On Dec 21, 10:55 pm, "Swingman" wrote:

It's "TEXAS" blues, dude ... don't give that now commercial, no longer like
it was, genY burg more credit than it deserves.

Mid - late seventies was (to me) the best days of Austin music. Real
Texas music, from the roadhouse bars.
Musicians that were and weren't from Texas set up at every bar in
Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio.

Personally, I really liked the old guys. I loved Freddy King (The
Texas Tornado) and some of his traveling buddies. Then of course, as
he is known here, Sir Doug with his West Side horns. (Man, was that a
treat - Remember his version of "Papa Ain't Salty No More"?) I really
liked Doug Sahm until he and Kinky Friedman would get hammered and
continue to play. As a sidebar, Doug and Kinky remained good friends
until Doug passed and on occasion would play together at small venues
around the San Antonio.

The whole corridor between San Antonio was alive with good music
then. Boy do I feel like I took that for granted now...

For as little as nothing, and as much as $5, you could see Jerry Jeff
Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Leon Russel (masquerading as Hank Wilson),
The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Johnny Rodrigues, etc., all with that
distinctive Texas twang. There were so many great guitar slingers, I
can't even remember their names. Real talented folks, too.

I remember that Asleep At the Wheel and Willie Nelson were
headquartered there in Austin, and I couldn't figure out why I had to
pay $5 to see them. So I never did.

Boy does that bring back memories...

A quart of whiskey, a pack of Kool filter kings (box) and a couple of
cheroots... more music than you could handle... what a way to spend a
day/night/morning.

I never got the hang of SRV, even though he became royalty around
here. I saw him in the mid 70s twice, both times in tiny little dumps
and never saw him sober. I thought he was weird; he had a soul patch
and wore a beret. At that time he was still searching for his own
sound and image. No tight leather pants, no leather vest or silver
concho hat in those days.

He started well, but at one show threw up on stage, and then another
time he could barely stay on the stool and left after a short second
set and never came back. We waited in that stinky, hot crap hole for
a couple of hours before they had the bartenders start telling us that
he was already gone.

Hard to believe that was 30 + years ago.

Robert