Bill came to Amarillo from Fort Worth in the late 30s and was one of the founding members of the great Sons of the West. The Sons lasted, mostly, up until just after the mid-point of the 40s when Billy grabbed a local ranch name and christened his new group the X.I.T. Boys and hooking up with label man / poltico Dan Allender's TIME Records out of Dalhart, where he released a string of 78s.
While Billy Frank Briggs, Jr. (1919-1984) is best remembered today for his '50s novelty-dementia songs ("Chew Tobacco Rag," "The Sissy Song"), for a long time prior to that he was one of the more daring and progressive steel guitarists in the Southwest. The son of a Fort Worth lawyer, Briggs -- one of the few musicians who ever figured out how to sing and play steel simultaneously, and possibly the first to stand, rather than sit, while playing the steel -- moved to Amarillo in the late 1930s to work with the Sons of the West, playing with them off and on until 1946. He then organized his own group, the X.I.T. Boys, and they made their first records for the small Time label, based in Dalhart, in early 1947. ("X.I.T." refers to the 19th Century X.I.T. Ranch in the Texas Panhandle.
trax:
01 The Sissy Song 02 Coyote Song 03 Chew Tobacco Rag #1 04 Full Blooded Texan 05 Pretty Baby Boogie 06 North Pole Boogie 07 Honky Tonk Baby 08 Texico New Mexican Joe 09 Female Shuffle 10 The Battery To My Heart 11 Panhandle Shuffle 12 I'm Gonna Get Me A Bottle 13 Mardi Grass In New Orleans 14 Alarm Clock Boogie 15 Chew Tobacco Rag #2 16 Amarilo Rose 17 Dip Snuff Stomp 18 Yodeling Song 19 Freckle Face Snaggle Tooth Gal 20 X-I-T Song #1 21 Blue Bonnet Waltz 22 Autograph Your Photograph 23 Coo-Se-Coo 24 Midnight In Old Amarillo 25 X-I-T Song #2 26 I've Been Short-Changed 27 A Place In The Sunshine 28 Big Little Darlin' 29 I'm Not Gonna Lock The Door 30 Coffe Sippin' Blues
…served by Gyro1966...
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17 comments:
Billy Briggs & His X-I-T Boys
…served by Gyro1966...
gitit! no pw
http://www30.zippyshare.com/v/lyaXxXGm/file.html
Garland Jeffreys – Ghost Writer (1978) Vinyl @320
http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/fav6OrDg/file.html
A1 Rough And Ready
A2 I May Not Be Your Kind
A3 New York Skyline
A4 Cool Down Boy
A5 Ghost Writer
B1 Lift Me Up
B2 Why-O
B3 Wild In The Streets
B4 35 Millimeter Dreams
B5 Spanish Town
http://www.discogs.com/Garland-Jeffreys-Ghost-Writer/release/1607417
Various Artists – Luxury Condos Coming To Your Neighborhood Soon (1985) Vinyl @320
http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/ubovpI59/file.html
A1 –The Wygals Sleep With Angels
A2 –Rage To Live Enough Is Never Enough
A3 –Trigger And The Thrill Kings Devil's Train
A4 –Scruffy The Cat Big Fat Monkey's Hat
A5 –Last Roundup Just A Little Is Enough
A6 –Yo La Tengo Private Doberman
A7 –The Trypes A Plan Revised
A8 –Mr. Bonus Elvis, What Happened?
B1 –Gut Bank Dreamland
B2 –Deep Six Stay Right Here
B3 –Kilkenny Cats Nightfall
B4 –Myra Holder John Calvin
B5 –Syd Straw Listening To Elvis
B6 –The Jacks Ask For Jill - 3D
B7 –Raunch Hands Never Comin' Home
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Luxury-Condos-Coming-To-Your-Neighborhood-Soon/release/1860259
in case these were missed the first time around:
Garland Jeffreys – Escape Artist + 7" (1981) Vinyl @320
http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/DywDX4cj/file.html
http://www.discogs.com/Garland-Jeffreys-Escape-Artist/release/1760199
Baby Cortez – The Isley Brothers Way (1970) Vinyl @320
http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/uqlqpHHy/file.html
http://www.discogs.com/Baby-Cortez-The-Isley-Brothers-Way/release/830763
Various Artists - Beat the Retreat: Songs By Richard Thompson (1994) CD @320
http://www34.zippyshare.com/v/r6WMJzYU/file.html
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Beat-The-Retreat-Songs-By-Richard-Thompson/release/2069224
David Johansen – In Style (1979) Vinyl @320
http://www34.zippyshare.com/v/lhv5Jrv4/file.html
http://www.discogs.com/David-Johansen-In-Style/release/1998063
BONUS 1 OF 2
Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart '15 @320
Get ready for Keith Richards uncut.
On his first solo album in 23 years, the guitarist rolls away the flashy distractions of the Stones to reveal the grittiness below.
Like its two predecessors (“Talk Is Cheap” in 1988 and “Main Offender” four years later), “Crosseyed Heart” challenges listeners to deal with the front-and-center wheeze of Richards’ voice, as well as the raw dynamic he has with drummer/co-writer Steve Jordan.
Richards’ solo works have a more serrated sound than Stones albums do — and they’re better, purer for it.
Of course, Richards’ vocals have always pushed the notion of “character singing” to the limit. At a live show, his voice is so rough that it makes Tom Waits sound like Julie Andrews. But with the help of studio tweaks, Richards’ voice taps a well of soul. (Jim Farber, NY Daily News)
http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/KWMk4xXi/file.html
INFO
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/keith-richards-crosseyed-heart-scores-article-1.2362469
http://www.amazon.com/Crosseyed-Heart-LP-Keith-Richards/dp/B010QHW3BU
BONUS 2 OF 2 (PT. 1)
Flyin' High: A Collection Of Phoenix Blues, Rhythm And Spirit from The 1950's And 1960's @320
THIS POWER PACKED COLLECTION OF URBAN & BACK PORCH BLUES, ROCKIN R&B AND HIGH ENERGY GOSPEL SOUNDS IS AN AMAZING DOCUMENT OF THE BLACK SIDE OF PHOENIX ARIZONA.....FROM THE INTENSE IKE TURNER STYLE GUITAR OF JIMMY KNIGHT TO THE UNHEARD GOSPEL SOUNDS OF STREET PREACHER REV LOUIS OVERSTREET THIS COLLECTION SHEDS LIGHT ON THE DEPTH & DYNAMISM OF THE DESERT.............
1. Flyin' High Pt. 1- JIMMY KNIGHT & HIS KNIGHTS OF RHYTHM
2. Jumpin' Baby- THE LONE WOLF
3. Heartaches & Troubles- ROOSEVELT NETTLES
4. Rather Fight Than Switch- REV LOUIS OVERSTREET & THE TEMPLETTES
5. Wish You'd Come Home- DUMAS KING
6. Oh Johnny- BABY JEAN
7. Little Ann- JIMMY PLAYBOY KNIGHT & MOJO THOMPSON
8. Love Call- DENNIS BINDER
9. J. A. Rock- JAMES C ARLINE
10. A Woman 73- JOHN (OKLAHOMA ZEKE) LEWIS
11. The Mash- BUD SPUDD & THE SPROUTS
12. It Hurts Me Too- UNKNOWN BLUES SINGER
13. Sam the Lamb- DUKE DRAPER & THE LAMB CHOPS
14. I Still Love You- THE LONE WOLF
15.Gladys Delight- THE CURTIS GRAY COMBO
16. Cease From Trouble- DAVID BOLDEN
17. Leak In This Old Building- WILLIE PARKER & THE SENSATIONAL SOULS
18. Heartaches- LP BIG PETE PEARSON & JIMMY KNIGHT
19. Hey Little Girl- THE TADS
20. Old MAn Mose- MAXINE JOHNSON & BUDDY MILTON
21. The Blues- DUKE DRAPER & THE LAMB CHOPS
22. HAve You Ever Had the Blues- JOHNNIE MAE BROWN & MIKE CONDELLO COMBO
23. One More Drink- LP BIG PETE PEARSON & JIMMY KNIGHT
24. Black But Proud- REV OVERSTREET SINGERS
25. I Found Out- DAVID MOORE
26. Give It Back- JOHN (OKLAHOMA ZEKE) LEWIS
27. Flyin' High Pt. 2- JIMMY KNIGHT & HIS KNIGHTS OF RHYTHM
(Bluebeat Music)
BONUS 2 OF 2 (PT. 2)
Flyin' High: A Collection Of Phoenix Blues, Rhythm And Spirit from The 1950's And 1960's @320
Thanks so much to Blues Blast Magazine for sending this one to me to review. At a time when commercial Blues recording is moving in the general direction of the white line in the middle of the road, it is good to be reminded of the wealth of material recorded in the 50s and 60s that serves as the foundation to contemporary Blues and gospel.
Back in the dim and distant past – well 25 years ago anyway – I was made an honorary deputy sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ. The county seat is Phoenix, which is Arizona's largest city and state capital – all that aside, I’ve never been to the place before or since, and now I wish I had! Arizona, and in particular Phoenix, had, it seems, a vibrant R&B scene in the 1950s and 1960s and a great deal of it is reflected on this super CD.
The music ranges from early rock and roll, through jump Blues to gospel music and most of it is of the highest quality. Many of the recordings on this CD were made at Floyd Ramsey’s ‘Audio Recorders of Arizona’ studio on North Seventh Street and most of them had the advantage of a highly skilled engineer Jack Miller. Miller was often also link between final recorded versions of tracks laid down in the studio and the artists themselves. A good example is the man known by the name of the Lone Wolf. We do know that this was a man who went by the real name of Bob Felder and that he was a true one-man-band, playing guitar, hi-hat, bass drum and harmonica, and of course singing, in a whirl of activity! Little else is know about him. Two of the three tracks that he laid down, two are included on this CD, and they are, in my humble opinion, worth the price alone.
Check out too, Rev. Louis Overstreet, a native of Louisiana, who stopped in Phoenix with his wife and four sons whilst making an intended emigration to Los Angeles. Overstreet reported that God told him to stay in Phoenix and before long, he was spreading the gospel 365/24/7 from his base at the St. Luke’s Powerhouse Church of God in Christ. Well, powerhouse is a good word here. The two tracks here “Rather Fight Than Switch” and “Black But Proud” are wonderful examples, of the sermonizing-in-song typified, 20 years before, by the work of the Rev. Samuel Kelsey and others. Powerful, foot-tapping, hand-clapping examples of truly spiritual music.
There are 27 tracks on this essential CD, and unfortunately, I do not have space to commend them all. But I cannot leave this review without mentioning the delight of listening to the track laid down by what is referred to as an “unknown Blues singer”, of the Elmore James/ Tampa Red classic, “It Hurts Me Too”. Apparently a mystery man who was present at an earlier recording session at a church hall, I asked if he could play the piano whilst people cleared up after the gig and it got recorded. What a performance! Another one which – alone - is worth the price of the CD.
This CD was compiled and produced by John P. Dixon and Bob Corritore. Corritore is a long time Blues musician, publisher, historian and proprietor of the Rhythm Room, Phoenix, Arizona's famous Blues Club. The tape and disc transfers were made by the man who was often the original recording engineer, Jack Miller, at Jack Miller Productions, using WAVES Restoration software. Great job Jack!
It is possible you may find this one a bit hard to come by but my advice is don’t give up. Frankly, I cannot praise it enough!
http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/JpZZfX8V/file.html
INFO
http://www.thebluesblast.com/bluesartists/flyinhigh.htm
http://www.bluebeatmusic.com/product_info.php?products_id=17277
I never really listened to Billy Briggs until today. Man! Great stuff. Thanks, Gyro.
Gyro, thank you for Flyin' High.
Wooh Wooh, Oh Yeah!
Many thanks for the fantastic Flyin' High, Gyro.
The great Rev. Louis Overstreet & Singers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFGGPzNhvbM
nice one, thankyou for sharing
Western Swing is a lot like soul; it comes in two flavors and there's never been a lot of love out there for the Southern bands. Which is sad, cuz Billy and his boys were the best of the best--in fact, his stuff is what I play when somebody tells me they "only like rock". I have everything Billy put out, but my copy of some of these songs were cr**, so thank you, you just made my week!
Thanks
Gyro, many thanks for sharing, Keith Richards',"Crosseyed Heart"...appreciated.
Thanks Clash
Songs of Richard Thompson is a gem
Regards
Rhod
@ Gyro
Mickey Newbury + Billy Briggs + Flyin'high, what a beautiful day!!
Thanks a thousand time.
LittleJack
Tanx for Billy Briggs and the Luxury Condos!
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