posted 23 December 1999 11:20 AM         

Herb do you want to talk to us a bit about this album and what it means to you?

Personally... it is one of my favorite albums.... and I would give it a very high rating (four stars)....

Would like to hear from other forum members on what they think of this recording and it historical significance and contribution.

posted 23 December 1999 03:13 PM         

My immediate impression now is that I had to change my style to make Jerry Jeff happy. I had been playing with Michael Murphey and BW Stevenson, who both liked me picking "hotter" than Jerry liked, so I kind of "dumbed down" (my very immature feeling at the time) my style a little, and stayed more melodic.

We camped out at a motel in Fredericksburg and commuted into Luckenbach every day, where a mobile truck was set up outside the old rickety dance hall that was baffled with hay bales for the amps. We were stoned ALL THE TIME, worked the songs up in the daytime and recorded them at night. Saturday we had a dance for the public and recorded that as well.

I also recall that every performance was so loud I couldn't hear AT ALL what I was playing, and my intonation sucked. Playing wise, I felt like I was handcuffed with gloves on. Additionally, I disagreed with the engineer, a rocker from New York, about how the steel should sound and be mixed. So, I kind of went away from the sessions on a major bummer.

In retrospect, there's some good stuff on the recording. But as I usually do, I hear every mistake and clam I make at full volume and everything else down in the mix.

My parts excluded , it was a pretty magic time for Texas Progressive Country music. That album "converted" a lot of guys like yourselves and it really was a springboard for JJW's career. Also the careers of Gary Nunn and Ray Wiley Hubbard, both of whom were great then and are still great performers to this day.

The Lost Gonzo band nucleus was the recently disbanded Michael Murphey Cosmic Cowboy Orchestra (Nunn, Bob Livingston, Michael McGeary, Craig Hillis, and yours truly), with added players. After the sessions, Craig Hillis and I went back with Murphey and the rest of the guys went on the road with Jerry.

Jerry Jeff promised us all Gold Records, but in the end all the band members had to buy their own, since it took about 7 years for the record to be certified Gold!

posted 26 December 1999 08:18 AM         

I’m impressed Herb, the fact that the album was put together and recorded in less then ideal conditions including the live performance, the quality of the material , the fact that you guys came together for only a week to work up the material and then split and went your own ways and in the process left behind (imho) A CLASSIC.

What draws me to the album is it’s raw energy and a sense of honesty behind the music. It’s a place I can go to so to speak, crickets and all. I think it has held up very well with time and I do enjoy your steel playing on the album.

Check out this Review of Willie, Waylon and Jessie’s "Wanted The Outlaws" album 1976.

"When Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson joined with Jennings' wife, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser of The Glaser Brothers to release Wanted! The Outlaws in 1976, they completely revolutionized the state of country music. Two decades later, the reverberation is still being felt.

Turning their back on the slick, formulaic sounds that were commonplace in Nashville, the four performers took control of their music and created an honest, direct recording."

By Craig Harris.

That may be so.... but Herb? I think you guys beat them to it by about three years.
No doubt "Viva Terlingua!" is an original.

posted 28 December 1999 11:27 AM         

Geronimo's Cadillac was Murph's first album on A&M, and was originally unaccompanied publishing demos that Bob Johnston later took back into the studio and overdubbed Murph's Texas Band, namely Leonard Arnold, Bob Livingston, and Gary P.

The first Murphey album I was on was Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir which was recorded in mid 1972 in Nashville. Personnel was Nunn, Livingston, Steiner, Craig Hillis on guitar and Michael McGeary on drums. This was Murph's gigging band as well.

Murphey disbanded the group in January of 1973 and he and Gary P. went to England. Gary wrote "London Homesick Blues" at this time.

I had taken a job with BW Stevenson and we spent a good deal of time in LA working on the My Maria album. Then Jerry Jeff called and wanted to do Viva Terlingua. Jerry didn't have a band and was doing singles or was using fragments of the now dis-banded Cosmic Cowboys. Murphey came to the sessions and allowed as how he wanted to get the band back together, while Jerry wanted a road band also. Gary P., McGeary, and Livingston chose to go with Jerry, and Craig Hillis and I went back with Murph.

In late 1973 Murph left A&M and went to Epic. We recorded Michael Murphey with me, Craig Hillis, and John Hill on drums. We added Tommy Cogbill on bass and Buddy Spicher on fiddle.

In 1974 Murphey decided to move to Colorado and I wanted to stay in Texas and play Western Swing with Alvin Crow's band. So we parted in mid-74. Murphey went steel-less for about a year, then hired John Macy. It was during this time that MMM had his huge hit "Wildfire."

posted 03 January 2000 12:32 PM         

I think Murphey's Colorado days were much tamer and less eventful than his Texas days. I think Herb got to play the better steel music. Still, it was an awesome band and a great time.