Southwest Shuffle

by Kienzle,Rich

• ISBN13: 9780415941037
• ISBN10: 0415941032
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-04-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

While Nashville has long been considered the epicenter of country music, Southwest Shuffle documents the important influence of country music styles of the region stretching from Texas to California. Less conservative, more geared to dancing and dazzling instrumental prowess, it was in many ways the opposite of the Grand Ole Opry's conservative styles. Southwestern singers, bands and instrumentalists left a profound and enduring impact on country music--and Nashville to this day. It was the basis of the legendary Bakersfield Sound exemplified by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. In this book you'll read about: Spade Cooley, the fiddler whose band incorporated highly sophisticated, smooth musical ideas into Western Swing, his career cut short by his imprisonment for murdering his wife in 1961l; Hank Thompson, a Texan whose hits reflected a durable meld of barroom music and Western Swing that anticipated George Strait; Ray Price, the Hank Williams protege whose intense vocals and "shuffle" rhythms createda style still popular today, and stood firm amid the popularity of elvis; Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West, legendary California pickers whose incendiary instrumental records and accompaniment behind others earned the nickname "The Flaming Guitars" Tennessee Ernie Ford, the onetime disc jockey who went from local LA TV star to a household word in the 50s and Willie Nelson, who struggled for years in the Nashville wilderness, convinced someday his Texas-style eclecticism would prevail, as it did. The book also includes the true story of Bob Wills's 1944 face off with the Grand Ole Opry over his use of drums, and much more. These stories are based on original interviews and archival research by one of the most respected writers on this period of country history. Kienzle's vibrant writing reflects his long-time love for these musical styles. Southwest Shuffle will stand beside our Classic Country as a landmark book on American popular music. It will enthrall everyone from the new-country to alt-country fanto the hardcore traditionalist.

Author Biography

Rich Kienzle served as contributing editor to Country Music Magazine from 1975 to 1999. He has also served as researcher, editor, and principal writer for The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia, and as a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of Country Music

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	xiii
I Western Swingers
Jekyll and Hyde	3	(24)
Spade Cooley
Insurgency in Ascendance	27	(34)
Hank Penny
Walk Softly	55	(6)
Wade Ray
Wrong Road Home	61	(24)
Tommy Duncan
The Rhythm Buster	72	(8)
Luke Wills
II Capitol Chronicles
The Kid from Chicago	80	(5)
Lee Gillette
``Fate Just Puts Everything Together''	85	(16)
Ken Nelson
``The One We Have Been Looking For''	97	(4)
``Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)''
A Happy Hello	101	(8)
Cliffie Stone
Pea-Pickin'	109	(20)
Tennessee Ernie Ford
III Honky-Tonkers
Hey, Mister Bartender	129	(28)
Hank Thompson
Adultery Goes Mainstream	152	(5)
``Slipping Around''
I Can't Run Away from Myself	157	(26)
Ray Price
IV Flaming Guitars
Sears' Jubileers to Ocean's Eleven	183	(10)
Jimmy Wyble
Flippin' the Lid	193	(28)
Speedy West
Jimmy Bryant
Neither Fish nor Fowl	221	(12)
Roy Lanham and the Whippoorwills
V Against the Grain
``One of These Days That'll Change''	233	(26)
Willie Nelson
``Move Those Things Out''	254	(5)
Bob Wills Invades the Grand Ole Opry: 1944
Interviews	259	(4)
Bibliography	263	(2)
Discography	265	(8)
Index	273