The Roots of Texas Music (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University) [Paperback]

Lawrence Clayton (Editor), Joe W. Specht (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University | Publication Date: September 9, 2005

The music of Texas and the American Southwest is as diverse and distinctive as the many different groups who have lived in the region over the past several centuries," writes Gary Hartman in his introduction to this refreshingly different look at various genres of Texas music. Roots of Texas Music celebrates the diverse sources of the music of the Lone Star State by gathering chapters by specialists on each of them-specialists whose views may not have dominated the perception of Texas music to date. Editor Lawrence Clayton conceived this project as one that would not simply repeat the common wisdom about Texas music traditions, but rather would offer new perspectives. He therefore called on contributors whose work had been well-grounded but not necessarily widely published. The result is a lively, captivating, and original look at the musical traditions of Texas Germans and Czechs, black Creoles and Chicanos, and blues and gospel singers. Hartman's introduction places these repertoires within the larger picture of one of the most fertile musical seedbeds the nation knows. The diverse genres included in the anthology also provide an introduction to the classes, cultures, races, and ethnic groups of Texas and highlight the ways in which the state's musical wealth has influenced the listening habits of the nation. The late LAWRENCE S. CLAYTON was dean of Liberal Arts at Hardin-Simmons University. His many publications focused largely on the life and literature of the American West, especially on the contemporary cowboy and ranch life.JOE W. SPECHT is director of the Jay-Rollins Library at McMurry University. A former co-host of his own radio show, Burning Memories: The Texas Tradition, he has contributed entries to The Country Music Encyclopedia and has published articles in Old Time Music and The Journal of Texas Music History. What Readers Are Saying: "If you've ever been to the Texas Folklife Festival and sampled all the different types of music being played you should have an acquaintance with and appreciation of our state. The Roots of Texas Music will add to that appreciation." --Bryan College Station Eagle "This is a book to be read slowly, letting the mind go back in memory to the composers and performers as they are mentioned. You will find a wealth of new names to investigate and enjoy their work. You might even find several times thinking, 'I didn't know they were from Texas.' This is definitely a two bookmark book." --North Texas E-News ". . .an important addition to the growing body of literature on the history of Texas music. . . This anthology is very well-suited for a popular audience as well as for use in undergraduate and graduate courses on the history of Texas music. In some cases, the essays only whet the reader's appetite for deeper research into their respective topics, but collectively they provide a very important introduction to the study of Texas music history from the perspective of the state's ethnic diversity." --Texas Books in Review

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The late LAWRENCE S. CLAYTON was dean of Liberal Arts at Hardin-Simmons University. His many publications focused largely on the life and literature of the American West, especially on the contemporary cowboy and ranch life.

 

JOE W. SPECHT is collection manager of the Grady McWhiney Research Foundation and former director of the Jay-Rollins Library at McMurry University. He has contributed entries to The Country Music Encyclopedia and has articles published in Old Time Music and The Journal of Texas Music History.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press; New edition edition (September 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585444928
• ISBN-13: 978-1585444922
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive But Sort Of Dull, September 26, 2011

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This review is from: The Roots of Texas Music (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University) (Paperback)

I think there is a fair amount of condescension about Texas in the Indie Music nation. People living within the orbit of New York and Chicago tend to limit their definition of "cool" to those cities while making the occasional exception to representatives from the West Coast. Outside of SXSW, most bands touring between the East and West Coast play maybe one or two dates in Texas, tops. But uh, Texas has 25 million people and if you add that with California (37 million) you have just about 1 in every 6 U.S. citizens. Unlike the other parts of the country, you can tour this territory year round, limit your dead zone to Arizona + New Mexico and skip the drama (and hard judging, and expenses of NYC.)

The indie rock infrastructure in Texas markets like Dallas and Houston has grown to a level similar to that in smaller west coast markets like San Diego and Portland- this gives the touring band a strong thursday/friday/saturday segment to anchor the Texas leg of a tour.

Despite popular conception, Texas has long been a fertile location for American music, as The Roots of Texas Music convincingly demonstrates. Texas played a decisive role in the development of Blues and Country music in the first two decades of the twentieth century, as Blacks and White migrated from the East looking for work in the oil boom of the first part of the 20th century. Texas's infamous criminal justice system was a direct inspiration for many of the classic Blues recordings and Blind Lemon Jefferson, by virtue of his early recordings, may be the most influential blues artist of all times.

In the world of Country music ("Country and Western"= Western equals "Texas") Texas was key in developing the "honky tonk" song, with the now familiar tales of hard living that characterize much of the lyrical content of today's Nashville sound. Texas was also the spawning ground for the "outlaw country" of Austin and the "bakersfield sound' of Buck Owens (born in Texas. Much of the country music produced in California was created by Texas immigrants.

And of course, Texas played it's part in the rock and roll revolution. Wolfman Jack broadcasted into Texas from a Mexican radio station across the border, and of course Buddy Holly came from Texas.

So, it seems to me- if you are an Artist at a "DIY" level, and living somewhere between Seattle and Houston you're better off working the area between Texas and California- even outside of SXSW- then racing to get to New York City and wasting the opportunity. When the time is right for New York City- you'll know.