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Author: Craig E. Clifford
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 162349446X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 279
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Book Description
Many books and essays have addressed the broad sweep of Texas music—its multicultural aspects, its wide array and blending of musical genres, its historical transformations, and its love/hate relationship with Nashville and other established music business centers. This book, however, focuses on an essential thread in this tapestry: the Texas singer-songwriters to whom the contributors refer as “ruthlessly poetic.” All songs require good lyrics, but for these songwriters, the poetic quality and substance of the lyrics are front and center. Obvious candidates for this category would include Townes Van Zandt, Michael Martin Murphey, Guy Clark, Steve Fromholz, Terry Allen, Kris Kristofferson, Vince Bell, and David Rodriguez. In a sense, what these songwriters were doing in small, intimate live-music venues like the Jester Lounge in Houston, the Chequered Flag in Austin, and the Rubaiyat in Dallas was similar to what Bob Dylan was doing in Greenwich Village. In the language of the times, these were “folksingers.” Unlike Dylan, however, these were folksingers writing songs about their own people and their own origins and singing in their own vernacular. This music, like most great poetry, is profoundly rooted. That rootedness, in fact, is reflected in the book’s emphasis on place and the powerful ways it shaped and continues to shape the poetry and music of Texas singer-songwriters. From the coffeehouses and folk clubs where many of the “founders” got their start to the Texas-flavored festivals and concerts that nurtured both their fame and the rise of a new generation, the indelible stamp of origins is inseparable from the work of these troubadour-poets. Contents Introduction, by Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis | 1 Part One. The First Generation: Folksingers, Texas Style Too Weird for Kerrville: The Darker Side of Texas Music | 17 Craig Clifford Townes Van Zandt: The Anxiety, Artifice, and Audacity of Influence | 27 Robert Earl Hardy Vignette—The Ballad of Willis Alan Ramsey | 36 Bob Livingston Guy Clark: Old School Poet of the World | 39 Tamara Saviano Kris Kristofferson: The Silver-Tongued Rhodes Scholar | 49 Peter Cooper Vignette—Don Henley: Literature, Land, and Legacy | 59 Kathryn Jones Steven Fromholz, Michael Martin Murphey, and Jerry Jeff Walker: Poetic in Lyric, Message, and Musical Method | 61 Craig D. Hillis Vignette—Kinky Friedman: The Mel Brooks of Texas Music | 83 Craig Clifford Billy Joe Shaver: Sin and Salvation Poet | 85 Joe Holley One Man’s Music: Vince Bell | 92 Joe Nick Patoski Vignette—Ray Wylie Hubbard: Grifter, Ruffian, Messenger | 101 Jenni Finlay The Great Progressive Country Scare of the 1970s | 103 Craig D. Hillis (interview with Gary P. Nunn) Plenty Else to Do: Lyrical Lubbock | 109 Andy Wilkinson Roots of Steel: The Poetic Grace of Women Texas Singer-Songwriters | 115 Kathryn Jones From Debauched Yin to Mellow Yang: A Circular Trip through the Texas Music Festival Scene | 136 Jeff Prince Vignette—Bobby Bridger: “Heal in the Wisdom,” Creating a Classic | 145 Craig D. Hillis (interview with Bobby Bridger) Interlude: What Do We Do with Willie? | 148 —I. Willie (An Early Encounter) | 148 Craig D. Hillis —II. Willie (On Everything) | 151 Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis Part Two. The Second Generation: Garage Bands, Large Bands, and Other Permutations “Gettin’ Tough”: Steve Earle’s America | 161 Jason Mellard Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen: Cosmic Aggies | 166 Jan Reid Vignette—Walt Wilkins: Spirituality and Generosity | 174 Craig Clifford (interview with Tim Jones) Lucinda Williams: Poet of Places in the Heart | 176 Kathryn Jones Rodney Crowell: Looking Inward, Looking Outward | 185 John T. Davis Vignette—Sam Baker: Short Stories in Song | 192 Robert Earl Hardy James McMurtry: Too Long in the Wasteland | 193 Diana Finlay Hendricks Part Three. Epilogue: Passing of the Torch? Drunken Poet’s Dream: Hayes Carll | 203 —I. Good Enough for Old Guys | 203 Craig Clifford —II. Good Enough for Young Guys | 207 Brian T. Atkinson Roll On: Terri Hendrix | 209 Brian T. Atkinson From Riding Bulls to Dead Horses: Ryan Bingham | 212 Craig Clifford (interview with Shaina Post) Bad Girl Poet: Miranda Lambert | 218 Craig Clifford Challenge to Bro Country: Kacey Musgraves | 221 Grady Smith Beyond the Rivers | 224 Craig Clifford Notes | 231 Selected Sources | 233 Contributors | 243 Index | 251
Author: Craig E. Clifford
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 162349446X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Get Book Here
Book Description
Many books and essays have addressed the broad sweep of Texas music—its multicultural aspects, its wide array and blending of musical genres, its historical transformations, and its love/hate relationship with Nashville and other established music business centers. This book, however, focuses on an essential thread in this tapestry: the Texas singer-songwriters to whom the contributors refer as “ruthlessly poetic.” All songs require good lyrics, but for these songwriters, the poetic quality and substance of the lyrics are front and center. Obvious candidates for this category would include Townes Van Zandt, Michael Martin Murphey, Guy Clark, Steve Fromholz, Terry Allen, Kris Kristofferson, Vince Bell, and David Rodriguez. In a sense, what these songwriters were doing in small, intimate live-music venues like the Jester Lounge in Houston, the Chequered Flag in Austin, and the Rubaiyat in Dallas was similar to what Bob Dylan was doing in Greenwich Village. In the language of the times, these were “folksingers.” Unlike Dylan, however, these were folksingers writing songs about their own people and their own origins and singing in their own vernacular. This music, like most great poetry, is profoundly rooted. That rootedness, in fact, is reflected in the book’s emphasis on place and the powerful ways it shaped and continues to shape the poetry and music of Texas singer-songwriters. From the coffeehouses and folk clubs where many of the “founders” got their start to the Texas-flavored festivals and concerts that nurtured both their fame and the rise of a new generation, the indelible stamp of origins is inseparable from the work of these troubadour-poets. Contents Introduction, by Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis | 1 Part One. The First Generation: Folksingers, Texas Style Too Weird for Kerrville: The Darker Side of Texas Music | 17 Craig Clifford Townes Van Zandt: The Anxiety, Artifice, and Audacity of Influence | 27 Robert Earl Hardy Vignette—The Ballad of Willis Alan Ramsey | 36 Bob Livingston Guy Clark: Old School Poet of the World | 39 Tamara Saviano Kris Kristofferson: The Silver-Tongued Rhodes Scholar | 49 Peter Cooper Vignette—Don Henley: Literature, Land, and Legacy | 59 Kathryn Jones Steven Fromholz, Michael Martin Murphey, and Jerry Jeff Walker: Poetic in Lyric, Message, and Musical Method | 61 Craig D. Hillis Vignette—Kinky Friedman: The Mel Brooks of Texas Music | 83 Craig Clifford Billy Joe Shaver: Sin and Salvation Poet | 85 Joe Holley One Man’s Music: Vince Bell | 92 Joe Nick Patoski Vignette—Ray Wylie Hubbard: Grifter, Ruffian, Messenger | 101 Jenni Finlay The Great Progressive Country Scare of the 1970s | 103 Craig D. Hillis (interview with Gary P. Nunn) Plenty Else to Do: Lyrical Lubbock | 109 Andy Wilkinson Roots of Steel: The Poetic Grace of Women Texas Singer-Songwriters | 115 Kathryn Jones From Debauched Yin to Mellow Yang: A Circular Trip through the Texas Music Festival Scene | 136 Jeff Prince Vignette—Bobby Bridger: “Heal in the Wisdom,” Creating a Classic | 145 Craig D. Hillis (interview with Bobby Bridger) Interlude: What Do We Do with Willie? | 148 —I. Willie (An Early Encounter) | 148 Craig D. Hillis —II. Willie (On Everything) | 151 Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis Part Two. The Second Generation: Garage Bands, Large Bands, and Other Permutations “Gettin’ Tough”: Steve Earle’s America | 161 Jason Mellard Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen: Cosmic Aggies | 166 Jan Reid Vignette—Walt Wilkins: Spirituality and Generosity | 174 Craig Clifford (interview with Tim Jones) Lucinda Williams: Poet of Places in the Heart | 176 Kathryn Jones Rodney Crowell: Looking Inward, Looking Outward | 185 John T. Davis Vignette—Sam Baker: Short Stories in Song | 192 Robert Earl Hardy James McMurtry: Too Long in the Wasteland | 193 Diana Finlay Hendricks Part Three. Epilogue: Passing of the Torch? Drunken Poet’s Dream: Hayes Carll | 203 —I. Good Enough for Old Guys | 203 Craig Clifford —II. Good Enough for Young Guys | 207 Brian T. Atkinson Roll On: Terri Hendrix | 209 Brian T. Atkinson From Riding Bulls to Dead Horses: Ryan Bingham | 212 Craig Clifford (interview with Shaina Post) Bad Girl Poet: Miranda Lambert | 218 Craig Clifford Challenge to Bro Country: Kacey Musgraves | 221 Grady Smith Beyond the Rivers | 224 Craig Clifford Notes | 231 Selected Sources | 233 Contributors | 243 Index | 251
Author: Eleanor Wilner
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472052039
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
The venture of this inviting collection is to look, from the many vantages that the 35 poets in this eclectic anthology chose to look, at what it was—knowing that a poem can’t be conceived in advance of its creation—that helped their poems to emerge or connected them over time. The Rag-Picker's Guide to Poetry permits an inside view of how poets outwit internal censors and habits of thought, showing how the meticulous and the spontaneous come together in the process of discovery. Within are contained the work and thoughts of: Betty Adcock Joan Aleshire Debra Allbery Elizabeth Arnold David Baker Rick Barot Marianne Boruch Karen Brennan Gabrielle Calvocoressi Michael Collier Carl Dennis Stuart Dischell Roger Fanning Chris Forhan Reginald Gibbons Linda Gregerson Jennifer Grotz Brooks Haxton Tony Hoagland Mark Jarman A. Van Jordan Laura Kasischke Mary Leader Dana Levin James Longenbach Thomas Lux Maurice Manning Heather McHugh Martha Rhodes Alan Shapiro Daniel Tobin Ellen Bryant Voigt Alan Williamson Eleanor Wilner C. Dale Young
Author: Craig E. Clifford
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623494478
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 279
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Book Description
Many books and essays have addressed the broad sweep of Texas music—its multicultural aspects, its wide array and blending of musical genres, its historical transformations, and its love/hate relationship with Nashville and other established music business centers. This book, however, focuses on an essential thread in this tapestry: the Texas singer-songwriters to whom the contributors refer as “ruthlessly poetic.” All songs require good lyrics, but for these songwriters, the poetic quality and substance of the lyrics are front and center. Obvious candidates for this category would include Townes Van Zandt, Michael Martin Murphey, Guy Clark, Steve Fromholz, Terry Allen, Kris Kristofferson, Vince Bell, and David Rodriguez. In a sense, what these songwriters were doing in small, intimate live-music venues like the Jester Lounge in Houston, the Chequered Flag in Austin, and the Rubaiyat in Dallas was similar to what Bob Dylan was doing in Greenwich Village. In the language of the times, these were “folksingers.” Unlike Dylan, however, these were folksingers writing songs about their own people and their own origins and singing in their own vernacular. This music, like most great poetry, is profoundly rooted. That rootedness, in fact, is reflected in the book’s emphasis on place and the powerful ways it shaped and continues to shape the poetry and music of Texas singer-songwriters. From the coffeehouses and folk clubs where many of the “founders” got their start to the Texas-flavored festivals and concerts that nurtured both their fame and the rise of a new generation, the indelible stamp of origins is inseparable from the work of these troubadour-poets. Please see the listing for the print edition to view the table of contents for this title.
Author: Diana Finlay Hendricks
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623495881
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 302
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Book Description
Influenced at a young age by classic country, Tejano, western swing, and the popular music of wartime America, blues musician Delbert McClinton grew up with a backstage pass to some of the most significant moments in American cultural and music history. From his birth on the high plains of West Texas during World War II to headlining sold-out cruises on chartered luxury ships well into his seventies, McClinton admits he has been “One of the Fortunate Few.” This book chronicles McClinton’s path through a free-range childhood in Lubbock and Fort Worth; an early career in the desegregated roadhouses along Fort Worth’s Jacksboro Highway, where he led the house bands for Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, and others while making a name for himself as a regional player in the birth of rock and roll; headlining shows in England with a little-known Liverpool quartet called The Beatles; and heading back to Texas in time for the progressive movement, kicking off Austin’s burgeoning role in American music history. Today, more than sixty years after he first stepped onto a stage, Delbert McClinton shows no signs of slowing down. He continues to play sold-out concert and dance halls, theaters, and festival events across the nation. An annual highlight for his fans is the Delbert McClinton Sandy Beaches Cruise, the longest-running music-themed luxury cruise in history at more than twenty-five years of operation. More than the story of a rags-to-riches musician, Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few offers readers a soundtrack to some of the most pivotal moments in the history of American popular music—all backed by a cooking rhythm section and featuring a hot harmonica lead.
Author: Robert Earl Hardy
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574412477
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
A biography of Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt, discussing his troubled childhood, the development of his career as a wandering folk singer, and his relationships with women, and including analyses of his songs.
Author: Jason Mellard
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292754671
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396
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Book Description
Winner, Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize, Texas State Historical Association, 2014 During the early 1970s, the nation’s turbulence was keenly reflected in Austin’s kaleidoscopic cultural movements, particularly in the city’s progressive country music scene. Capturing a pivotal chapter in American social history, Progressive Country maps the conflicted iconography of “the Texan” during the ’70s and its impact on the cultural politics of subsequent decades. This richly textured tour spans the notion of the “cosmic cowboy,” the intellectual history of University of Texas folklore and historiography programs, and the complicated political history of late-twentieth-century Texas. Jason Mellard analyzes the complex relationship between Anglo-Texan masculinity and regional and national identities, drawing on cultural studies, American studies, and political science to trace the implications and representations of the multi-faceted personas that shaped the face of powerful social justice movements. From the death of Lyndon Johnson to Willie Nelson’s picnics, from the United Farm Workers’ marches on Austin to the spectacle of Texas Chic on the streets of New York City, Texas mattered in these years not simply as a place, but as a repository of longstanding American myths and symbols at a historic moment in which that mythology was being deeply contested. Delivering a fresh take on the meaning and power of “the Texan” and its repercussions for American history, this detail-rich exploration reframes the implications of a populist moment that continues to inspire progressive change.
Author: William Daniel Ehrhart
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
ISBN: 9780896721890
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 180
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Book Description
Every poet in this anthology represents the terrible beauty that Vietnam engendered in sensitive hearts, the curious grace with which the human spirit can endow even the ugliest realities."No one will get out of this volume without being hammered in the heart and singed in the soul. I could touch the tears on page after page."--Wallace Terry
Author: Rob Clark
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623495237
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
Believe it or not, Aggieland has witnessed a parade of musical icons over the years, each with an intriguing story attached. Picture a young Elvis Presley entertaining the Corps of Cadets at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Flash forward to the “Committee for Johnny Cash,” originated by students after the country singer’s post-Bonfire concert was canceled by the A&M administration amid controversy; despite official disapproval, the students brought him to perform off-campus. Revisit the sunbaked Texas World Speedway in the summer of 1974 and Willie Nelson’s rowdy Fourth of July Picnic, complete with sex, drugs, and a grassfire that torched the car of a young Robert Earl Keen (who would later strike up a long-lasting friendship with fellow A&M student Lyle Lovett). Rewind to Garth Brooks landing at A&M to end an enormous 1998 world tour with three sold-out shows in the newly completed Reed Arena. And many other musical legends have produced memorable moments in the area, including Nat King Cole, R.E.M., and the Ramones. Live from Aggieland explores these stories, including photography and first-hand accounts of the shows and events. The book demonstrates how popular music has enhanced the cultural perspective of Bryan–College Station and has provided students, graduates, and residents with lasting musical memories.
Author: Holly Gleason
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477314903
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
Full-tilt, hardcore, down-home, and groundbreaking, the women of country music speak volumes with every song. From Maybelle Carter to Dolly Parton, k.d. lang to Taylor Swift—these artists provided pivot points, truths, and doses of courage for women writers at every stage of their lives. Whether it’s Rosanne Cash eulogizing June Carter Cash or a seventeen-year-old Taylor Swift considering the golden glimmer of another precocious superstar, Brenda Lee, it’s the humanity beneath the music that resonates. Here are deeply personal essays from award-winning writers on femme fatales, feminists, groundbreakers, and truth tellers. Acclaimed historian Holly George Warren captures the spark of the rockabilly sensation Wanda Jackson; Entertainment Weekly’s Madison Vain considers Loretta Lynn’s girl-power anthem “The Pill”; and rocker Grace Potter embraces Linda Ronstadt’s unabashed visual and musical influence. Patty Griffin acts like a balm on a post-9/11 survivor on the run; Emmylou Harris offers a gateway through paralyzing grief; and Lucinda Williams proves that greatness is where you find it. Part history, part confessional, and part celebration of country, Americana, and bluegrass and the women who make them, Woman Walk the Line is a very personal collection of essays from some of America’s most intriguing women writers. It speaks to the ways in which artists mark our lives at different ages and in various states of grace and imperfection—and ultimately how music transforms not just the person making it, but also the listener.
Author: Brian T. Atkinson
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1603445269
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
The writer of such influential songs as “Pancho and Lefty,” “To Live’s to Fly,” “If I Needed You,” and “For the Sake of the Song,” Townes Van Zandt exerted an influence on at least two generations of Texas musicians that belies his relatively brief, deeply troubled life. Indeed, Van Zandt has influenced millions worldwide in the years since his death, and his impact is growing rapidly. Respected singer/songwriter John Gorka speaks for many when he says, “‘Pancho and Lefty’ changed—it unchained—my idea of what a song could be.” In this tightly woven, intelligently written book, Brian T. Atkinson interviews both well-known musicians and up-and-coming artists to reveal, in the performers’ own words, how their creative careers have been shaped by the life and work of Townes Van Zandt. Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the established musicians who share their impressions of the breathtakingly beautiful tunes and lyrics he created, along with their humorous, poignant, painful, and indelible memories of witnessing Van Zandt’s rise and fall. Atkinson balances the reminiscences of seasoned veterans with the observations of relative newcomers to the international music scene, such as Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Josh Ritter, and Scott Avett (the Avett Brothers), presenting a nuanced view of Van Zandt’s singular body of work, his reckless lifestyle, and his long-lasting influence. Forewords by “Cowboy” Jack Clement and longtime Van Zandt manager and friend Harold F. Eggers Jr. open the book, and each chapter begins with an introduction in which Atkinson provides context and background, linking each interviewee to Van Zandt’s legacy. Historians, students, and fans of all music from country and folk to rock and grunge will find new insights and recall familiar pleasures as they read I’ll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt.
