Issue 35  - February 25, 2010  -  Page 3 of 3

A Periodic Newsletter

[Please be patient as the photos load on your browser.]

Ripped and Torn

Aging actor Rip Torn has been arrested after he allegedly broke into a bank while carrying a loaded gun. The arrest occurred on Friday, January 29, 2010 in Salisbury, Connecticut. According to reports by the Register Citizen, Elmore “Rip” Torn was found inside the Litchfield Bancorp building after he broke in and set off security alarms at approximately 9:40 p.m.

When police arrived on the scene, Rip Torn was found to be highly intoxicated. He is alleged to have entered the bank by breaking a window.

This isn’t the first arrest for Rip Torn, nor is it the first time he has been accused of criminal offenses while intoxicated. In 2009, Rip Torn was arrested for drunk driving. Torn avoided prison time in exchange for entering an alcohol education program. He had two prior drunken driving arrests.

In his last arrest, Rip Torn was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, and three first-degree charges: burglary, criminal trespass, and criminal mischief. Rip Torn was being held on $100,000 bond until his first court appearance.

Rip Torn turned 79 on February 6th.

Curly Jim Musgrave

Curly Musgrave was born in Calgary, Alberta Canada in 1949.

His very first CD was titled, "Born To Be a Cowboy." And that was never more true than in his case. Curly was a cowboy at heart, no matter where he happened to be at the time.

He was an extraordinary musician and singer and songwriter. He loved the old songs about the Old West, but he loved the New West of today, as well, and wrote eloquently of both.

Musgrave won many awards for his talent, both as a single performer and as part of a duo with long-time friend Belinda Gail. They made a wonderful team, bringing Western music to many who otherwise would not have been exposed to it.

In 2000, the Academy of Western Artists nominated him for the "Rising Star" award. A year later he received six AWA nominations. His ship came in, in a big way, when he won the AWA "Entertainer of the Year" award" and also the "Top Male Western Music" award, not to mention three nominations in other categories.

In 2002 and again in 2003, Curly Musgrave he was chosen as the "Male Performer of the Year" and also as the "Songwriter of the Year". In 2004 he walked away with the "Songwriter of the Year" award, again.

Curly was a devoted Christian and family man. He was a professional marriage counselor, by trade. But he was by choice the soccer coach for his sons' soccer teams.

There is a great tribute to Curly Musgrave at Cowboy Legacy.  There you'll find 8 video clips featuring the music and voice of Curly singing cowboy songs as you watch scores of photos of him with his friends, both cowboy entertainers and otherwise. It is very well done.


I knew of Curly Musgrave from a distance and only got to meet him a couple of times. But I was in the right place at the right time when I filmed he and Belinda Gail singing "Wild Montana Sky". That was on November 27, 2008 at the Western Music Association's Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were helping out in a class on "Harmonizing" and, boy, could they do that! Just click on the link, above, to connect with my YouTube account where you can watch them perform.


In addition, be sure to go to YouTube and listen to him sing the song he wrote about "The Father". This was recorded in 2006, almost exactly three years before his death. It is a touching tribute to his relationship with his own son, but also a personal witness to his faith in Christ. It is powerful.


Curly Jim Musgrave had been ill, off and on, for a couple of years but the doctors could not find the source of his severe headaches. When they finally discovered the problem, it was too late. He died from a brain tumor on Dec. 13, 2009. He was 60 years old and living in Arrowhead, California.

Musgrave was survived by his wife, Kathi, his sons Jim and Jonathan and their children. He is also survived by thousands of fans and hundreds of entertainers who were proud to call him "friend."

Here is a poem that cowboy entertainer Peggy Malone, out Colorado way, wrote about Curly and was kind enough to allow us to share it with you:

                                        Curly Musgrave....Dec. 13, 2009

                                        by Peggy Malone

                                        It may seem selfish and may seem wrong
                                        when God took you home where you belong.

                                        We tried to keep you forevermore
                                        But God willed you back to heaven's door.

                                        Where Angels greeted you with sweet smiles
                                        No pain, no worry, no more trials.

                                        God knew you struggled and knew you tried.
                                        The way you lived gave your family pride.

                                        So now, Dear Curly, we'll not complain
                                        Our loss is real, but it's heaven's gain.

William Jacobson

William Jacobson, 52, of Fort Collins, Colorado passed away on January 28, 2010, at Poudre Valley Hospital after a brief and unexpected illness.

He was born June 24, 1957, in Hollywood, California, to Elgin William and Velma (Shaw) Jacobson. Bill spent most of his first 22 years growing up in Santa Ana, California.

After graduating from Foothill High School in Tustin, CA, Bill attended college at The University of California, Irvine. There he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer and Information Sciences.

Just before his graduation, Bill Jacobson married Mary Elizabeth Rogers on March 28, 1980. Bill took a position as a programmer/analyst with Alpha Microsystems in Santa Ana. Bill and Mary moved to Colorado in 1989.

Bill had formed his first band "The Raving Liberals" in 1981. Shortly after, Bill moved on to form the band "Western Skies". With that group he took on the role of songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist. With "Western Skies", Bill had fused an eclectic mix of musical styles as far reaching as new wave, experimental, country, western and punk. This combination of styles coupled with his wry sense of humor proved to be a success in the local music scene and garnered Bill favorable coverage in the local press including the Los Angeles Times. Years later, Bill and his band "Western Skies" were memorialized as part of a cultural exhibit that paid tribute to the Orange County Music Scene. Bill was featured alongside such notables as "The Offspring", "No Doubt" and "Social Distortion".

With the break-up of "Western Skies" in 1985, Bill was able to explore his growing interest in American Roots music with his next band "The Baker Brothers". Bill led this group, made up of a rotating list of musicians, all with the same interest in performing roots music in a more modern tempo and esthetic. Bill's last group, "Mission to Mars", came out of his work with "The Baker Brothers". With "Mission to Mars", Bill combined his literary interests, in particular his love of Science Fiction, along with popular culture to create a fun and unique experimental style.

By 1988, Bill moved away from the live performances and began focusing his attention on his developing fascination with Western and Cowboy music. Though he had long been a fan of the genre, he found himself wanting to research and collect as much of this music as he could. With an ever growing knowledge on the subject Bill turned to writing as a means of expressing his passion. This led to his first article on Cowboy Music which was published in the alternative press music magazine Option.

In his research, Bill found that there was still a large fan base for Western and Cowboy music, but that there were few musicians performing it live. Bill attended the landmark Western Music Gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1988, which inspired him to start his own publication on the subject. In creating "Song of the West", Bill began developing his new role as a music historian.

For the next several years "Song of the West" magazine remained the only Western and Cowboy Music publication available. Enveloped by all things western, Bill and Mary relocated to Colorado in 1989, so they could be closer to the west that they had grown to love. Upon relocating, Bill was able to continue his career as a computer analyst at Solburne Computers in Longmont, Colorado. Tragically, within a few months of their move, Bill was diagnosed with brain cancer. After the surgery and a long recovery process Bill was able to survive cancer free for over 20 years.

Although unable to work again, Bill still found comfort in the pursuit of his passions. The Western and Cowboy Music scene was blossoming again with more festivals including the popular Cowboy Poetry Gatherings. Bill was able to attend many of these events where he continued making new friends and sharing his knowledge in an effort to keep the music scene vibrant and alive.

1995 saw the release of the book "Saddle Serenades" which Bill co-wrote along with Mary Rogers and Dr. Guy Logsdon. The book served as a guide to the history of Western music. Bill continued writing, providing liner notes to various Cowboy music releases. He provided Ian Tyson with his research when Tyson was asked to make a presentation on Bob Nolan's Lifetime Music Award for Canadian TV. For several years, The Cowboy Hall of Fame had requested Bill's help in judging the music category for their annual Wrangler Awards. The progress of Bill's disabilities slowed down his activities during the last years of his life, but he never lost his love of music.

Bill leaves behind his wife, Mary Rogers of Fort Collins, Colorado. Contributions may be made in Bill's memory to The Brain Tumor Society in care of Allnutt Funeral Service, 650 West Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526.



Pernell Roberts

From Rhonda Stearns:  "Well, it's the end of an era.  Pernell Roberts was the last living member of the Cartwright clan from the TV series, 'Bonanza.'  He passed away yesterday, Jan 25, 2010, at the age of 81.  He played the oldest son, Adam, on the TV series.  Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene,) the patriarch of the clan, died in 1987.  Hoss, (Dan Blocker,) died in 1972, followed in 1991 by "Little Joe," (Michael Landon) passing in 1991.  A touch of sadness, as Bonanza led 'Westerns' in a different direction, getting away from the shoot-em-up horse chases and bank robberies with the bad guys always getting beat up and the hero never even losing his hat in the fist fight.  Even Hop Sing, the cook at the Bonanza, (Victor Sen Yung) died in 1980. Bummer."

The Cartwrights: Hoss (Dan Blocker), Ben (Lorne Greene), Adam (Pernell Roberts)
and Little Joe (Michael Landon)

Rhonda also sent me some neat photos and captions on "Ten Tips for 2010". Here is tip number 3. It is why I never had an any ambition to wrestle steers and it is titled, "Focus On Your Job". I can't quite tell who is out-focusing whom, but they are eyeball to eyeball.

"Hey, bud, one of us has got a really bad breath."

Pickin' and a-grinnin', Texas style

The Gillette Brothers, Guy and Pipp, were joined in a round of
pickin' and grinnin' by friend Jessica Stas. That was at one
of their favorite haunts, the Camp Street Store in Crockett, TX.
[Used by permission. Thanks to Melba Arnold for sharing
this photo with all of us.]

THE GRAMMYs
Did you know that Michael Martin Murphy was nominated for Grammy this year? Yep. His album, "Buckaroo Blue Grass" was nominated in category 65, "Best Blue Grass Album". It was a ground-breaking project that blended both Western and Blue Grass music. But the Grammy winner there was none other than actor/comedian/musician Steve Martin---yes, THAT Steve Martin---and his album, "The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo." Steven Martin has been sort of a "closet picker" for many years. He wrote the songs on his album and, no doubt, will be giving his music more attention in the future.

Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood teamed up with Randy Travis, a man who loves the cowboy life and who has recorded several Western songs, to reproduce his big hit from a few years ago, "I Told You So". They shared a Grammy for "Best Country Collaboration With Vocals". Also nominated in that same category were Lee Ann Womack  and George Strait, the ol' calf-roper and Western swing King himself. Their song was titled, "Everything But Quits," and it is another darned good ol' traditional country song with a positive message. And Strait was nominated in the "Best Country Album" category for his CD, "Twang".

Ramblin' Jack Elliott, a friend and contemporary of the late Woody Guthrie, was nominated in Category 66, "Best Traditional Blues Album" for his CD titled, "A Stranger Here".

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Scott Glenn became 71 on January 26. . . . . Tom Selleck turned 65 on January 29 . . . . . Gene Hackman was 80 on January 30 . . . . . . February 1st was the 82 birthday of Stuart Whitman . . . . . Rip Torn turned 79 on Feb. 6, while awaiting court proceedings on yet another alcohol-related offense . . . . . Garth Brooks, who has written and/or recorded a number of cowboy songs, turned 48 on Feb. 7 . . . . . Yesterday's heart-throb, actor Robert Wagner, turned 80 on Feb. 10 . . . . . Burt Reynolds, who appeared in several episodes of the TV show "Gunsmoke," was 74 on Feb. 11th . . . . . Jane Seymour, star of the TV Western series "Medicine Woman" a few years back, turned 59 on Feb. 15th.


DEATH OF THE OLD WEST

On Monday, February 1, Peggy and I watched a program titled "Death of the Old West" on our local PBS TV station. It turned out to be a 30-minute documentary on how the town of Ada, Oklahoma shook off its rather bloody frontier history and transformed itself into a progressive society. And it happened in virtually one night--April 19, 1909.

You see, the turning point was the lynching of four men in a barn next to the jail in Ada in the middle of the night. Three of those men were known rustlers of cattle and horses and were thought to have hired the fourth man, a Texan assassin named "Deacon" Jim Miller, to kill a local resident.

Deacon Jim hired a famous/notorious lawyer in Purcell, Oklahoma to defend him. Moman Pruitt defended something like 340 people on murder charges during his career, and over 300 of them went free. When the word spread, folks were afraid the silver-tongued lawyer would get Deacon Jim Miller off scott free. So the group of some 200 Ada residents rushed the jail in at 3 am in the morning. They hung all four men inside an abandoned barn behind the jail. Those four men were made famous (or infamous) by a grainy photograph taken of the event. And one of them was Joe Allen -- a distant, make that a very distant -- relative of my wife's family.

As we watched the documentary, we were soon delighted to see that one of those interviewed was none other than our friend and Ada native Guy Logsdon. Dr. Logsdon is the leading authority on both Woody Guthrie and on the life and music of Bob Wills. He also happens to be one of the founders of the Cowboy Poetry celebration in Elko, Nevada . . . and the father-in-law of poet/singer/musician/author Baxter Black. Good job, Guy!

Oh, one more interesting note. Guy and Phyllis Logsdon bought an old photography studio in Ada in the early 1950's. One thing they found in the inventory of the old studio was the original glass plate negative of the hanging.

You can find an interview that I did of Guy Logsdon on my other website, www.paregien.net .


Cowboys & Outlaws

On Feb. 24th Peggy and I watched an hour-long documentary on the life and death of Tom Horn. A part of the TV series, "Cowboy and Outlaws," this segment was sub-titled "Frontier Hitman". Our long-time friends B. Byron Price (author and now director of the University of Oklahoma Press) and Dr. Paul Hutton (author and history professor at the University of New Mexico) were both interviewed for the film.


Well, reckon that's about it for this time.






Cowboy Stan Paregien

Have you checked out my other
web site,  www.paregien.net  ?

 

End of Page 3

---