Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air : Legends of West Texas Music

by Oglesby, Christopher J.

• ISBN13: 9780292714342
• ISBN10: 0292714343
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-15
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

From Buddy Holly and the Crickets to the Flatlanders, Terry Allen, and Natalie Maines, Lubbock, Texas, has produced songwriters, musicians, and artists as prolifically as cotton, conservatives, and windstorms. While nobody questions where the conservatives come from in a city that a recent nonpartisan study ranked as America's second most conservative, many people wonder why Lubbock is such fertile ground for creative spirits who want to expand the boundaries of thought in music and art. Is it just that "there's nothing else to do," as some have suggested, or is there something in the character of Lubbock that encourages creativity as much as conservatism? In this book, Christopher Oglesby interviews twenty-five musicians and artists with ties to Lubbock to discover what it is about this community and West Texas in general that feeds the creative spirit. Their answers are revealing. Some speak of the need to rebel against conventional attitudes that threaten to limit their horizons. Others, such as Joe Ely, praise the freedom of mind they find on the wide open plains. "There is this empty desolation that I could fill if I picked up a pen and wrote, or picked up a guitar and played," he says. Still others express skepticism about how much Lubbock as a place contributes to the success of its musicians. Jimmie Dale Gilmore says, "I think there is a large measure of this Lubbock phenomenon that is just luck, and that is the part that you cannot explain." 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."

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xi
INTRODUCTION
Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air	1	(11)
TERRY ALLEN
Going Back to the Dirt	12	(16)
RICHARD BOWDEN
Underground Lubbock	28	(6)
LLOYD MAINES
It's Amazing How Much Gets Done	34	(8)
JAY BOY ADAMS
Chicken-Fried Memories	42	(4)
DON CALDWELL
Selling the Family Farm for a Song	46	(6)
BOBBY KEYS
Like a Rolling Stone	52	(10)
TOM X HANCOCK
The Supernatural Family Band	62	(10)
BUTCH HANCOCK
The Universe in a Grain of Sand	72	(14)
ANGELA STREHLI
Blues in a Texas Town	86	(12)
JESSE "GUITAR" TAYLOR
A Bad Loud Place	98	(4)
PONTY BONE
Illumination on the Streets of Lubbock	102	(6)
BRUCE JAGGERS
The Greatest Show on Earth	108	(4)
JOE ELY
Lord of the Highway	112	(10)
SHARON ELY
Living on Dreams	122	(10)
KIMMIE RHODES
West Texas Angel	132	(8)
JO HARVEY ALLEN
Take Me Back to Paradox City	140	(10)
CAROL PIERCE
Bad Girl Upset by the Truth	150	(8)
GUY JUKE
Life Imitates Art	158	(4)
DAVID HALLEY
Hitchhiking to Nirvana	162	(10)
CARY SWINNEY
Desperate Searcher	172	(12)
DOUG SMITH
Music Ordained by God	184	(6)
DOWNÉ BURNS
Back to the Basics of Love	190	(8)
BOB LIVINGSTON
Gonzo Compadre	198	(10)
WADE PARKS
Nothing Else to Do	208	(6)
COLIN GILMORE
Living in Dichotomy	214	(8)
JIMMIE DALE GILMORE
Hub City Mover	222	(10)
MAC DAVIS
Happiness Is Lubbock, Texas	232	(9)
APPENDIX I: SELECTED DISCOGRAPHIES	241	(40)
APPENDIX II: ORIGINAL INTERVIEWS	281	(2)
INDEX	283