Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Tag: Western swing

"Hey Mister Cotton Picker"
Zeroto180

“Hey Mister Cotton Picker”: On the Cusp of the New Rock Sound

Nick Tosches would include a “Chronology of the Coming of Rock ‘n’ Roll” in 1984’s Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll (subtitle: The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Dark and Wild Years Before Elvis) that begins in January 1945.  October 1946 is when Cincinnati’s King Records makes its first

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"I Love to Yodel"
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King’s Classic Yodeling 78

78 RPM claims that King released Carolina Cotton‘s signature song “I Love to Yodel” (penned by the singer herself) as the B-side – Discogs, too.  I find that hard to believe: “I Love to Yodel” Carolina Cotton (1946) According to the person who posted this audio clip on YouTube: Recorded

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"Sweet Georgia Brown"
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Joaquin = Jazz + Steel Guitar

Earl ‘Joaquin‘ Murphey (who co-wrote yesterday’s featured song “Steel Guitar Jubilee“) is held in very high esteem among steel guitarists, with one performance in particular — “Oklahoma Stomp” by Spade Cooley’s Orchestra — almost single-handedly cementing his reputation (Bob Dunn, notwithstanding) as the first “sophisticated jazz steel guitar player,” as

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"Tulsa Trot"
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(Son of) Plays Guitar Like a Piano

I finally got around to learning how to convert VHS into DVD so that I could preserve a rare piece of Ameri-music-ana:  a live performance of “Tulsa Trot” by noted western swing outfit, Tex Williams and His Western Caravan, that offers a second startling peek at the unorthodox technique of

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"Electrified Donkey"
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“Electrified Donkey”: Western Swing on King – The Later Years

Really nice toe-tapper of a tune from Ferlin Husky during a brief period in the dawning Rocket Age when he was on Cincinnati’s King Records: “Electrified Donkey” Ferlin Husky (1959) “Electrified Donkey” was the album closer on Ferlin’s 1959 King LP, Ferlin Husky, as well as the A-side of a

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"Twin Guitar Polka"
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“Twin Guitar Polka”: Western Swing on King – The Early Years

King Records’ first year of existence – 1943 – produced exactly one recording session that yielded two singles recorded by Grandpa Jones and Merle Travis using aliases, since they were under contract to WLW.  King’s inaugural recording session took place, according to Merle Travis biographer, Deke Dickerson, “in a room

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"On The Alamo"
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“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"
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“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"
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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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