Country Music Month - The Texas Connection - Waylon Jennings (For My Brother Mark)

Texas and Country Music go together like a hand and glove. A short list of country superstars from Texas reads like a Who's Who of the industry - Willie Nelson, Bob Wills, George Strait, George Jones, Waylon Jennings... I'll never forget the day that I heard Waylon had died, February 13, 2002. My Brother Mark and I were roommates in a little house in Tyler, Texas. We were/are early risers and one of the first things we did each morning was crank up some music, followed by beer for breakfast and a manually assembled relaxation device. Mark is a Waylon guy, I am a Hank, Jr guy. On this day, we were both Waylon guys. It was like a swift kick in the gazebos. Painful and you can't believe it just happened. Mark and I liked Waylon's music because of the stories that Waylon wrote about. We had lived those songs. Waylon put them to music, singing about our Rough and Rowdy Days. But now the music had stopped, no more of that familiar thumping bass, no more stories about a Good Hearted Woman or Luckenbach, Texas.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that Waylon Arnold Jennings started his singing career in 1949! He was twelve years old. Ten years later he would be the bassist for Buddy Holly's new band and would be the man that gave up his plane seat to a fellow Texan, The Big Bopper, on The Day the Music Died, February 3, 1959. From there, the man from Littlefield, Texas would record over sixty albums and gain worldwide fame as one of the original Outlaws of Country Music. But Waylon knew that Ladies Love Outlaws, just ask Jessie Colter. Waylon was a Ramblin' Man  and his hometown of Littlefield knew it too and saw fit to name an RV Park after him. That's when you know you are a superstar in Texas! Hank Williams, Jr recorded several songs with Waylon and in one of them said about Waylon, "he's got a string of hits about two miles long". True that, and thanks to websites like You Tube, Waylon and his two miles of hit music live on.

Country Music Month - The Texas Connection featuring Garth Brooks

It was 1991, I think, when I  met a young man who, in a few weeks, would set Country Music on its ear. A young man who would make selling 10 million or more albums almost routine, instead of unheard of. At the time I met him, he had had a couple of hits that set the tone for what was about to happen - If Tomorrow Never Comes and Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old. You've figured it by now that I am talking about Troyal Garth Brooks. I talked with Garth before one of his shows in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was just me and him in a very relaxed atmosphere, backstage at the concert venue. It wasn't so much an interview as it was a conversation. We talked about everything under the sun, but music was at the heart of our visit. He told me to look out for a particular song that was going to be his next single, Friends in Low Places. Little did I know what would happen when he tore into that song. Garth was going ape on the stage, the crowd was going ape in their seats and then Garth went into the audience singing his ass of, high fiving people and generally working the crowd into a frenzy like I had never seen at country concert. And this crowd was sober! The auditorium EXPLODED and stayed exploded for the rest of the show. This was almost like Elvis in concert. It was nuts! Garth got called for several encores, each "encore, encore!" louder than the last! I got the feeling at that point that this chubby, balding guy from Tulsa just might become a star. After sales of more than two hundred million albums, I suppose it was a pretty good guess. By the way that 200 million number includes the time Garth was "in retirement" for about eight years and not cranking out two or three albums a year. During our conversation, Garth told me how much playing in Texas meant to him, "If you can make it in Texas, you can make it anywhere". That's why I included Garth in the Texas Connection to country music. The question I get asked most about Garth has to be "what's he like?" Garth Brooks is just like you and me. He's a regular guy. He is extremely polite and very friendly and probably the best show man I have ever seen in person - on stage he's an animal. Off stage, a pussycat.

Texas Tidbits : A Special Birthday & Country Music Month

Today is the first day of October and that means two things to me. One, today is my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, Teri!!! We love you! The second thing about today is that it marks the beginning of Country Music Month. I was in the radio bidness for over 15 years and country music was my thing. I learned about country music from people that knew the music - Big Jim Russell being my main mentor. In the process, I soaked up information about country music like a sponge. I came to appreciate the honesty, simplicity, imagery and lyrics of country music as well as the availability of the artists. Ninety-nine per cent of them were just down home folks like you and me, willing and eager to talk the DJ's who played there music and the fans that bought their records. I was lucky enough to have interviewed, drank beer and whiskey with and picked the brains of some the greatest country artists of all time. Some names that come to mind are Hank, Jr, Willie Nelson, Reba, Ernest Tubb, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Faron Young, Garth Brooks  and dozens of others. In honor of these men and women, I plan on doing a post a day featuring them and their music throughout the month of October. It'll be a lot of fun to do and even more fun to learn about the people who, through their unique individual talents, have become the best at what they do. So, saddle up! It's Country Music Month on Three States Plus One!

Texas Tidbits : PO'ed At Some Coaches and Parents UPDATED! Again (Scroll down)

I posted this story on my other blog, Dumbass News, late last night. It made me so mad I was spittin' sparks. This is not normally the kind of thing I post here, but I wanted to get it out there to as many people as possible. At the end of the story, you'll notice that I want to do something to reward these kids for their efforts during the season since the "grown ups" messed it all up with a few minutes of being dumbasses. I'll have more information and post an update every time I can. Please consider helping these kids out. If I can set it up, it will be through a bank or whatever in Texas and ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE KIDS ON THE TWO FOOTBALL TEAMS. More later.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AHEAD! What the fuck?! My wife came across this story on Aol News. Recently in Pearland, just south  of Houston, there was a Pee Wee football game that ended up looking like a bunch of pussy European soccer fans rioting over that dumbass game they are so attached to. Instead, it was a bunch of pussies I am ashamed to call Texans that did the riot thing. At a Pee Wee Football Game! Here's the video. Prepare yourself to be disgusted and pissed off. Thanks to the dumbass actions of the so-called adults in charge of these kids' football teams, both teams have been disqualified from participating in the league playoffs. What kind of dumbass sets this kind of example for our young people? I feel like flying to Houston to find these dickweeds and kicking all their "adult" asses or buying them all a plane ticket to fucking Paris where nobody fights because they are too pussy to stand up for themselves. You "coaches" and "parents" will be all the rage over there, you can kick 100,000 French asses and be the fucking Big Dogs. Dumbasses. One of the young men on one of the teams, Justin Robinson, was more adult than any of the dumb fucks involved in the brawl when he said, "I still can't believe they, the coaches actually did that in front of us because that just sets a bad example for us." Justin, you make me proud, son. You are a true Texan and a fine young man.

LET'S HELP THE KIDS! I am going to do some phone work tomorrow and do what I can to set up a fund for the kids on the teams to receive a trophy for their sportsmanship during this sad display by their elders. I want to let them know how proud of them we are for being fine young men. I'll fill you in as I get this thing rolling.

UPDATE #1: I just got off the phone with Wells Fargo Bank in Pearland, Texas and they are gathering some information so we can do something for these kids. I am waiting for their return call. More to follow.

UPDATE #2: I got in contact with some banks in Pearland, but so far no bueno. I also contacted a local (Maine) radio guy who has some pull with folks up here, I am waiting for his response.

Maine Minutiae: A Thumbnail Sketch of Maine History, Part 2

We continue our series of posts on Maine history. Last time we talked about the very early days of Maine from the time of Leif Ericson to Statehood. Today we are going to take a brief look at what was going on in Maine during the time just before and during the Revolutionary War. Just a we did yesterday, a big thanks to the state of Maine's website, maine.gov, for the material.

If you see parallels between then and now, you ain't too far off the mark. Maine.gov notes, "Resistance to the oppressive colonial tax policies of the British Parliament began early in Maine. In 1765 a mob seized a quantity of tax stamps at Falmouth (now Portland), and attacks on customs agents in the province became common."  If that sounds familiar, think ObamaCare. The similarities between the arrogance of the British Throne in 1765 and the assholes, meaning Liberals, who know "what's best for you" today, your judgement be damned, are striking. Without further editorial opinion, I'll just quote the rest of the text of our lesson for today. Again, from maine.gov: "A year after the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, Maine staged its own version of that incident when a group of men burned a shipment of tea stored at York.

When open warfare finally erupted at Lexington and Concord, hundreds of Maine men actively joined the struggle for independence. The province saw plenty of action during the Revolution.

In 1775, British warships under the command of the notorious Capt. Henry Mowatt shelled and burned Falmouth, an act intended to punish residents for their opposition to the Crown, but which only served to stiffen Maine's ardor for independence.

The first naval battle of the Revolution occurred in June 1775 when a group of Maine patriots captured the armed British cutter "Margaretta" off Machias.

Later that year many Maine men accompanied Col. Benedict Arnold on his long march through the north woods in a valiant but fruitless effort to capture Quebec.

An ill-planned expedition by the American naval fleet to regain the British-held fortification at Castine in 1779 led to the most disastrous naval encounter of the war.

The Revolution cost Maine dearly. About 1,000 men lost their lives in the war, the district's sea trade was all but destroyed, the principal city had been leveled by British bombardment, and Maine's overall share of the war debt amounted to more than would later be imposed upon it by the Civil War."

 As you can see, Mainers were an independent bunch back then and I can assure you that today Mainers are just as resilient. We'll be back tomorrow with more history of the Pine Tree State! I hope to see you then!

Texas Tidbits: A Texas Primer

Thanks to you, the reader, Three States Plus One is growing in leaps and bounds. We are barely three months old and we now have friends in forty-five of the fifty states in the USA and twenty nine countries around the world. Our overseas readers are from a diverse group of nations, including, our newest country, Serbia. Other readers hail from Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia, Australia, Taiwan, Mexico, the Philippines, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, our neighbors to the north, Canada, the Mother Country, Great Britain and so many more. Thank you to you all for being a part of our Global Community of Readers and showing an interest in my home state of Texas. I was thinking that since we have so many new readers, it might be a good time to familiarize them with some facts about Texas, including a brief look at its history. So, I located a primer about Texas that has some basic information that the newer readers might find useful. It's good stuff and I believe that many of you from around the globe who have struggled and fought in order to live in a country free of tyranny and governmental control over your daily lives, will find the story of Texas an inspirational one, not unlike your own.

Texas is one of the most recognizable places on Earth, if not for the sheer size of the place, then definitely for its unique profile. Almost anyone can look at a map and find Texas once they know what it looks like and the Lone Star flag is equally recognizable as a symbol of Texas by people from around the world. Many people unfamiliar with modern Texas still think of oil wells and cowboys as the mainstays of Texan culture. And they would be right. Oil and cowboys are as much a part of Texas as the Alamo. But the Texas of today is much more than that. Many Fortune 500 and high tech companies call today's Texas home making Texas a new kind of frontier for the 21st Century.

I am not going to excerpt the Texas Primer for you here as I can't do it justice, so please take a few minutes to read it and you'll have a basic understanding of what is so special about this place called Texas.

Maine Minutiae: A Thumbnail Sketch of Maine's History, Part 1

The history of Maine is a very interesting topic to me. I thought that it might be of some interest to you as well, so I have decided to put together a series of posts that will highlight a period of the colorful history of the state in which I live. I won't go into great detail, instead I'll present the information to you in a number of short articles. So, let's get to it!

Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, or did he? It is believed that Leif Ericson and a crew of thirty or so Vikings explored the coast of Maine a full five hundred years before Columbus landed in the West Indies. Ericson and his men may have even tried to colonize Maine at that time. A mere six years after Columbus' exploration of the New World, it is nthought that an Italian sailor, John Cabot, in service to King Henry VII of England, sailed into North American waters and possibly even the Maine coast, but concrete evidence of Cabot's possible adventure in Maine is minimal, at best. In the late 16th Century, a number of ships from Europe skirted along the coast of Maine, even putting ashore for repairs and processing of the fish catch. Maine was also the site of one of the earliest permanent European settlements in America. From maine.gov comes this: "The first settlement was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607, the same year of the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Because the Popham colony didn't survive the harsh Maine winters, Jamestown enjoys the distinction of being regarded as America's first permanent settlement." There were many English settlements along the coast in the 1620's, but the lovely winters of the area and Indian attacks wiped many of them out over the years. Entering the 18th Century, there were only about a half dozen settlements that survived the elements and the Indians. Maine was sparsely populated as Massachusetts bought up most of the land in Maine in the 1700's. Things stayed that way until Maine broke off from Massachusetts and became a state in 1820.

I hope you enjoyed our little foray into yesteryear and we'll delve into another aspect of the history of Maine tomorrow on Maine Minutiae!