Byrds - Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
"We claim Gram Parsons as our unholy ghost, minister of the shotgun wedding of country and rock 'n' roll long before the Eagles crashed the reception."
--No Depression Vol. 1, No. 1
If you accept this assertion, then Sweetheart Of The Rodeo is our Pentecost, the
Ernest Tubb: The Texas Troubadour
Truth is, I know next to nothing about Ernest Tubb. I should, of course, and so the arrival of this 456-page opus from Ronnie Pugh, who spends his days as head of reference at the Country Music Foundation, seemed a good start.
Ernest Tubb is all that last sentence
Caution Horse - Trust the man with the star
Everyone knows about The Arch, but most people don't realize St. Louis has a Walk of Fame. In U City, the neighborhood around Washington University, the sidewalks are decorated with large bronze stars naming important cultural figures who have ties to St. Louis. Actress Betty Grable, fastballer Bob
Billy Jack Wills And His Western Swing Band - Self-Titled
While Billy Jack Wills may not be nearly as well-known as brothers Bob and Johnnie Lee, he and his short-lived band created some of the most exciting and innovative Western swing ever recorded.
The youngest of the Wills brothers, Billy Jack got his start playing in his older
Billy Joe Shaver - Old Five and Dimers Like Me
Billy Joe Shaver is the real deal. Born in Corsicana, Texas, raised in Waco. Mother worked in a honky-tonk. Shaver himself worked as a bull rider and a bronco buster, in addition to more pedestrian go-rounds as a gas station attendant, car salesman and sawmill worker, where he
Gene Autry - Blues Singer 1929-1931: Booger Rooger Saturday Nite! / Riders in the Sky - Public Cowboy #1: The Music Of Gene Autry
While Gene Autry is best-known for his classic Western songs, it may surprise some of his fans to discover that at the beginning of his career, he was an unabashed Jimmie Rodgers imitator who sang the blues with gusto.
A number of the songs included on Blues Singer 1929-