Livingston, Bob 2010-03-31
Bob Livingston talks about his career as a musician
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Bob Livingston
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: March 31, 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 02:09:37
Abstract
Tape 1, Side 1:
Keep the tapes rolling, They talk about the importance of keeping the, Tapes going, How he met Joe Ely, 1966 went to his house, He answered the door naked, He was wearing day glow paint, The Attic- the basement of Ron’s Ice Cream, Saw Ely play at the Altura Towers, He was sitting on his Amp wearing a high hat, He was “aping” Joe Ely- at the attic, He got him to play there, A girl walked in- had a gig, only got tips and room, The river view inn- summer of 1968, Three Faces West, Rick Fowler, Wayne Kidd, Ray Hubbard, Wore leather pants, vest, Bandanas and square toe boots, Jack Emery- introduced him to the band, Snippy, Played Early Morning Rain, Ray gave him 2 pieces of advice, 1. Don’t sit down when you sing, 2. Don’t ever do Early Morning Rain again, Back to Texas Tech, 1968- Draft Lottery, Left school, Went to Red River then Aspen, Apery Ski, Randy Fred- agent from L.A, Red Pontiac Tempest- the guy wasn’t showing up, Finally showed up, Got him a gig at a chain restaurant- Reuben’s, His brother (Don) became the biggest scene out there, Record Deal, Audition, Capital Records, Sal Ananuchi, 1969, Bought a Dodson Pickup truck, Martin guitar, Picked up a hitchhiker-the only other Texan he knew was, Michael Martin Murphey, Growing Musically, Had to go to the shows and watch the hand movements, Berkshire inn steakhouse, Don told him about a gig, Shriver- drummer from the River Masters, Wanted to do a trio with Don and Bob, Bob played bass, Songs were starting to come out in collaboration for him, Newsweek Magazine, Beautiful girl on the magazine cover, Jan Smathers, Encouraged him musically, Murphey, Wanted to meet him, Mountain Music Farm- publishing company, Marty Mashate and Roger Miller, Murphey was playing in a band called Tex at the time, Boomer Castleman, Herb Steiner, Stony Burns, Meanwhile Capital records were going down, Arty Mogul- new president, Let him go- never made the record, 1971 earthquake, Three faces west and Buckwheat (B. W. Stevenson) all are in L.A, Calico Cal, Eccentric man, Introduced him to Murphey, Murphey said the ghosts in the graveyard were talking to him, He wrote the ballad of Calico, They go back to Texas, And that’s how they met Bob Johnston, The Melodious Mountain Brothers, Himself and his brother, They look at a picture, Murphey, Intimidating to Bob, Claims he can remember these days so well because he, Wasn’t under the influence so much, Saxon Pub, Gary Nun was in Austin- in the crowd, Someone told him to meet Murphey, This is the last gig that Bob was playing with Murphey, He was going to go with Texas Fever, Gary played bass with Murphey, Johnston told Murphey to get Livingston back in the band, Switching around, Gary and Bob would switch between the bass and piano, Jerry Jeff, Came to Red River, Charlie Dunn, Salvation Army, A few other songs, Back in Austin- called Jerry, During this time Murphey was getting freaked out, Murphey, Caribou Ranch- recording studio in Colorado, Desert Rat, Blue Sky Night Thunder, Wild Fire, On the road, Kelly Dunn- drummer, Greg Hillis, Gary Nun, They go to Luckenbach, Claim to fame, When your down on your luck and you aint got a buck, They played that song in front of Jerry Jeff, And he loved it
Tape 1, Side 2:
Terry Allen, 1993, Madras, India, Impresario- Adendum, Promoter/ agent, Gave his number to Terry, 2 styles, Satar, Ranshakar, Tabla – 2 little drums, Sorode- type of plucking instrument, Hindu Sanic music- North, South- Carnadic, The darker skinned traditional Hindu- old style, Vina- double gorded instrument, People with Carnadic style is who Terry Allen got involved with, Bob was in Caralo- 16 hour train ride away, Hotel Canamara, Met at a restaurant, Cut four songs, Yo ho ho, New Delhi freight train, Big Ole White Boys, Indian musicians enjoyed the music with the funny lyrics
Tape 2, Side 1:
Austin, City Council, Cowboys and Indians tour (Bob Livingston Trio), Bob Livingston Trio is the music ambassadors for the Austin, Sound, Susan Herndon, Met her on the internet, She got him a couple of gigs, The Blue Door- Oklahoma, They wrote a song, Oklahoma Girl, John Hadley- lives in Norman, Introduced them, He helped with some of the lyrics, Bob started yodeling, They had other songs too, Ruby’s Shoes, Jill Jones- yodeler to possibly do the yodel part of the song, Collaborating, You have to accept the fact that someone will come up, With a line that you don’t like, Reed- would let Bob edit the lyrics, Sometimes people would throw in one line, do you give, Credit to someone for that one line?, That is the biggest question for lyric writing credit, John did not want credit for Till Death do us Part, Richard Bratagain, Poet, “A lacy leaf of lettuce fell off my plate…so what”, Public Domain, The place and the idea for the song, This is one of Andy’s favorite songs, There are a few different versions of the song, Which version do you sing, Bob says it matters who sings it, Bob mixed up the lyrics in Geronimo’s Cadillac, Jerry Jeff- Sangria Wine he always changes the location, Based on where he is singing it
Access Information
Original Recording Format:
Recording Format Notes:
Transcript: Transcript available on Dspace
https://swco-ir.tdl.org/handle/10605/358787
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.
