Eladixxblogger: Oklahoma Connections To American Music
Even in the summer of 1969, I had no television in my room in one of the high-rise, Oklahoma State University dorms. The only television was on the mirranda, which was a large floor, above the ground floor, that had steps leading up to it. I had won a Economics, summer workshop at OSU, that started about June 1 through July 30. There were about 75 high school teachers from all over the United States, gathered to study Economics, and get some ideas, with which we could take back to our high school Economics class.

On the first day, I set the dress-code, ... BIG TIME. Everyone else showed up in white shirts and ties and beautiful dresses, except me. I showed up in "Jesus sandals," bermuda shorts, and a ripped-up, t-shirt.

The roll call gave us each a time to tell everyone who we were, and where we were from. Then the two professors started talking about the "scope and sequence" of the summer class. For Bro. Cecil, that means: What we were going to study and when we were going to study it? I suppose, in today's terms, it meant, "What was our agenda?"

After the first break, we came back in and sat down. One of the guys below me, said, "I think I will go ahead and sit here below 'Jesus,'" referring to my sandals. ROTFLMHO!

The thing that I did bring was my stereo system, which had a FM/AM radio with it, and a turn table for my records. I know this is very hard for Bro. Cecil to believe, but I bought the system for music and not to listen to nonsense - political or religious programs, like "Paul Harvey."

Harvey was probably the first "far right" radio program, that dealt with news-cast, with his "Other Side of the story." Harvey was a graduate of Tulsa Central High School who refused to come back and speak without a "15,000 up front payment." Great alumnus, huh?

I digress, so back to the topic at hand. I would always end up in front of the television watching, on Saturdays, first the Buck Owens Show, The Wilburn Brothers, and, my favorite, Porter Wagoner Show, which hosted a newly, unknown artist named Dolly Parton. No one else was usually there at that time, but by "Hee Haw" time, the seats filled up. Little did I know at the time, just how Oklahoma was involved in all four of those programs.

Years before, Mathis Brothers Furniture, saw the rise of an upstart Country Musician in Bakersfield, who had started a "back to the roots" style music. Nashville, forced its singers to use studio musicians, and then slap the songs full of orchestral strings and lushy choir harmonization. Owens was different. I will give my impression of the Country Scene, which I developed at Oklahoma University and selling Bibles, in my green '65 Volkswagon - the only one on the 19,000 student campus.

The VW came with an FM/AM radio, which was an "iffy" investment, because there were so few FM stations at the time. But, Oklahoma City, had a great Country Station, KEBC. (Keep Every Body Country) That station was not smothered with commercials and one song every 15 minutes. We're talking music, here. And the station seemed to lean toward the Backersfield Sound, that Buck Owens started in California.

Find out how Owens got his first Fender Stratoscaster, non-accoustic sound, heavy on the elctric amplified solid body, strong drums, and high on the high harmonies. It was different, and KEBC played the Backersfield Sound. Little did I know, that the Buck Owens Ranch programs were shot right in Oklahoma City, at the WKY-TV studios, now KFOR. Here's how it happened.

Mathis Brothers Furniture is a high volume, million dollar a day business; and back then, they had a Mathis Brothers Music Show that they sang on and sponsored. They would use any Country Musician, who happened into town that day. The Nashville artists could always be assured that they would have good food, good living quarters, and get paid for being on the Mathis Brothers program. Back then, the Country Music scene was still in its infancy, and getting some fast, easy money, by performing on the Mathis Brothers Shows was a given.

Not only that, the Country Musician found a friend in the furniture store. If their bus broke down in Colorado, all the bus driver had to do was call the Mathis Brothers, and they would get a tow and an engagement.

I suppose that the Mathis Brothers decided that it would be to their advantage, to get a broader buying base, they could hire a professional Country Musician and his crew, and do the program from WKY. Who was their first choice? None other than Buck Owens and the Buckaneers from Bakersfield, California.

By the year 2000, the "Bakersfield Sound" had almost faded into non-existance, until a new, fabulously talented kid from Kentucky was rejected by Nashville because his sound was too, twangy for them. Whose the guy who's carrying on? How about "Sling Blade" star, Dwight Yoakum, who still carries on the Buck Owens Sound. And Buck will be next, since you now know that Buck Owens had Oklahoma Roots.

So how did it go at my, summer long workshop? The second week, the guy below me asked, "Does anybody know how to play hearts?"

"You are looking at the greatest "Hearts" player this side of the Mississippi. Hearts is a game of cards, popular with the prisoners at the state prison in McAlister. Working at Central State Hospital, I learned from the prison pros. They played the game, quite seriously, and called their "adaptationally-variation" of the game, with the name "Bloody Hearts," which forced losers to drink glasses of water. First one who reached 21, and the game was over. The winner sat, while the losers had to "pony-up" with a drink of water. Sound harmless. Consider the fact, that a game can last only 5 minutes, when was the last time you drank 10 glasses of water in an hour? We would stay up, well after midnight and almost caused me to have pneumonia, by the end of the workshop. Yep, I WAS the killer "Hearts" game winner on that 1969 OSU campus. Someone would pass me the queen, with a hand heavy in spades, I'd turn the queen face up, in front of my hand-of-cards, and scare the rest of the players to death, ... knowing that I had the queen of spades, and I was going to drill the person who passed it or to the guy who had the lowest score. In Hearts, the lowest scorer won that round. So, ... Oklahoma is linked, big time, with Country Music History. Run a google check using the words "Mathis Brothers Furniture," and see how many hits you get.