Contents
Preface. A Lone Star State of Mind
East Texas
1. Soul Stirrers: In Search of Rebert Harris (Trinity)
2. Harry Choates: Dead in an Austin Jail Cell (Port Arthur)
3. Barbara Lynn: The Empress of Gulf Coast Soul (Beaumont)
4. Janis Joplin: Lust for Love (Port Arthur)
5. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown: The Count Basie of the Blues (Orange)
Houston
6. Geto Boys and DJ Screw: Where the Dirty South Began
7. Floyd Tillman: Country Gypsy in a Suit
8. Milt Larkin Orchestra: Birth of the Texas Tenors
9. Archie Bell and The Drells with the TSU Toronados: “Hey, Everybody, That’s Me!”
Dallas and Fort Worth
10. Ray Price: “The Good Times, My Ass!” (Mount Pleasant)
11. T-Bone Walker: Fountainhead of Electric Blues (Oak Cliff)
12. Townes Van Zandt: Poet. (Fort Worth)
13. Ella Mae Morse: “You Sing Like a Black Girl.” (Mansfield)
14. King Curtis: Cowtown Soul Stew (Fort Worth)
15. Lefty Frizzell: The Voice of Honky Tonk (Corsicana)
16. Freddie King: The Stingin’ Leads Heard ‘cross the Atlantic (Gilmer)
17. Arizona Dranes: Inventing the Gospel Beat (Sherman)
18. Ronnie Dawson: The Blond Bomber (Waxahachie)
Waco Area
19. Billy Joe Shaver: “The Second Time I Done it on My Own” (Waco)
20. Bobbie Nelson: Amazing Grace (Abbott)
21. Tom Wilson: Big Ears from Texas (Waco)
22. Cindy Walker: The First Lady of Texas Song (Mexia)
23. Johnny Gimble: The Common Man as Master (Waco/Tyler)
Austin
24. Stevie Ray Vaughan: Straight from the Heart
25. Blaze Foley: Killing of a Songwriter
26. Butthole Surfers: Showing Worm Movies
27. Don Walser: Last of the Singing Cowboys
28. Alejandro Escovedo: Hands of the Son
29. Calvin Russell: The Man Makes the Hat
San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley
30. Steve Jordan: The Invisible Genius (San Antonio)
31. Freddy Fender and Doug Sahm: The Groove Brothers (San Benito/San Antonio)
32. Selena: Frozen in Perfection (Corpus Christi)
33. Lydia Mendoza: The Mother of Tejano Music (San Antonio)
West Texas
34. Waylon Jennings: Nashville Rebel (Littlefield)
35. Chuck Wagon Gang: The Texas Carter Family (Lubbock)
36. Bobby Fuller: King of El Paso Rock (El Paso)
37. Bobby Keys: Rolling Stone from Texas (Slaton)
38. Ernest Tubb: “Thanks a Lot” (Crisp/San Angelo)
39. Guy Clark: Songs That Work (Monahans)
Just Kids
40. Nick Curran: Up on the Sun (Dallas/Austin)
41. Bobby Ramirez: Everybody’s Brother (Port Arthur)
Behind the Scenes
Burton Wilson
Evelyn Johnson
Clifford Antone
Chet Flippo
C-Boy Parks
Brent Grulke
Stephen Bruton
The 34 Greatest Texas Recordings
Additional Sources
Index