at local venues and at collegiate forums such as Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. By the early 1970s, the band's original lineup had dissipated. Original members of the band are depicted on the “Circle of Light” mural at the Ellis Tanner Trading Company on NM Highway 602 in Gallup, New Mexico.

The original Wingate Valley Boys were: Founder - Ernest Murphy (Lead Vocals and Guitar), Albert Pioche (Second Vocals and Rhythm Guitar),  *Paul Johnson (Drums), Eddie Mason (Lead Guitar), and Frank Young (Bass). 

*Drummer Frances "Spanky" Mike joined the band in 1966, at the age of 17, after Paul Johnson’s passing. 

Mason, the lone survivor of the original group, joined the band in 1962 at the age of 15. From Crownpoint, New Mexico, Mason now resides in Tsaile, Arizona. Mason's brothers, Irwin and Reuben Mason, were also members of the seminal Navajo country rock band The Fenders. 

The Wingate Valley Boys were managed by Mr. Clyde Duncan. Duncan was a teacher at the former Fort Wingate Vocational School in Fort Wingate, New Mexico. Duncan also managed The Fenders.

Other notable members of the Wingate Valley Boys were Richard “Rick” Hubbell, Jr, Frankie Marianito, and Paul Brown.

Other distinctive Native American bands include the Navajo Sundowners, the Fenders, the Zuni Midnighters, Apache Spirit, and Sioux Savage.

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