His young daughter, Katie Belle, came running in and said, “Daddy’s having a fight with his heart.” It wasn’t the first time, but this one was physical and cost Townes Van Zandt his life. The singer-songwriter, whose dark and illuminating lyrics walked with a self-destructive limp, died of a heart attack Jan. 1, 1997, at […]
New York Review of Books calls Manzarene Dreams “the authoritative new edition of Phillips’s music.” Creative Loafing (Atlanta): This was the cover story by Chad Radford.“When Phillips died, a secret history of pre-war gospel blues was born; a mystery shrouded in speculation and mistaken identity. But through the legwork and dedication of semi-retired Texas music […]
The box of books came today. I’ve been waiting two years for them. Gospel music’s great re-appearing act Washington Phillips taught me patience. His musical prowess on a homemade instrument was the subject of a newspaper article in the home paper in Teague in 1907. But it would be 20 years later until this self-made […]
By Michael Corcoran Published on 2/1/04, the 15th anniversary of Foley’s killing. The years since his 1989 passing have been kind to Blaze Foley. While he was alive, the singer-songwriter had released only a single and an LP that was never distributed aside from a box full of vinyl albums he would barter for […]
This is a chapter of the 2017 book All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music Some people are stars without being famous. Their talent shines so brightly and the way they carry themselves is so confident that destiny calls their name. Nick Curran had all that and his own look/s. He was a […]
Excerpt from “All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music” (UNT Press) “Do you want to hear my new song?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked, as giddy as a teenager. “I just got it back from my demo guys in Fort Worth and I think it’s a real […]
To be a high school beatnik in 1960 in Port Arthur, Tex. is to set yourself up for a rough time. But Janis Joplin had made up her mind that she was going to live life her way, damn the small-minded. She discovered the blues at a time when blacks and whites couldn’t eat at […]
By Michael Corcoran You’ve seen Sarah Brown on-stage if you ever went to Antone’s in the ’80s or early ’90s. She was the house bass player when Antone’s was a blues club, period, and so she backed everyone from Big Joe Turner and Sunnyland Slim to Buddy Guy and Albert Collins and Otis Rush. For […]
Let’s go back to the time when music was packaged to create a continual listening experience, when songs were sequenced to sustain a mood or provide a chronological context. Here’s a list I put together years ago, during the glory years of Rhino Records. Things have changed, but all these songs are out there somewhere. […]
The Anderson High School Yellow Jacket Band, whose lofty alumni include bop trumpet great Kenny Dorham and former Motown arranger Gil Askey, had only two directors in its 38-year history.
