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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: ‘Pistol
Packin Mama’ right on target
by Wanda Orton 12-23-11Playing
for dances brings back entertaining memories by Delbert Trew
9-13-11
"Growing
up in a musical family, then later playing professionally for 35 years..."Davy
Crockett's Fiddle
by Mike Cox 8-11-11
"Nero may have fiddled while
Rome burned, but Davy Crockett surely had no time for one last tune when Mexican
soldiers made their final assault on the Alamo. While Crockett did not survive
the battle, his fiddle apparently did..." Pure
Gospel by Bob Bowman 8-6-11
Throughout East Texas
are hundreds of gospel music venues where people gather on weekends to hear songs
that you’ll hear only in churches...A
Historical Marker for Lightnin' by Bob Bowman 1-3-11
The
news outlets from Houston reported recently that a Texas Historical Marker has
been dedicated to Lightnin' Hopkins, whose blues music became famous between 1946
and the 1970s... Ivory
Joe Hunter by Bob Bowman 6-27-10
When
historians in Southeast Texas unveiled a Texas State Historical Marker for Ivory
Joe Hunter at a cemetery near Kirbyville, they stirred memories of one of America’s
greatest musicians... Eck
Robertson by Clay Coppedge 5-19-10
While others might
think of Texas music as the domain of guitar players, the fiddle is the instrument
that has most shaped what we identify as traditional Texas music... Of the pioneer
types who helped establish a standard for Texas fiddle playing, Eck Robertson
deserves the most credit...Bringing
back cowboy music by Bob Bowman
Musicians today seldom play the music older
folks remember best. But, thankfully, I was able to recommend at least one place
where the old cowboy music is still played with enthusiasm. At the Camp Street
Cafe and Store in Crockett, brothers Guy and Pipp Gillette perform traditional
cowboy songs in a downtown building once owned by their grandfather...Every
Year at Christmas Time I Miss My Friend, Mel Torme
by Bill Cherry
I'm never sure exactly when it’s going to happen, but every
year at sometime during the Christmas season I realize how much I really miss
my friend, jazz singer Mel Torme...A
country legend by Bob Bowman
Someone once asked country singing legend
Ray Price to name his favorite singers. Price paused a minute and finally said,
“I have too many to name, but Gene Watson would be right at the top.”...The
Big Hurt by Bill Cherry
Even
though it had come out in 1959, seven years later it remained Number 1 on the
Metropole Club Hit Parade, six plays in succession for a quarter. Its title was
“The Big Hurt.” Music
in an Old Gym by Bob Bowman
Lovelady's old school gymnasium - a popular
country music venue in East Texas
Listening
to the Tumbleweeds by Robert G. Cowser
My purpose in contacting Willard
was to get permission to hear his string band, the Tumbleweeds, perform at the
nursing home. Once a month the band plays bluegrass and gospel music for the residents
of the home. Willard is the lead guitarist; he is accompanied by two men on amplified
guitars and another on an acoustic guitar. Each of these three musicians is in
his late sixties... There’s
Got to Be More to His “Galveston” Than That Glen Campbell Sings It by Bill
Cherry
If you know singer Glen Campbell’s real relationship with the island,
you can’t help but wonder if there isn’t more to the story than that a songwriter
named Jimmy Webb wrote these words and tune, and that Glen sang them...The
Legendary Stardust Cowboy by Clay Coppedge
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
(real name Norman Carl Odam) from Lubbock...Schroeder
Hall
The dance
hall, which is still in business after 118 years has reached legendary status
– being a venue where some of the biggest names in country music have performed.
Jim
Reeves and Cheyenne by Bob Bowman
As
a one-time reporter, I covered the funerals of numerous East Texans, but the one
I remember the most was that of Jim Reeves, the iconic country singer who grew
up at Galloway in Panola County... More
Blues Brothers by Bob Bowman
Some of the earliest blues pioneers lived
and played in East Texas...Pistol
Packing Mamma by Bob Bowman
One of the most popular songs in the U.S. during
the mid-1940s was “Pistol Packing Mama,” which became Billboard Magazine’s most
played jukebox favorite in 1944. But few know that the song came from East Texas
and was written and performed by an Cherokee County musician Al Dexter. Leon
Breeden by Bill Cherry
The Man from Oklahoma and Jazz: They Brought Academic
Notoriety to a Podunk Teachers College.
Leon Breeden and his One O’clock Lab
BandDad
had a ball with newfangled electric by Delbert Trew
My
father had a Western dance band called The Perryton Playboys all through the Depression
years most of which was before the arrival of electrical power.
Mance
Lipscomb by Clay Coppedge
Songster and guitarist Mance Lipscomb spent most
of his 80 years as a tenant farmer around Navasota, in Grimes County before becoming
an overnight sensation when he was 65...Music
Hath Charms by Dorothy Hamm
Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak, so said William Congreve several centuries
ago... Baytown’s
DJ of the ‘50s, Bill “Rascal” McCaskill, Conducts His “Night Train” Once More
by Bill Cherry
"... 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
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
"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
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
"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
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
Cherr
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
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 CasablancaPass
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 BowmanBlind
Lemon by Bob BowmanThe
Big Bopper by Archie P. McDonaldA
Statue for Lightnin' by Bob BowmanEast
Texas Song Writer Ted Daffan by Bob Bowman"The
Light Crust Doughboys are on the air!" by Archie P. McDonaldCreating
a Gospel Classic by Bob Bowman
Songwriter Stuart Hamblem
Crockett'
s Cafe and Music Hall by Bob BowmanTenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair by Archie P. McDonaldThe
Pearl Blue Grass Jam |
General
Roses
or Coffee by Peary Perry 1-7-09
There was a story
going around a few weeks ago had to do with some famous violin player in Washington,
D.C. Anyway, this accomplished musician (Joshua Bell) set up shop in a subway
and played some of his most difficult pieces for a couple of hours. I checked
this story out on one of the urban legend websites and it came back as being true...
Carolyn
and Sammy, Her Daddy's '52 Ford and the Singer Roy Hamilton by Bill Cherry
11-2-07Old
Tunes Bring Back Memories by Murray Montgomery
It’s funny how different
things can remind us of the past and bring back old memories... |
Texas
Music Forum Ernest
Tubb the singer was born in Crisp
back in 1914 and lived there till family moved to Kemp some years later where
his folks later separated. - November 30, 2010
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
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