Henry, Liz and Schaefer, Daniel 2009-05-25
Liz Henry and Daniel Schaefer discuss Keith Ferguson
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Liz Henry and Daniel Schaefer
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: May 25, 2009
Location:
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 02:10:24
Abstract
Daniel Schaefer: Meeting Keith, Knew him the longest out of Liz and himself, Connie told Keith that he should meet Daniel, The Thunderbirds recording at Third Coast Sound, Schaefer was listening to Homero Guerrero, one of the Cadetes De Linardes who died from a car accident, Played all Cadetes music Homenaje song, Keith came and asked who was listening to that music, and then invited Schaefer to his house, Keith knew all about Homero, Schaefer’s relationship with Keith wasn’t through blues music, it was through Conjuntos music, Schaefer would translate things for Keith, Daniel Schaefer, Dropped out in the love it or leave it era, Lived in a commune in Oaxaca with Mexican Hippies, Thrown in jail, taken to Mexico City, Went to Texas, Knew some friends in Austin, Came because there was a Mexican Embassy, Got a room to stay at the Alamo hotel, which is no longer there, Blood bank across the street and Man Power was down the street, Grew up in Central Minnesota, Married and divorced, Went to the desert in Arizona and started eating peyote, Fell in with the commune, Mexican Hippies, Remnants of a hacienda that was built in 1750, Adobe walls, Dilapidated chapel, If you worked, you could stay, Had a job as a carpenters assistant, the manager owned Third Coast Sound, Manager also had a darkroom, Learned to be a photographer so he could make extra money, Started working for Richard at Third Coast Studios, Started making money with pictures, Did head shots for actors, Richard is a famous cinematographer, Shot stills for brochures made 5,000-8,000, Benny Romero: owned Conjuntos clubs, Keith told Benny to teach Daniel the three cords, Los Pocaholics: Music group of Daniel and Liz, Wrote a song, How the chronicle “shot bullets into Keith’s dead body”, Met Liz through Keith, French band, post tailgaters, The Rever Brothers, Bazile Cauliopolis, The fortune tellers, Drummer was Allen, Keith, El Grecko, Keith had a long solo, Has a cool groove, Doesn’t play conjunto right but he tries, Used to keep beers in the fridge for Keith, Liz Henry: Meeting Keith, In 1989 moved to Austin, Played guitar and flute, Became hooked on base, Next door neighbor suggested that she go and listen to the tailgaters, Platonic relationship, No one would ask Liz out because they didn’t want to make Keith made, Lived in many places over her lifetime, Was Liaison between Keith and Margaret for years, Had become acquainted with Keith over the telephone, Had long phone conversations, Fantasia came to town and Keith said “oh that’s a terrible movie!” because it was too close to the heart for a child, Does photography, The night Keith had went into the hospital, Liz wasn’t aware and had been writing him a thank you letter for letting her stay with him, Wasn’t going to see Keith in the hospital because they had a conversation where they said if you’re in the hospital dying you know who your friends are and if they are your friend you don’t want them to watch you die looking all cruddy, Keith, Plays so well, National Hollow body base, Special sound, Made people feel the music, People came from all over the world to pay homage, Technique, Had no patience for the bajo, President of the East Austin Car Club and didn’t even have a car or a license, Grew up in Montrose, Hung out with all the Mexicans, Had a job switching out records, Started taking a interest in conjunto music, Mix of English and Spanish blues, Greasers, Groids and others was how he separated his music, Showed no mercy in his humor, Keith would not turn down gigs, Would play with anyone, Did not like to rehearse, Wasn’t too good not to play with anybody, Played with confidence but not too much, Heroine was a protection so that he wouldn’t get emotional, Doesn’t like when people got emotional with him, Ralph’s dog died and Ralph was crying and went to hug Keith and he didn’t hug back, Keith would buy turtles and let them go, “Parking a turtle”, Loved fish sticks, Could sleep standing up, Sensitive, Compassionate, Didn’t like to be patronized, Generous, Gave people his clothing, Gave Liz a scarf, Daniel had a scarf that Jimmy Hendrix had given Keith, Oil painting of Keith, Was usually right, Keith was offensively right, Keith was never late to a gig, Keith addiction never affected his bass playing according to Liz, Didn’t like travelling because he didn’t make money or something major would change, He was scared that something bad would happen, He was a home body, Toured a lot with the T-birds and it was difficult for him, Jimmy Vaughn was on a late night show and Keith was glad that he had done well despite his difficulties speaking, Misses all the music that he never got to make with the Thunderbirds and Jimmy, Keith thought Jimmy was a better guitar player than Stevie, Adored his grandmother Effie, Had a turquoise colored house, Music is his legacy, Bass playing summed him up, Not flashy, Adored Terry Allen, Neil Meldrum, Lives in Bancory, Scotland, Keeps in touch with Margaret, Wrote a book, Musicologists, Works for an oil plant in the North Sea, Knows music and the blues, Great source, Article in the Chronicle, Written about Keith after he died, Liz was there for the interview, The Chronicle twisted Keith’s words, Came out in Dallas before Keith died, Josh Freidman wrote the article, Keith considered him a friend, Liz feels that Keith had been betrayed, “The born loser”, Ronald the tattoo artist, Mike Malone inherited a tattoo parlor, World famous tattoo artist, Keith and Ronald had a relationship that was all their own, Delighted in each other’s company, Margaret and Ronald were married, 1991-1996 Liz lived with Keith, The last part of the year Liz was in and out, Key things Keith Influenced, Keith tied together the Austin Renaissance, The blues scene 1970s, Everyone wanted Keith to be in their band, It was his attitude, fearlessness, and style, Keith taught a lot of friend’s how to do things, Shifted focus from Chicago blues to Mississippi blues, Very vulnerable, Clifford Antone and Keith, Keith went out with one of Clifford’s girlfriends, The girl like Keith better, Clifford never got over it, Clifford was a powerful person, Keith was black balled from Antone’s, Clifford was indicted
Access Information
Original Recording Format:
Recording Format Notes:
Transcript: No transcript available
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.
