Congratulations

Congratualtions to Tony "Ham" Guerrero & Tortilla Factory for receving a 2008 Grammy nomination in the category of "Best Tejano Albium" (for his web site go to the Pioneer section clicking on Tony.

Jerry Reed

I was shocked to learn that Jerry Reed had died (2008)? Just recently, I had been wondering why we haven’t been seeing any music news on Jerry?

Although he seemed to have gotten caught-up in the movie thing much like Elvis…I was hoping he would find the time to get back in the recording studio. What a unique guitar player, songwriter and performer. “When You’re Hot You’re Hot” (Grammy) “Amos Moses” etc. Seems great guitarist start young and Jerry not being the exception began playing at 8 years old when his mother bought him a $2.00 kid guitar. The CMA voted him “The Instrumentalist of the Year” in 1970. In 1992 he and Chet Atkins got together in the studio on “Sneaking Around” winning another Grammy. In the 90’s he was doing over 90 shows a year. In 1999 he had quadruple by-pass surgery. A life of cigarette smoking took its toll on another great talent.

WTMHOF Home

The “Baby Boomers” returning home to retire in San Angelo & Abilene are making it almost impossible for the WTMHOF to find a permanent building for the museum. With their retirement along with selling their homes in California they return home with big bucks in which they then get involved with local activities. Some of these activities include purchasing/renting buildings in prime areas in order for them or their wives to have something to do. This not only creates a shortage on choice historical buildings but also runs up the price.

Sad to say the only thing Americans seem to relate to is…money.

Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold, Country Music Hall of Fame singer, died on May 9th 2008 just a few months shy of his 90th birthday. After receiving encouragement from friends and fans he recorded his 100th album just a couple of years ago. Before he decided to record this LP he responded to these folks by saying he didn’t know if he could sing any more? After singing in the shower practicing up he decided he sounded pretty good for his age.

Eddy Arnold was extremely popular in the 40’s when country wasn’t cool. With first-rate pop-oriented material and a friendly smooth voice, much like Bing Crosby, he won approval from listeners around the world. For starters here are some examples: “I’ll Hold You In My Arms” #1 for 21 weeks staying on the charts 46 weeks. “Anytime” #1 for 9 weeks staying on the charts 39 weeks. “Bouquet Of Roses” #1 for 19 weeks staying on the charts for 54 weeks. It’s no wonder he’s the #1 singer in Country music history.

One of his many fan favorites was “The Cattle Call” #1 in 1955 in which he later sang on Le Ann Rimes “Blue” LP. He was doing pretty well health-wise until he fell. Eddy invested his money wisely purchasing property around Nashville now worth millions. He’s survived by a son and a daughter.

The West Texas Music Hall of Fame Annual Awards Thanks to our new web-designer, Dani Shaw from Garland (www.galiper.com), we are now able to pick up where we last left off in 2005…concerning annual recognition awards. We hope the recipients, who will be receiving these award plaques, will understand the delay.

The Catching-Up List:

2005 Pioneer Award:

Richard Porter/Eddie Williams & The Poor Boys (Odessa)

2006 Pioneer Award: The Picks (John Pickering, Bill Pickering & Bob Lapham)

2007 Pioneer Award: Junior Pelzel (San Angelo)

2005 Entertainer of the Year: The Sundown High School Band (State Champs)

2006 Entertainer of the Year: The Tim Kreitz Band (Midland)

Entertainer of the Year: Joe “Sonny” West (Abilene)

2008 Entertainer of the Year: Cory Bevins Band (Abilene)

Special Recognition Award:Paul Davidson (Levelland)

Special Recognition Award: William “Bill” Griggs (Lubbock)

Special Recognition Award: Maggie Scales (Amarillo)

Special Recognition Award: Lynn Massey (San Angelo)

Special Recognition Award: Michael Henry Martin (Abilene)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Bill Mack (Shamrock)

Since we’ve made every effort to contact the above recipients including sending them e-mails…if we fail to receive a response (needing an address) their award plaque will be put on hold.

Jodie Nix & The Texas Cowboys

Jody & band continue to amaze as they travel all over West Texas week after week, month after month and year after year performing in clubs and for special events. Be sure and check-out www.jodynix.com and while you are there click on their Schedule. From Big Spring to Lubbock, San Angelo, Snyder, Midland, and then all the way to Amarillo and back to Big Spring then for good measure throwing in Wichita Falls and Ft. Worth? You would think that schedule would warrant a break for Jody possibly basking in the sun in Hawaii? Guess not, as he’s now scheduled to play in Washington, DC for almost a week. When you go to his site be sure and listen to the opening song before you click on “Enter” as bands work very hard making records and always appreciate you taking a listen. For some of you who don’t know…Jody is the son of Hoyle Nix (The West Texas Cowboys from Big Spring 50’s 60’s). Hoyle was not only a friend of Bob Wills but patterned his music after Bob & The Texas Playboys. Jodie & The Texas Cowboys continue carrying on the Bob & Hoyle tradition…out there preserving Western Swing. Jody Nix was the WTMHOF’s 2001 “Entertainer of the Year” and continues to perform at the Stampede in Big Spring…the club his dad made famous. At one time a young and inexperienced singer, named Lefty Frizzell, was across town at the Ace of Clubs on Highway 80 doing his thing. The discovery of oil, along with a refinery being in Big Spring, was a big factor in these two historical clubs attracting some big crowds.

Buddy Holly Street Sign on e-Bay

After finally “waking up” with only 2 minutes remaining on an e-Bay auction we jumped in bidding $100.00 in which other bidders had run it up to $46.00. After bidding $100.00 others came back the last 2 minutes trying to outbid me but time ran out on them. The final bid was $76.00 + shipping. The BH street sign is an original and had gotten broken during installation in which the city let one of the employees have it.. Had I bid $100.00 earlier most likely we would have been out-bid. Go to e-Bay searching #330234986386 if you might want to view it. If it had not been for the small crack (damage) we would never have gotten a shot at this one-of-a-kind piece of WT music history.

Oil Prices and Tourism in 2008

The high price of crude oil has caused a boom in housing and business development in Midland (read early HISTORY on this site). Abilene has been on a tare for some years now having 5 foundations who have shared their kindness and money with many area non-profit organizations in order to preserve historic downtown. Behind this was the idea that historic Abilene, along with other local attractions, would rate high on the list of Texas tourist attractions. The high price of gas will surely throw cold water on that plan.

Disappearing e-mails addresses & Web Sites

Quite a few from the Honor Roll & Songwriter section have just up and disappeared? Yes, it’s true as time continues to march on no one can stay young forever. The highest per cent of folks now living in West Texas are in their middle 40’s. Since time is of the essence we have been doing everything we can in order to have a permanent WTMHOF-Museum building in Abilene. We won’t be depending on others as our motto has always been: “If you want something done you gotta do it yourself”.

Rolling Stone Magazine Top 100 Albums

Out of all of Elvis’s albums you might be surprised which one was rated the highest? “The Sun Sessions” #11. John Lennon was quoted saying: “Before Elvis There Was Nothing” Later Lennon said: “The Sun sessions were Elvis’ best work”

The National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Museum

We visited the National Cowgil Hall of Fame's multimillion dollar facility ($8.00 person) located near the Will Rogers Coliseum on a Sunday afternoon in May. This all-new brick building is about ¾ of a block long and possibly 3 stories high with 33,000 sq ft. of space. Out front is a life-size bronze statue of a gal on a horse along with a large painted mural on the side of the building of 5 gals on horses. I was overwhelmed by the expensive door handles, glass cases, carpet, the interior, stair cases, railings etc. The place is a prime example of too many people with too much money spending it foolishly…the blind leading the blind. Instead of concentrating on the cowgirls and their memorabilia they put most of their efforts on trying to impress people. There were a few Roy & Dale items such as a lunch kit, a kid miniature guitar, afew historical cowgirl boots, chaps, saddles & hats that are displayed in high-dollar glass cases. All in all the National Cowgirl HOF is a joke when it comes to being a museum. If you want to see a list of the Hall of Fame inductees (you won’t find it on any wall) just ask one of the folks at the reception booth and they will hand you one on paper. Want to hear a song from the past by Dale Evans (Uvalde) or Louise Massey (Midland)? No problema as you can drop a quarter in miniature juke box putting on a pair of ear phones. This is one of those places, much like Frontier Texas, where you go one time never to return.