As regular readers of this newsletter know, we just held an online contest to call attention to the special 40th anniversary edition of Old Fears, the horror novel co-author Ron Wolfe and I first saw published – in hardcover, by the New York-based Franklin Watts –… Read More »OLD FEARS CONTEST STORIES HEADED YOUR WAY
1.. “Dedicated to You,” Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys 2. “San Antonio Rose,” Nils Fredland (for WAYNE MCCOMBS) 3. “There Stands the Glass,” Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps (for JACOB TOVAR and the GLASS LIFTERS) 4. “Pay Day Blues,” Spade Cooley Big Band… Read More »15 OCTOBER 2022
I’m happy and proud to say that from the very beginning — almost 20 years ago now — a good number of musicians have been regular SWING ON THIS listeners. Among them was my good friend Jim Karstein, the great Tulsa rock ’n’ roll drummer,… Read More »8 OCTOBER 2022
On February 9, 1932, a group of musicians that had been formerly known as both the Wills Fiddle Band and the Aladdin Laddies got together in a room at the Jefferson Hotel in Dallas, where they recorded what are generally considered the first two Western-swing… Read More »1 OCTOBER 2022
After nearly 20 years of SWING ON THIS, I’m still airing songs from acts almost every week who have never appeared on the playlist before. Joining that group this Saturday is Dottsy, the ‘70s songbird who had a pretty good few years on the country… Read More »17 SEPTEMBER 2022
Last week on SWING ON THIS, I wandered fairly far outside the lines again, playing a cut from a 1976 concept album called CLASSICAL COUNTRY, perpetrated by the well-known producer/musician Snuff Garrett and a bunch of really good session players under the name Snuff Garrett’s Texas… Read More »10 SEPTEMBER 2022
Last week on SWING ON THIS, I wandered fairly far outside the lines again, playing a cut from a 1976 concept album called CLASSICAL COUNTRY, perpetrated by the well-known producer/musician Snuff Garrett and a bunch of really good session players under the name Snuff Garrett’s… Read More »3 SEPTEMBER 2022
Although a case could probably be made for steel-guitarist and future bandleader Leon McAuliffe, Tommy Duncan was the most high-profile of all Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys of the ‘30s and ‘40s — next to Bob himself, of course. His easygoing and warm vocal style, which… Read More »20 AUGUST 2022