The following excerpts from Steve Crawford’s book “1000 Essential Songs from the 1970s focuses on Texas born or Texas based artists with entries from Waylon, Willie, Ray Price, ZZ Top, Billy Joe Shaver, the late, great Townes Van Zandt, and many other musicians who were completely comfortable wearing cowboy hats. The book is available here.
- Bob Wills is Still the King, Waylon Jennings (Waylon Jennings): In addition to paying homage to Hank Williams (“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”), Waylon Jennings also released this tribute to Bob Wills in 1975 (the song was recorded in 1974, but Waylon’s Dreaming My Dream album was released one month after Wills died). There’s a subtle salute to the Sir Doug Quintet song “At the Crossroads” (“You just can’t live in Texas if you don’t got a lot of soul”) and perhaps a swipe at frequent collaborator Willie Nelson (“It doesn’t matter who’s in Austin”). Otherwise, it’s just a well deserved hat tip to the man that Merle Haggard called “the best damn fiddle player in the world.”
- Desperados Waiting for a Train, Guy Clark (Guy Clark): Jerry Jeff Walker released the first version of “Desperados Waiting for a Train” in 1973; songwriter Guy Clark included it on his 1975 debut album Old No. 1. “Desperados” was inspired by a grandfatherly figure to Clark, who grew up in the West Texas town of Monahans. The older man, a retired oil wildcatter, struggled with the aging process, but was a source of inspiration and support. The title can be interpreted as two men romanticizing a humdrum existence or an acknowledgement of the sad reality/inevitability of death. The country supergroup The Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson) scored a #15 country hit with their 1985 cover.
- Drift Away, Dobie Gray (Mentor Williams) (#5): Texas born recording artist Dobie Gray began his recording career in 1963 and had a #13 pop hit in 1965 with “The ‘In’ Crowd.” He didn’t return to the Top 40 until this 1973 Top Five hit, written by Mentor Williams, the brother of songwriter Paul Williams. Session guitarist Reggie Young provided the luring opening guitar lick and Dobie sounded both pained and hopeful, as the healing power of music helped him sing away his blues.
- For the Good Times, Ray Price (Kris Kristofferson) (#11): In the 1950s, Ray Price was viewed as one of the innovators in country music – the 4/4 shuffle that was used on “Crazy Arms” became such a staple of the genre that it was eventually called the “Ray Price beat.” He moved toward a crooning style of country music in the 1960s with regular chart success. This Kris Kristofferson cover, with a theme of viewing the positives and not the pain in a dying relationship (comparable to “The Dance” by Garth Brooks), became Price’s only Top 40 pop hit. He hit every note with wistful perfection.
- Frankenstein, The Edgar Winter Group (Edgar Winter) (#1): Edgar Winter grew up in Texas playing blues music with his older brother Johnny and received his own record deal in 1970. “Frankenstein,” a cut and splice instrumental rocker, intended as a B-side, became a surprise #1 hit. “Frankenstein” was properly named – the band tossed in synthesizer driven hard funk, soul horns, a self indulgent drum solo, spacey electronic effects, and wah wah guitar licks (courtesy of Ronnie Montrose) anchored by a scorching opening and closing metal riff.
- I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train, Billy Joe Shaver (Billy Joe Shaver): Texas gunslinger Shaver may not be the father of the outlaw country movement, but he’s at least the crazy uncle of the genre. While Waylon Jennings was popularizing Shaver’s material with the Honk Tonk Heroes album, Billy Joe released his first album (Old Five and Dimers Like Me) in 1973, with themes of hard times and Christianity. Shaver’s dry raspy drawl is a bit of an acquired taste, but every lyric and note rings true.
- I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash (Johnny Nash) (#1): Texan born soul singer Johnny Nash started his music career as a teenager in the 1950s and, as one of the first American artists to record in Jamaica, helped to introduce reggae music to U.S. audiences starting with the #5 1968 hit “Hold Me Tight.” “I Can See Clearly Now” brought a laid back, island groove and a message of hope to the top of the pop charts. Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff had his biggest U.S. hit with his 1994 cover version, going to #18 on the pop charts.
- I Gotcha, Joe Tex (Joe Tex) (#2): Joe Tex was an interesting character who started life with the name Joseph Arrington, Jr. and ended it with the name Yusuf Hazziez. He scored regularly on the pop and R&B charts in the 1960s, but originally thought little of what would be his biggest hit; Tex first tried to give it to King Floyd and then later put it on a B-side. The chuckle and grunt funk of “I Gotcha” was irresistible and Joe’s streetwise rap style always thrived when describing relationship schemes and power plays. Tex passed away in 1982 and, presumably, no longer has any worries about doing the bump with a big, fat woman.
- I’d Really Love to See You Tonight, England Dan & John Ford Coley (Parker McGee) (#2): Dan Seals, the younger brother of Seals and Croft’s Jim Seals, and John Coley met in high school in Dallas with their first musical success being the minor pop hit “The Smell of Incense,” by the band Southwest F.O.B. (“Freight on Board”) in 1968. Coley, “We were very popular in the late 1960s. We even opened for Led Zeppelin and Three Dog Night, and we were just high school kids.” They were dropped by A&M Records after three unsuccessful albums, but returned to the charts in 1976 with the hummable, high on schmaltz love song “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.” The duo produced three more Top Ten hits, including their cover of Todd Rundgren/Utopia’s “Love is the Answer.”
- The Grand Tour, George Jones (Norro Wilson, Carmol Taylor, George Richey): During 1974, country music’s greatest voice may have been spreading himself thin – he released solo work, recorded with wife Tammy Wynette, and even completed a trio album with Tammy and his eight year old stepdaughter Tina Byrd. Still, this divorce heartbreaker is George at his best, serving as a home tour guide and detailing the emptiness where his wife and baby once were. Lyrically, it’s still 70’s Nashville – we learn that his ex regularly brought him his paper and was good in the bedroom. Somebody, buy this man a drink.
- Joanne, Michael Nesmith & The First National Band (Michael Nesmith) (#21): Michael Nesmith was the angry Monkee, the one who threatened to punch record executive Don Kirshner in the face after demanding more creative control over the group’s music. (This could be viewed as both foolhardy and ungracious, since Kirshner’s work as music supervisor for the Monkees did nothing but bring the manufactured pop act fame and fortune). The Stone Poneys, with lead singer Linda Ronstadt, took the Nesmith composition “Different Drum” to #13 on the pop charts in 1967 and Nesmith had his first and only hit as a solo artist in 1970 with “Joanne.” Nesmith specialized in a hipper than thou country rock hybrid and this song of lost love is of dubious sincerity, but it was certainly well written.
- La Grange, ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard) (#41): La Grange is a small Texas town approximately halfway between Austin and Houston that had a special attraction for approximately one hundred and thirty years. The Chicken Ranch was a brothel and visiting it was a rite of passage for generations of young Texas men. ZZ Top’s attempt to glorify the establishment backfired – a few months after the song “La Grange” was released, law enforcement authorities closed the institution. The Chicken Ranch later served as the inspiration for the play/movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Musically, “La Grange” is an early and vigorous exploration of ZZ Top’s John Lee Hooker inspired southern fried boogie.
- Lido Shuffle, Boz Scaggs (David Paich, Boz Scaggs) (#11): During the mid-1960s, Texan Boz Scaggs released solo material and spent some time as part of the Steve Miller Band (he had attended high school and college with Miller). Success escaped him until his 1976 album Silk Degrees, recorded with the future members of Toto and spawning three Top 40 hits. Inspired by the shuffling beat of “The Fat Man” by Fats Domino, Boz put together this tale of a drifting hustler. “Lido Shuffle” could have been pure kitsch in the wrong hands (it’s pretty easy to imagine drunken karaoke singers screaming “Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh!”), but Scaggs had too much blue-eyed soul to descend into novelty.
- Me and Paul, Willie Nelson (Willie Nelson): Willie Nelson had a string of mostly minor country hits in the 1960s. He had already written several classic songs (“Crazy,” “Hello Walls,” “Funny How Time Slips Away”), but was too unconventional as an artist for traditionalist Nashville. In the early 1970s, Nelson relocated to Austin, traded suits for jeans, and stopped seeing his barber. It’s hard to know when a movement begins, but this chronicle of road life with long time drummer Paul English that references drugs and whiskey and poor lifestyle choices in general might be the sperm meets ovum moment for the “Outlaw Country” genre. One of Paul English’s extra jobs was to ensure that Willie got paid every night. He never went anywhere without a gun.
- Miles and Miles of Texas, Asleep at the Wheel (Tommy Camfield, Diane Johnston): Never a major singles band in country music, Asleep at the Wheel hit the Top Ten once, with the contrived tearjerker “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read” in 1975. If the band has a signature song, it’s “Miles and Miles of Texas,” originally recorded as a demo by songwriter Diane Johnston in 1950, but not released until the Asleep at the Wheel recording. An advertisement for the glory of the Lone Star State, it’s a concept that the band has been selling for decades.
- My Maria, B.W. Stevenson (B.W. Stevenson, Daniel Moore) (#9): B.W. (“Buck Wheat”) Stevenson was a burly Dallas native whose high school peers included Michael Martin Murphy, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Larry Groce. “My Maria,” a gypsy love song with a yodeling chorus, was considered progressive country music upon its release and became a #1 country hit for Brooks & Dunn in 1996. Stevenson recorded seven major label albums, but never returned to the pop charts.
- Nuevo Laredo, Sir Douglas Quintet (Doug Sahm): Doug Sahm was a musical mad scientist who took elements from garage rock, Tex Mex (conjunto/norteño music), country, blues, R&B, you name it, to develop his own specialized, loose, freewheeling style of rock ‘n’ roll. The Sir Douglas Quintet, purposefully given a British sounding name by Houston producer Huey P. Meaux in 1964, scored Top 40 hits in the ‘60s with “She’s About a Mover,” “The Rains Came,” and “Mendocino.” The cross cultural love song “Nuevo Laredo” showcased the band’s infectious eclecticism with Augie Meyer’s high pitched Vox Continental organ riffs, mariachi horns, and a few Spanish lyrics to complete the theme – an intoxicating concoction in any language.
- Pancho and Lefty, Townes Van Zandt (Townes Van Zandt): Townes Van Zandt was a charismatic Texas legend that could out drink, out write, and out charm any man in the Lone Star state. Only one of those attributes killed him. “Pancho and Lefty” is a melancholy, cinematic classic of outlaw betrayal. Emmylou Harris recounted the kindness of the federales in her 1977 cover version and it became a #1 country single for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1982.
- Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, B.J. Thomas (Hal David, Burt Bacharach) (#1): The legendary pop songwriting team of David and Bacharach wrote “Raindrops” for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The song was originally pitched to Ray Stevens, who disliked both the film and the music, and possibly Bob Dylan, before being recorded by B.J. Thomas. Lyrically, “Raindrops” has almost a nursery rhyme level of simplicity, but Bacharach’s sophisticated arrangement skills carry the day. The movie was the highest grossing film of 1969 and Thomas’s signature song spent four weeks at #1 in January of 1970. Houston native Thomas returned to #1 in 1975 with “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.”
- Rock Me Baby, Johnny Winter (Willie Broonzy, Arthur Crudup): The history of Johnny Winter’s “Rock Me Baby” originates with Big Bill Broonzy’s 1940 song “Rockin’ Chair Blues,” the title of which hides the rather straightforward sexual plea. Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup slowed the tempo, added rattlesnake percussion, and changed the title to “Rock Me Mama” in 1964. Johnny Winter’s take is Hendrix inspired, hard rock boogie, filled with hot guitar licks. He probably had no idea what he started when he requested his lady to “roll me, mama, like a wagon wheel.”
- She Never Spoke Spanish to Me, Joe Ely (Butch Hancock): Joe Ely grew up in Lubbock, Texas and formed The Flatlanders with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore in the early 1970s. After that trio failed to launch, he released his eponymous debut album in 1977, a mixture of country and rock that would later be described as Americana music. On the Butch Hancock written “She Never Spoke Spanish to Me,” Ely finds infatuation south of the border and brags about his undercover ammo. Ely recorded the Butch Hancock sequel in 1995, “She Finally Spoke Spanish to Me,” in which his love interest verbalized “adios.”
- Summer Breeze, Seals and Crofts (Jim Seals, Dash Crofts) (#6): Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were small town West Texas musicians who joined The Champs in the late 1950s, after they had recorded their instrumental classic “Tequila.” Their three 1970’s major pop hits – “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl,” and “Gel Closer” – all strangely peaked at #6 on the pop charts, but this was their breakthrough hit and contained their best mental jasmine AM radio soft rock hooks. The Isley Brothers had a Top Ten R&B hit in 1974 with their slinky funk cover.
- Take the Money and Run, Steve Miller Band (Steve Miller) (#11): It took a few years for Steve Miller to return to the Top 40 after his 1974 #1 hit single “The Joker,” but he released his biggest selling album with 1976’s Fly Like An Eagle. “Take the Money and Run,” a tale about two successful anti-hero, stoner Texas outlaws, wouldn’t seem to have much appeal in the world of rap music, but the Beastie Boys later grabbed some of the lyrics for “Slow Ride” and Run-D.M.C. sampled it, with no great panache, in 2001. While not as brazen as Johnny Cash’s shooting a man just to watch him die, in Miller’s song the (attempted?) murder as part of a home robbery was categorized as nothing more than “a hassle.”
- To Live is To Fly, Townes Van Zandt (Townes Van Zandt): Townes Van Zandt came from a wealthy Texas oil family, but his life was defined by his art and his addictions, not by his pedigree. From his fifth album, “To Live is To Fly” is a love song and piece of advice: follow your dreams, don’t settle for mediocrity. However, it’s also about seeking something in your life that another person can’t provide. In the case of Townes, he is describing his need to leave his lover to fulfill his need to communicate through songs. As we all know, Townes had empty spaces that were insatiable.
- Tulsa Time, Don Williams (Danny Flowers): Texas native Don Williams had a laid back, gentle baritone that kept him at the top of the country charts for almost two decades. “Tulsa Time,” about preferring slow paced Oklahoma to the glitz of Hollywood, has a seriously deep groove – the kind seldom heard in country music. Later covered by Eric Clapton and while not a Top 40 hit, Slowhand’s version received considerable AOR airplay.
- Up Against the Wall You Redneck Mother, Jerry Jeff Walker (Ray Wylie Hubbard): Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson put Luckenbach, Texas on the pop culture map with their 1977 hit about the Texas Hill Country wide spot in the road, but Jerry Jeff Walker was the first Texas outlaw to find the place, recording his 1973 ¡Viva Terlingua! album live at the Luckenbach Dancehall. The album includes material by Walker and fellow Texans Gary P. Nunn, Guy Clark, Michael Martin Murphy, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Hubbard’s tale of a dumb Okie that is having the time of his life stomping hippies has been a staple on the Texas music scene ever since its release, I’ve seen women in their mid-60s pump their fist to this song at a Dallas/Fort Worth area Unitarian Church.
- Wasted Days and Wasted Nights, Freddy Fender (Wayne Duncan, Freddy Fender, Huey Meaux) (#8): Baldemar Garza Huerta was born in San Benito, Texas, a border town. Before he changed his name and became famous, he was kicked out of The Marines as a teenager, recorded as El Bebop Kid, served almost three years in prison for a pot bust, and then worked as a mechanic and did weekend gigs. His breakthrough was the 1975 #1 pop hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” a song that Jerry Lee Lewis had recorded in honky-tonk country style in 1969. “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” was a re-recording of a regional hit that Fender had in 1959 – it’s an example of R&B influenced Texas/Louisiana swamp pop. Fender had a string of country hits in the 1970s and was later a member of the Grammy Award winning acts the Texas Tornados and Los Super 7.
Texas Songwriters
- Two More Bottles of Wine, Emmylou Harris (Delbert McClinton): Emmylou Harris worked the Greenwich Village coffeehouse folk scene in the late 1960s, then began her famous association/partnership with Gram Parsons in the early 1970s. She started a successful career in country music in 1975, becoming one of the rare artists in the genre who was commercially viable and critically applauded at that time. She was somewhat a more specialized version of Linda Ronstadt, a skilled interpreter championing traditional material and talented new songwriters. On this #1 country single penned by Texas blues rocker Delbert McClinton, Harris has been dumped in Los Angeles by her lover, but has enough medicinal alcohol to make it through the night.
- Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight, The Oak Ridge Boys (Rodney Crowell, Donivan Cowart): Texas native Rodney Crowell moved to Nashville as a fledging songwriter in 1972 and became a member of The Hot Band, the backing group for Emmylou Harris, in the mid-‘70s. The origins of the Oak Ridge Boys go back to a Knoxville, Tennessee gospel band that formed in the 1940s. The Oak Ridge Boys crossed over from gospel to commercial country music in the late 1970s and recorded Crowell’s “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” a year after Emmylou Harris had recorded it as an album track. This droll romp about a young woman escaping Louisiana with a traveling man to the total dismay of her parents gave the Oak Ridge Boys their second #1 country hit.
Honorary Texan
- She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles), Gary Stewart (Wayne Carson): Gary Stewart had been pitching songs and working as a side musician for almost a decade before releasing his first solo album in 1973. He was too wild and inconsistent to be a long-term major country music star, but reached the Top Ten in 1974 with “Drinkin’ Thing” and “Out of Hand.” While others in Nashville sang about heartbreak and whiskey from the comfort of their mansions, Stewart worked the gritty Texas honky-tonk circuit. Penned by Wayne Carson (“The Letter,” “Always on My Mind”), “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinking Doubles)” was Stewart’s sole #1 country hit. A lesser singer would have emphasized the wordplay in the lyrics; Stewart sounded like a man with a knife in his chest.
