He called himself “Ol’ Jumpin'”, and George Oxford was as unique as his moniker.
First heard on Bay Area radio reading poetry in 1945, the Southern-born Oxford became a white broadcaster who delivered what was known in the 1940s and ’50s as “race music” to Bay Area listeners getting their first feel for R&B music.
Oxford became a mainstay on Oakland’s KWBR before shifting to KSAN (AM) in 1954. At KSAN, he was heard up to 10 hours a day through a combination of live and recorded broadcasts, while also taping shows for Vallejo station KGYW (later KNBA).
When Jumpin’ George Oxford jumped to KDIA in 1959, legal action ensued. He wound up having to stop calling himself Jumpin’ George on the air (KSAN would apply the air name to a number of other disc jockeys). Oxford instead called himself G.O. Oxford (for Good Ole Oxford).
Oxford held the morning slot at KDIA from 1959 into 1966, when he was shifted to a part-time weekend shift.