Buck, Mike 2009-05-24
Descriptive metadata not available for this recording. Contact reference for more information.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Mike Buck
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: May 24, 2009
Location: Austin, Texas
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 01:04:47
Abstract
Background, Born in Fort Worth, Started playing music as a teenager 1960s, Liked the Rolling Stones, Yard Birds, Influenced by them, Hung out at Blues Clubs, Played at a rock club called the Cellar, Chicken and the Basket, Freddy King, Rocket Club, Skyliner, Freddy Cisneros, Early 70’s Buck went to Austin, Tried to move to Austin but it did not work out, 1977 got a call from Jimmy Vaughn because they needed a drummer, Keith recommended Buck, Knew Keith from Austin, Lived with Keith on Annie and 5th, Had a duplex, Little Al and the High Fives, Big fan of Freddy King, Washed dishes at House Of Pizza, Played gigs at Blue Bird night club, Stevie is 2-3 years older born in 1956, Jimmy is 1 year older, Jimmy was really jealous of Stevie and his success, Physical fights, Keith worked for Pappy Daly when he was younger, Hand made Christmas card by Keith to his father from age 15, Luanne, Met Luanne at age 16, Rock band called Rockola 1968, Hung out at a Hippie Park at Trinity River, Luanne knew Freddy, Five careless lovers, Moved to Austin, Played in a band called Triple Threat, Stevie, Blues Scene: Fort Worth vs. Dallas, Never went to Dallas to play, Only went to Dallas for rock concerts, Wasn’t aware of the Blues music in Dallas, Denny and Jimmy were playing Blues in Dallas, Mabel’s Eat Shop, Dog named Robert Johnson, Closed, Moved to a club called Blue Bird, A lot of White people, Ran the neighborhood people away, Thunderbirds, Already formed when Buck joined, Had gone through several drummers, Blues drummers were hard to find, Listened to their records, Listened to them live, First gig was in Dallas without rehearsal, Jimmy has a strong rhythm, Juneteenth blues festival, Herman Park, Clifton Chenier, Playing with heroes, Played with people he used to listen to, Good and Bad, Sometimes you shouldn’t meet your heroes, Had some good memories, Played with Jimmy Taylor, Did a show with Bo Diddly, What drew Buck to the Blues, Sound of it, The feeling behind the music, Another world, Loves all kinds of music, Enamored with Blues, Working with the T-Birds and Keith, Played around Austin, Played every Monday at the Ronan, That was sort of their home base, Occasionally went to Dallas or Houston, Got an offer to do a record with Doc Thomas and Joel Dorn, Went to New York to record, CD never came out, Tacoma records made an offer, First Thunderbird album, More offers started coming in, Went to Europe, Tour with Rock Pile, Universities on parole, Played at colleges in England, Germany and Holland, Left the band soon after, Only in the band for about 3 years, Lots of traveling, Roomed with Keith a lot, Better friends with Jimmy and Keith, Preferred to room with other members, Keith would wake up at the crack of dawn, Billy Cross drove the van for the band, Became really close to Keith at that time, Keith knows about everything, Big on reptiles, Keith and Buck were hired for rhythm sections for people to record, Keith played in Bucks band The Laroy brothers, Keith used to say “Bass should be heard, not listened to”, Keith liked Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney, Jimmy was a solid rhythm player, Jimmy was band leader, Jimmy’s decision to add Kim, Buck left the T-Birds before Keith, Buck left during the second album, When Keith left the band he played with Don Leady in a band called the Tailgaters, After Buck left the T-Birds, Formed his own band, Played with Keith Dunn, Black Harmonica player, The Headhunters, Freddy Cisneros played as well, Craig Simacheck, Alex, Moved back to Forth Worth, Met Don Leady and Steve Door, Freddy and Craig left the band, Formed into the Laroy Brothers, Used to play in Lubbock, Luann and the Flip Tops (The Laroy Brothers with Luann), Luann signed with Jerry Wexler, Surviving the bad time, Got married to Tina, Tina straightened Buck out, Very supportive, Didn’t expect Buck to stop playing music, Two children, 11 and 16, The Laroy Brothers Now, Play two or three times a month, Band with his girlfriend called Eve and the Exiles, Steve plays with a Cajun Band, Steve Thibodaux, Haven’t made a record in a long time, Eve and the Exiles, Rock and Roll type band, Rolling Stones influence, Garage band type, Blues has become more marketing, Gary Clark, Young black guitarist, In a movie called the Honey Dripper, Keith, Buck and Keith had a lot in common, Liked the same music, Similar ideas, Like a family, A lot of love, Keith kept everyone in stitches, Very articulate, Very Loyal, Had a lot of god children, Well liked among everyone, Never got to see Keith in the hospital, A lot of people especially bass players were influenced by Keith, Keith influenced style, Impacted Buck because he was loyal and always interesting, a really good pal, loved playing with him, Beautiful person, Not pretentious, What’s next for Buck, Just bought a record store, Band is going to Scandinavia
Access Information
Original Recording Format:
Recording Format Notes:
Transcript: Transcript available in reading room
Thank you for your interest in this oral history interview. Our oral history collection is available to patrons in the Southwest Collection's Reading Room, located on the campus of Texas Tech University. For reading room hours, visit our website. Please contact Reference Staff at least one week prior to your visit to ensure the oral history you are interested in will be available. Due to copyright issues, duplications of our oral histories can only be made for family members. If an oral history transcript has been made available online, the link will be provided on this page. More information on accessing our oral histories is located here. Preferred citation style can be found here.
