Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air: Legends
of West Texas Music
by Christopher Oglesby
Published by the University
of Texas Press:
"As a whole, the interviews create
a portrait not only of Lubbock's musicians and artists, but also
of the musical community that has sustained them, including venues
such as the legendary Cotton Club and the original Stubb's Barbecue.
This kaleidoscopic portrait of the West Texas music scene gets
to the heart of what it takes to create art in an isolated, often
inhospitable environment. As Oglesby says, "Necessity is
the mother of creation. Lubbock needed beauty, poetry, humor,
and it needed to get up and shake its communal ass a bit or go
mad from loneliness and boredom; so Lubbock created the amazing
likes of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Terry Allen, and
Joe Ely."
"Indeed, Oglesby's introduction of more
than two dozen musicians who called Lubbock home should be required
reading not only for music fans, but for Lubbock residents and
anyone thinking about moving here. On these pages, music becomes
a part of Lubbock's living history."
- William Kerns, Lubbock Avalanche Journal
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virtualubbock
suggests:
TOP 10 SONGS with
Lubbock in the Title or Lyrics:
1) Lubbock Texas in my Rearview Mirror - Mac Davis
2) Lubbock or Leave It - Dixie Chicks
3) Lubbock Woman - Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery
Band
4) Lubbock Texas - Andy Eppler ("Why don't you kiss
me Lubbock, Texas?")
5) West Texas Waltz - Butch Hancock ("...Idalou to
Lubbock, too...")
6) Lucky Me, I Live in Lubbock - Tommy Newsom
7) Go To Lubbock; tied with Lubbock Beckons - both
by The Monx
8) Got Lucky Last Night - Jerry Jeff Walker ("This
is a song about Lubbock Texas and how much fun you can have with
no money and no brains.")
9) Stubb's Boogie - Jesse "Guitar" Taylor
10) Busted in Baylor County - Shooter Jennings ("We
left L.A. on Sunday, in Lubbock by Tuesday/ That's where we played
our second show/Where nobody knew us, so nobody noticed the songs
that the band didn't know.")
Make your Comments
@ our MySpace page!
Readers' suggestions:
From: Johnny Hughes:
Waylon's song "Leave
Them Boys Alone" says:
Hank Williams was the king of country soul
My dad took me to see him in Lubbock but he didn't show
Now the people got mad and they all went home
The first thing we did was put his records on.
I guess we should have left him alone and let him sing his songs.
In "Down on the Drag", Ely's version, it says,
"My baby's back up in Lubbock and I'm down on the drag."
However, as Butch
originally wrote it, it said Lampassas. When I visited Grover
Lewis once in L.A., we discussed
Lubbock in songs and movies, and Grover said, "Too bad about
Lampassas."
From: William Kerns:
I’d have to nominate “Lubbock, Texas”
by Russ Murphy for the top
5. (CD was released in 2007)
From: "Homegrown" @ MySpace:
What about "Lonely Lubbock Lights"
by Aaron Watson?
virtualubbock
suggests
TOP 10+ RECOMMENDED "LUBBOCK"
ALBUMS
Here are the Top 10 Albums
recommended by www.virtualubbock.com if someone were to ask,
"What does Lubbock sound like?"
(We are not declaring these to be the best of all possible albums
by various Lubbock artists, however these records are great places
to start tuning into the Lubbock music mystique. )
- 1) Lubbock: on everything
– Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band
- 2) Live Shots! –
The Joe Ely Band
- 3) Own & Own –
Butch Hancock
- 4) After Awhile –
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
- 5) Route 1: Acuff -
The Maines Brothers Band
- 6) Sons of Preachers
– Texas Belairs
- 7) Conway's Corner
– RC Banks
- 8) Big Shots –
Cary Swinney
- 9) Bad Girls Upset by the
Truth – Jo Carol Pierce
- 10) The Supernatural Family
Band - Live at the Little Bear
EXTRA CREDIT
(because 10 is not enough!)
- EVERYTHING by Waylon Jennings
- EVERYTHING by Buddy Holly
&/or The Crickets
- Texas Tattoo – Jesse Taylor
- Fantasize – Ponty Bone & the Squeezetones
- Home – Dixie Chicks (produced by Lloyd Maines)
- Thrift Store Cowboys – (eponymous first album)
- Texas in My Rearview Mirror
– Mac Davis
- * There
is No Underground – Andy Eppler *
(technically disqualified from catagory - see comment below dated
Aug 17)
Your COMMENTS
are welcome.
COMMENTS
Posted by De Lyn on
Jul 11, 2008 6:54 PM
I almost hyperventilated when I didn't see Buddy...then I kept
reading. :-) You have the favorites I can think of listed on
here.
Posted by Michael X-Ray
on Jul 14, 2008 9:15 AM
"The Planets"
"Hot Biscuits" by Mark Paden
"Lubbock On everything" by Terry Allen
Most of the albums on the list so far were NOT recorded in Lubbock.
Posted by
Chris Oglesby on Aug 1, 2008 1:23 AM
Response:
Exactly
5 of the top 10 were recorded in Lubbock.
Exceptions:
*"Live Shots" was recorded live in concert in Europe.
*"Own & Own" is a compilation album of Butch Hancock
songs recorded at various times.
*"After Awhile" - a seminal record by JDG focusing;
among a CD series focusing on regional music.
* "Bad Girls Upset by the Truth" - Yes, whiners, we
concede this was recorded in Austin where Jo Carol lives but
this album has Lubbock all over it....
*"The Supernatural Family Band - Live at Big Bear"
- a Live recording; the Hancock's SFB is ALL Lubbock but did
enjoy success in Colorado during the 70's. This album could have
been recorded at the Cotton Club.
Posted by ERIC HISAW on
Aug 1, 2008 1:08 AM
Great list. I guess if you can only have so much Ely band Live
Shots is the place to start. As an outsider but a huge fan and
friend of many Lubbock musicians I'd have to say the fact that
most of these albums weren't recorded in Lubbock is just part
of the Lubbock mystique.
Posted by Doctor Skoob on Aug 5, 2008 8:30 PM
Good list, but I feel something is missing... Is this because
your t-shirt got burned up that fire? IOU! -skoob
Posted by
Chris Oglesby on Aug 17, 2008 12:50 PM
After a spirited discussion last night with Doug Haines, I want
to clarify some things about this list. First, I am NOT saying
these are the BEST albums by all Lubbock artists - I would not
even say that some of these are the best album by the particular
artist at issue; rather, these are intended to be ALBUMS WHICH
SOUND LIKE LUBBOCK. I realize this is an amorphous and arbitrary
categorization that may mean something only to myself.
There are MANY great albums by Lubbock artists, and I am not
sure I would dare to make an All-Time Top Ten Best Lubbock Albums
list.
That said, I will address why Doctor Skoob's "Gringo
Sol" is not on the list. As I told Doug, GRINGO
SOL is a GREAT album, demonstrating excellent musicianship and
originality. However, the sound - as was Doctor Skoob's intention
- is unlike anything to come out of Lubbock before or since.
While that is awesome and desirable, it does proscribe Skoob's
record from the above list, by its very nature. One must admit,
GRINGO SOL does not sound like the Maines Brothers, the Texas
Belairs, or Jimmie Gilmore in the least.
And
to be fair, I might need to disqualify Andy
Eppler's
"There is No Underground" from the above list on the
same basis. Although, I do continue to highly recommend Eppler's
fine album for any lover of great original music.*
GRINGO SOL is a must have
for any music lover,
whether you are from Lubbock or not. Go to http://www.doctorskoob.com/home.html to buy
this fine record. There Doug. You got what you wanted, I hope.
Posted by Hatch on Aug 27,
2008 7:11 AM
In Short BS. Makes no difference about a F'in attitude. Andy
is still a Hub City boy. As far as LIVE SHOTS it was cut in Europe
in general it was ENGLAND specifically. As touring engineer /stage
manager/ and somewhat overseer of the original album. I know
where it was recorded. Joe still has the original multi-track
tapes for it as well as the one's that we did w/ The Clash locked
away.
Posted by
Chris Oglesby on Aug 27, 2008 7:27 AM
RESPONSE: I am well aware that "Live Shots"
was recorded in England, but with all that Jesse and Lloyd all
over the record, "Boxcars", "Not Fade Away"
- that my friend SOUNDS like Lubbock music like no other record
I know, and it sounds nothing like Europe.
ONCE AGAIN, the topic is NOT Best Albums RECORDED in Lubbock;
it is albums which I would recommend to someone to describe the
Lubbock Sound. "Live Shots" sounds much more like what
one would have expected to hear at Fat Dawg's than at the Hope
and Anchor.
The bit about Andy was really
more of a compliment in response to a discussion with Skoob,
moving Andy beyond the classic Lubbock sound. I love Andy Eppler's
"There is No Underground." However, I would not describe
his diverse song collections as being particularly unique to
Lubbock, except for the final track "Lubbock, Texas"
which may be one of the great Lubbock songs ever (which is why
it originally made it onto my list in the first place).
Do you have any suggestions
for albums which should be on the list?
Posted by Doctor Skoob on Aug 24, 2008 12:49 PM
Awesome! Now that is some good quality fun, sir, and some damn
fine BBQ sauce to boot. Speaking of, I still think Los Sonsabitches'
"Mighty Fine BBQ" actually would fall into your category
quite nicely, but you don't have it yet. That is one album that
your massive cd player is desperately missing, Mr. Oglesby.
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