http://bit.ly/kHC5pR
Jody Nix, son of Hoyle Nix, recounts the legendary recording session that would be the last for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Some Texas Playboys to play in Norman, OK, April 21, 2010
NORMAN, Okla. -– An all-star lineup of musicians will take the stage April 21 at the Sooner Theatre for an unforgettable night of Western swing. The Former Texas Playboys combines a number of musicians from the original Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys line-up with some of country music’s biggest band members.
Tickets for the 7 p.m., April 21 concert went on sale to the public March 10. The Sooner Theatre is located at 101 E. Main St. in downtown Norman. Tickets are $20 each.
The Sooner Theatre and the University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art are joining forces to present this special performance in collaboration with a new exhibition of 1930s artwork currently on display at the art museum. Revisiting the New Deal: Government Patronage and the Fine Arts, 1933-1943 opened in February and remains on display through May 9. Each concert ticket sold will include a free pass to visit the art museum throughout the exhibition.
“We are very excited to team up with the Sooner Theatre for this exciting concert,” said Ghislain d’Humières, director of the FJJMA. “Community collaboration is an important goal of the museum, so this is the perfect opportunity to work together and bring something fun and historical to Norman.”
Original Texas Playboys members Bobby Koefer on steel guitar, Wayne Glasson on keyboard, Jimmy Young on fiddle, Louise Rowe on bass, Truitt Cunningham on vocals and Joe Settlemires on guitar will be joined by country music legends Montie Gaylord on fiddle, Chad Maines on drums and Rod Rodriguez on saxophone for this special event.
Michael Bendure, director of communication for the museum, said the tickets are a bargain.
“Norman is truly fortunate to welcome a band of this caliber,” said Bendure. “These guys are at the top of their game and have played with everyone, everywhere. I’ve had the privilege of hearing a few of these performers on their own and have been blown away each time. Listeners are getting a real opportunity with these performers all together in one place, at this price – they won’t be disappointed.”
During the Great Depression, the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered a New Deal to the American people to help alleviate the economic turmoil of the 1930s. The Revisiting the New Deal exhibition surveys the large collection of painting, sculpture and prints that the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art acquired from the federal government between 1935 and 1943.
Throughout this same period, songwriter, musician and bandleader Bob Wills popularized a new genre of music that earned him the nickname, “the King of Western swing.” Eventually landing in Tulsa, Okla., he formed the Texas Playboys and penned such tunes as “Take Me Back to Tulsa.” Today, he is survived by former band mates who continue his legacy.
The following is just a handful of performers some of the band members have played with over the years: Milton Berle, Perry Como, the Grand Ole Opry, Willie Nelson, Tex Ritter, Bob Hope, Della Reese, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Asleep at the Wheel, Clint Black, the Texas Rhythm Band, Freddie Fender, Boxcar Willie and the Texas Country Band. Several members are named to music halls of fame across the nation.
Each year, the band members reunite as the Former Texas Playboys in April to headline at Bob Wills Days in Turkey, Texas, home of the legendary songwriter and bandleader. The band also performs at special concerts and events around the country throughout the year.
Concert tickets are available online, by phone and in person through the Sooner Theatre. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and one hour prior to showtime. Tickets are available by phone at (405) 321-9600 or online at www.soonertheatre.org. A service charge of $2 per ticket will be applied to all phone and online orders.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus.
Admission to the museum is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. The museum is closed on Mondays and admission is free on Tuesdays. The museum’s Web site is www.ou.edu/fjjma. Information and accommodations on the basis of disability are available by calling (405) 325-4938.
Tickets for the 7 p.m., April 21 concert went on sale to the public March 10. The Sooner Theatre is located at 101 E. Main St. in downtown Norman. Tickets are $20 each.
The Sooner Theatre and the University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art are joining forces to present this special performance in collaboration with a new exhibition of 1930s artwork currently on display at the art museum. Revisiting the New Deal: Government Patronage and the Fine Arts, 1933-1943 opened in February and remains on display through May 9. Each concert ticket sold will include a free pass to visit the art museum throughout the exhibition.
“We are very excited to team up with the Sooner Theatre for this exciting concert,” said Ghislain d’Humières, director of the FJJMA. “Community collaboration is an important goal of the museum, so this is the perfect opportunity to work together and bring something fun and historical to Norman.”
Original Texas Playboys members Bobby Koefer on steel guitar, Wayne Glasson on keyboard, Jimmy Young on fiddle, Louise Rowe on bass, Truitt Cunningham on vocals and Joe Settlemires on guitar will be joined by country music legends Montie Gaylord on fiddle, Chad Maines on drums and Rod Rodriguez on saxophone for this special event.
Michael Bendure, director of communication for the museum, said the tickets are a bargain.
“Norman is truly fortunate to welcome a band of this caliber,” said Bendure. “These guys are at the top of their game and have played with everyone, everywhere. I’ve had the privilege of hearing a few of these performers on their own and have been blown away each time. Listeners are getting a real opportunity with these performers all together in one place, at this price – they won’t be disappointed.”
During the Great Depression, the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered a New Deal to the American people to help alleviate the economic turmoil of the 1930s. The Revisiting the New Deal exhibition surveys the large collection of painting, sculpture and prints that the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art acquired from the federal government between 1935 and 1943.
Throughout this same period, songwriter, musician and bandleader Bob Wills popularized a new genre of music that earned him the nickname, “the King of Western swing.” Eventually landing in Tulsa, Okla., he formed the Texas Playboys and penned such tunes as “Take Me Back to Tulsa.” Today, he is survived by former band mates who continue his legacy.
The following is just a handful of performers some of the band members have played with over the years: Milton Berle, Perry Como, the Grand Ole Opry, Willie Nelson, Tex Ritter, Bob Hope, Della Reese, Loretta Lynn, Vince Gill, Asleep at the Wheel, Clint Black, the Texas Rhythm Band, Freddie Fender, Boxcar Willie and the Texas Country Band. Several members are named to music halls of fame across the nation.
Each year, the band members reunite as the Former Texas Playboys in April to headline at Bob Wills Days in Turkey, Texas, home of the legendary songwriter and bandleader. The band also performs at special concerts and events around the country throughout the year.
Concert tickets are available online, by phone and in person through the Sooner Theatre. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and one hour prior to showtime. Tickets are available by phone at (405) 321-9600 or online at www.soonertheatre.org. A service charge of $2 per ticket will be applied to all phone and online orders.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus.
Admission to the museum is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. The museum is closed on Mondays and admission is free on Tuesdays. The museum’s Web site is www.ou.edu/fjjma. Information and accommodations on the basis of disability are available by calling (405) 325-4938.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Cain's Ballroom Music Museum proposed in Tulsa, OK
This from today's Tulsa World:
[A] fund-raising campaign has been started to build the Cain's Ballroom Music Museum on north Main Street just south of the legendary Cain's Ballroom. The $2.5 million museum will feature interactive exhibits, including a "Mini-Cain's Ballroom" that will use some of the boards from the old Cain's dance floor.
A nice touch would be to erect a statue of Bob Wills either outside the museum or inside in the entrance. Wills and his brother Johnnie Lee put Cain's on the map with their radio broadcasts and dances from the 1930s to the 1950s.
More from another story in the Tulsa World.
[A] fund-raising campaign has been started to build the Cain's Ballroom Music Museum on north Main Street just south of the legendary Cain's Ballroom. The $2.5 million museum will feature interactive exhibits, including a "Mini-Cain's Ballroom" that will use some of the boards from the old Cain's dance floor.
A nice touch would be to erect a statue of Bob Wills either outside the museum or inside in the entrance. Wills and his brother Johnnie Lee put Cain's on the map with their radio broadcasts and dances from the 1930s to the 1950s.
More from another story in the Tulsa World.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Cain's Ballroom April 2009
I was in Tulsa to meet a client. I drove by the Cain's Ballroom and even though the light was bad took a couple photos.
It reminded me of a few things. First, there was the time I tried to sneak in to a certain concert years ago at the Cain's when a teenager. I did not make it. Second, I remembered how the father of one of my friends told me that back in the long ago he used to skip school to go down to the Cain's and watch some sort of show that Bob Will and His Texas Playboys played during the day. He later became a prominent guitar teacher in the Tulsa area where he asked Eric Clapton if Jimi Hendrix's guitar was in tune to which Clapton replied that he'd played one of Hendrix's guitars and it was out of tune. Clapton also told him that Hendrix grabbed the guitar from him and it sounded fine in Hendrix's hands.
Third, Texas Playboys guitarist Eldon Shamblin told me how longtime promoter and former owner of the Cain's Ballroom, Larry Shaeffer, would scope out Eldon's 1954 Stratocaster everytime Eldon played at the Cain's and inquired about purchasing it.
Fourth, Eldon told me that sometimes it just wasn't the same (and maybe a little unsettling) going to the Cain's to work on a touring group's piano after having played there for so long as part of the Texas Playboys and for a short time with Leon McAulife's band. As I get older I sort of understand what Eldon meant. He told me that for him performing was like sitting down for a good dinner. He loved his work as a guitarist so much that even though the piano work was enjoyable it just never gave him that feeling of good sit down dinner. And, to go to that spot where you got a lot of that feeling in your life and to be required to do work would be a little unsettling.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Album Review: 'Willie and the Wheel'
Album: "Willie and the Wheel"
Artist(s): Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel
Released: February 3, 2009
Label: Bismeaux Productions
Rating: None
I love Willie Nelson. He's carved out an incredible career as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist. He's also been there for those who are 420 friendly and for those suffering from tax problems.
I respect Asleep at the Wheel. I've always considered Asleep at the Wheel more akin to other genres rather than Western Swing. Yet, for some reason, whether by the band or by those who write about music, there seems to be this connection to Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. While I sort of respect Asleep at the Wheel, I got a feeling for the Texas Playboys like I got a feeling for Willie Nelson. I love 'em.
Supposedly, Jerry Wexler put out the concept of years upon years ago that Willie Nelson should get together with Asleep at the Wheel and record some of the catalog of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. I love Jerry Wexler, who produced one of my favorite albums, "Slow Train Coming" by Bob Dylan.
Despite all the things to love about the concept of "Willie and the Wheel" I got to say that while the separate elements might be great that their combination seems uninspiring. I've not been a fan of straight ahead country covers of western swing songs. And, despite, throwing every sort of shot of authenticity in this album from the fiddles to the Dixieland horns, the rhythm section just doesn't swing. Instead, it sounds as if the drummer and bassist came off the Nashville assembly line. The lack of swing sort of reminds me of some of the awkward sounding recordings of certain rock drummers in the big band setting. I freely admit that most listeners will not be bothered by the lack of swing. God knows that Neil Peart's fans love to hear him cover Buddy Rich. Most fans of Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson or even Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys will embrace this recording. It'll win a Grammy or two or three for the album or mixing or production.
Yet, when I hear it, that unswinging rhythm section grabs my attention and I just want to say, "No mas." If you want that swinging rhythm section, then may I suggest "For the Last Time" by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. If you want the version featuring a legendary country singer, then grab Merle Haggard's "A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (Or, My Salute To Bob Wills)." If you want a great record featuring Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, then choose "Pancho and Lefty."
Artist(s): Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel
Released: February 3, 2009
Label: Bismeaux Productions
Rating: None
I love Willie Nelson. He's carved out an incredible career as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist. He's also been there for those who are 420 friendly and for those suffering from tax problems.
I respect Asleep at the Wheel. I've always considered Asleep at the Wheel more akin to other genres rather than Western Swing. Yet, for some reason, whether by the band or by those who write about music, there seems to be this connection to Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. While I sort of respect Asleep at the Wheel, I got a feeling for the Texas Playboys like I got a feeling for Willie Nelson. I love 'em.
Supposedly, Jerry Wexler put out the concept of years upon years ago that Willie Nelson should get together with Asleep at the Wheel and record some of the catalog of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. I love Jerry Wexler, who produced one of my favorite albums, "Slow Train Coming" by Bob Dylan.
Despite all the things to love about the concept of "Willie and the Wheel" I got to say that while the separate elements might be great that their combination seems uninspiring. I've not been a fan of straight ahead country covers of western swing songs. And, despite, throwing every sort of shot of authenticity in this album from the fiddles to the Dixieland horns, the rhythm section just doesn't swing. Instead, it sounds as if the drummer and bassist came off the Nashville assembly line. The lack of swing sort of reminds me of some of the awkward sounding recordings of certain rock drummers in the big band setting. I freely admit that most listeners will not be bothered by the lack of swing. God knows that Neil Peart's fans love to hear him cover Buddy Rich. Most fans of Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson or even Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys will embrace this recording. It'll win a Grammy or two or three for the album or mixing or production.
Yet, when I hear it, that unswinging rhythm section grabs my attention and I just want to say, "No mas." If you want that swinging rhythm section, then may I suggest "For the Last Time" by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. If you want the version featuring a legendary country singer, then grab Merle Haggard's "A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World (Or, My Salute To Bob Wills)." If you want a great record featuring Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, then choose "Pancho and Lefty."
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