Jesse Ashlock was born on February 22, 1915, in Walker County, Texas. As a teenager, Ashlock attended dances at Fort Worth’s Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion, where he saw Western swing pioneer, Bob Wills, perform. In 1935, Ashlock joined Wills’s band and would play fiddle with the Texas Playboys for the next four decades. Strongly influenced by jazz violinist, Joe Venuti, Jesse Ashlock’s hot fiddle solos helped set the standard for virtually all western swing fiddlers who followed.

In 1975, Jesse Ashlock settled in Austin, where he mentored a new generation of Western swing musicians, including Asleep at the Wheel and Alvin Crow. On August 6, 1976, Ashlock gave his last live performance at Austin’s Broken Spoke dance hall. He died only three days later.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll recall when a superstar illuminated the Astrodome.

Maud Cuney-Hare was born in Galveston, Texas, on February 16, 1874. Her father, Norris Wright Cuney, was chairman of the Texas Republican Party and one of the most prominent African-American politicians in the South. During the 1890s, Maud studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before returning to Texas to teach. She devoted much of her time to the musical folklore of French-speaking African Americans living along the Texas- Louisiana border. These black creoles, who were the descendants of French-owned slaves, blended African and French musical influences into what would eventually become known as zydeco.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Maud Cuney-Hare published books on African-American music, wrote a column for the NAACP journal The Crisis, and authored a biography about her famous father.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll resin up the bow with one of Western swing’s jazziest fiddlers.

Al Dexter died in Lewisville, Texas, on January 28, 1984. Born in Jacksonville, Texas, in 1902, he gained popularity writing songs describing his experiences in East Texas nightclubs. In 1936, Dexter released “Honky-Tonk Blues,” the first country record to use the term honky-tonk in its title. In that song and others, he described the rough-and-tumble nightlife found in many Texas beer joints. In 1943, Al Dexter wrote what would become his biggest hit after witnessing a jealous woman brandishing a gun while chasing her husband’s mistress through a barroom.

Al Dexter’s “Pistol-Packin’ Mama” achieved early country-crossover success when Bing Crosby recorded it with the Andrews Sisters in 1943.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet the original “Gangster of Love.”

On January 20, 1990, the state legislature established the Texas Music Office in order to promote Texas music and musical education in the state. At the time, Texas was the only state in the nation to have a governmental agency devoted to supporting its own music industry. Under the leadership of Casey Monahan, the Texas Music Office has become a valuable resource for information on thousands of musicians, music education programs, and music-oriented businesses. The Texas Music Office also works with a number of venues, festivals, and agencies to help market Texas as a destination for music-related tourism.

By helping to preserve and promote the state’s rich musical heritage, the Texas Music Office has ensured that this important part of our history and culture remains popular worldwide.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a musical pioneer who drew inspiration from a barroom brawl.

TWITMH – TMO

A. O. Babel died in Randolph, New York, on January 19, 1896. The son of a music professor, Babel was born in 1858 in Seguin, Texas. He got his start playing piano in Houston-area saloons. In 1885, Babel took his talents north, performing in Chicago as the “cowboy pianist.” Despite his classical training, Babel promoted himself as a genuine Texas cowboy who only played by ear. His clever marketing paid off in 1890, when a popular novel celebrating both his piano playing and his supposed heroic adventures in the Wild West made him a national sensation.

Several people who had known A. O. Babel back in Texas disputed his claims of being a heroic Wild West figure. Nevertheless, by the time of his death in 1896, Babel’s reputation as a piano playing cowboy had spread throughout North America and across Europe.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll visit a place that puts the official state seal on the sounds of Texas.

TWITMH – AO Babel

On January 10, 1978, the British punk band, the Sex Pistols, played the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. The pioneering punk rockers were an obvious mismatch for a venue which had hosted Bob Wills and many other country artists. As it turns out, however, the Sex Pistols’ manager was looking to cause trouble. So, he booked the Sex Pistols into honky tonks throughout the South, hoping to create controversy among traditionally conservative audiences. As the Sex Pistols took the stage, the Longhorn Ballroom’s country music fans mingled uneasily with the local punk crowd. Tensions escalated, and an audience member actually attacked the Sex Pistols’ bass player, Sid Vicious, during the performance.

The concert at the Longhorn Ballroom would be part of the original Sex Pistols’ only U.S. tour. The following week, singer Johnny Rotten announced the group’s breakup onstage in San Francisco. However, the spectacle at the Longhorn Ballroom lives on in Texas music lore.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a piano playing cowboy who was not really a cowboy at all.

TWITMH – Sex Pistols

Ventura Alonzo was born on December 30, 1904, in Matamoros, Mexico. When Alonzo was five, her family moved to Brownsville, Texas, where she learned to play piano and accordion. By the 1920s, she was living in Houston and had married a bajo sexto player named Frank Alonzo. In 1938, the couple started the band, Alonzo y Sus Rancheros. Ventura Alonzo not only wrote many of the group’s songs, but she was also the first tejana accordionist to record. In 1956, the Alonzos opened La Terraza, one of the most popular Mexican-American venues in Houston. Ventura Alonzo performed in the house band but also worked as the club’s business manager, negotiating artist contracts and handling promotions and ticket sales.

Ventura Alonzo was honored in 1996 with a mural in Houston’s Magnolia Park, a testament to her important role in the city’s Mexican-American music scene. She died in 2000 and was inducted into the Tejano R.O.O.T.S. Hall of Fame in 2002.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about what happened when some imported Pistols went off in a Texas dance hall.

On December 28, 1953, Sarg Records of Luling, Texas, made its first recording, “Korean Love Song,” by country singer Neal Merritt. World War II veteran Charlie Fitch started Sarg Records as a way to supply recordings for his jukebox business. Sarg Records went on to record numerous Texas artists from a variety of ethnic genres. It also released some of the earliest recordings of Willie Nelson and a young Doug Sahm.

Although Sarg Records never earned much money, it helped document and preserve a broad range of musical styles found in Texas by recording dozens of German, Czech, Tejano, country, R&B, and rockabilly artists from throughout the Lone Star State.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll hear how the “Queen of the Accordion” took charge of her Houston realm.

Domingo Peña was born on December 16, 1917, in Kingsville, Texas. During the Great Depression, his family moved to Corpus Christi, where Peña began working in radio and television. From 1964 to 1981, his Domingo Peña Show was one of the most popular television programs in South Texas. Peña’s show featured performances from a variety of Tejano musicians, including Isidro Lopez and Esteban Jordan.

In addition to musical entertainment, the  Domingo Peña Show also served as a high-profile forum in which Peña and his guests discussed issues of concern to the Hispanic community. Along with the many musicians who appeared on his program, Domingo Peña hosted representatives from such groups as LULAC and the American G.I. Forum to discuss Hispanic civil rights in Texas.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a small record label that had a big impact on Texas music.

On December 17, 1939, the College of Music at the University of North Texas in Denton received its accreditation. Music had been in the university’s curriculum since 1890, but this national recognition helped the College of Music grow into one of the most prestigious music programs in the country. By the 1940s, UNT offered several music degrees and had a number of student bands performing in concerts and on radio. In 1947, UNT became the first university in the country to offer a degree in jazz. The school’s jazz program is home to the famed “One O’Clock Lab Band,” which has toured internationally and won Grammy nominations for its recordings.

Ranked among the top fifteen music schools in the nation, the College of Music at the University of North Texas counts among its distinguished alumni such popular artists as Herb Ellis and Norah Jones.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a television host who entertained and educated his audience.