One Hundred Fifty Years Of Texas Music
Back in 1985, my father’s band, The Light Crust Doughboys, recorded an album that was meant to focus on Texas music, some present, mostly passed. Country music wasn’t invented in Fort Worth, Texas, but Western Swing was. Bob Wills started as a Light Crust Doughboy, as did most of the great talent from the 1930s onward. I was fortunate to have known every man on this record for my entire life. The members on this album were: Jim Boyd, vocals and rhythm guitar; Jerry Elliot, vocals and electric guitar; my father, Johnny Strawn, fiddle, electric mandolin, and vocals; Bill Simmons- keyboard; Elden Graham, stand-up bass; Marc Jaco, electric bass; Maurice Anderson, pedal steel guitar; Dale Cook-drums; Phil Strawn, five-string banjo; and Gary Murray, announcer. The album was recorded at Sumet-Burnet Sound Studios in Dallas, Texas, in April of 1985. Recording engineers were Bob Sullivan and Bobby Dennis. It was produced by Marvin Montgomery.
Songs on the album, in order, are: Side One 1. The Light Crust Doughboy Theme Song. 2. The Yellow Rose of Texas, 3. When The Bloom Is On The Sage, 4. Texas In My Soul, 5. Beautiful Texas, 6. Waiting For A Train, 7. Old Joe Clark with myself on five string banjo and my father on fiddle, 8.Tumbling Tumble Weeds, 9. You’re from Texas, composed by the legendary Cindy Walker. Side 2, 1. If You’re Gonna Play In Texas You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band, 2. Amarillo By Morning, 3. Across The Alley From The Alamo, 4. In The Mood, done the Texas western swing way, 5. Does Fort Worth Evdr Cross Your Mind, 6. Sure ‘Nuf Texan, 7. Texas When I Die, 8. Closing radio them, the song the band has always used since their inception in the early 1930s.
They are inductees into the Western Swing Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and are part of the Country And Western Hall of Fame ( Chet Atkins always decided who would be inducted )
I traveled with these men for many miles, driving their van, loading and setting up their equipment, and playing bass, guitar, and banjo when one of them was ill and couldn’t make the show. Smokey Montgomery made me an official member of the band in 1984, which was the greatest honor any musician could dream of. The one cut from the album included in this post features my father (fiddle) and me (five-string banjo) playing the old 1800s standard, “Old Joe Clark,” with the rest of the Light Crust Doughboy band. We may grow old and die, but our music lives on forever.
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All very impressive! (And I see some albums are available on Amazon.)
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There are some on Amazon, I have all of them, some multiple copies and signed. I was present at most of rhe recording sessions in the booth with Bob Sullivan.
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This is AWESOME! Simply awesome!I met Smokey several times as a kid, but I started playing with the Dough Boys dance band regularly
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I remember all of that. I think Smokey wanted us to take the reins of the band at one time, but you and I were the only ones playing instruments.
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Yes, exactly on point as usual Phil. Continue that awesome writing.
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Great stuff, Phil! Y’all sound excellent!
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What an incredible musical heritage and legacy, Phil! Congratulations on being a part of it. I gave the track a listen and enjoyed it a lot!
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It was a great recording session and a great album. All of them except myself have been gone a long time.
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Love The Light Crust Doughboy’s happy, high-energy song you included in your post. The fiddle playing is fabulous, and the fingerpicking on the banjo is impressive! 🙂
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Thanks, Nancy. I was picking the standard tune, and my father was adding the harmonies and fill-ins. The entire recording session lasted 4 days.
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Well, your talent is obvious. Your father must have been a fabulous mentor. 🎻🪕
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He was. I was never pushed to be a musician, but it was in my dna and I lived my life around it. In later years, we became a family of homebuilders but still stayed musicians. Many of the members of his band became mentors to me. They all had families, good values and passed those things on to the children of the band members. I miss them all.
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You have a wonderful legacy, Phil. Thank you for sharing your family’s captivating stories.😁
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Genius!From, Alan Lattaalan@generationspeople.orgP. O. Box 5005 Granbury, TX 76049
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Thank you, Alan.
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Classic Texas music! There’s nothing else like it. As I was growing up, we didn’t have a lot of LPs but our folks had several Bob Wills albums. Loved them, clicks, pops and all.
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We had a lot of the old 78s when I was a child, then into teen years it was all vinyl records, I still have almost all of them. I have all of my dads albums. Nothing like that original warm pop and crackle sound.
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