There’s probably not an episode of SWING ON THIS that doesn’t have our friend Steve Ripley’s fingerprints on it in some way or another — as artist and/or producer and/or engineer. This time around, however, I realized I’d included three songs that showcase his other-side-of-the-mike… Read More »23 APRIL 2022
Jimmie Davis was a down-home musician known for writing or co-writing songs like “You Are My Sunshine,” Honky Tonk Blues,” and “It Makes No Difference Now” (plus a few double entendre numbers along the lines of “Red Nightgown Blues”). He was also a non-consecutive two-time governor… Read More »16 APRIL 2022
As I’ve said on the air, I don’t really have any songs in regular rotation on SWING ON THIS, with the exception of the weekly “San Antonio Rose.” That’s a special case, of course, as the crackerjack SWING ON THIS researchers and I continue to… Read More »9 APRIL 2022
It’s a special time in T-Town, as the far-flung group of music lovers known as the LeonLifers have gathered in Tulsa for a weekend full of events, centered around Leon Russell’s famous — and newly refurbished — Church Studio. In acknowledgement of their visit, this… Read More »2 APRIL 2022
I’ve written in this space before about “Uncle” Art Satherley, the British-born A&R man for Columbia Records in the ‘30s and ‘40s, and how he thought that the Bob Wills audience preferred countrified fiddle and string-band tunes to the more sophisticated big-band sound Bob was… Read More »26 MARCH 2022
If you like swingin’ covers of big-band and Great American Songbook hits, you’ll especially enjoy this week’s edition of SWING ON THIS, coming your way Saturday night at 7 p.m. on Tulsa’s NPR affiliate KWGS, 89.5 FM, and live-streaming everywhere at publicradiotulsa.org. I’ve got not… Read More »19 MARCH 2022
Bob Wills was never averse to a little experimentation with his Texas Playboys, whether it was adding reeds and horns to the band, hiring female vocalists and instrumentalists, or going deep into the well for material to play and record. It’s unlikely he ever went… Read More »MARCH 12 2022
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… Read More »MARCH 5 2022
Houston-born Leon McAuliffe was still a teenager in 1935, when he toted his steel guitar to Tulsa and joined up with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Although Leon was, and is, best known for his groundbreaking prowess on that instrument, he was also a… Read More »26 FEBRUARY 2022
As I’ve long noted in the introduction to SWING ON THIS, Tulsa is the place where Western swing grew up, so it’s only logical that each show would feature a lot of music with T-town connections. Sometimes, though, one of the broadcasts contains even more Tulsa… Read More »19 FEBRUARY 2022