When I sang the praises of Bob Wills to some people I knew, I found out that two of my acquaintances had a connection with Al Striklin. The father of one of my 9th grade math students went to high school in Cleburne with a son of Al Striklin. Until the bar shut down, for nearly a decade I spent Friday nights at a bar arguing politics with a fellow homeowner and his elderly friend. The elderly friend had played sax in dance bands for a half century or more. When I talked up Bob Wills to him, he told me that when his band played in the Dallas area, the piano player who sat in with them had played with Bob Wills. As Al Striklin's home of Cleburne is about 60 miles from Dallas, that must have been Al. As Al Striklin died in 1986, there was no way to verify that, but it sounds probable to me.
6 comments:
The Rolling Stones have also done a cover of Bob Wills is Still the King. Their Dead Flowers shows that they can also write in the country genre.
Asleep at the Wheel
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7C30303257110786
Sometimes more swing than Western, but good nonetheless.
Swing by itself is a good genre, and the brief revival of it in the 90s was fun.
https://youtu.be/aHWcN5YxuYc
Merle Haggard And The Texas Playboys Tribute Bob Wills. Merle is playing with some of Bob's Texas Playboys. I had the privilege of hearing some of the Texas Playboys play in a club.
"Who Walks In When I Walk Out" Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (1934. The "piano pounder" is Al Striklin, who was the Texas Playboys' pianist until WW2 began.
When I sang the praises of Bob Wills to some people I knew, I found out that two of my acquaintances had a connection with Al Striklin. The father of one of my 9th grade math students went to high school in Cleburne with a son of Al Striklin. Until the bar shut down, for nearly a decade I spent Friday nights at a bar arguing politics with a fellow homeowner and his elderly friend. The elderly friend had played sax in dance bands for a half century or more. When I talked up Bob Wills to him, he told me that when his band played in the Dallas area, the piano player who sat in with them had played with Bob Wills. As Al Striklin's home of Cleburne is about 60 miles from Dallas, that must have been Al. As Al Striklin died in 1986, there was no way to verify that, but it sounds probable to me.
I didn't notice my blog name in the title of the post, until after I had posted several comments. I just saw Western Swing.
Well, I was thinking of you.
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