Finally finished production on the first "episode" of the new radio show called Oklahoma Rock and Roll. It took about two weeks of long hours - by both me and Charlene. Charlene is doing the research. It would be nice to have a staff of 4 or 5 people, but for now it's just us. I think it's a good show. Oklahoma has a rich musical history, so there's a nice variety.

A PARTIAL LIST (with working show or segment titles):
Leon Russell: Don't Ever Take A Bus To California (The Wrecking Crew, Gary Lewis, Delaney and Bonnie, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton)
J.J. Cale
Jazz and Blues (Charlie Christian, Oklahoma City Blue Devils, Jay McShann, Lowell Fulson)
Made In Oklahoma (Jim Edgar and The Roadrunners, The Disciples, Jimmy Markham, etc.)
Rockabilly - Oklahoma Style (Wanda Jackson, The Collins Kids, Big Al Downing, Conway Twitty)
Lee Hazlewood: These Rebel Rouser Boots Are Made For Walking (Duane Eddy, Nancy Sinatra)
Western Swing (Bob and Johnnie Lee Wills, Spade Cooley, Speedy West)
L.A. Power Pop - Okies at Madam Wong's (Moon Martin, 20/20, Dwight Twilley)
The Keltner Connection (Leon, Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, John Lennon, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, on and on...)

To quote me:

"We're gonna take a look at not just rock and roll in Oklahoma, but the roots of rock and roll, and we're gonna follow those roots wherever they take us and let them tell us how we got to this place today... how we got to this thing we call Oklahoma Rock and Roll. As the weeks go by, we're gonna try to dig deep into the details of the music, and the artists and the musicians that made that music, and how it all ties together. But for the first couple of shows, what I want to do is to try to present the overall picture. I think you'll find some surprises, and I think at times - I hope at times - you're gonna be stunned just like we have been each time we find that extra special thing, and that direct link to Oklahoma."

The first two shows, "Home Sweet Oklahoma" (parts 1 and 2), are basically an Oklahoma Music Revue, with the aim of trying to paint the big picture, and also set the stage for what lies ahead in the weeks and shows to come.

Covered in the first shows, and featured in more detail on future shows, are what might seem obvious: Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, and the whole Tulsa culture of musicians with direct links to people like Dylan, Clapton, Joe Cocker and the Mad Dogs and Englishmen; Wanda Jackson, The Collins Kids, and rockabilly (Oklahoma style); Moon Martin, Dwight Twilly, and 20/20 - the LA Power Pop scene. But we're also taking a good look (and listen) to the early roots players and bands that changed music around the world: Charlie Christian, blues man extraordinaire Lowell Fulson, the Oklahoma City Blue Devisl, and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. As with any adventure, there are surprises... like the probable first ever Rhythm and Blues record - a smash hit in 1945 by a piano player and singer from Guthrie.

The picture starts to emerge of an art form that owes its heart to a mixture of hillbilly, gospel, blues, rhythm & blues, and jazz. Intertwined with all of that are the Native American and African American cultures. This is America's music – Oklahoma Rock and Roll.

"Don't forget... Family is what's important. Tell your mama you love her. Kiss your babies. We're all in this together. Bye bye kids..."

A couple of years ago I got a chance to sit in on a J.J. Cale session for his album To Tulsa and Back. Cale played us his home demo recording of a new song called Rhythm Bone, which we then cut with all of Tulsa's best, including abut 75 guitar players. Very cool... but I couldn't forget the amazing sound of the original J.J. demo. Later, I talked him into sending me his original tracks for the demo - his lead vocal, and all of his background vocals and electric guitars. We added our stuff, including Fats on steel guitar, Bud Deal and Mike Panno on horns, Casey on bass, and Jimmy Karstein on drums. I had a go at singing along on the lead vocal, and there you go - a new Tractors record featuring J.J. Cale

Yesterday, Charlene and I ate lunch at a restaurant in Stillwater called Aggie's Big House. There was a poster hanging at the foot of the stairs for some gig featuring several acts. The only name I knew was Bob Childers. I stood and stared at his name for a long time for no apparent reason. Just stood there staring...

I just heard from Piccolo and McClure that Bob died today. A sad day for all of us. A joyous one for Childers. I'm sure he's already writing some Red Dirt Heaven songs - telling the angels:

"You don't need to try to write songs. I got lots of songs. You just concentrate on singing...

Hey Woody... Help me finish this one...

Hey Jesus... Listen to this song me and dang Woody Guthrie just wrote..."

Charlene and I spent the day with Leon Friday - and then watched his show Friday night at the Osage Casino. Casinos are pretty weird for me. Filled with smoke to the point it feels like your taking a year off your life with every breath. Filled with next-door-folks who have become some sort of zombies staring at noisy light-flashing machines. Even the slot machines are hi tech and weird. Actually, I couldn’t find a "slot" machine - where you could put in a quarter and pull an arm - hoping for a whole bunch of quarters to come spilling out. The casino experience makes me think of some outer space way station like in that first Star Wars movie.

Leon was great. New version of the band. An elevated experience. Here’s the deal... Leon told me that afternoon that he was thinking of doing some extemporaneous speaking. Well, if you’ve been to Leon shows, you know he’s not one for chit chat between songs. The most you generally get is a "Thank You!" or two. Friday night, he did indeed talk a lot. Told the story of how he recorded "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" for Bob Dylan - and how Bob showed him how he writes songs. I’m not sure the audience kept up - but I know they loved hearing the master speak. He made a comment on the wing ding being his Birthday Bash - turning 66. He said something like: "I never realized that when I got to be 66 I’d start to feel like a highway..." Well... he said it better than that.

Lest you think it was all a rock and roll fantasy day and to put it in perspective, after lunch, we tracked down and bought a part for his tour bus out at Camper Land.

1976 was a fine year. America celebrated its 200th birthday. I met and went to work for Leon Russell. And on April 3rd, Charlene and I were married. We headed off to Nashville to tackle the country music business. That lasted about 5 weeks. Back to Oklahoma - to Oklahoma City where I took a job as an engineer at Benson Recording Studio. That lasted about 2 weeks until Larry Benson fired me. I was a little too ambitious for Larry. Charlene worked as a legal assistant and maybe at a restaurant as well. We were really broke. Then I got the gig as Leon's monitor mixer on the Leon & Mary tour, and we moved to Tulsa. My mom lived there. Charlene ran a leasing company office and hung out with Mom while I was on tour with Leon. After the tour, we moved out to California for the first time. We moved back and forth between Oklahoma and California a couple of times. Charlene has worked as many as three jobs at a time to help keep us in the stupid music business. Her employers always loved her. I've had three "real" jobs total - and got fired from each one. It's been an adventure. The adventure continues. Thirty-two years.

Oh yeah... We had that 1976 Bi-Centennial Chevy Chevette with the eagles on the seats. That's a nice car to drive after you get married.

OK... I don’t blog much. Don’t really care for the term. But I do like to write. I do like to say stuff. I talk too much most of the time. So, let’s talk... Let’s talk about politics. Maybe we’ll cover religion next.

McCain’s a great American - sacrificed. Spent time in a prison hell-hole. Not sure that makes him qualified for anything except maybe a speaker at VFW and high school functions. Other things may indeed make him a viable candidate for the most powerful office in the world. Just quit pushing the POW thing at me so hard. He made some news recently purposefully trying to manufacture a direct relationship between Iran and Al Quida. Sound familiar? That same day I heard Georgie Porgie talking about Iran and weapons of mass destruction. Sound familiar? McCain... He’s old. He sometimes goes a little crazy. Crazy and old. Think about it.

Barack is a black man in a world divided. [bless his heart] While he’s running - and in at least the short term if he wins - he will further divide the world as we know it - even more than it is now. So be it. Maybe then, and only then, can we make some real progress in healing the divide. At least it will be a new take on a divided world. You know... change. I’m gonna support something different even if it’s an unknown. Who doesn’t really deep down inside want to get away from the same old crap... over and over and over again.

Hillary... ah, Hillary. I like the Clintons (sometimes). We got invited to play at the White House for Hillary’s 50th birthday party. Probably should have done it. In Okie style, we didn’t have the money to get there. So, Hillary... ah, Hillary... She’s got Bill. Bill’s pretty great when he’s saving Africa and stuff. Not so much when he’s pushing Hillary. He’s desperate and tragic and the same time. Hillary... I think she’d probably make a great president - if not for the fact that she’d seemingly do anything to get elected - which should immediately disqualify her from being president.

On the other hand... Whoever wins our quadrennial Great American Race, we shall (the intentional lofty and poetic "shall" instead of "will") stand with them (mostly... for a little while... then we’ll try somebody else).

All the tired horses in the sun
How'm I supposed to get any ridin' done? Hmm

Ron and I wrote this song when we were producing a record on Freddy Fender at The Church back in about 1988. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought it would make a great record for Freddy. Can't remember whether we ever even played it for him. Anyway, skip ahead a few years... We revived it for the 2nd Tractors record. Ron added the bridge. Pretty good song. Great little record. When I was overdubbing a couple of acoustic guitars, I ad-libbed the two verses on the end ("I don't know but I hear tell..."). The night before, Walt and I watched an old film on railroad workers singing as they laid track. I pretty much lifted the words from that. And while we're talking about "lifting," you might also notice a reference to one of my favorite Leon Russell bits: "Gonna walk, gonna talk, gonna scream and shout..." from Delta Lady.

A couple of my favorite musical moments... Bud Deal and Mike Panno saxes are GREAT! Walt's piano playing is magnificent, as always. Right before we cut the tune, I gave Ron a Gretsch lap steel. I'm not sure if he actually liked it or not, but we plugged it in and turned the amp up really loud, and he played that solo that is one of the best things on the record.

When ARISTA released the song, they sent out (without my knowledge) a press release saying: "Clinton's theme song." Those hillbillies in Nashville could never get that I'm one of those radical Democrats. I was (as the Chinese say) angry to death. Should have sued the bastards.

It's Charlene's birthday! We have traveled to Nashville to spend some time with Uncle Leon. We're going to have a birthday dinner with Leon and Jan tonight at their new house.

August 14th is pretty special. It's not only Charlene's birthday, but also my mother's birthday and Charlene's mother's birthday. Something very cosmic about that.

Next year we're gonna have a big wing ding at the farm.

I almost got Tammy Faye to sing on the first Tractors record. I talked to her on the phone for about an hour back in about '93. She laughed and cried and talked about ex-husband Jim - and also Hank Snow and his wife. She sent me her latest tape. The package was a re-used Home Shopping Network envelope. You could tell by the old label that she was a regular viewer and shopper. She told me she'd be happy to sing, but then I SENT HER A TAPE... I think it might have been just too weird for her. Whatever else, she was a great singer.

A very slightly related story... Charlene and I stopped for a little while at Bro. David Terrell's tent revival in a field at Pine and Yale a couple of nights ago. He's one of the very last of those old time tent-preachers. I saw him 35 years ago. He had been fasting for 40 days. Started the show sitting on a stool, playing an acoustic guitar, and singing Hank Williams songs. Angelene went to three services this week. There was more rock and roll under that tent than has been on radio for 20 years.