TEXAS MUSIC HALL OF FAME

WorsterMan

WorsterMan

10,000+ Posts
Much to argue/ discuss.

My personal 4 Mt. Guadalupe Peak artists (tallest point in Texas):

ZZ TOP
STEVIE RAY VAUGHN
Kenny Rogers
Willie Nelson

There are others I left off the list that I felt some guilt about: Buddy Holly, Roy Oberson, Janis Joplin, etc.
 
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We'll need some more mountains. I'll also throw in:

Townes Van Zandt
George Strait
Lightnin' Hopkins
Bob Wills
 
I would put Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison in the top 5, as well as Den Henley. Meatloaf has to be there too, and Barbara Mandrell.
 
Chop said:
And (from a totally different genre than rock/country/blues)...

Van Cliburn
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I can't think of Van Cliburn without thinking about this case that I had to read in law school - a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a gay dude claiming Cliburn exposed him to AIDS and seeking the live-in, shack-up boyfriend version of alimony (so-called "palimony") from him.
 
Mr. Deez said:
I can't think of Van Cliburn without thinking about this case that I had to read in law school - a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a gay dude claiming Cliburn exposed him to AIDS and seeking the live-in, shack-up boyfriend version of alimony (so-called "palimony") from him.
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Some of those musicians and artists…
 
1) Buddy Holly - song writing, singing & playing PLUS no one else made the significant changes he did in the studio - first to multi-track; use big bands in rock

2) George Jones - I prefer Waylon as an entertainer, but Possum may be the closest of anyone to Hank.

3) Roy Orbison - writer. performer, greatest voice ever

4) May be impossible to narrow down to #4 - candidates

Van Cliburn - best of all time?

Bob Wills & Texas Playboys - like Hank, they were & always will be great

King George - doesn't write, but one of all time greatest singers. Not bad for a hippie from Pearsall wearin water buffalo sandals and Jeff Beyzos' cousin

ZZ Top - even Clapton says Billy Gibbons is a better guitar player than Stevie Ray

Janis - Got started later in life than the rest, but was a helluva singer and wrote some good music. She grew up swamp rock, loved Jerry Lacroix, The Boogie Kings, the Winter Brothers (she used to sit in the corner at The Town Hall on Friday nights). I don't think she ever sang with any of them.

Barbara Mandrell - May be the most talented of all those listed. She could play ANY instrument and frequently did during her shows. Funny story about George and her that I frequently share.

Please keep in mind that Johnny Ace was from Memphis, Robert Johnson was from Greenville, MS even though he had to travel to San Antonio to be recorded the first couple of times.

I was never a fan of Don Williams, a lot of people seem to believe he is one of the most talented to come out of Texas.
 
SabreHorn said:
3) Roy Orbison - writer. performer, greatest voice ever
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See video below. When you perform right next to Johnny Cash, and you're even cooler than the Man-in-Black, you're somebody special indeed.

Roy O: "This train don't carry no liars, no slow walkers, or midnight fliers, this train..."

 
SN,

I do not dislike him at all; I just don’t consider him worthy of being in the top 4. I like Gate mouth Brown and Big Momma Thornton, and while each were major contributors, I don’t consider them in the top 20+

I did leave out Barton Hazelwood, aka Lee Hazelwood from Port Neches, and I’m a big Duane Eddy fan and love the song Phaedra.
 
SabreHorn said:
SN,

I do not dislike him at all; I just don’t consider him worthy of being in the top 4. I like Gate mouth Brown and Big Momma Thornton, and while each were major contributors, I don’t consider them in the top 20+

I did leave out Barton Hazelwood, aka Lee Hazelwood from Port Neches, and I’m a big Duane Eddy fan and love the song Phaedra.
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If we're talking Mt Rushmore, or top 10 all time, yeah, I get the point. Hard to put Jimmie Dale up that high with a straight face.

But Hall of Fame? How big is a typical hall of fame? I'd argue he should qualify.
 
I read the original post as the Top Four for a music Mt Rushmore. Rock n Roll HOF is such a joke of label buying their artists a spot. No Proof, but I think Gilmore is probably more deserving than 90% of the hacks in HOF. It is the "joke of Fame on the Mistake by the Lake.
 
SabreHorn said:
I read the original post as the Top Four for a music Mt Rushmore. Rock n Roll HOF is such a joke of label buying their artists a spot. No Proof, but I think Gilmore is probably more deserving than 90% of the hacks in HOF. It is the "joke of Fame on the Mistake by the Lake.
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I went by the thread title more than the content within the first post.
 
mc,

Thanks for the photo of Gatemouth, the pride of Orange.

Not for a HOF, but for a Mt Rushmore, how much consideration do you give to Don Robey, not as a song writer & definitely as a singer, but as a business man and bringing us talent like Little Richard (Don fired him), Robert Johnson, Johnny Ace, Gatemouth, BB King, Bobby Blue Bland, Big Momma Thornton, and of course his huge roll in Elvis becoming a star?
 
And with some of these old bluesmen like Gatemouth Brown and Ledbelly, it's difficult to say whether they're really Louisiana guys or Texas guys... They're kinda both.

(it's like Janis Joplin--her legacy lies in both Texas and San Francisco)
 
Well now, guess who else was born and lived in the Texas Red River country until he was a teenager. One of the Grandfathers of early country music:



Now, I like Big Band, and I like Country, but when you put them together like this, it's not necessarily my cup of whisky. IMHO Bob Wills did it a lot better in the pre-War years--although he had a pretty big band himself. But Bob Wills' music also had a swing dancing beat--it was honky tonk dance music.

This is sort of a pre-Hank Williams era, Hollywood country music. In this genre, I think of this song above ("I've got spurs that jingle jangle jingle, as I go riding merrily along."--lyrics that today seem like they were geared either towards children or gay men), and the song that goes: "I'm an old cowhand, from the Rio Grande, and my legs ain't bowed, and my cheeks ain't tan...". This is stuff my Great-Grandparents probably listened to on their first radio.

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:arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up::arrow-up:
He owned this team.
 
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Chop,

If you're going back that far, Tex Ritter was a star RB and sprinter when Nederland started football in the mid 20s
 
SabreHorn said:
Chop,

If you're going back that far, Tex Ritter was a star RB and sprinter when Nederland started football in the mid 20s
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You know, thinking about it, with Gene Autry and those other early Hollywood singing cowboys, I don't know if I'd even call that country music. Maybe popular music movie scores...?

Bob Wills was their contemporary, and he was absolutely tearin' it up musically.

Now one irony of this all-time great honky-tonk dance hall king: Bob Wills was from Turkey, Texas, around where the South Plains meets the Panhandle meets the Rolling Plains--one of the dryest and strictest locales in one of the dryest parts of the State of Texas. It's the Bible Belt of the Bible Belt out there. All this dancin' stuff was no-doubt looked down on by many an elder and church lady in his neck of the woods back in those days.
 
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If you have to put only 1 musician to represent Texas country music, put Bob Wills. (George Jones = runner up)
 
The first concert (other than Gospel) I ever attended was as a kid at the old Beaumont City Auditorium. My uncle was a Beaumont police officer and was usually brought in to drive celebrities. He put me and my friend on the front row to see Johnny Horton, who was popular at that time because of "North to Alaska" and "The Battle of New Orleans". That show had multiple opening acts; in order:

Floyd Tiillman - "I love you so much it hurts" & your ears did when he screeched it out

Guy comes out in a green suit, white shirt, and short red hair - Willie Nelson

Tall thin guy in black slacks and black shirt - Johnny Cash

Marty Robbins

Johnny Horton

We got in free, but I think tickets were only about $3-$5. I was pissed at having to listen to all those guys just to hear Horton play my two favorite songs.
 
SabreHorn said:
The first concert (other than Gospel) I ever attended was as a kid at the old Beaumont City Auditorium. My uncle was a Beaumont police officer and was usually brought in to drive celebrities. He put me and my friend on the front row to see Johnny Horton, who was popular at that time because of "North to Alaska" and "The Battle of New Orleans". That show had multiple opening acts; in order:

Floyd Tiillman - "I love you so much it hurts" & your ears did when he screeched it out

Guy comes out in a green suit, white shirt, and short red hair - Willie Nelson

Tall thin guy in black slacks and black shirt - Johnny Cash

Marty Robbins

Johnny Horton

We got in free, but I think tickets were only about $3-$5. I was pissed at having to listen to all those guys just to hear Horton play my two favorite songs.
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WOW!

That's like a Superstars of Country concert!

It's vaguely similar to the time I worked as an usher at the "Tejano Music Night" at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. "La Sombra" was on top of the world in that genre and was the headliner. "Jaime y Los Camachos" was some well regarded act with a lead singer/accordian player from Chicago. Some other act was also on the card, then there was this lesser known more-local youngster playing with her family band from Corpus Christi---Selena (y los Dinos). This was well before she hit the charts and popular awareness. It goes to say, Selena stole the show.
 
Chop said:
WOW!

That's like a Superstars of Country concert!

It's vaguely similar to the time I worked as an usher at the "Tejano Music Night" at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. "La Sombra" was on top of the world in that genre and was the headliner. "Jaime y Los Camachos" was some well regarded act with a lead singer/accordian player from Chicago. Some other act was also on the card, then there was this lesser known more-local youngster playing with her family band from Corpus Christi---Selena (y los Dinos). This was well before she hit the charts and popular awareness. It goes to say, Selena stole the show.
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Speaking of which, if you want a Tejano musician on your mountain, skip Selena and put Flaco Jimenez up there!
 
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