Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Tag: Western swing instrumentals

"On The Alamo"
Zeroto180

“On the Alamo”: (Inter)Twin(ed) Guitars

It is startling and sad the degree to which Jimmie Rivers is not represented in the history of recorded music.  Says AllMusic — Despite his obscurity, Jimmie Rivers is one of the great western swing/bop guitarists. His legacy is miniscule, consisting of a disc’s worth of live tracks with his group,

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"Hoopaw Rag"
Zeroto180

“Hoopaw Rag”: Mid-Century Modern Western Swing

Steel guitar prodigy, Vance Terry, gets co-songwriting credit on “Hoopaw Rag,” an adaptation of a fiddle tune – “Bob Wills Stomp” – that was recorded January 25, 1955 in Los Angeles at the beginning of a three-year association with the Decca label for Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys: “Hoopaw

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"Rhodes-Bud Boogie"
Zeroto180

Texas Troubadours: Backup Band Extraordinaire

Perhaps it’s not fair to single out a backing band in country music, since there are so many outstanding ones — The Texas Playboys, The Cherokee Cowboys, The Drifting Cowboys, The Golden West Cowboys, The Brazos Valley Boys, The Western Caravan, The Buckaroos, The Strangers, The String Dusters/Pleasant Valley Boys

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"Rockin' Red Wing"
Zeroto180

“Rockin’ Red Wing”: New Spin on an Old Tune

I first learned of the song “Red Wing” from Asleep at the Wheel‘s 1993 tribute album to Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys that features two original members of the Texas Playboys, Eldon Shamblin and Johnny Gimble, as well as Chet Atkins, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, and Reuben “Lucky Oceans”

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"Panhandle Rag"
Zeroto180

“Panhandle Rag”: Tip of the East Coast Western Swing

Here’s a great rockin’ arrangement of Leon McAuliffe‘s steel guitar instrumental, “Panhandle Rag” by The Hachey Brothers & Mary Lou: “Panhandle Rag“ The Hachey Brothers & Mary Lou (1958) Thanks to Lonesome Lefty’s Scratchy Attic for the biographical info: Brothers Curly and Bobby Hachey were natives of Atholville, New Brunswick. 

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