Gillette, Pipp and Guy 2010-08-24
This interview is about the musical life of Guy and Pip Gillette. They discuss their musical interests and the different bands that they were in
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Pipp and Guy Gillette
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: August 24, 2010
Location: Crockett, Texas
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 01:28:51
Abstract
Material, Oh Susanna, Cowboy influence, John Thorp’s book, Old Man Tucker- grandfather would sing it, Cover song, You have to do it exactly as the original for it to be a cover song, They did the songs, just not “cover songs”, Don Edwards, The one who told them that Black Cowboys exist Andy, Discovered blues in west Texas via the Rolling Stones, Gillette’s parents, Opera, Folk music, Country blues, They listened to their parents records, Pre reggae music, Margaret Berry, Yonkers, Saw the Beetles on the Ed Sullivan show, Pipp- 8th grade started playing drums, Guy – saw them from a television in a hotel – Bass, Pip worked in bars when he was under age, All their songs were instrumentals, Guy sang St. James Infirmary, They would play lead lines of the Stones, The Road Runners, New Yorkers knew who it was by the show, Then it was renamed the Purple Road Runner -60’s, Then they became Big River, They would play with two drummers, Mike, Tommy, Pipp, Guy, They were not making any money, The two of them started playing in coffee houses, Played up and down the east coast, Late 70’s early 80’s, 1983, The ranch was deteriorating, Lieber and Stoller, Thoughts, At the time, their dad was saw, Texas, Started playing music right away, Tail end of “beer joints”, Huge wooden dance floor, Ice houses, Marinas, Alex Trapman- Tex Owen, “Cattle call”, Missouri Clog Hoppers, The boys changed their names to the Gillette Brothers, Cover songs, House band job, The paper moon- the Armadillo, Liquor laws changed- shut down the bars, Similar to the Cotton Club- Lubbock, Texas Road Houses- the whole family went, East Texas- Matilda, Bob Seeger – I love that old time rock n roll, The Armadillo- Trinity County, Events, Cowboy Symposium, Lubbock, Texas, Chuck Wagon Cooking, Dutch oven cooking, 1990, Peak of gatherings in Texas, Balance, Working and operating a house, Never really stayed away, Played in the Soviet Union once, Moscow- record breaking cold, 1978, From here forward, Just go along with it, Small effect on the decline in the type of cowboy music, Museums do not exist to much anymore, The Ranching Heritage Center, Camp Street, 80 people comfortably, Ronald Radford, Cajun Music, Cowboy music, Actors, A variety of things, A dying concept, Their grandfather built the building, Rented the building out, The first place people would come to straight off of plantations, Lucy May Blue, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, Frankie Lee, Texas Johnny Brown- recognized Camp Street, Crockett, Statue, Female Barber, Lightning Hopkins would come in and play, They loved him, So they commemorated him by making a statue of him, Jim Jeffery’s, 4 generations of his family was at the unveiling
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