Horace Lee Logan

Horace Lee Logan, who started the country music program " Louisiana Hayride " and first said what became the catch-phrase " Elvis has left the building, " died Oct. 13. He was 86.

Mr. Logan had pancreatitis and acute respiratory distress syndrome, said his wife, Linda. He died in Victoria, Texas, near where he lived.

Mr. Logan began in radio when he was 16, after winning a contest to become an announcer on KWKH-AM in Shreveport, La., his wife said.

He began producing the Hayride, a country music show performed before a live KWKH audience in Shreveport ' s Municipal Auditorium, in 1948. It survived only two years after Mr. Logan ' s departure in 1958.

In between, he introduced a number of country music ' s top names to the nation. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams were among people who got their first big break on the Hayride.

When Presley debuted in 1954, Mr. Logan wrote in his 1998 memoir, " Elvis, Hank and Me, " he wanted to say something reassuring to the nervous young man, but didn ' t have time. Instead, he grabbed the microphone.

" Ladies and gentlemen, you ' ve never heard of this young man before, but one day you ' ll be able to tell your children and grandchildren you heard musical history made tonight, " he told the audience.

Two years later, trying to quiet a frenzied Hayride audience after another Presley performance, Mr. Logan announced, " Elvis has left the building. "