Bob Wills, born March 6, 1905
Today is the birthday of Bob Wills, the man who did more to create and popularize the wonderfully piebald music known as western swing than any other figure. Not that there weren’t…
John Steinbeck, born February 27, 1902
It’s the birthday of my No. 1 writing hero John Steinbeck, who’ll be forever known as the author of one of America’s all-time greatest novels, THE GRAPES OF WRATH. (My personal…
Sleepy Johnson, born February 25, 1909
Today is the birthday of one of the pioneers of western-swing music, Clifton “Sleepy” Johnson, a very early member of the Fort Worth-based Light Crust Doughboys, the pioneering band that spawned…
Jesse Ashlock, born February 22, 1915
Born on February 22, 1915 , Jesse Ashlock was a fiddler, songwriter (“My Life’s Been A Pleasure,” “The Kind of Love I Can’t Forget”), and occasional vocalist, best known for his longtime…
Freaks, premiered February 12, 1932
On this date in 1932, a feature film from the prestigious MGM Studios called FREAKS hit America’s theaters — to MGM’s almost immediate regret. This tale of life and love in a…
Garth Brooks, born February 7, 1962
Happy birthday today to Garth Brooks, the top musical act of the 1990s and one of the most successful entertainers of all time. I was privileged to be the TULSA WORLD’s…