Sonny Curtis was a skilled guitar player, a clever songwriter, and someone who left his fingerprints all across American culture in indelible ways, including as a member of The Crickets.
Though Duane Eddy definitely influenced many country guitar players too, the “twang” we refer to today is somewhat of a different thing, though similar. It’s utilizing the sharp and flat space between notes to enhance the sound.
Sometimes when you ponder upon a life lived, you can’t help but marvel at all the events seen, the accomplishments achieved, and the history experienced by someone’s eyes and ears. Such is the case for Jerry Ivan Allison, known as JI by many close friends, family, and band mates.
Dolly Parton will be one of the next inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The next question is how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will consider country performers for induction moving forward. This moment presents a slippery slope.
This is the story of Waylon’s notorious relationship with cocaine told through the improbable tale of a police officer and lawyer turned drug smuggler from Kentucky, and a cocaine-eating bear. Country History X, which looks to tell the history of country music, one story at a time.
Those that know Waylon Jennings know that one of the primary contributions he brought to country music was importing a little bit of across-the-tracks rock ‘n’ roll influence into the genre. Unlike many modern country performers, Waylon did it with a respect for the original roots of country music, but he undoubtedly did it.
Saturday evening (2-24) at Austin’s Paramount Theatre, the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association held its annual induction ceremony for a dignified and power-packed class of new honorees. Quite an impressive lot of musical dignitaries were also on hand, but I’m not sure anyone expected a star of the caliber of Eric Church to show up.
Legendary rockabilly and Western swing guitarist Tommy Allsup passed away on Wednesday, January 11th according to his son Austin Allsup. The 85-year-old had been placed in Intensive Care earlier this month. No funeral arrangements have been made at the moment, but the family is asking for continued prayers.
Joe B. Maudlin, the long-time bass player for The Crickets and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, has died in Nashville according to The Tennessean. As the backing band for Buddy Holly, and an irreplaceable element of early American music, The Crickets helped forge the sound that would later become an essential building block for successful artists and bands such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and beyond.
Bob Montgomery, most famous for being the teenage friend, songwriter, and duo partner of Buddy Holly, and for writing iconic country songs like “Back in Baby’s Arms” by Patsy Cline, and “Misty Blue” recorded by Eddy Arnold, Wilma Burgess, and many others, has died according to his son and fellow musician Kevin Montgomery. He was 77-years-old.
In the fall of 2012 when Ronnie Dunn (of Brooks & Dunn) was looking to write and record material for his upcoming album, he reached out to Texas music songwriting guru Ray Wylie Hubbard after falling in love with the gritty sound Hubbard imbibes on all his records. Dunn flew into Austin as Ray Wylie wrangled up an A-list of Austin musicians to to participate in a recording session.
The crown jewel and center of interest at this weekend’s auction of the Waylon Jennings estate was the 1958 Ariel Cyclone motorcycle once owned by Waylon’s mentor Buddy Holly and given to Waylon on his birthday in 1979. Though early reports had the motorcycle not reaching the auction reserve with a bid of $375,000, SCM has confirmed with Guernsey’s Auctioneers that the bike indeed did sell…
On October 5th, Guernsey’s Auctions will be liquidating a massive 2,000-piece collection of items owned by Waylon Jennings from his Arizona estate. Though there are many items of intrigue to be sold off, one of the most curious might be the letter John Lennon once wrote to Waylon Jennings. Representing such a clashing of music worlds, this artifact of popular music is one of the few insights…
In early August it was revealed that Guernsey’s Auctions out of New York City was preparing to auction off 2,000 items from the Waylon Jennings estate in Chandler, Arizona, with the proceeds going to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Now even more details of the auction items have been revealed as the auction house has made a detailed auction guide available for pre-order.
What can collectors expect from this rare chance to own a piece of authentic Waylon Jennings memorabilia? Well for starters, there’s a pair of ornate leather boots once worn by Hank Williams that are adorned appropriately with a Phoenix on the front, and an ‘H’ in the middle for “Hank”. There’s also an authentic set of Willie Nelson’s famous Indian braids given to Waylon in 1983….
Some of the new “Outlaws” in country music will have you believe that getting some mud on their tires or drinking a little too much is tantamount to years of paying dues and sewing your true Outlaw oats like the original Outlaws did. So here’s ten reasons why today’s “Outlaws” will never live up to the legacy of one of the biggest country music Outlaws, Waylon Waymore Watashin By God Hoss Tecumseh Jennings.
Buddy Holly’s father had kept the motorcycle until 1970, when he sold it to someone in Austin, TX. Then in 1979 for Waylon’s 42nd birthday, the two remaining Crickets Joe B. and J.I. tracked down the 1959 Ariel Cyclone, bought it back, and had it hand delivered to north Texas where Waylon found it sitting there in the middle of his hotel room after walking off stage that night.
On not just a few occasions since I started Free Hank III, I’ve found myself attempting to justify to someone why I think Hank Williams III is such an influential and important musician in country music, and why he and his music is worth fighting for. Sometimes it is in person, sometimes in the comments […]
Some of you might know this story, and some of you don’t. Some of you will find it interesting, some of you won’t. But I felt inclined to include it here because it involves one of our country heroes: Waylon Jennings. Waylon got his break into the music scene by playing bass for Buddy Holly, […]