Leon Rusk

Who was Leon Rusk?

Malcolm Leon Rusk was a 1940s country singer and music writer. He was born in Canyon, Texas and died, aged 28, in an accident near Tulia, Texas.

He had been badly injured during World War II and began a musical career after the war recording for King records.

His recording, Air Mail Special On The Fly, has been covered by David Grisman and Jim & Jesse.

He wrote several songs with Merle Travis including Petal From A Faded Rose which was variously recorded by Hank Snow, Wilma Burgess, Jimmy Dickens and George Morgan. Another collaboration, Devil to Pay was recorded by both Johnny Cash on his 1970 album Hello, I'm Johnny Cash and by Kris Kristofferson on the 1981 album To the Bone. Rusk himself recorded the joint effort Until Dawn. In 1947, he was working at the Silver Spur in Los Angeles with Jack Rogers. They collaborated on a few tunes which Leon intended to record on the King label