Traces of Tx (today)

[Shakey Jake]

During the 1950s and 1960s Shady’s Playhouse was a neighborhood blues club in the Third Ward of Houston that produced some of the best blues musicians in Texas. Shady’s Playhouse was originally in a large house with no interior walls located on Simmons Street between Sampson and Nettleton streets. During the late 1940s another club called Jeff’s Playhouse occupied the house. In the early 1950s Vernon Jackson, whose nickname was “Shady,” took over the club, and it became Shady’s Playhouse.

What made Shady’s special was the collection of shotgun houses called the “motel,” which served as living quarters for many of the musicians who performed there. With many of the musicians living together, they excelled and learned from each other. Experienced players, such as guitarist James “Widemouth” Brown, composer and producer Henry Hayes, and songwriter Joe Medwick, served as mentors to the young musicians. Within this atmosphere, legendary bluesmen such as Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Joe Hughes, Teddy Reynolds, and Johnny Watson honed their skills and stood out in the Houston music scene. Even with the talented musicians at Shady’s Playhouse, many people looked down upon Shady’s as too casual and relaxed. Furthermore, some people considered the music at Shady’s as unschooled and raw compared to the big-band, multi-instrumental music played at the upscale El Dorado Ballroom.

In 1958 Shady’s Playhouse moved from Simmons Street to a two-story concrete block building at 3117 Ennis Street, at the northeast corner of Ennis and Elgin streets. The building, which originally served as the Swan Hotel, was taken over by Shady, and the club was on the second floor. Open seven days a week, the establishment, with its tables adorned with signature red and white polka-dotted table cloths, had a capacity of approximately 200 to 250 people and presented both local talent and also some touring acts. Although some of the musicians and patrons did not like the new location as much as the original Shady’s Playhouse, the club was successful. From 1958 to 1963 the house band was the Dukes of Rhythm, which included renowned blues guitarists Joe Hughes and Johnny Copeland. Surrounded by soul-food restaurants, a boarding house, and the neighborhood pharmacy, Shady’s Playhouse was the main music venue in one of the Third Ward’s commercial areas.

Shady’s Playhouse closed in 1969, and few traces of the club are found today. In 2008 the original location on Simmons Street was a vacant lot, and the second location was nearly empty, with only a beauty salon on the first floor. Yet, the legacy of the venue continued in the music of the musicians who learned and played there.

[Shakey Jake]

Texas Fact of the Day:
Although Bob Wills and Milton Brown are considered the architects of western swing music, the core mix of fiddle and blues guitar goes back even further ----- to 1928 ----- when Archie, "Prince" Albert Hunt, shown here holding a guitar even though he was a fiddle player, recorded "Blues in a Bottle." Archie Albert Hunt was born in Terrell, Texas but is more closely associated with Denton. Without Archie there may never have been a Bob Wills, or at least the Bob Wills that we know.
Archie was was born in 1896 to to Archibald Hunt and Manasa Emma Lee Skates, both of whom were musicians. As a child, he learned to play the fiddle by stealing his father's instrument and self-teaching himself in a nearby graveyard. Though much of Hunt's personal life is obscure, it is known he served in the First World War, and his first professional work as a musician was as a member of a traveling minstrel show, in the early 1920s.
And so it came to pass that, on March 28, 1928, Hunt and his group, the Texas Ramblers, which included violinist Harmon Clem and an unknown guitarist, recorded in San Antonio for Okeh Records. Of the sides the group laid down, "Blues in the Bottle" was arguably his most accomplished for its diverse assortment of country blues, ragtime and old-time music. It was later included in Rich Nevins' compilation album, Times Ain’t Like They Used to Be, Volume 1 along with other contemporaries.
In addition to being a recording artist, Hunt regularly performed on local radio stations and venues, usually in blackface, with his neighbors Doc and Oscar Harper. Hunt particularly favored the neighborhood known as Deep Ellum, which was also frequented by other blues musicians and notorious for its red-light district. On June 26, 1929, Hunt and the Texas Ramblers recorded for the last time, with the session taking place in Dallas. Among the six songs recorded was "Wake Up, Jacob" which was featured on the renowned compilation created by Harry Everett Smith, Anthology of American Folk Music, in 1952. An unknown composition was cut, but was either never released or no original copies exist. The song, "Oklahoma Rag" was released as under Prince Albert Hunt and Hermon Clem. The recordings were later seen as a primary influence in Western swing and country music in general.
On March 31, 1931 Prince Albert Hunt was shot to death outside Confederate Hall in Dallas. His assailant, William M. Douglas, reported that he murdered Hunt out of jealousy for dancing with his wife.
Some weeks later, a Dallas grand jury exonerated Douglas for lack of evidence, despite the fact that his guilt was without question, since Douglas had admitted it. But the jury must have figured Prince Albert knew he was consorting with a married woman, so he got what was coming to him. His body was returned to Terrell, where today he lies in perpetual repose in Oakland Memorial Park.
In 1974, a documentary titled Memories of Prince Albert Hunt was released.
Here's the 1928 recording of Blues in a Bottle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfT4cJA1n64

[Shakey Jake]

The magnificent Palo Duro Canyon. I've been there at least twice, maybe three times. I used to take kids to the West Texas State band camp near there. (It's been renamed West Texas A&M). Very beautiful.

[Shakey Jake]

Here's a nice picture of the Pleak, Tx store around 1900 from the friends at Rosenberg Hitorical Society. Pleak is just a wide spot in the road about eight miles south of Rosenberg on state highway 36. It's one of those places that if you blink, you'll miss it. Here's some information on Pleak from the good folks at TSHA online:
PLEAK, TX.Pleak is on State Highway 36 eight miles south of Richmond in south central Fort Bend County. The community probably developed in the 1920s as a result of activity in the nearby Pleak oilfield. The Pleak school district served some 150 pupils in 1926, and in 1940 the community consisted of a school, three businesses, and scattered dwellings. The Wilbur Krenek Cotton Gin was built in 1934 and was still being run by the Krenek family in the early 1990s. Pleak incorporated as the Village of Pleak in 1980, when it had about 365 residents; it reported a population of 746 in 1992. The population was 947 in 2000.