Quotes

Since we were already on the subject.

Terry D. and I knew about the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas mostly because we were living in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Ann Arbor's own (mostly) Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen had recorded Live, Deep in the Heart of Texas there, so we viewed it as special although we really didn't know why.

So, one night in between sets of the Silvertones in the basement of The Blind Pig (that's a pure, wild ass guess ... but likely) Terry informed me that he had heard that the Armadillo World Headquarters was in some kind of trouble and might not be around much longer. Futhermore it was his strongly held opinion that we should go down to Austin, Texas and see a show there while we still could.  Finally and as an aside, he had heard that the girls in Austin were awesome.

So we did.

The place was big, rundown, and about half or more empty. The bill featured a bunch of local bands that were all pretty good.

We walked out back to the "Beer Garden" outside and met some people who told us that we needed to make sure to come back tomorrow night for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.

So we did.

I was stunned.

He played about every kind of American roots music you can think to name, Blues, Western Swing, Cajun, Swamp, that New Orleans Rhumba thing, Gospel, Funk.

The band was way hot with some outstanding backup vocals that seemed to just walk on up out of the crowd.

He was a helluva guitar player and just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any better, he picked up a fiddle and then later, the harmonica.

Ahhhhh, the memories ............

So anyway, this is Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown appearing on Austin City Limits many years later with another real nice band none of whom I know except that I'm sure I do know the guy up front playing the sax, I just can't pull his name out of RAM.

Born in Louisiana.

As for the girls in Austin, Texas ....... as advertized.

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”

 “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

 “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”

 “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

 “Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company.”

 “Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.”

 “Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

 “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

 “Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”

 “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”

 “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”

 “God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”

 “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

 “If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed.”

 “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

 “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.”

“Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.”

“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.”