"Early Folk Singing" with Powell St John

Powell St. John (September 18, 1940 – August 22, 2021) Episode recorded in 2020

Wednesday night hootenannies, Peyote, and Janis Joplin, brim the surface of Powell's contributions to folk music and Texas songwriting.

This episode explores the vibrant Austin folk music scene of the 1960s through the eyes of two key figures: Powell St. John and Eddie Wilson. Powell St. John was a harmonica player and songwriter who performed with Janis Joplin in the Waller Creek Boys, wrote songs for the 13th Floor Elevators, and later pioneered country rock with Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth. Eddie Wilson became the impresario who brought folk legends to the Armadillo World Headquarters stage. Together with host Dr. Jason Mellard, they paint a vivid picture of Kenneth Threadgill's legendary venue - Threadgill's Place, the University of Texas folk scene, integration of blues artists like Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins, and the meteoric rise of Janis Joplin from local folkie to rock icon.

Content Warning: adult themes, references to violence and drug use, offensive language

Content created during the global pandemic, in the room, and on computers zoom.

Chapters:

02:00 - Growing up in Laredo - farm life on the Mexican border

04:00 - Learning harmonica after doctor prohibited flute playing

05:00 - Meeting Lanny Wiggins and forming Waller Creek Boys

06:00 - Janis Joplin joins the group

07:00 - Kenneth Threadgill's background

08:00 - The bootleg operation and whiskey stash house

10:00 - Eddie Wilson's initial visits to Threadgill's in 1959

12:00 - UT Sings and the student union scene

15:00 - Jack Jackson's comics documenting the scene

17:00 - The Hootenanny Hoots band formation

21:00 - Threadgill's Place, physical space and atmosphere

22:00 - Mance Lipscomb's broad repertoire and gentle nature

26:00 - Lightnin' Hopkins performance at Armadillo World Headquarters

28:00 - First impressions of Janis Joplin

33:00 - Janis' friendship with Powell and migration to California

34:00 - The Psychedelic Transition and the formation of the 13th Floor Elevators

35:00 - Rocky Erickson's spectacular performances

36:00 - Powell's songwriting contributions

37:00 - Charles Whitman tower shooting impact

38:00 - Travis Rivers as manager for Mother Earth

40:00 - Reconnecting with Janis in California

41:00 - "Bye Bye Baby" recording and credit issues

42:00 - Importance of preserving history

Follow us on Instagram and on Facebook, at @Threadgills

AND

Check out our store here and collect our gear: https://Threadgills.com/merch

Guest List: Powell St. John - Harmonica player, songwriter, founding member of Waller Creek Boys with Janis Joplin, songwriter for 13th Floor Elevators, pioneer of country rock with Mother Earth.

Production Team:

Host, Eddie Wilson - Armadillo World Headquarters founder @Threadgills

Host, Dr. Jason Mellard - Cultural historian @jasondeanmellard

Editor, Renee O'Connor

Music Mixing, Matt Carlson @axemanguitar

Producer, Renee O'Connor @realreneeoconnor

Producer, Sandra Wilson @sandrawilson709

Executive Producer, TSSI

Music by Jake Andrews Music @jakeandrewsmusic

Production assistant, Miles Muir @miles_muir

Production consultant, Katey Psencik

"We have this idea now of Austin being this liberal, communist bastion, but a hundred years ago we were one of the most conservative cities in Texas." - Richard Zelade.

Richard Zelade, author of Austin and the Jazz Age, shares fascinating details about how UT Austin became the epicenter of early jazz culture in Texas, producing influential musicians like Jimmy's Joys and pioneering figures in country western music including Tex Ritter and John Lomax. The conversation explores the stark contrast between conservative Austin city politics and the liberal university culture, covering topics from wild jazz bands to the Ranger humor magazine, hamburger culture on "the drag," and legendary figures like gunslinger Ben Thompson. The episode reveals how Austin's 1920s cultural renaissance - driven by innovations like radio station KUT's powerful broadcasts and the university's bohemian spirit following WWI and the Spanish Flu - laid foundations for the city's later reputation as a music capital.

CW: adult themes, historical references

Content created during the global pandemic, in the room, and on zoom.

Chapters:

03:00 - Bicycle training and the Handbook of Texas

05:00 - Advertisements of early jazz records

08:00 - The Marshall of Austin, Ben Thompson

13:00 - Early bands: Shakey's Orchestra, formation and exile

17:00 - Radio station KUT's crucial role in spreading jazz nationally

20:00 - Unbridled nature of early jazz music as a result from WWI

24:00 - 1920s humor magazine and the Steiner family

26:00 - The sexual revolution and temporary marriages

30:00 - John Lomax's cowboy song collection journey

33:00 - J. Frank Dobie and Carl Sandberg's East Austin club visits

36:00 - Barbette: Round Rock's gender-bending trapeze artist in Paris

38:00 - Moton Crockett: elevator music and Big Bertha cannon

39:00 - John Bowles as premier yodeler and early singing cowboy

43:00 - 1904 origins at Camp Mabry fair and "Hamburger Alley"

46:00 - Jimmy Joy's improvisational and wild performances

49:00 - Gene Ramey's path to Kansas City

51:00 - 1928 segregation plan vs. jazz appreciation

52:00 - Conservative city vs. liberal university dichotomy

Follow us on Instagram and on Facebook, at @Threadgills

AND

Check out our store here and collect our gear: https://Threadgills.com/merch

Guest List: Richard Zelade, Austin historian and Author, Austin Murder & Mayhem, Austin in the Jazz Age, and Guy Town by Gaslight

Production Team:

Host, Eddie Wilson - Armadillo World Headquarters founder @Threadgills

Host, Dr. Jason Mellard - Cultural historian @jasondeanmellard

Editor, Renee O'Connor

Music Mixing, Matt Carlson @axemanguitar

Producers, Renee O'Connor @realreneeoconnor

Producer, Sandra Wilson @sandrawilson709

Executive Producer, TSSI

Music by Jake Andrews Music @jakeandrewsmusic

Production assistant, Miles Muir @miles_muir

Production consultant, Katey Psencik

Bank burglaries, prostitution, and gambling, the hidden layers of Austin history. "Everybody knew who all the tough guys were... every couple of years there was a new super bad guy."

In this episode of Austin Roots, hosts Eddie Wilson and Dr. Jason Mellard sit down with Jesse Sublett to explore the hidden criminal history of 1960s Austin. Sublett, a musician-turned-author, discusses his research into the Overton Gang, a notorious criminal organization that operated in Austin during the 1960s, and the colorful underworld characters who shaped the city's darker side.

The conversation covers the gang's leader, Tim Overton—a former UT football player who turned to crime after being kicked off the team by coach Darrell Royal.

The discussion explores the gang's criminal activities, and their connections to Austin's nightlife scene, particularly venues like Ernie's Chicken Shack on East 11th Street.

Sublett reveals fascinating connections between Austin's criminal underworld and mainstream history.

The episode also examines legendary madam Hattie Valdez, who ran houses of prostitution on South Congress for decades while becoming a respected civic figure.

The conversation extends into the 1970s, discussing how law enforcement evolved, the role of reformers like DA Ronnie Earle, and Sublett's research into bail bondsman Frank Smith's criminal empire.

Throughout, the hosts connect this criminal history to Austin's music scene, showing how these worlds intersected at venues like the Armadillo World Headquarters.

Chapters:

01:00 - The Overton Gang.

04:00 - Tim Overton's background as UT football player under Darrell Royal.

05:00 - Madams Hattie Valdez - Legendary madam operating from 1920s-1960s, civic donor, real estate investor.

14:00 - Ernie's Chicken Shack, gambling and prostitution.

17:00 - East Austin blues clubs and the integration era.

22:00 - Frank Smith - 1970s bail bondsman

30:00 - East-West class divide at Austin High School. Eddie Wilson's Switchblade Business.

33:00 - Formation of the Overton Gang. Gang's criminal activities: operating territory: small-town banks across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas.

40:00 - Charles Whitman - UT Tower shooter who lost money to gang in poker game (1961).

47:00 - The 13th Floor Elevators and police surveillance.

51:00 - Hattie Valdez's Complicated Relationships.

55:00 - Overton Gang's dissolution in the early 1970s.

57:00 - The 1964 UT Co-op heist during the UT-A&M Thanksgiving game (biggest cash burglary in Austin history).

59:00 - 1966 FBI bust in Moody, Texas and subsequent conspiracy trial.

1:03:00 - Armadillo World Headquarters relationship with law enforcement. Musicians' empathy with outlaws due to shared police harassment.

1:04:00 - Armadillo World Headquarters solving the Ken Featherston murder.

1:07:00 - Frank Smith's Criminal Empire.

1:14:00 - Ronnie Earle and Reform.

1:17:00 - The Reform Generation, including Dave Richards. Vietnam veterans' influence on progressive politics. Transition from fist fights to gun violence.

Follow us on Instagram and on Facebook, at @Threadgills

Check out our store here and collect our gear: https://Threadgills.com/merch

Guest List: Jesse Sublett - Author, musician, and Austin historian @jessesublett

Production Team:

Host, Eddie Wilson - Armadillo World Headquarters founder @Threadgills

Host, Dr. Jason Mellard - Cultural historian @jasondeanmellard

Editor, Renee O'Connor

Music Mixing, Matt Carlson @axemanguitar

Producers, Renee O'Connor @realreneeoconnor

Producer, Sandra Wilson @sandrawilson709

Executive Producer, TSSI

Music by Jake Andrews Music @jakeandrewsmusic

Content Warning: sexual references, adult themes

In March 2020, when Threadgill's and the world shut down, we found ourselves in a reflective mood with time on our hands. Eddie Wilson compiled an eclectic list of Austin artists, authors, movers, and shakers who defined the city's cultural scene in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Novice podcasters, we did what we could to get them on Zooms and in rooms to tell their stories. In their words, we thread together what made the city they called home, a world renown destination for music, art, and food. Listen to Eddie (Threadgill's proprietor and author of Armadillo World Headquarters, a memoir), myself (historian Jason Mellard), and our esteemed friends connect on a nostalgic journey down memory lane, with stories of food, music, politics, measuring the true character of Austin, Texas. Welcome to Austin Roots.

Music by Jake Andrews Music

Content Warning: adult themes

Host, Eddie Wilson - Armadillo World Headquarters founder @Threadgills
Host, Dr. Jason Mellard - Cultural historian @jasondeanmellard
Editor, Renee O'Connor
Music Mixing, Matt Carlson @axemanguitar
Producer, Renee O'Connor @realreneeoconnor
Producer, Sandra Wilson @sandrawilson709
Executive Producer, TSSI
Music by Jake Andrews Music @jakeandrewsmusic

Nineteen episodes recorded during the global pandemic, 2020-2021.