#T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole

[punlio]

Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill -  T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole // 1989

https://www.last.fm/music/T.+Tex+Edwards+&+Out+On+Parole/Pardon+Me,+I%27ve+Got+Someone+to+Kill

#last.fm #Tex Edwards #Out on Parole #Pardon Me I've Got Someone to Kill #album art

[grit-and-glamour]

T. Tex Edwards is an unsung pioneer of cowpunk & honky tonk murder ballads who started out in the '70s with the punk band Nervebreakers. His first solo album (with Out on Parole backing) was a stroke of demented genius that caused a stir when released by cult label Sympathy for the Record Industry Records. Later records with The Loafin' Hyenas & a collection INTEXICATED followed. -- JT Lindroos 

   After playing around Austin for a few years, this version of Out On Parole went into Cris Burns' South Austin studio in 2011 & recorded a whole bunch of tunes that we had been playing live. Here are the first batch of eight. A second album from these sessions with even more songs with follow later on this year.

To download this fine collection of tunes follow the link....

https://ttexedwards.bandcamp.com/album/devil-get-away-from-me?from=fanpub_fnb&utm_source=album_release&utm_medium=email&utm_content=fanpub_fnb

[ttexed]

The Rubber Room · T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole

from the Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill album

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWjUBYyjdmg)

#t. tex edwards #porter wagoner #sympathy for the record industry #saustex records #out on parole

[ch-dld-bft-brit-omm]

Crazy Date · T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole

Tex-vocals, Joe Dickens-guitar, Rev. Ottis Moon/Wayne Buckner-piano, Linda Shaw-bass, Freddie Krc-drums/rub board... Recorded in Austin, Texas 1984...

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYePweeE8Bg)

[t-tex-edwards]

For those of you who enjoy 'The Country Side of T. Tex Edwards', here's "That Wild & Wicked Look In Your Eye"

https://ttexedwards.bandcamp.com/track/that-wild-wicked-look-in-your-eye from I Got It Bad by T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole

#t. tex edwards #t. tex edwards & out on parole #Bandcamp

[t-tex-edwards]

http://atlantatimemachine.com/misc/porter1.htm

Welcome, Porter Wagoner fans.

The next several pages are a a bit of a departure as they don't have much to do with this website's normal topic, that of Atlanta history.  Instead, they are intended to serve as an appreciation of one of the coolest album covers ever unleashed on the music buying public.  If you've glanced over to the right, then you're probably already aware of the fact that I'm referring to Porter Wagoner's Cold Hard Facts Of Life LP.

In Aug. 2004, I headed up to Nashville for a little fun and relaxation and while there decided to do a little exploring to see if I could find the location used by Porter Wagoner for the brilliantly twisted cover photo of his 1966 RCA album The Cold Hard Facts of Life.  Having been fascinated with the album cover for well over a decade, this seemed to me like a reasonable way to spend a little vacation time.

Fortunately, I had with me a copy of the album cover itself and Steve Eng's fact-filled 1992 biography of Porter Wagoner.  The book, A Satisfied Mind: The Country Music Life of Porter Wagoner, (Rutledge Hill Press) is well worth tracking down if you're a fan of Porter's.

If you're not familiar with The Cold Hard Facts of Life,  you can click hereand give it a listen.  The song, one of the best cheating records in all of country music, is the story of a hapless stiff who returns home from a trip a day early only to  find out his wife hasn't been entirely faithful.  For a visual reference, see the album cover to your right.

On second thought,  the song The Cold Hard Facts of Life was written by Bill Anderson, who was raised in the Atlanta suburb of Avondale Estates and attended the University of Georgia.  So, upon reflection, there is a local history connection here after all.

As far as this mission was concerned, the paydirt paragraph in the Porter Wagoner biography is the final paragraph on page 159, in which the author reveals that the photograph for the LP cover was taken in Porter's own apartment, amazingly enough.    Fortunately, he also divulges the name of the building and the number of the apartment Porter inhabited!

What was a star of Wagoner's stature doing living in a tiny apartment in the first place?  Well, in 1965 Porter's marriage fell apart and he moved out of his family's home and into the Americana Apartments.

Upon arriving at 1906 Chet Atkins Place (South Street, back in the days that Porter resided there) it was very good to see that the Americana Apartments building was still standing.  

After getting the photo on the right, I headed inside to go snap a picture of the door of apartment #104 where the cover for the Cold Hard Facts of Life LP was shot.

After getting a picture of the door, I decided to see if anyone was home so I could share with the current resident the story of who used to live in his apartment.  I figured that anyone living there should definitely know such information.

Fortunately, as mentioned earlier, I had with me a of copy the LP itself and the Porter Wagoner biography that revealed that the photo was taken in the doorway of Porter's very own apartment.  It's probably always a good idea to have some documentation with you if you're going to knock on a stranger's door and try to convince him that Porter Wagoner used to live there.

After knocking on the door, though, no one answered so I reluctantly decided to head out.  On the way down the hall, I noticed a sign saying something like "If you need assistance, please knock on the manager's door."  Determined to share the information with somebody, I figured I'd burden the building manager with the story.  So I banged on his door and while waiting for an answer, a guy entered the building and walked past on his way down the hall toward apartment #104.  We exchanged courteous nods as he walked by and headed for, you guessed it, Porter's old apartment.

When I noticed he was reaching for his keys as he approached the door in question, I blurted out, "Excuse me....do you live in apt. #104?"

"Yep."

His name was Brandon and I showed him the album cover photo and the text in the biography that verified that he was indeed living in Porter Wagoner's old apartment.  Like any sensible person, he seemed to think that this was pretty cool.

Brandon was a very good sport and when  I asked if he'd mind if I posed in the doorway and stood in Porter's place for a photo, he graciously agreed.

Apart from furnishings and the fact that the cinder block walls were no longer dark green, almost nothing had changed within the apartment.

So there you have it, Porter Wagoner fans.  Who says there is no fun to be had in Nashville?

Compare and contrast!  The cover of the Cold Hard Facts of Life LP was obviously the source for artist Bob Frye, who created a brilliantly sleazy homage to Porter Wagoner's album cover for a painting that was used for the cover of a T. Tex Edwards LP in the early 1990's.  The LP (Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill) was released on the Sympathy For The Record Industry label (SFTRI 43) and, like the Porter Wagoner LP, includes the song The Cold Hard Facts of Life.

#porter wagoner #t. tex edwards #T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole #atlanta #the cold hard facts of life #atlanta time machine #greg germani #bill anderson #A Satisfied Mind: The Country Music Life of Porter Wagoner #Sympathy For The Record Industry

[t-tex-edwards]

Today in 1983 in Oklahoma City, we played a Friday/Saturday pair of gigs at The Bowery, a club in the basement of a building, that our manager, Curtis Hawkins had booked to get us out of Dallas. 

The Oklahoma liquor laws were interesting. Liquor-by-the-drink could not be sold legally at that time in Oklahoma. So behind the bar, sat rows of liquor bottles with names taped on them, alleging that each patron had brought their own bottle with them for the bar to make them mixed drinks. Which of course was not true, but necessary, for the club to be able to create the facade of following the law.  I later learned Texas had been the same way up through the 1960s, but by the time I had turned of legal age, liquor-by-the-drink had been legalized. 

In Oklahoma City, we met lots of cool people. Basile & Miho Kolliopoulos, Greek brothers who had a band called The Fortune Tellers. Basile had previously lived in New York City & played with the great band, The Senders, for short period. Wayne Buckner & his then-wife Stava (who was French), let me crash overnight at their home. Much later, in 1984, I would start a band in Austin with Wayne, who became the Reverend Ottis Moon, & named our new outfit Out On Parole.

The photo on the flyer is funny. Because I was a city boy & had never owned a saddle, or ridden a horse more than a few times as a kid visiting a relative's ranch down in south Texas. But one of the girls I ran around with, Barbara LoMonaco, came from a family that was well off & owned horses & saddles. She also dabbled in photography & took the shot used on this flyer. However, I did already own the hat, by the way...

A couple of years before, my fellow Nervebreaker Mike Haskins & I, had started a rockabilly/C&W side band, & named it Tex & the Saddletramps as a joke. Thus I became "Tex" & here I was carrying my saddle...

#t. tex edwards #tex & the saddletramps #the bowery #oklahoma city #the fortune tellers #wayne buckner #out on parole #rev ottis moon #king curtis hawkins #barbara lomonaco #basile kolliopulos #the senders

[t-tex-edwards]

My Brand of Blues, Marvin Rainwater, & me...

Marvin Rainwater was an American country & rockabilly singer/songwriter who was born in Wichita, Kansas. He had several hits during the late 1950s, including "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" & "Whole Lotta Woman," which hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart. He was known for wearing Native American-themed outfits on stage & claimed to have quarter-blood Cherokee ancestry. 

“My Brand Of Blues” was one of several gold records he scored in 1959. The other two being "My Love Is Real" & "Half Breed”, a cover version of a John D. Loudermilk song. That same year, he recorded the original version of another Loudermilk song, "The Pale Faced Indian”, which later became a huge hit for Paul Revere & The Raiders under the title "Indian Reservation”. 

“My Brand of Blues” has an eerie, tortured love theme & an early Johnny Cash-type feel. I first heard it on a ‘MGM Rockabilliy Collection’ album released in Europe in 1977 that I bought as an import a couple of years later. It was among the first several batch of tunes I suggested to guitarist Joe Dickens when we started putting together the earliest version of the Out On Parole band in 1984. Not an easy song to play because of the almost arbitrary number of times playing the riff before the vocals come in each time, “My Brand of Blues” languished at the bottom of the song list & was performed infrequently. When Out On Parole reformed in the 21st century, the song was revitalized & made the cut for the 2011 sessions that birthed the new DEVIL GET AWAY FROM ME album.

"My Brand of Blues" by T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole LISTEN & DOWNLOAD at: https://ttexedwards.bandcamp.com/track/my-brand-of-blues

#t.tex edwards #t. tex edwards & out on parole #marvin rainwater #joe dickens

[t-tex-edwards]

Get it here: https://ttexedwards.bandcamp.com/album/devil-get-away-from-me

#t.tex edwards #t. tex edwards & out on parole #bandcamp #jd lindroos #devil get away from me

[t-tex-edwards]

Unleashed Thursday, Feb. 2nd, T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole's long-awaited 2nd album, DEVIL GET AWAY FROM ME will be available at: 

https://ttexedwards.bandcamp.com  Just in time for Bandcamp Friday (Feb. 3rd), where Bandcamp waves their revenue share to help support artists on Bandcamp.

#bandcamp friday #t. tex edwards #out on parole #devil get away from me #groundhog day #t. tex edwards & out on parole

[t-tex-edwards]

I’ve been trading comments with Cowboy Hank whose been posting his reactions to a bunch of George Jones albums he snagged ”recently at an antique mall in Cabarrus County” on his @just_record_stuff page on Instagram. I was telling him about George & Melba Montgomery’s great tune, “Feudin’ & Fighting” (https://youtu.be/znoBWksdyTo) about bickering couples. 

It reminded me of the very first incarnation of Out On Parole right after I’d moved down to Austin in 1984 or ’85. So I dug out this photo, don’t remember who shot it, at the first OOP gig ever, at The Continental Club opening for the LeRoi Brothers. 

To the left is the ‘Hillbilly Intellectual’ Joe Dickens on guitar, Mike Buck somewhere back there on drums, me & Alice Berry (AKA Lorena Jo Bodine) upfront in almost matching outfits, Linda Shaw on bass, swigging a last minute beer before the show started, & lurking in the shadows someplace, Wayne Buckner AKA the Reverend Ottis Moon on pianer. Included in the set was a version of the aforementioned “Feudin’ & Fighting”, where Alice & I had to spit that wordy song out at the breakneck pace we played it at. Yes, some of the lyrics got mangled…

#t. tex edwards #out on parole #t. tex edwards & out on parole #cowboy hank #george jones #melba montgomery #feudin & fighting #the contineental club #joe dickens #the hillbilly intellectual #mike buck #alice berry #lorena jo bodine #linda shaw #wayne buckner #rev ottis moon #1985

[t-tex-edwards]

Sound Off: T. Tex Edwards and Out on Parole

http://www.austinsound.net/2009/10/26/sound-off-t-tex-edwards-and-out-on-parole/

Austin Sound the independent music source for austin

By Austin Sound • Oct 26th, 2009 • Category: Featured Story, Sound Off • Back in the late Seventies and early Eighties, T. Tex Edwards helped define the “cowpunk” sound in Texas, first with the Cramps-ian ferocity of The Nervebreakers and later with the rootsier pull of his projects that would evolve into T. Tex Edwards and Out on Parole. At times twisted and brooding, T. Tex Edwards’ brand of psycho-billy trolls the darker edges of Americana with a surly Texas swagger and irreverence that rips rockabilly and jungle-twang. Edwards is preparing a career compilation album for release early next year, as well as a new Nervebreakers record, but this Saturday, Oct. 31, you can spend Halloween with the legend and fellow local icons as T. Tex Edwards and Out on Parole desecrate the Hole in the Wall alongside the notorious Hickoids and the Gay Sportscasters featuring guitar giant Evan Johns. Also, we highly recommend following http://twitter.com/Ttexedfor some incomparable history lessons!

Profile: T. Tex Edwards Year Formed: The original Out On Parole was back in the 1980’s, my first go-round living in Austin. I moved back here in the late 90’s & we reformed OOP when our album got re-released on CD by Saustex in 2007. Members/Instruments played: The current Out On Parole has: Joe Dickens, “Big Jeff” Keyton & Chad Nichols on guitars, J.J. Barrera or Pat Collins on bass, & usually Mike Buck or Karen Biller on drums, but Jonie Hell is filling in this Halloween at the Hole. Former Bands/Side Projects: Nervebreakers, Tex & the Saddletramps, Out On Parole, The Loafin’ Hyenas, Swingin’ Cornflake Killers, & The Affordable Caskets. /Recorded one-off singles with the Hickoids, Lithium X-mas, disGraceland, & Fireworks. Albums: Nervebreakers:

We Want Everything (Existential Vacuum LP/Get Hip CD), Hijack the Radio! (Rave Up LP) 2010 CD release of a new Nervebreakers album, Face Up to Reality;

with Out On Parole: Pardon Me, I’ve Got Someone To Kill (Sympathy for the Record Industry LP ‘89/Saustex CD ‘07) The Loafin’ Hyenas: The Loafin’ Hyenas (New Rose LP/CD ‘91) with Swingin’ Cornflake Killers: Up Against the Floor (Honey CD ‘96) upcoming CD, Intexicated!, a “best of” collection of T. Tex Edwards hits, near-misses, one-off’s, & oddities (1982-2001). Influences: Numerous, from all over the place. Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music: The couple that met at one of my gigs years ago, both having “Psycho” as their favorite song, & then wanting me to play it at their wedding. Favorite local bands: Eve & the Exiles, Transgressors, Victims of Leisure, Leroi Brothers, Churchwood, Hickoids, Cold Hard Facts, Uglybeats, Jesse Sublett… Favorite local venue: This week, the Hole-in-the-Wall. Next month, I think we will be at Roadhouse Rags, so that will be… Upcoming shows scheduled: Oct. 31 - Hole Some of your favorite albums from the past year: The Movie Star Junkies from Italy & the Plastic Pals from Sweden. Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour: The Only Ones. Austin Sound questions: You were at the forefront of the Cowpunk scene back in the late 70s and 80s. Looking back, how much do feel that that scene’s emergence was in reaction to the popularity of progressive country in Texas? Well it was sometimes called “regressive country” or “punktry & western” back then. Do y’all have anything special planned for the Halloween show? I guess we’re obligated to do costumes. I hear JJ��s gonna be an executioner. I haven’t come up with anything yet. And alot of our material is especially creepy as it is. Song Introduction: “Move It’ is one of two of my songs covered by other artists, by the Leroi Brothers on the Lucky Lucky Me LP from 1985, (the other being “If Looks Could Kill” covered by Texas Terri). Sound Off: We still do the “psycho-country” murder ballads, but also jungle-rhythmed 6o’s pop-psych surfed trash dark-side-of-the-hick fun stuff too… Mp3s: Move It: http://www.austinsound.net/dl/MoveIt.mp3 Psycho: http://www.austinsound.net/dl/psycho.mp3 Websites: Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ttexedwardsTagged as: T. Tex Edwards

#t. tex edwards #austin sound #out on parole #2009 #the nervebreakers #psycho country #murder ballads #hole in the wall #austin #cowpunk

[t-tex-edwards]

Janbo Beatle (in His Smitty t-shirt) with Pat Todd...

#pat todd #janbo beatle #smitty #t.tex edwards #T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole

[t-tex-edwards]

Ad for Chris Coleman's WHAT A NICE WAY TO TURN SEVENTEEN #7 that never made it out... The accompanying record was to include "Crazy Date" by T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole.

#t. tex edwards #T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole #what a nice way to turn seventeen #1988 #chris coleman #panther burns #fanzines #british zines

[t-tex-edwards]

T. Tex Edwards and Out On Parole

Owl Tree Roasting Party (SXSW March 2009) Photo by James Foster Video by Bob Childress

#t. tex edwards #T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole #2009 #psycho #SXSW #owl tree roasting #james foster #bob childress #death country #austin #young george #george jones

[t-tex-edwards]

"I Like Whiskey" (J. Dickens) - T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole (Joe Dickens, Michael Maye, & Mike Buck)

Live at the Black Cat Lounge - Austin 1988/9 video by Hank Sinatra

#t. tex edwards #out on parole #t. tex edwards & out on parole #the black cat lounge #austin #joe dickens #michael maye #mike buck #hank sinatra #live video #1988