Western Swing Musician. Professionally known as Merl Lindsay. The founder and bandleader of Merl Lindsay and His Oklahoma Night Riders, an American Western Swing band, he enjoyed popularity in the late 1930's until his death in 1965. His peers in the industry were Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys, Leon McAuliffe & His Cimarron Boys, Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys, among others. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he began performing professionally in 1936 as a fiddler at Salathiel's Barn in Oklahoma City, a ballroom owned and operated by his father, C. E. Salathiel. A short year later, he formed his own band The Barnyard Boys and began playing local and regional gigs, and honing his skills as a musician and entertainer. He purchased a ballroom in Compton, California in the 1940's and broadcast his music shows in the Hollywood and Long Beach area. He also worked as a 'singing cowboy' actor in some B Western movies with Jimmy Wakely. With the addition of extra musicians and a female singer in 1947, he changed the name of the group to Merl Lindsay and His Oklahoma Night Riders and toured extensively in the midwest, the southwest and California. He returned to Oklahoma City in 1947 to begin broadcasting a daily radio and television show. Later that year the family ballroom was destroyed by a fire and he and his band began working the local venues until he opened the Lindsayland Ballroom in Oklahoma City. He recorded for several record labels including Mercury and M-G-M. He and his band joined Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee on ABC television in 1957, replacing the show's original band. They toured throughout the U.S. as well as performing at their hometown ballroom, Lindsayland in Oklahoma City. He recruited talented musicians including his own family, such as brother Doyle Salathiel, a composer who wrote the lyrics for "Water Baby Blues" which was the band's signature song. His nephew Max Salathiel was a premier guitar player in the Oklahoma City area who played for him during the 1950's. Other noted band members were Clarence Bailey, Homer Bean, Ted Haff, Mike Hugo, Gene Jones, Freddie Loveland, Louvenie Loveland, Buster Magness, Rudy Martin, Buddy Ray, and Sonny Rogers. He composed several songs that became hits for himself as well as other Western Swing artists. His biggest hits were "Lonesome Okie Goin' Home", "Shimmy Shakin' Daddy", "Slidin' Steel" and "Water Baby Blues/Water Baby Boogie". He died of cancer at age 49 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was buried near his unnamed son who was stillborn in 1951. He was posthumously inducted into the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame on October 4, 1992.