In 1994, sculptor Cindy Debold met the Grey Ghost. Her first impression of the legendary blues pianist born Roosevelt Williams was that he was rather frail and shy. He was 90 at the time. The Grey Ghost arrived at Debold’s …
Who was Mr. Bojangles?
Polka Dot Slim. Pork Chops. Babe Stovall. Re-Pete. They are the nicknames of African American street performers who worked the New Orleans’ French Quarter in the early and mid-1960s. One of them is likely Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles.” The …
Jerry Jeff Walker memorial was like a deep dive into his archives
Tales of a pilfered puppy in Nashville, campfire songs in Ohio, sangria wine in Coconut Grove. Jerry Jeff Walker was remembered with affection and honored in song at an outdoor memorial tribute concert for 1,000 fans and friends in Luckenbach …
Read More "Jerry Jeff Walker memorial was like a deep dive into his archives"
Original ‘Mr. Bojangles’ lyrics on display at The Wittliff
The earliest known surviving set of Jerry Jeff Walker’s handwritten lyrics for “Mr. Bojangles” exist because a plucky young guitar repairman in New Jersey asked Walker to write them down so he could learn the song. Walker wasn’t yet a …
Read More "Original ‘Mr. Bojangles’ lyrics on display at The Wittliff"
“Hollywood Mad Dogs” now available in The Wittliff’s Literary Series
Before his death in 2009, legendary Texas author Edwin “Bud” Shrake completed a final novel, Hollywood Mad Dogs. This rollicking tale is based on his real-life adventures as a Hollywood screenwriter in the 1970s, where he penned films starring Dennis …
Read More "“Hollywood Mad Dogs” now available in The Wittliff’s Literary Series"
Jerry Jeff Walker: The First Demo
The recording was unearthed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in January 2018, more than a half century after it was made. The audio captured on the portable reel-to-reel tape machine – a German-made UHER 4000 Report-L popular in the early 1960s …
Developing characters at the Austin Film Festival
Editor’s Note: For the past several years, the Austin Film Festival has been busy digitizing their recordings of the festival panels, which they’ve maintained since the first year in 1994. That’s over 25 years’ worth of conversations from the best …
Read More "Developing characters at the Austin Film Festival"
The long journey to restoring “The History of Ranching.”
In 1950 the Wimberley, Texas artist James Buchanan “Buck” Winn was commissioned by the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio to paint The History of Ranching, a massive mural to adorn the walls of the Corral, the brewery’s oval-shaped hospitality room. …
Read More "The long journey to restoring “The History of Ranching.”"
“It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” in Tennessee and Texas
By Wittliff staff member, Library Specialist, Sherri Turner-Herrmann. Rock and roll hit me like a freight train early on. When I was 8, my cousin introduced me to Alice Cooper and that’s when the first train hit. Shock rock, hard …
Read More "“It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” in Tennessee and Texas"
The Moving Sidewalks meet Jimi Hendrix
Texas music lovers hold ZZ Top especially dear. After 50 years, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard feel more like friends than rock icons. Here at The Wittliff Collections, we love ’em, too. The new Netflix documentary “ZZ Top: …
THE KEYSTONE 