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The Flaming Lips
www.flaminglips.com
myspace.com/flaminglips
Even
within the eclectic world of alternative rock, few bands were so brave,
so frequently brilliant, and so deliciously weird as the Flaming Lips.
From their beginnings as Oklahoma weirdos to their pop culture
breakthrough in the mid-'90s to their status as one of the most
respected groups of the 2000s, the Lips have ridden one of the more
surreal and haphazard career trajectories in pop music. An
acid-bubblegum band with as much affinity for sweet melodies as
blistering noise assaults, their off-kilter sound, uncommon emotional
depth, and bizarre history (packed with tales of self-immolating fans
and the like) firmly established them as true originals.
The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, when founder and
guitarist Wayne Coyne allegedly stole a collection of musical
instruments from an area church hall and enlisted his vocalist brother
Mark and bassist Michael Ivins to start a band. Giving themselves the
nonsensical name the Flaming Lips (its origin variously attributed to a
porn film, an obscure drug reference, or a dream in which a fiery
Virgin Mary plants a kiss on Wayne in the backseat of his car), the
band made its live debut at a local transvestite club. After
progressing through an endless string of drummers, they recruited
percussionist Richard English prior to recording their self-titled
debut, issued on green vinyl on their own Lovely Sorts of Death label
in 1985.
When Mark Coyne soon departed to get married, Wayne assumed full
control of the group; in addition to remaining its lead guitarist, he
also became the primary singer and songwriter. Continuing on as a trio,
the Lips released 1986's Hear It Is, followed a year later by Oh My
Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lips. While touring in support of the Butthole
Surfers, they played Buffalo, NY, where they were befriended by concert
promoter Jonathan Donahue; after a jam session with Donahue's nascent
band Mercury Rev, he and Coyne became close friends, and Donahue
eventually signed on as the group's sound technician.
After recording 1988's difficult Telepathic Surgery, English exited,
reducing the Lips to the core duo of Coyne and Ivins; after adding
drummer Nathan Roberts, Donahue adopted the name Dingus and became a
full-time member in time to cut 1990's stellar In a Priest Driven
Ambulance while simultaneously recording the brilliant Mercury Rev
debut, Yerself Is Steam. Following a series of hopeful phone calls to
Warner Bros., the company signed the band in 1991, and in 1992 their
oft-delayed major-label debut, Hit to Death in the Future Head,
appeared to little commercial notice; Donahue soon exited to focus his
full energies on Mercury Rev, followed by the departure of Roberts.
With new guitarist Ronald Jones and drummer Steven Drozd, they cut
1993's sublime Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, which they
supported by playing the second stage at Lollapalooza and touring the
nation in a Ryder truck. Initially, the album stiffed; however, nearly
a year after its initial release, the single "She Don't Use Jelly"
became a grassroots hit, and against all odds the Flaming Lips found
themselves on the Top 40 charts. They took full advantage of their
requisite 15 minutes of fame, appearing everywhere from MTV's annual
Spring Break broadcast to an arena tour in support of Candlebox to a
memorably surreal lip-synched performance on the teen soap opera
Beverly Hills 90210, where supporting character Steve Sanders
(portrayed by actor Ian Ziering) uttered the immortal words, "You know,
I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked
the house!"
After the 1994 release of a limited-edition sampler of odds-and-ends
titled Providing Needles for Your Balloons, the Lips returned in 1995
with Clouds Taste Metallic, a strikingly mature and diverse collection
highlighted by the singles "Bad Days" (also heard in the film Batman
Forever), "This Here Giraffe," and "Brainville." Despite the inclusion
of the remarkably melodic "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with
Needles," "Christmas at the Zoo" (rumored to be under consideration for
inclusion on an upcoming John Tesh holiday record), and the epic "Guy
Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World," the album
nonetheless failed to live up to the commercial success of
Transmissions, and the band was once again relegated to cult status.
In 1996, the Lips' world went haywire; first, Jones disappeared to
undertake a spiritual odyssey from which he did not return, then
Drozd's hand was almost needlessly amputated after he was bitten by a
spider. At about the same time, Ivins was the victim of a bizarre
hit-and-run accident after a wheel came off of another vehicle and
slammed into his car, trapping him inside. Ironically, Coyne was having
car problems of his own when rumors of his latest sonic foray --
conducting an orchestra of 40 automobiles, all with their tape decks
playing specially composed music at the same time -- prompted fan
discussion of his possible psychological collapse. "I would try to tell
people what I was doing and found that I couldn't explain it very
well," Coyne later remarked about the project, dubbed the Parking Lot
Experiment. "Plus, I had a sore on the side of my tongue for a week and
it made me talk kind of weird. I'm sure they thought I was retarded."
By the following year, the Flaming Lips (who continued as a trio,
opting not to attempt to replace Jones) were back in the studio,
recording an album that, according to Coyne, would be "so different and
exciting it will either make us millionaires or break us" -- in short,
1997's Zaireeka, a breathtaking and wildly experimental set of four
discs designed to be played simultaneously. A previously unreleased
track, "Hot Day," also appeared earlier that year on the soundtrack to
Richard Linklater's film SubUrbia. A Collection of Songs Representing
an Enthusiasm for Recording...by Amateurs, a retrospective of their
Restless label material, followed in 1998, and a year later the Lips
returned with a breathtaking new studio effort, The Soft Bulletin.
After a three-year absence from the shelves, 2002 brought several new
releases, including the new record Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and
a two-volume retrospective of the Restless years. Yoshimi won the group
even more popular and critical acclaim than The Soft Bulletin, which
the group maximized by spending half of 2002 appearing with Beck on his
Sea Change tour as both his opening act and backing band. The Lips kept
busy over the next two years by touring in support of Yoshimi Battles
the Pink Robots and working on their movie Christmas on Mars. They
returned to the studio in 2004 and spent much of 2005 recording; that
year, the Flaming Lips documentary The Fearless Freaks and VOID video
collection were both released, whetting fans' appetites for the band's
2006 album, At War with the Mystics. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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All artists have confirmed their appearance at Wakarusa; however, artists
are subject to change without notice.
All sales are final. The 2008 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival will
take place RAIN OR SHINE. |
We're just over two months away from Wakarusa 2008 and want to be sure to keep you in the loop on all the latest happenings. Here's what's going on...
Final Week to Buy Discounted 4-Day Passes!
The final day to purchase discounted 4-Day Passes is Friday April 4th. Wakarusa 2008 promises to be our best installment yet and you don't want to miss this opportunity to pocket some serious money. Purchase 4-Day Passes Now.
V.I.P. Packages - The Best Deal Available at Wakarusa!
Going VIP at Wakarusa is truly the Ultimate Festival Experience. The package is a combination of all the finest components you are looking for in a festival. Food, beverage, access, location, comfort and convenience are integrated to create an unparalleled package that really lets you know what the true meaning of VIP is. The VIP pass is only $469 and is good for all 4 days of the event. Sales tax and the facility fee are included in the price of the ticket. Full VIP details are available on our website. Purchase VIP Tickets Now.
Camping Upgrades Now Available!
Need some extra room to spread out with your family and friends? Wakarusa Camping Upgrades are available now. These are reserved sites complete with fire rings and other amenitites. Full details are available on our website.
RV Rentals
Looking for air conditioning and a private toilet at your campsite? Looking for all the amenities of home while you're enjoying Wakarusa? Look no further . . . we're offering full service RVs. That's right, a private premium campsite campsite with a fully setup RV for you and your friends - we take care of the delivery and hook-ups, you simply arrive and enjoy Wakarusa in style. Interested? Visit our website for full details.
Activities, Activities and More Activities!
Need to catch some rays or get some holistic relief during your stay at Wakarusa? We've got several non-music options in store for you at Wakarusa 2008. Disc Golf, Morning Yoga, Hiking, Biking, Swimming and more. Excited? We are too! Visit our website for full details.
Facebook and MySpace
Join us on Facebook to listen to music from festivals past, share Wakarusa stories, and connect with festival friends, new and old alike. Don't forget we're on MySpace too!
We have banners for your MySpace and web pages so you can help spread the Waka love. It's easy- all you have to do is cut and paste the code from our generator to your page. Just stop by www.wakarusa.com to pick yours up today!
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| Performers for 2008
Discography for 2008 performers
Camping
- Only Full-Festival ticket holders will be allowed on festival grounds prior to Wednesday, September 17, 2008.
- Festival grounds will open to Full-Festival ticket holders for camping on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 7:00 a.m..
2-day ticket holders may camp on grounds beginning 12:01 a.m. on the first day of their ticket.
- Single day ticket holders may park in day parking, but may not camp.
- The camping fee for all festival campgrounds (including Pecan Grove) is $7 per day per vehicle or $12 per day with electric hookup (over 800 hookups available).
- Fees include one camping permit per vehicle. Extra permits are $7 each per day and are not payable in advance.
- Campsites and hookups available on first come basis.
- Full camping fees must be paid for ALL nights on grounds.
- No spaces may be saved that have not already been paid for and
have a camping sticker on them (tarps, tents, trailers, roped areas,
etc.).
- Wi-Fi internet is available. Contact Kevin at KPM on 620-229-8316 or kevin@kpmwinfield.com.
Persons staying over Sunday night, September 21, 2008 will pay an additional camping fee.
Note: On grounds showers will be available.
Camping Alternatives
FACILITIES INFORMATION
- Security Personnel on grounds 24 hours
- All weather facilities - 4 stages - city water
- Ten food concessions on grounds
- All camping $7.00 per day per vehicle (includes One camping permit)
- Electric hookups $5.00 per day (over 800 hookups available - first come, first served)
- List of nearby motels, campgrounds, and boarding kennels sent on request
Other camping
There are several camping areas available for those holding only one-day festival tickets:
Winfield City Lake
10 miles northeast of Winfield
(620-221-5635) |
Wellington KOA Campgrounds
25 miles west of Winfield
(620-326-6114 for reservations) |
Oxford City Park
9 miles west of Winfield.
No reservations, limited electric. |
Cherokee Strip Campground
13 miles Sth of Winfield
Sth Hwy 77
Arkansas City, KS, 67005
Reservations phone:
620 442 3250; 620 442 7471
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Motels
There are several towns in the surrounding area that are within easy
driving distance of the festival site that still have rooms available:
Arkansas City, KS
12 mi. south of Winfield
Crestview Motel
(620-442-6229)
Hallmark Scottish Inn
(620-442-1400)
Town House Motor Inn
(620-442-4000)
Wellington, KS
28 mi. west of Winfield
Wellington Motor Lodge
(620-326-2255)
Sunshine Inn
(620-326-8944)
Steak House Motel
(620-326-2266)
Oak Tree Inn
(620-326-8191) or
(888-897-9647)
Siesta Motel
(620-326-6223)
Chamber of Commerce
(620-326-7466)
Augusta, KS
30 mi. north of Winfield
Augusta Inn (316-775-5979)
Lehr's Motel (316-775-6327)
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Wichita, KS
45 mi. northwest of Winfield on K-15 Highway: numerous motels; please check with your own favorite
Newkirk, OK
26 miles south of Winfield on Hwy 77
Golden Acres Motel
(580-362-2545)
Seventy Seven Ranch Motel
(580-362-3444)
Chamber of Commerce
(580-362-2155)
Ponca City, OK
40 mi. south of Winfield on US-77:
Call Chamber of Commerce for information (580-297-8900). Please check with your own favorite.
South Haven, KS
30 mi. southwest of Winfield
Economy Inn
(620-892-5271)
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Bed & Breakfast
Iron Gate Inn – 1203 E 9th Ave Winfield
(620-221-7787)
The Barns at Timber Creek – 14704 91st Rd Winfield (620-221-2797)
Harris House – 1109 E 9th Ave Winfield
(620-229-8545 or 620-222-4913)
Country Rest – Dexter (23 mi. east of Winfield)
(620-876-5700)
Aunt Sue’s – Mulvane (25 mi. northwest of Winfield)
(316-777-1232
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September 17—21, 2008
Weather forecast for Winfield
at hq@wvfest.com for festival info
or
write to the webmaster if it concerns the web site.
jump to the
top of this page |
Walnut Valley Festival
Post Office Box 245,
918 Main
Winfield, Kansas 67156
(620) 221-3250 |
WV office hours are:
Monday — Friday
9 am — Noon; 1 — 5 pm
Central time
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| www.thirstyearfestival.com |
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check out these upcoming performances...
New Orleans piano icon DR. JOHN
Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 7pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe
New Orleans piano icon Mac Rebennack, better known to the world as
Dr. John, has become such a fixture of that city's vast musical
heritage that you'll often hear him referred to in the same breath as
Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, his esteemed Big
Easy predecessors.
classic reggae with THE WAILERS
after-party with psychedelic guitarist PHIL BROWN
Friday, April 25, 2008 at 7:30
Santa Fe Brewing Company
The greatest living exponents of Jamaica's reggae tradition, this is
the band that backed Bob Marley on the international breakthrough
album, Natty Dread, and a succession of hits that sold in excess of 250
million albums, made Marley a global icon, and made the Wailers the
world's best loved reggae band. One of the last great authentic reggae
institutions kicks off the season's first all-ages outdoor show.
Tickets now on sale for the 2nd annual Santa Fe
WOMEN'S CELEBRATION
ODETTA, THE BE GOOD TANYAS,
SANTA FE ALLSTARS, ELIZA GILKYSON
and many more
The Be Good Tanyas at the 2006 Thirsty Ear Festival.
Photo by Jennifer Esperanza.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe
A full day of events celebrating women's creativity featuring women
musicians and performers, cottage industry artists and artisans,
women's groups, educational demonstrations, kids' programming and more.
MORE INFO & TICKETS
On June 6, the Women's Celebration continues with
Santa Fe's favorite singer-songwriter ELIZA GILKYSON
Friday, June 6, 2008 at 7:30pm
Railyard Performance Center, Santa Fe
"Masterfully structured, startlingly intimate songs in a beautifully lived in voice." —Boston Globe
Earlybird tickets now on sale for the 9th annual
THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL
August 29-31, 2008 at Eaves Movie Ranch, Santa Fe, NM
New Mexico's premier roots music event features RICHARD THOMPSON,
BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO, SHEMEKIA COPELAND, JUNIOR BROWN, ROSIE LEDET &
THE ZYDECO PLAYBOYS, SAMUEL JAMES, ALEX MARYOL BAND, BILL HEARNE'S
ROADHOUSE REVUE, ROGER LANDES, PLEASURE PILOTS & dozens more
folk, blues, bluegrass, Cajun, zydeco, alt-country & roots rock
artists on three stages all weekend long. Plus camping, kids'
activities, arts & crafts, healthy local food, NM small-batch beers
& wines, educational demonstrations, Cajun & zydeco dance
lessons, solar & sustainable energy exhibits.
BIG THANKS TO THESE SPONSORS FOR MAKING THE MUSIC POSSIBLE:
BECOME A SOUTHWEST ROOTS MUSIC MEMBER
SOUTHWEST ROOTS MUSIC MEMBERS RECEIVE:
*10% off tickets to all events.
*A prime block of tickets is reserved for members at all Southwest
Roots Music events. Even if a show is sold out, members can still get
the best seats. Just call at least 3 days before a concert and you're
in at a discount.
*Thirsty Ear Live! CD featuring Corey Harris & the
5x5, Butch Hancock, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Mary Gauthier, Chipper
Thompson & the Feast, Alex Maryol, ThaMuseMeant, Aimee Curl and
more. Only 500 of these collectors items exist.
*THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL: Join us for a members-only beer
tasting at the 8th annual Thirsty Ear Festival, to be held August
29-31, 2008. Members also enjoy $10 off the gate price for a weekend
pass (be sure to order at least 3 days in advance) and a commemorative
festival glass.
An annual membership costs $125 for an individual and $175 for a couple. For more information, please call 505-473-5723.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long
plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like
dogs. There's also a negative side."
—Hunter S. Thompson
© 2001 - 2008 Southwest Roots Music. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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BECOME A SOUTHWEST ROOTS MUSIC MEMBER
SOUTHWEST ROOTS MUSIC MEMBERS RECEIVE:
*10% off tickets to all events.
*A prime block of tickets is reserved for members at all Southwest
Roots Music events. Even if a show is sold out, members can still get
the best seats. Just call at least 3 days before a concert and you're
in at a discount.
*Thirsty Ear Live! CD featuring Corey Harris & the
5x5, Butch Hancock, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Mary Gauthier, Chipper
Thompson & the Feast, Alex Maryol, ThaMuseMeant, Aimee Curl and
more. Only 500 of these collectors items exist.
*THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL: Join us for a members-only beer
tasting at the 8th annual Thirsty Ear Festival, to be held August
29-31, 2008. Members also enjoy $10 off the gate price for a weekend
pass (be sure to order at least 3 days in advance) and a commemorative
festival glass.
An annual membership costs $125 for an individual and $175 for a couple. For more information, please call 505-473-5723.
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The Mayfield Brothers
by Joe Carr and Alan Munde
Born and raised on the Green Valley Ranch near Dawn, Texas in 1926, Thomas Edward “Edd” Mayfield and his brothers Herb and Smokey were among the first musicians on the plains of West Texas to embrace the basically eastern mountain-born bluegrass music. Like many others in the region, they gained a heightened awareness of the outside world with the introduction of the radio. On these remote plains, the first radios, which were battery powered, came through the mail from catalog stores such as Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Edd Mayfield's elementary school classmate Alvie Ivey of Pep, Texas remembered driving the family’s Model A Ford up to a house window and hooking the car battery to the radio to catch the broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. Despite the great distances involved, West Texans could receive WSM’s clear channel signal directly from Nashville,and from time to time, thirty-minute segments of the Opry were broadcast on the nearby stations in Amarillo and Lubbock. Ivey related that it was not unusual to run the car battery down with this Saturday evening entertainment and later have to join his brothers in push-starting the car to get it back to the barn.
Edd Mayfield and his brothers were involved in family music-making before the introduction of the radio into the household. Both parents, William fletcher Mayfield and Penelope Ruth Drake Mayfield, were musicians. William played the fiddle, while Penelope accompanied him on the piano or guitar. The couple met at a community dance and later performed at house parties and dances through their courting days, playing such staple fiddle tunes as “Durang’s Hornpipe,” “Wednesday Night Waltz,” “Red Wing,” and one of William’s favorites, “Forked Deer.” William and Penelope were soon married, and in 1916 they moved to West Texas from Clay County, in north-central Texas.
William and Penelope Mayfield taught all their children, six sons and two daughters, to play musical instruments and sing. The mandolin,m because of its small size and the ease of fretting the strings to form chords, was the first instrument each child learned to play. Later the boys each learned to play the guitar to accompany their father’s fiddling. The sisters would join in to sing old songs like “The Jeweling Pond” and “Life’s Railway to Heaven.” Arnold Geiger, a Santa Fe Railroad worker, taught the boys to play “runs” on their guitars to fill in between the chord changes and rhythm strums. Herb Mayfield remembered that he and his brothers were so interested in music that they would often race in to the house after doing the ranch chores in order to have time to practice. Eventually, Smokey chose the fiddle as his instrument. Too small to hold the full-sized instrument correctly, young Smokey propped the fiddle between his chest and the wall of the barn in order to hold it in position to play. He continued to play in that position, with the fiddle on his chest rather than under his chin, into adulthood.
In addition to radio, the phonograph also brought the sounds of distant musicians to West Texans in the late 1920s and the early 1930s. In the mid-1920s, the recording industry found an audience for “hillbilly” or “mountain music” records in the homes of the rural folk of the Southwest. Increasingly popular, those recordings made their way out to the country music fans of West Texas. The Mayfields would travel thirty miles to a small music store in Hereford to find recordings of the music they liked. Record stores often provided a booth equipped with a record player for a trial listen before he purchase.
Searching for the string music they enjoyed, Herb, Smokey, and Edd came across a recording of Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers. This string band group from northern Georgia recorded during the late 1920s and featured the blind guitarist Riley Puckett. Behind the fiddling of Gid Tanner and Clayton McMichen, Puckett displayed a dazzling array of guitar runs that raised the level of guitar accompaniment to a status almost equal to that of a soloist. This guitar style appealed to the Mayfields, who quickly bought and ordered more Skillet Licker recordings. Each brother tried his hand at deciphering the style of Riley Puckett, and his guitar runs soon became part of their music. Those Puckett-style runs would later serve Edd well during his tenure as a guitarist with Bill Monroe’s band. Monroe was one of the Mayfields’ favorite country performers, and they bought the records of the Monroe Brothers and later those of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys
The Mayfield family moved off the ranch to Dimmitt in 1932 but continued their ranching and farming activity. Besides leading the rugged life of a cowhand, Edd was active in athletics, playing on the first Dimmitt High School team to go to the state championship. An athletic bent also was apparent in the boys’ love of rodeo competition. Specializing in calf roping and wild cow milking, the brothers won several events. Later, when Edd was living in Indiana, he would use his rodeo skills during visits to Dimmitt to raise money for his family’s return trip.
Edd seems to have been the most performance-oriented of the brothers. Alvie Ivey recalled that Edd brought his guitar to school and, using the covered entry to the basement boiler room as a stage, entertained the other students during recess.
After military service in World War II, the brothers returned to Dimmitt to resume their farming and ranching life, and they continued to play music together for their own entertainment. They chose their instruments to achieve band sound: Edd concentrated on the guitar, Smokey, the fiddle; and Herb, the mandolin, the better to imitate the sound of the Monroe band with Flatt, Scruggs, and Wise. Although the Mayfield Brothers never featured a banjo, often considered the hallmark of the bluegrass sound, they nonetheless thought of themselves as disciples of the Monroe bluegrass style.
An army buddy of Edd’s sparked increased activity for the MAyfield brothers. Bill Myrick, from Monroe, Louisiana, had worked for Bill Monroe as a driver and singer and had promoted some Monroe appearances in Louisiana and elsewhere in the South shortly after the wear. Myrick and Edd had kept in touch, and with Edd’s encouragement, in March of 1950 Myrick moved to West Texas to join the Mayfield Brothers as guitarist and singer. The group performed as Bill Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers.
Throughout 1950, Myrick and the Mayfields appeared as regulars on the weekly KSEL Jamboree in Lubbock. Their fifteen-minute segment of bluegrass music opened many of the Saturday night broadcasts. Sonny Curtis, in grade school at the time, remembered hearing the Mayfields on the jamboree, and he saw them as the stars of the show: “They had a lot of charisma and really played good back in those days. Edd could just hang in there with the best of them, I thought.”
Promoter Dave Stone recalled that Bill Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers would just “disrupt the show when they would come in and walk around the arena. Whoever was on stage was practically not heard because they would get such a hand, walking down the aisle.”
In the late 1950s Bill Myrick promoted concerts by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys in Amarillo, Plainview, Big Spring, and Lubbock, with Bill Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers as the opening act. Also on the Plainview date were the West Coast-based Maddox Brothers and Rose,a popular country group who performed in West Texas many times during their career.k Although the shows were not well attended, it was an exhilarating few days for the Mayfields. Herb recalled being amazed that Monroe and his musicians played so well, with breath-taking tempos, outstanding harmonies, and flawless instrumental skill. It was no wonder that Herb, Smokey, and Edd were thrilled with the music, for it featured, in addition to Monroe on mandolin and vocals, Jimmy Martin on lead vocals and guitar, Rudy Lyle on banjo, and Red Taylor on fiddle–one of Monroe’s great bands. It was a heady time for the three brothers. This was Monroe’s first meeting with the Mayfields, and he was impressed with their performances, commenting to Herb that he especially liked their version of the Browns Ferry Four’s “Keep on the Firing Line.”
Myrick also arranged for the group to have a guest spot ion the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. Bill Myrick and the Mayfield Brothers appeared on the Hayride in April 1951 and were such a hit that they were included in a feature article about the radio program in Shreveport Magazine. The novelty of “FOUR COWPUNCHERS from Dimmitt, Texas” playing hillbilly music appealed to the management, audience, and media. The band was so well received that regular Hayride member Webb Pierce gave up his fifteen-minute spot so that they could perform again. Later that same night, as a result of the audience response and their obvious talents, Myrick and the Mayfields were offered a regular spot on the Hayride that would begin in two weeks.
Upon his return to the hotel that night, Edd received a message to cal Bill Monroe. Monroe, remembering Edd’s singing and playing skills, had called to offer him a job in his band. It was a terrible dilemma for the group, but after some discussion they decided that Edd should not pass up this opportunity. This was to be the first of three stints for Edd under Monroe’s tutelage. Myrick tried working the Hayride with another group but eventually moved back to Odessa in West Texas, where he worked variously as a police officer, country disc jockey, bandleader, and concert promoter. Herb and Smokey returned to West Texas and continued their careers in ranching and farming, performing only periodically.
Edd’s West Texas background made a big impression on his fellow Bluegrass Boys. Many of Monroe’s sidemen who worked with Edd shared the same observation: “He was a real cowboy, you know.” Edd always kept a rope with him and would keep in practice by roping his fellow band members. Banjo player Larry Richardson fondly remembered Edd demonstrating his roping skill by having Larry run as fast as he could, and then Edd would rope and pull him to the ground.
Bobby Hicks, fiddler on many of Monroe’s classic recordings, noted Edd’s physical strength, which was required of the rhythm guitarists in the early days of country music, when sound-reproduction technology was primitive and guitars unamplified. Edd, said Hicks, could “chord a guitar all day long and not get tired.” In addition to his endurance and power, Edd’s rhythm guitar playing was musically as strong and solid as that of any who had performed with Monroe. Monroe banjoist Joe Drumright said of Edd, “You couldn’t get him out of time, and he played some of the best backing notes you ever heard in your life. Edd was way ahead of his time. There wasn’t anyone even close to him back them.” Eventually, Edd would record one of the rare guitar solos to appear on a Monroe recording with his bass string rendition on “Panhandle Country.”
Vocally, Edd was a perfect match to Monroe’s singing, according to John Hartford, banjo player, fiddler, writer, and composer of “Gentle on My Mind.” Hartford was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in the late 1950s and heard what he identified as Monroe’s powerful, stylized singing coming from one of the dressing rooms. On searching out the Monroe sound, he was surprised to find it was Mayfield.
On October 28, 1951, during his first stint with Monroe, Edd recorded “The First Whippoorwill” and “Christmas Time’s A-Coming,” both destined to become bluegrass standards.” Edd stayed with Monroe from 1951 until early 1952 and then returned to Texas. Monroe was having difficulty getting show dates, and as a result he could not pay enough to attract and keep musicians. Brother Herb recalled that Edd could not make enough to support his family by playing with Monroe. At the end of one of his stints as a Bluegrass Boy, Edd was so broke that Herb and Smokey had to drive to Bean Blossom, Indiana, where Edd was living, and provide the transportation and money to get him back to texas.
Back in Texas, Edd worked as a cowboy and gain played with his brothers, who were appearing as the Green Valley Boys on a daily show on radio station KGNC in Amarillo. The brothers drove to Amarillo on Saturdays and recorded a whole week of programs, which were sponsored by a Ford dealership and a lumber yard. During the week they enjoyed listening to their own music on the radio each afternoon.
In early 1953 Edd once again moved east, this time to work with Bill Monroe’s brother Birch, who managed Bill’s country music show, the Brown County Jamboree, in Bean Blossom, Indiana. Operating out of an old barn, Birch ran the weekend shows that Bill booked, featuring some local musicians and headlined by Bill’s fellow Grand Ole Opry acts. Edd, Birch, and banjoist Larry Richardson performed as the house band and opening act or accompanied the featured solo artist if need be. While in Bean Blossom, Edd and his family and Larry Richardson made a trip back to Dimmitt for a two-week visit. Richardson, from North Carolina, was one of the earliest banjo players performing in the three-fingered picking style popularized by Earl Scruggs just a few years before. During the visit, Richardson played frequently in the area with Herb, Smokey, and Edd. Larry was the first banjo player of this style that Herb Mayfield had ever played with, and he believes that Larry was the first such player that many of his musician friends on the plains had ever seen. After his return to Bean Blossom, Edd got a call from Bill Monroe to rejoin the band, replacing Jimmy Martin. On June 26, 1954, Edd recorded some more classic Monroe material, including “Close By,” “My Little Georgia Rose,” and “Put My Little Shoes Away,” all vocal solos by Monroe. In September of that year Edd participated in a new recording of an earlier Monroe hit, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” Few of the recordings of this period featured Edd as Monroe’s singing partner, as most cuts were vocal solos by Monroe.
Again the pay was not enough to support a wife and growing family, and Edd returned to Dimmitt. This time he went to work for rodeo producer Morris Stevens of Silverton, Texas. Edd handled the Stevens livestock that wa used in the major rodeos in the Texas panhandle, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. He also entered a number of these rodeos as a contestant. But the Texas ranch life was not enough for Edd. He had a vision of a music career of his own, or perhaps with his brothers.
At Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico, Herb, Smokey, and Edd recorded “Poison Love” and had about ten demo copies pressed, as Herb said, “with the hope of trying to get a record contract in Nashville.” This was mostly Edd’s idea, as Herb doubted that he would or could have made the move if they had gotten record deal, due to family nd work obligations.
After Edd’s final return to Nashville in early 1958, he recorded a number of songs with Monroe, alter released on the gospel album I Saw the Light. Edd sang lead and some tenor in the quartets and played guitar on two instrumentals, “panhandle Country,” and “Scotland.” This was Edd’s last recording session as a Bluegrass Boy. While on tour with Monroe, he succumbed to leukemia in a hospital in Blueflield, West Virginia, in July 1958.
In all, Edd Mayfield's recorded output includes only the twenty songs he made as a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, the Mayfield Brothers’ demo, and one live recording sought by collectors. The studio recordings make up some of Monroe’s most powerful and fertile music and reveal Edd as one of the finest guitarists and singers in the long line of outstanding musicians who have contributed to Monroe’s bluegrass sound. This relatively small library of recorded material, coupled with Edd’s early death, has led Doug Green, country music historian and former Bluegrass Boy, to label Edd Mayfield “the mystery man” of bluegrass.
Many of the talented young performers of bluegrass emerging during the 1960s looked to Edd Mayfield as a source of power in the music. Peter Rowan, a guiding figure in the urban youth involvement in bluegrass music and pivotal member of Monroe’s band from 1965 through 1967, sang a song he learned from a rare, noncommercial tape recording of a Monroe show featuring Edd Mayfield. On this tape Edd sang “I’m Knocking on Your Door” and a Red Taylor composition, “I’m Not Broke But I’m Badly Bent.” Rowan recorded “I’m Knocking on Your Door” on the album Old and in the Way and titled one of his own albums The First Whippoorwill, the first song Edd recorded with Monroe. Mandolinist David Grisman also heard that tape and recorded the Red Taylor song, using Ricky Skaggs as the vocalist.
In addition to Edd’s influence in Bluegrass,s the Mayfield Brothers’ radio performances and their personal appearances in the West Texas region are important early memories of many of the musical greats to come from West Texas. Sonny Curtis, Waylon Jennings, and Buddy Holly all heard and were inspired by the music of the Mayfield Brothers.
After the band’s active period of performance in the 1950s, Herb, al welder in Dimmitt, continued to sing and play in area bluegrass jam sessions, and Smokey, foreman of the Turkey Track Ranch near Spearman, played only occasionally at family get-togethers. On May 6, 1989, a tribute to the Mayfield Brothers was held at South Plains College in Levelland with a concert performed to a full house by Herb, Smokey, Edd’s son Freddy, and Smokey’s son Clint.
| The Mayfield Brothers
Patuxent Music has released a new CD of vintage recordings from 1948-1956 entitled “The Mayfield Brothers - Herb, Smokey & Edd.”
The CD, produced by Tom Mindte, includes twenty-one songs. Six of the songs were originally recorded at Norman Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico circa 1955-56 (Poison Love, The Old Hometown, Mother was Called Away, When You Go, Don’t Write to Me, Lonely Heart Blues, Pardon My Whiskers While I Kiss You Goodnight). The remaining material presented here was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder in the living room of Lorena Curtis, sister of the Mayfield Brothers, between 1948 and 1956.
All of these recordings had been transferred to cassette tapes at some point in the past. When the time arrived for this project, the original tapes and/or discs had been lost, damaged, destroyed, or were otherwise unavailable, so it is these cassette tapes that serve as the actual source recordings for this CD. The cassette material was subsequently remastered by Bill Wolf at Wolf Productions.
As observed in the biographical notes, each of the Mayfield Brothers had learned to play mandolin and guitar while growing up. Various songs and tunes on this CD feature brothers Herb and Smokey on rhythm guitar, in addition to the rhythm and lead guitar work of Edd Mayfield. As was more common in his day, Edd played rhythm guitar with a thumbpick. Edd was way ahead of his contemporaries, however, when it came to playing lead guitar, almost unheard of in bluegrass music at the time. Remarkably, Edd’s lead guitar playing was done with a thumbpick. Herb Mayfield remembers that Edd would “clamp the bottom edge of that thumbpick with his finger and play it like a straight pick.” returning to the thumb-style rhythm at the end of the guitar solo. Interestingly, at times on the CD, Edd’s guitar sounds almost like an electric or amplified guitar; on those songs, Edd was actually playing a Dobro guitar that had a regular Spanish-style guitar neck.
CD’s are available at Prairie Garden Flowers and MurMur’s in Spearman for $13.50 each.
Following are the songs included on “The Mayfield Brothers” CD.
1. I’m Knockin’ On Your Door (by Edd Mayfield) Kentucky Colonel Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle; Raeford Shirley - Bass
2. Arizona Moon (Raeford Shirley & George Green) Patuxent Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Delmar Shirley - Fiddle; George Green - Bass
3. Midnight Ramble (Ruby Rakes) Fort Knox Music/Trio Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle
4. When You Go, Don’t Write to Me (Smokey Mayfield) Patuxent Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Lead Vocal, Tenor Vocal on Chorus; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal on Chorus; George Green - Bass
5. Poison Love (Anglin/Wright) Rightsong Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin, Lead Vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle; George Green - Bass
6. Cotton Eyed Joe (p.d.) Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Lead Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle
7. The Old Hometown (Flatt) APRS, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin, Local Vocal on Verse, Baritone Vocal on Chorus; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal on Chorus
8. Mother Was Called Away (Smokey Mayfield) Patuxent Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin, Baritone Vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal
9. Lonely Heart Blues (Edd Mayfield) Patuxent Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Lead Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle; George Green - Bass
10. My One and Own (Smokey Mayfield) Pantuxent Music, BMI; Herb Mayfield - Guitar; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal
11. High Plains Breakdown (Smokey Mayfield) Pantuxent Music, BMI; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle; Ed Mayfield - Lead Guitar; Herb Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar
12. On and On (Bill Monroe) Hill & Range Songs; Edd Mayfield - Guitar, Lead Vocal, Tenor Vocal on Chorus; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin, Baritone vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal on Chorus
13. Rocky Mountain Goat (Herb Mayfield) Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Guitar
14. Just a Little Talk With Jesus (Derricks) Bridge Building Music, Inc., BMI; Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin, Baritone Vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocal; Reuben Mayfield - Bass Vocal
15. Pardon My Whiskers While I Kiss You Goodnight (Wayne Raney) Fort Knox Music/trio Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Guitar; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle, Lead Vocal; George Green - Bass
16. Sawing on the Strings (Compton) Lewis Compton Music, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar, Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle
17. Bill Cheatam (P.D.) Edd Mayfield l- Guitar; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin
18. Holiday for Love (Peddy/Pierce/Walker) Universal Cedarwood Publishing, BMI; Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Mandolin; Smokey Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar
19. Black Mountain Rag (P.D.) Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar; Herb Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar; Smokey Mayfield - Fiddle
20. Where Could I Go But to the Lord? (Coats) Bridge Building Music, Inc., BMI; Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Herb Mayfield - Baritone Vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocal
21. I Have Found the Way (Charlie Monroe) Berwick Music Corp. BMI; Edd Mayfield - Lead Guitar, Tenor Vocal; Smokey Mayfield - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocal
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