This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Armadillo World Headquarters Thanksgiving Day Jam

November 19, 2012 5:00 am by: Haley Howle

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll recall a Thanksgiving Day jam session that made Austin music fans very grateful. On November 23, 1972, an impromptu jam session took place at Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters, featuring both local and national artists. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead had performed the night before at Austin’s Municipal Auditorium. When Garcia mentioned that he’d like to someday play at the Armadillo, the club’s owner, Eddie Wilson, hastily arranged to have Garcia perform the following afternoon. Word quickly spread about the show, and when Garcia and band mate Phil Lesh took the stage, they were joined not only by Texas icon Doug Sahm, but also by Leon Russell and members of the 13th Floor Elevators, Shiva’s Headband, and Greezy Wheels. Jerry Garcia, Doug Sahm, and the other musicians served up a Thanksgiving buffet of rock, country, and blues that left the Armadillo audience quite grateful indeed. Next time on This Week in Texas Music...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Conrad Johnson

Conrad Johnson was born on November 15, 1915, in Victoria, Texas. As a young saxophone player, Johnson moved to Houston to pursue a musical career. However, he turned down offers to tour with major jazz groups in the 1940s, choosing instead to work as a high school bandleader. In 1969, Johnson became director of the stage band at Houston’s predominantly African-American Kashmere High School. He quickly transformed the Kashmere band by blending traditional pieces with more modern funk, soul, and R&B. Johnson’s innovative approach paid off when the group won 42 out of 46 major competitions and was voted “Best Stage Band in the Nation” in 1972. Johnson and his students...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Hole...

On June 15, 1974, the Hole in the Wall nightclub opened in Austin on Guadalupe Street, directly across from the University of Texas....
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Erbi...

Erbie Bowser was born in Davila, Texas, on May 5, 1918, and grew up in the East Texas town of Palestine. He began playing piano as a child in the church choir. Before he had finished high school, Bowser was touring the South with blues, jazz, and boogie-woogie bands. After performing in Europe,...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: The ...

On April 11, 1921, the Majestic Theatre opened at its current location in downtown Dallas. As the flagship of a larger, national chain of theaters, the Majestic’s elaborately decorated interior made it an architectural work of art. The theater featured nationally-prominent vaudeville acts, as...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Juli...

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll remember a late bloomer who went on to become one of the state’s most innovative jazz pioneers. Saxophonist Julius Hemphill died on April 2, 1995. ...
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This Week in Texas Music History

Carmen Jara

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a singer who left home at an early age to become an international star. ...
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This Week in Texas Music History

Buddy Knox

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll learn about a singer who began his career outside a Womens' dormitory....
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This Week in Texas Music History

Ted Daffan

This Week in Texas Music History, Gary Hartman helps us honor a pioneering songwriter who got off to an electrifying start in the music business. ...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Geor...

This week in Texas music history, we’ll look at a musician who was turned down by numerous nightclubs and record companies before becoming the most successful country singer in history. Strait soon went to Nashville hoping to land a recording contract, but most record companies considered him...
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This Week in Texas Music History

Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton was born in Los Angeles on April 30, 1925, but grew up near the East Texas town of Rusk. In 1950, he began singing on the radio in Pasadena, near Houston. Horton became famous for such ballads as “The Battle of New Orleans,” “North to Alaska,” and “Johnny Reb.” However,...
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This Week in Texas Music History

This Week in Texas Music History: Tito...

Tito Guizar was born April 8, 1908, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. In 1929, he moved to the United States, where he worked in radio, on stage, and eventually on television. Beginning in the 1930s, Guizar appeared in dozens of English and Spanish-language western movies as a singing cowboy. He...
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