Thursday, February 28, 2008
By Carl Hoover
Tribune-Herald entertainment editor
Texas notches its 172nd Texas Independence Day on Sunday, and what better way to mark the occasion than by singing a song about Texas.
But which one?
Shane Howard performs "Texas in 1880" by Radney Foster
There’s the state song, “Texas, Our Texas,” which millions of Lone Star school kids have dutifully memorized since the Texas Legislature, that font of musical discernment, adopted it as the state song in a 1929 resolution.
There are songs that feel like part of the state’s folk heritage, such as “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” one version of which dates back to Sam Houston’s first presidential term, and “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” even though the latter was written by June Hershey and Don Swander in 1941 and first recorded by — clap, clap, clap, clap — non-Texan Perry Como.
There are classic country and western swing standards: Ernest Tubb’s “Waltz Across Texas”; Johnny Gimble’s “Under the X in Texas”; and Cindy Walker’s “You’re From Texas.” A later generation would grow up with the likes of “Luckenbach, Texas,” “What I Like About Texas” or “London Homesick Blues” and its go-home-with-the-armadillo opening.
Whitey Shafer made a catchy hit for George Strait by rhyming the state with the byproduct of divorce, while thousands of University of Texas graduates think their school song, “The Eyes of Texas,” actually is the state song.
Throw in songs that reference Texas geography — San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso, Abilene, Austin, Amarillo, Houston, Galveston, the Brazos River — and you have a whole chapter in the Songs About Texas songbook.
Writers Jeff McCord and John Morthland tackled the subject four years ago in a Texas Monthly article “The 100 Best Texas Songs,” but their definition of a Texas song was anything performed by a person born in Texas or who spent a good part of his or her performing career in the state — a criterion about as porous as the Texas-Mexico border.
Proof? Their No. 1 Texas song was “She’s About a Mover” by the Sir Douglas Quintet. A fun bit of ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll, but nothing to make Gov. Rick Perry’s boots stand at attention.
McCord and Morthland may have been on to something, though. We asked a handful of Waco-area musicians and radio personalities for their favorite song about Texas and found a diversity wide as the state: Though some songs specifically name-dropped Texas towns and culture, just as many were about a vaguely Texas state of mind.
So happy Independence Day, Texas. May your citizens always sing your praises — and if they don’t, there are songs about that, too.
David Zychek — “London Homesick Blues,” Gary P. Nunn
Johnnie Bradshaw — “Red and Rio Grande,” Doug Supernaw; favorite to perform, “Miles and Miles of Texas,” Tommy Camfield and Diane Johnson, recorded by Bob Wills
Ken Frazier — “San Antonio Rose,” Bob Wills
Bill Gerick, Jonquil Street — “Miles and Miles of Texas”
Kimberly Kelly — “The Best of Texas,” Kimberly Kelly
Shane Howard, Shane Howard Band — “Texas in 1880,” Radney Foster
Matt Shroyer, Nate Rodriguez and the Unlikely Criminals — “Texas Angel,” Honeybrowne
Rita Jones — “Life’s Too Short Not To Live In Texas,” Rita Jones; “Waltz Across Texas,” Ernest Tubb
Gordon Collier, Gordon Collier Band — “Texas On My Mind,” Django Walker
Jim Cody, WACO-FM — “God Blessed Texas,” Little Texas
Zack Owen, WACO-FM — “All My Exes Live In Texas” Whitey Shafer
Max Tooker, KBGO-FM — “Margaritaville,” Jimmy Buffett (who reportedly wrote the song after driving through Texas on his way to Florida)
Donnie Berger, Branded Heart — “Texas,” George Strait
Lorna Willhelm, Maiden Voyage — “Under the X in Texas,” Johnny Gimble
choover@wacotrib.com
757-5749
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