Friday, October 31, 1997
Light Crust Doughboys to play in Sweetwater
By Ken Ellsworth / Abilene Reporter-News
SWEETWATER -- The Light Crust Doughboys are coming to Sweetwater,
and that makes Peter F. Fox Jr. pretty happy.
So, Fox stopped by the paper Thursday to tell me all about
it.
As president of the Texas Alliance for Education & the
Arts, Fox ends up telling a lot of people all about lots of things,
because the Alliance is in the business of promoting and facilitating
cultural and educational functions throughout the state.
"Our mission statement reads, 'Empowering communities
to grow through the positive input of the arts,' " Fox said.
But Fox admits to a particular fondness for getting involved
in the educational and artistic affairs of one town in particular
-- Sweetwater.
That's because Fox, who now lives in Austin, is a Sweetwater
native.
On the same stage at the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium that
the Doughboys will perform Nov. 8, a younger Fox once watched
Elvis Presley gyrate during a performance in the mid-1950s.
I say Fox watched, because the screaming audience made watching
the only alternative.
"I sat on the second row, but he was virtually impossible
to hear because it was so loud," Fox recalled as he laughed.
Still, Fox was so impressed, he went backstage with a photograph
of the star that he had not heard and had it signed by the King
himself.
"You could do that kind of thing back then," Fox
said.
Elvis was gracious and signed and Fox still has the photo and
the autograph.
"It's in the bank," Fox said.
Anyway, back to the Light Crust Doughboys, whom I heard play
live at 1996's Polo on the Prairie event in Albany.
The Doughboys are genuinely famous and are credited with originating
the sound called Western Swing. They got started in 1931 and Bob
Wills was one of the original members.
During the years 1931-51, their live radio shows were broadcast
on 170 stations and their names were household words throughout
the southwest. A lot of people toe-tapped around their houses
in those years to the Light Crust Doughboys on the radio, as they
provided relief from the oppression of dust, drought, the Great
Depression, and World War II.
People really liked them. Over the years, the Doughboys sold
a lot of recordings and they still do. And the Doughboys have
maintained some continuity, too.
Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, the man whom Bob Wills
once called "a genius on that banjo," still plays for
Doughboys as he has done for 62 years. He joined the band in in
1935. He is now 84.
But one thing has changed. Once the Doughboys were just fun.
Now their act is considered to be living art and an important
factor in the preservation of the history of Texas music.
They have been named by the Texas Legislature as the official
music ambassadors of Texas, and the Texas Commission on the Arts
has put the Doughboys down on their list of official touring acts.
They recently cut a CD with the Southern Methodist University
Mustang Band, a recording called "The High Road on the Hilltop."
But none of that has gone to the Doughboys' heads.
When I heard them it seemed like they just wanted to keep people
smiling, dancing, and tapping their toes, and the Doughboys were
very good at doing all those things.
The Doughboys' Sweetwater performance begins at 7:30 p.m. September
8 in the historic Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium at 400 Locust
Street. Admission is $5 for students and $7.50 for adults. Tickets
may be purchased at the door or at the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce,
(915) 235-5488.
This column covers the cities and communities of this part
of West Texas. To contact Ken Ellsworth, call (800) 588-6397 or
(915) 676-6777, or write to P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX 79604.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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