Saturday, April 30, 2016

Remembering Blackie Sherrod

Texas sports writing legend Blackie Sherrod passed away this week. Considered by many to be the greatest sportswriter that Texas has ever produced, he was intelligent, educated, and wise. Being a combat veteran, he knew what real life and death situations looked like and therefore understood that sports, in the grand scheme of things, were just fun and games.

Although he is remembered primarily as a sports writer, Sherrod did not only cover sports. In 1963 he saw JFK's motorcade pass through Dallas moments before the assassination and then became integral in the coverage of that fateful day. He also covered a moonshot from Cape Canaveral, work for which he received much acclaim. When I was a boy, I remember my grandfather talking fondly about Blackie Sherrod as if he knew him. But I guess if you read a writer for decades, you tend to feel that you do.  

Here is a Dallas Morning News retrospective of Blackie Sherrod's life:


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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Bernie Resentenced

Bernie Tiede, whose story was told by Skip Hollandsworth of Texas Monthly and then made into a film by Richard Linklater, was resentenced to prison this week. Bernie received 99 years to life. Although I found Linklater's dark comedy absolutely hilarious, art and life are not exactly the same thing. Thus, Bernie is back at Uncle Bud's most likely until Gabriel honks his horn.

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/hollywoods-beloved-bernie-tiede-resentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-1996-murder-8350142

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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan Monument

Dallas will finally honor musical legends Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan with a monument near their childhood home. With it flooding down in Texas, I got to thinking about the Vaughan brothers and figured I should share the good news in case you hadn't heard.




The image shows the proposal for the monument.



Thursday, April 21, 2016

The Flatlanders in Denton

The Denton Arts and Jazz Festival is April 29 to May 1 this year. Last year Martina and I had a great time sloshing around in the mud whilst listening to Dr. John do his New Orleans magic. This year the Flatlanders will be playing Saturday night, and I am really looking forward to it. I absolutely dig that lonesome West Texas sound.

To be transparent, the first time I ever heard the song "Dallas" was on a bootleg cassette of an REM show I bought in London in the early 90s. I assumed it was their song, and it was years later before I actually heard Jimmie Dale Gilmore play that little gem of his. With lyrics like the ones below, the song probably won't be adopted by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, but its a fine song nonetheless. "Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye / A steel and concrete soul with a warm-hearted love disguise."

Here is a link to "Dallas." Have you ever seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night? I have. And it's a beautiful sight.



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Sunday, April 17, 2016

Pure Country Music: Roanoke, Texas

Last Thursday one of my colleagues from work invited me to join him at the Roanoke Community Center for an evening of music. I imagined that it was going to be an open mike, but what I saw when I arrived was an interesting variation on that theme. Two mikes stood in the middle of the stage with a horseshoe of musicians facing them. In the horseshoe there were about half a dozen guitarists, two fiddle players, a banjo player, a mandolin player, a steel player, a bass player, a couple of harmonicas, and a row of female vocalists waiting their turn to sing on the front row of the audience. Over the course of the night, each musician had the opportunity to take the mike and lead the band.

The majority of the musicians and audience members were seventy-years old or older, and the music they played tended to be from the late-30s to the early 60s. There were Bob Wills songs with twin fiddles, Hank Williams covers, gospel tunes, and even a memorable version of "Deep Elem Blues." The musicians showed a versatility that Texas musicians are known for, the ability to move seamlessly among genres while still maintaining a common thread. For example, one person would lead a Baptist standard, and the next would play a honkytonk rambler, and no one even blinked.

Many of these musicians have been playing together on Thursday evenings for twenty years. It was clear that they could anticipate one another's cues, and the singer would call on a guitarist or fiddle player to solo like the King of Western Swing used to do. For me, it was a step back in time, the opportunity to hear and understand the Texas music of yore.

I did not take any pictures or record any songs, but I would like to share the link to a 1930s version of "Deep Elem Blues" that somewhat captures the feel of this Thursday night band.



Sunday, April 10, 2016

Willie and the IRS

The tax deadline is rapidly approaching, and rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's is on a lot of our minds. When I think of taxes, I am reminded of Willie Nelson's issues with the IRS. After releasing the IRS Tapes, life must have certainly improved for the red-headed stranger. I'm sure Trigger breathed a sigh of relief as well. Here is a short interview where Willie discusses his relationship with the IRS.



Saturday, April 2, 2016

Stevie Ray: Voodoo Chile

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet Danny Garrett, the artist who created many of the concert posters for Antone's over the years. We talked about his meeting Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, and he told me an anecdote about a collector and his obsession with pristine Stevie Ray Vaughan posters. This, of course, got me to thinking about Stevie Ray Vaughan and his music, and tonight I decided to spin "Live Alive" for the first time in a long while. I had almost forgotten what a brilliant, electrifying guitarist SRV was. If you haven't listened to him in a while, try this version of "Voodoo Chile: Slight Return." It is so incredible that it will bring out the Faustian conspiracist in just about anybody.  


This is one of Danny Garrett's SRV posters. Signed prints can be purchased on his website at dannygarrett.com.