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This is the archive of the combined Barking Spider and Andy Broad Portsmouth Blues Site mailing lists.
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The legendary TERRY ALLEN appears at South Parade Pier, Southsea on Tuesday
May 11th.
TERRY ALLEN is a roots-rock- alt country music singer and songwriter, and
also a visual artist and a playwright. He was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1943
and brought up in Lubbock, Texas, Buddy Holly's home town.
Terry's mother had been a barrelhouse pianist, of the last musical generation
to accompany silent films. She was kicked out of Southern Methodist
University in the 1920s.
Terry's father, Sled, who was 60 when Terry was born, was the promoter of
musical performances in Lubbock. On Fridays he'd hold dances for black people,
and on Saturdays, he'd present country acts such as Ernest Tubb, and Hank
Williams. He also brought some of the greatest early rock 'n' rollers and blues
giants to Lubbock, such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Ray
Charles "These were the first cosmopolitan shows they ever had in Lubbock where
you'd find whites, blacks and Hispanics all at the same place." says Terry.
There's a lot of pressure on Terry Allen. What can one possibly say when
forced to shoulder a legacy like that bestowed upon him in the All Music Guide:
"There may be no greater maverick in all of late 20th-century music." Not to
worry, though - Allen delivers his official response in impeccable maverick
style. "F*** you," he says. Then he bursts out in laughter.
This is the drier-than-Lubbock- wit of a man who, in his music as much as in
person, always seems to be a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. But as
much as he's willing to poke fun at his own uncompromising image, that same
deadly sarcasm is exactly what keeps re-enforcing it in a music world that has
been absolutely baffled by Terry Allen, who continues to release acclaimed album
after acclaimed album of Texas-brand Americana music while earning himself a
Guggenheim fellowship and three grants as a visual artist- all the while
tossing killer barbs at the record industry and Nashville pop-cowboys in songs like
"Gone to Texas."
Terry Allen is just fine with the "maverick" tag, numbering as he does Lou
Reed, Bob Dylan and Hank Williams among his top musical heroes, and having long
been associated with the school of Texas rebels that includes his Lubbock
compatriots Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely.
Fans have little fear of Allen falling into any slot. While many have
discovered him through Robert Earl Keen's cover of "Amarillo Highway" or his
collaborations with David Byrne and Lucinda Williams on his 1996 album "Human Remains"
, those who have spent a lot of time with his work, from the landmark 1979
album "Lubbock (On Everything)" to 1999's "Salivation" have discovered that
Allen's roots-rock sound is nothing if not eclectic, while his story-songs about
everything from "a one-legged woman on the dance floor" ("Peggy Legg") to "The
Wolfman of Del Rio" are often as moving as they are hilarious, but always
served up with deadpan delivery.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore calls Terry Allen, whom he first saw perform when both
were high-schoolers in Lubbock, "the impetus for me to become a songwriter . . .
It wasn't his style that affected me, just the pure fact that he was so
brazenly creative." When drummer Davis McLarty of Joe Ely's band recently had the
chance to accompany Allen, he said he felt like bowing down and admitting,
"We're not worthy." McLarty calls Terry Allen a "chicken-fried renaissance man . .
. the world's best-kept secret."
TERRY ALLEN appears at South Parade Pier, Southsea on Tuesday May 11th.
Tickets (£12) available (£12) from Wedgewood Rooms Box Office, Albert Rd.,
Southsea - (023) 92 863911 or on line from http://www.wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.
Tickets also available by post from Barking Spider Promotions, 105, Languard
Rd., Southsea, PO4 9DR. Cheques payable to Barking Spider Music and enclose a
stamped addressed envelope please.
For further details e mail spiderpromos@aol.com or ring the Barking Spider
Hotline on: 023 9243 6267 or mobile 07970 959793.
Terry Allen Album Discography
"Juarez" (1975)
"Lubbock (on Everything)" (1978)
"Smokin The Dummy"(1980)
"Bloodlines" (1984)
"Amerasia" (1987)
"Torso Hell" (1988)
"Pedal Steel/Rollback" (1992)
"The Silent Majority (Terry Allens Greatest Missed Hits)"(1992)
"Human Remains" (1996)
"Salivation" (1999)