This week, I’ve got a trio of songs FROM Tulsa ABOUT Tulsa — that is, T-town tunes by Tulsa artists the Round Up Boys, James Robert Webb, and Luigi Balletto. Plus, as a bonus, a number by Tulsa icon Billy Parker that was recorded at Oral Roberts’ 1960s studio.
You old hippies out there (and it takes one to know one) should enjoy the glass-lifting song for the evening. It’s from one of those rock bands that put electrified instruments with horns in the late ‘60s — not unlike what Bob Wills had done three decades earlier. It’s not exactly Western swing, but since you’ve shown time and again that you’ll indulge the program and me when we go outside the lines, I’m going to air it and see what happens. Plus, it was requested by the leader of one of the all-time great Western swing bands, Hank Thompson’s Brazos Valley Boys. And in addition to requesting it, Morey Sullivan even sent me the disc!
So please join me Saturday at 7 p.m. for an hour of pretty doggone good music, ranging from classic Bob Wills to new stuff from Ida Red and Michael H. Price and His Western Swingmasters. That’s SWING ON THIS, airing over KWGS, 89.5 FM, in Tulsa and live-streaming everywhere at publicradiotulsa.org. We’ll leave the light on for you.
1. “Elmer’s Tune,” Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (for MARMIE APSLEY)