Russ Knight (born: Russell Lee Moore, 1932 - 2012) nicknamed Russ "Weird Beard" was an American radio DJ who first joined KLIF in Dallas in the early 60's, where he was the self-proclaimed “savior of Dallas radio”. Later on he joined KILT and eventually moved onto different radio stations across America. In 2003 he was selected to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
In the 60's after John F. Kennedy died, FBI investigators interviewed Russ Knight because of his relationship with Jack Ruby, who assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald, the prime suspect in Kennedy's assassination. Agents found Knight's personal phone numbers in Ruby's possession.
Links To Peel[]
Russ Knight helped Peel get a job at KLIF in the 60's when Knight, "a beefy college grad with a Masters degree who found himself holding down the seven to midnight show..." [1]. would talk about The Beatles and would fudge about his knowledge of Liverpool (city). Peel heard this and called him at the station to take him to task. Knight inquired if he was from Liverpool and "for all intents and purposes" he said yes. After a meeting with Peel, he decided to make him their "expert" on all things Liverpool and The Beatles and Peel, who then used his real surname Ravenscroft, dropped the letter "s" becoming Ravencroft (the name he retained for the rest of his US broadcasting career) and became the "Man on the Street" giving KLIF listeners the info on what was going on with the Beatles. Peel described this account in greater detail on Radio Radio and Peeling Back The Years and on his 14 December 1991 show, he described Russ Knight as one of the great broadcasters.
Russ Knight was famous enough in the US to be invited to contribute DJ links to the Cruisin' 1962 LP [2], one of a series of albums in radio show format focusing on the hits of specific years from 1957 to 1963. They were released in the early 1970s, when there was a nostalgia in the US for pre-Beatles pop, and picked up some Sounds Of The Seventies airplay on the BBC from both Peel and Bob Harris.
Mentioned In Shows[]
Russ Knight
- 1986
- Radio Radio: "Anyway, I was listening to KLIF, Russ Knight ‘The Weird Beard’, and he was talking about Liverpool, because the Beatles were just becoming vogue-ish, and he was talking incredible nonsense you know, and knew nothing about it. Well, I’d got the newsline number at KLIF and I phoned them up and said, “Look, really you’re talking a load of rubbish here.” He said, “Are you from Liverpool?” and I said, as far as Americans need know, “Yes”. Actually, from the other side of the river, but quite clearly they weren’t interested in those little accidents of geography. So they said, asked me one or two questions about Liverpool, and on the strength of having an approximation of a Liverpool accent, I used to get mobbed. I mean, I became a surrogate Beatle in Dallas..." (read more on Radio Radio (Transcript))
- 1987
- Peeling Back The Years: "I armed myself with the internal phone numbers and news numbers and so forth of all of the radio stations in Dallas, and when I heard Russ Knight, the Weird Beard, who was like the top DJ in the market – and he was wonderful, a really excellent DJ – and he was talking about Liverpool and he was talking the most appalling codswallop. And I phoned up the news number and said, you know, “Can I speak to the Weird Beard?” And they said, “What do you want to talk to him about?” And I said, “Well, I’d like to speak on the subject of Liverpool.” So he came on the phone and obviously regarded me as just another crank caller. But I said, “Actually, you know, I come from Liverpool and know a bit about it and what you’re saying is not actually true.” So he put me on the radio. And by and large I became a sort of surrogate Beatle. And it was like every young man’s adolescent fantasies translated into fact. I shall say no more than that." (read more on Peeling Back The Years 2 (Transcript)).
- 1988
- Peel August September 1988 Lee Tape 16 John plays some snippets of Russ along with some radio commercials of the day.
- 1991
- 14 December 1991: "There have been some great broadcasters in my life; Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, Wolfman Jack, Humphrey Lyttelton, Alan Freeman, Russ Knight, the Weird Beard, Peter Clayton, but John Arlott was the greatest of them all."
- 1992
- 18 April 1992: Peel plays a recording of Russ Knight, 'The Weird Beard'. Described by Peel as "The chap who first put me on the radio in any meaningful fashion."
- "After the news a really hot band that I think you’re gonna like. And also I may play you a bit more of the Weird Beard because he was right up there with Simon Bates and the rest of the greats."