Spoiler : Country Washburn (Joseph H. Washburn) Born Beaumont, Texas, December 28, 1904 Died Santa Ana, California, January 21, 1974 Age 69 Joe Washburn was a tuba player. In the 1920s, when he was a young musician, the tuba was the standard bass instrument used in popular music. When electronic microphones first hit the scene in the latter part of the decade, tubists (that's what tuba players are called) either learned how to play the string bass or got into another line of work, as most bandleaders involved in both recording and broadcasting considered tubas as being too "bulky" in sound. From the late 1920s until the early 1940s Joe worked with Ted Weems as the bass player, tuba player, and singer. He was often heard on the game show Beat the Band. After the beginning of World War II, Joe joined up with Spike Jones and his City Slickers, since he only had to play tuba for them. He was considered the only "normal" person in the group until he left late in the 1940s to work as a staff musician at Columbia Square in Hollywood. The last radio program he was on was Alka-Seltzer Time with Curt Massey and Martha Tilton. Joe was the bandleader and occasional tuba soloist. He later worked with Curt Massey on TV.