|
|
Music
has been a part of Texas history from the very beginning. At San
Jacinto, musicians accompanied Houston's army on its victorious
advance (and they're still arguing over what tunes were played). Later,
immigrants brought pianos overland to San
Augustine and Galveston
began importing them from New Orleans.
Immediately after towns built their three most important buildings
(saloons, courthouses
and jails) they
built their opera houses. Hospitals and infrastructure could wait.
This section features tidbits of information, biographies, tributes
and letters on Texas music and Texas musicians in a historical context.
Musicians featured in Texas Escapes are
either deceased or born prior to 1950. - Editor |
Texas Music
• Texas Musicians
|
Music &
Musicians:
Baytown’s
DJ of the ‘50s, Bill “Rascal” McCaskill, Conducts His “Night Train”
Once More by Bill Cherry 4-10-08
"... It was 1954, and in Baytown, a new disc
jockey arrived at a somewhat small, sleepy and nondescript AM station
on Decker Drive... The new KREL disc jockey’s name was Bill “Rascal”
McCaskill, and for the next several years he brought notoriety to
Baytown the likes of which that city hadn’t seen before... And he
turned conventional radio programming in Houston upside down..."
The
first Elvis impersonator
by Bob Bowman 3-10-08
Former radio personality Norman Johnson of Nacogdoches holds a unique
place in East Texas history: He was the first known Elvis impersonator.
Kathy
Dell: A Cowboy's Sweetheart; the life of a famous unknown
by Mel Brown
2-18-08
"Dell’s true importance to the state’s music history is found
in the pioneering spirit and unconventional accomplishments of her
career... in two male dominated professions, first as a rodeo star
and then as a country musician and band leader."
The
Killer and Me by Clay Coppedge 2-3-08
Jerry Lee Lewis once offered me a drink of whiskey but I turned
him down because I was sixteen years old and conducting my first
ever interview with anyone but myself. It happened in 1969 at the
Bigger ‘N Dallas nightclub...
"Always
Late" by Archie P. McDonald 2-3-08
"Just on the southside of the crossings sat a beer joint named
"Neva's," and there, my father said, was where Lefty Frizzell sang
about a girl who was "always late" with her kisses."
Gospel
music
by Bob Bowman 1-2-08
Few things have left as much impact on East Texas history as gospel
music...
Teacher
Paul Barbuto’s Lifetime Pursuit Was Always Just to Play in the Band
by Bill Cherry 11-18-07
From the time he first picked up a horn in grammar school, Paul
Barbuto wanted to do only one thing, play music. And that’s the
dream he consistently pursued throughout his life. At 84, for goodness
sakes, he was busy teaching himself how to play the accordion.
Competing
with Elvis in the Classroom
by Robert Cowser 11-15-07
Elvis Presley and a band called the Blue Notes performed on the
stage of the Humble Oil Company’s recreation building in Hawkins
one evening in January, 1955...
Yoko
on the Llanos by Clay Coppedge
Buddy Holly didn't live long enough to bring his lasting influence
on Lubbock home with him. His death in a plane crash in February
of 1959 cut his life and career way too short, and left people in
Lubbock to wonder what Holly would have done in Lubbock had he lived...
Good
Night Irene
by Archie P. McDonald
Since Shreveport and Caddo Parish were once members of the old East
Texas Chamber of Commerce, it is appropriate for the East Texas
Historical Association to consider Huddie Leadbetter, better known
as Leadbelly, as part of our past—especially since at least one
of his prison sentences was served in this region...
Jim
Reeves
From "The Salesmen" by George Lester
Comeback
of a cotton gin
by Bob Bowman
At Point, a small town of some 700 souls in northern Rains
county, a sturdy old gin has found a new life as an entertainment
venue that draws crowds from all over East Texas. Performers like
Mark Chestnut, Pee Wee Walker, and Gary Busey perform regularly
in the gin...
The
Magnificent Montague by Bill Cherry
His real name is Nathaniel Montague, but probably less than a handful
of people know his given name... He got off of his ship in Galveston
because he heard there was a disc jockey position open at a Beaumont
radio station. He wanted to play music. It was 1954...
Webb
Pierce
From "The Utopian Life" by George Lester
The
Four States Area by George Lester
"... I was told that in the old days they would have musicians
broadcasting in one studio while another group was preparing to
go on the air in another. In some rare cases all three studios would
be occupied at one time. Now the studios stood empty and unused.
It was kind of spooky to look out the control room soundproof glass
and see that haunting sight reminding us of the glory days gone
by..."
Hoyt
Axton: Artist Unclassified by Dorothy Hamm
Hoyt earned millions of dollars as a songwriter, singer, artist
and actor but the, everybody-knows-your-name, type of fame forever
eluded him. But maybe that did not matter to him as long as his
music could be heard. It was, and still is, in rock, folk, pop and
country history. He could never be pinned down to one genre; he
made his mark wherever he happened to land. Record companies were
unsure how to categorize his music. One catalogue listed his music
as "Unclassified." Hoyt's friends thought it was a totally appropriate
label for the music and the man.
Discovering
the Advantages of Radio by George Lester
It was at my second job in radio that I began to discover some of
the great perks of being in that business. There was a country show
every Saturday night in Shreveport, about 45 miles north of our
location. It was called The Louisiana Hayride and produced by radio
station KWKH. Many of country music's biggest stars made their debut
on that show. A few come to mind such as Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton,
Slim Whitman, Faron Young, Jim Ed Brown...
The
Most Interesting Shoe by Dorothty Hamm
The most interesting shoe I ever owned was a gauze and plaster cast
with a walking heel. This was not just any cast. It was a cast that
would be ogled by a pop superstar and autographed by an Oscar winning
actor ...
Kopperl,
Bosque County, Texas by Steven Fromholz
The information in this article is the background history upon which
Steven Fromholz's song, Texas Trilogy is based.
Steven
Fromholz Bio
A
Classic Walk on The Wild Side by Clay Coppedge
One of the biggest selling country music songs of all time, "The
Wild Side of Life," has a Milam County connection. It also has a
Carter Family connection, a Hank Thompson connection and led directly
to the first million selling song recorded by a female artist...
One
of the Best Interviews I Never Did by Dorothy Hamm
"...I only had a half dozen interviews to my credit when the
editor called and gave me an assignment to interview a famous country/rockabilly
artist who was performing at a dinner theater in Dallas. The editor
said he would make the necessary arrangements to get me in the door
and back stage to do the interview before the performance. He also
gave me some special instructions..."
Old
Sam Houston Song by Mike Cox
"The song, reprinted in 1928 in a long-defunct Texas magazine
called Bunker's Monthly, lies on the pages of the few surviving
copies of that publication, long forgotten. It does not show up
in a Web search or appear in the basic Houston biographies."
Right
lubrication greases squeakiest of wheels by Delbert Trew
Many classic Old West tales are similar
in plot but different in location. The following tale has been told
many times with the same plot but featuring different ranches, different
characters and different tunes. The original story is probably true,
but where it happened is anybody's guess. Our version here supposedly
happened on the famed XIT Ranch...
Bob
Wills: The Greatest Fiddle-Player of Them All by C. F. Eckhardt
"...He was a shirt-tail kid from Turkey, where they put both
city limits signs on the same post. He had a fiddle and a Model
T, and he pushed that Tin Lizzie to anywhere anybody would pay $3
or $4 to hear him fiddle all night and sometimes well into the dawn
while they danced to old songs. Sixty years after that beginning
he was a legend-Bob Wills, the fiddle king, the man who started
the sound called Western Swing. He led the most famous dance band
in the Southwest ..."
Kris
Kristofferson and Mickey Newbury: A Texas Connection by Dorothy
Hamm
"...We knew nothing about Kristofferson then. We would come
to learn that his life was far more interesting than any song he
could ever write. Perhaps that's why he had to write them. His story
is well known, born in Brownsville, Texas..."
Westphalia
Waltz by Clay Coppedge
Even in Texas, more people probably know more about the song 'Westphalia
Waltz' than they know about the town of Westphalia, the song's namesake.
Hank
Williams and Patsy Cline Still Mean A Lot by Dorothy Hamm
Although tragedies ten years apart ended the young lives
of Hank Williams in 1953 at age 29 and Patsy Cline in 1963 at age
30, they continue today as two of country music's best loved and
most enduring stars...
Freddy
Fender by Ken Rudine
"I can understand why some people may not know much about Freddy
Fender, after all I count four other names he has performed under
and his career has started and stopped several times. But there
is no doubt Freddy is a true Texas grown talent that has left, and
continues to leave, his mark on Texas music history."
John
McEuen, Acoustically Speaking by Dorothy Hamm
"Few people who have seen John in concert, playing banjo, fiddle,
guitar, mandolin, etc., need an explanation as to why he is called
a string wizard. His mastery of acoustic string instruments seems
almost magical at times."
Willie
by Dorothy Hamm
"Native Texan Willie Nelson is warm, witty, talented, intelligent,
caring, loyal, and a country music icon of gigantic proportions.
He is also a humanitarian. He’s celebrated more than 70 birthdays,
yet the songwriter, actor, musician and singer shows no signs of
slowing his pace as he continues to record, tour, play golf and
lend his name and talents to causes he believes in such as a recent
benefit concert with Arlo Guthrie in New Orleans to help musicians
displaced by hurricane Katrina..."
The
Boll Weevil by Archie P. McDonald
Tex Ritter sang this lament decades ago:
“Oh, the boll weevil is a little black bug, come from Mexico they
say, come all the way to Texas, just looking for a place to stay,
just looking for a home, just looking for a home.” And the weevil,
actually a beetle, found it, much to the chagrin of East Texas cotton
growers.
How
Boogie Woogie Began by Bob Bowman
In 1939, African American historian E. Simms Campbell wrote, “Boogie
Woogie piano playing originated in the lumber and turpentine camps
of Texas and in the sporting houses of that state.”
The
Quebe Sisters by Bob Bowman
"If Bob Wills were around today, the chances are good
that he would be delighted with three teenage sisters from Burleson.
Listening to the Quebe Sisters play the western swing music pioneered
by Wills in the 1930s and l940s, you realize they are special musicians
who love what they’re doing..."
The
Light Crust Doughboys are on the air! by Archie P. McDonald
"Truett Kinsey’s voice came out of Philcos and Zeniths
and other radios all over East Texas, and eventually much of the
South, each day at noon to announce the beginning of a performance
of the most popular fiddle band ever assembled..."
Daddy's
Favorite Song by Sandy Williams Driver
Excerpted from "Haunted Encounters: Departed Family and Friends"
"... The late 1940s brought the haunting voice over the airways
of the man my daddy always proclaimed to be "the best country music
singer of all time" -- Hank Williams..."
Pickin’
at Sacul by Bob Bowman
"...On the fourth Saturday night of each month, amateur
pickers and singers travel to Sacul -- a Nacogdoches County town
that almost became a ghost town -- in search of appreciative audiences..."
People
Told Him It Would Not Work by Dorothy Hamm
"... In 1975, when Johnnie High, a handsome, super-personable
entertainer who had been picking and singing since his early teens,
dreamed of establishing a wholesome, quality, country music show
using local “unproven” talent, his friends told him there was no
way it would succeed..."
Boxcar
Willie by Dorothy Hamm
"... Lecil Travis Martin, who would someday be known
around the world as Boxcar Willie, was born in 1931 in Sterrett,
Texas, a wide place in the railroad tracks between Dallas and Waxahachie..."
Joe
Tex by Clay Coppedge
"Dancer Alvin Ailey has always been considered the most famous
person to come from Rogers, but fans of that sweet soul music of
the '60s and '70s might beg to differ once they find out that singer
Joe Tex drew his first breath and sang his first words in Rogers...."
Casablanca’s
East Texan by Bob Bowman 7-24-05
Dooley Wilson, the piano player who sang As Time Goes By in Casablanca
Pass
the Biscuits, Pappy by Bob Bowman 6-1-05
His Texas homilies, radio broadcasts, hillbilly music and
affinity for rural Texas propelled him into the governor’s office
for two terms.
The
Eerie Demise of Johnny Horton by Clay Coppedge 5-26-05
Despite Johnny Horton's wild-at-heart looks and voice, he
was a man haunted for years by ominous premonitions of his own death.
He often promised those close to him he would contact them from
beyond the grave.
The
Old Fiddler by Bob Bowman 11-1-04
Way back in the l930s, Henderson County storekeeper John Hatton
leaped from obscurity into statewide prominence when Athens started
its annual Old Fiddlers Reunion.
Ol'
Paint's ride started in Bartlett by Clay Coppedge 10-15-04
Identifying who actually penned the classic trail drive song "Goodbye
Old Paint" is about as easy as trying to figure out which horse
on which cattle drive inspired the song. One thing we can say with
certainty is that the song's journey from trail drive ditty to enduring
American classic passed through here.
Our
Celebrities by Bob Bowman
Blind
Lemon by Bob Bowman
The
Big Bopper by Archie P. McDonald
A
Statue for Lightnin' by Bob Bowman
East
Texas Song Writer Ted Daffan by Bob Bowman
"The
Light Crust Doughboys are on the air!" by Archie P. McDonald
Creating
a Gospel Classic by Bob Bowman
Songwriter Stuart Hamblem
Crockett'
s Cafe and Music Hall by Bob Bowman
Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair by Archie P. McDonald
|
Texas Music
Forum
I just found your
great web site and it has much to explore! I would like to add a short
bit of info. My father was Charles James Davis, known as "Blackie
Davis", in Bell County , TX. ( Belton,
TX). In the 1940's, he had a band called, " Blackie Davis and
the Rhythm Rascals" and they played in Belton on East Central Ave.
As Belton was "wet" in those days. Now the date may be before the
1940's? He was born May 13, 1890 and was 57yrs. of age when I was
born. He died in 1946 , in Belton. Thanks, for your time. - Anna
Pearl Thomas, Belton, TX, June 08, 2004
HOTELS
> Traveling Texas?
Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
Texas
Music - Recommended Books
|
| The
Handbook of Texas Music |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
