Music museum will also feature Route 66 May 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Museums, Music, People.add a comment
Well, this is interesting. From the Tulsa World:
The Oklahoma Historical Society hopes to bring its first facility to Tulsa in the form of a $33 million museum of music and popular culture located in the Brady District.
Plans for the museum, which will be half the size of the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City and similar in appearance, will be unveiled Tuesday.
Bob Blackburn, Oklahoma Historical Society executive director, said the museum will cover music, movies, television, radio and westerns. [...]
It will also cover Route 66, he said.
“Oklahoma is in the middle of the image of Route 66,” Blackburn said.
More details are coming at the news conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
My first reaction is I don’t have a problem with two museums in town dealing with Route 66. The second one, at Southwest Boulevard and 11th Street, will be a lot more comprehensive about the Mother Road. The music museum, I suspect, will detail Route 66′s influence on Oklahoma music, much like Highway 61, aka the Blues Highway, influenced that genre.
Second, I think a museum dedicated to Oklahoma music is overdue. I constantly marvel at the sheer number and quality of musicians that the Sooner State produces in spite of its relatively low population. And although the timing of the announcement probably was coincidental, the death of former basketball star and local jazz musician Wayman Tisdale a few days ago seems to underscore the need for such a museum.
“Ford Fairlane” May 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.1 comment so far
Bobby Pinson has become one of may favorite songwriters because his lyrics seem almost conversational. He lost his record deal, but he’s writing hits for other people, including Sugarland, so he’s not hurting financially.
This song by Pinson came from his first major-label album, but I’m not aware it was released as a single. This performance of “Ford Fairlane” by Billy Hurst will suffice nicely.
“Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” May 16, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.1 comment so far
Here’s another highway-worthy song by country star Dierks Bentley.
Kingman group raising money to restore signs May 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Photographs, Preservation, Route 66 Associations, Signs.2 comments
The fledgling Route 66 Association of Kingman has begun a silent auction as a fundraiser to restore neon signs that once graced the Mother Road in Kingman, Ariz.
Kingman roadie Jim Hinckley passed along this information via e-mail:
The organization has acquired and stored the City Cafe and Imperial Motel sign. A beautiful old Packard sales & service sign is the first scheduled for restoration.
Most signs will be placed, with informative plaques, along the south side of Route 66 as the businesses they promote are no longer existent. However, the Packard sign will be This building dates to 1910 and is just to the west of the Brunswick Hotel on Route 66.
As a side note during the 1914 Desert Classic Cactus Derby races this garage was utilized by some of the drivers, including Louis Chevrolet and Barney Oldfield, to repair their vehicles.
Up for bid in the auction is a museum-quality, framed and matted print of the cover photo of the Hackberry General Store in Hackberry, Ariz., from Hinckley’s latest book, “Route 66 Backroads.” In the same frame is a limited-edition commemorative promotional card that’s a miniature of the book’s cover. The winner of the auction will also receive an autographed first-edition copy of the book.
The print is on display at Beale Street Brews & Gallery. Bids will be accepted through May 26. For more information, e-mail kingmanroute66association(at)gmail(dot)com.
Why the historic 11th Street Bridge remains closed May 15, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.add a comment
KOTV in Tulsa filed a report about why the historic 11th Street Bridge remains closed to vehicles and pedestrians, even though it was originally envisioned as a centerpiece of Tulsa’s Route 66.
The answer has been answered here before — namely, it was found later that rehabbing the bridge would have eaten up nearly all of $15 million Route 66 budget from Vision 2025.
I think once the nearby Route 66 museum is built and opens within a few years, perhaps the idea of rehabbing the 1916 bridge will be revisited.
Playing with authority May 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Here’s the aptly named Western Swing Authority playing Bobby Troup’s “Route 66.”
Based on information I tracked down, Western Swing Authority is a sort of all-star team, based in Canada, of studio and touring musicians who like Western swing.
Popping a top on POPS beer May 14, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food.2 comments
This flew under my radar, but POPS on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla., introduced its own line of beer last year. That’s in addition to the 500 types of sodas it sells.
It offers POPS Hops Premium Select, Lager and Pilsner, all brewed by Huebert Brewing in Oklahoma City. Jennifer Eve, a spokeswoman for POPS, said by e-mail that POPS beer outsells all the other national beer brands there combined.
In the past week, I tried all three brews. The Premium Select and Lager both were nicely bodied and tasty beers that I wouldn’t hesitate to drink.
However, the Pilsner was mediocre. I think the brewer tried to make a clean-tasting beer, and ended up with a watery one instead.
Oh, well. Two out of three ain’t bad.
A six-pack of 12-ounce bottles goes for about $6.50, a dollar or so higher than the national brands and is price-competitive for microbrews. And it’s certainly much cheaper by the six-pack than the bottles of soda that POPS sells, which go for $2 a pop.
On the path of “Easy Rider” May 13, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motorcycles, Movies, Road trips, Web sites.2 comments
A scene from the police station in the movie "Easy Rider." This scene was shot in Las Vegas, N.M.
The same scene in Las Vegas, N.M., today.
MrZip66, a motorcycle enthusiast who is on our blogroll, recently produced a post so good that I wish I had written it.
After years of research, he managed to figure out the route the characters took in the 1969 film “Easy Rider.”
Not only does he have a map so you can take the route yourself (a good chunk of it was on Route 66), but he has stills of many of the locations where the film was shot and what they look like in the present day, including shots from Las Vegas, N.M., that he allowed me to reproduce here.
Go here to read it. I commend it to your attention.
(Photos courtesy of MrZip66)
“Get Your Kicks” variety show this weekend May 12, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Music.add a comment
Found this from the Webster-Kirkwood Times of west St. Louis County in the calendar section:
“Get Your Kicks On Route 66,” a variety show, will be presented in the Emerson Auditorium of St. Luke’s Hospital’s North/South Medical Building, 222 S. Woods Mill Road in Chesterfield, May 15-17. Join the Whacky family as they travel across the country in their pink Cadillac on Route 66. The 55-member cast ranges in age from 56 to 93 years old. This is the sixth spoof produced by the St. Luke’s Follies group. Performance times are Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Satuday, May 16 at 2 p.m.; and Sunday, May 17 at 2 p.m. Admission is $5 and may be paid at the door. Doors open 30 minutes before performance times. There is no reserved seating. For more information, call Herb Duncan, director, at 469-5908 or Pat Treacy, music director, at 832-4182.
More information can be found at the St. Luke’s Hospital site here. Map to the venue is here.
(Hat tip: Tommy and Glenda Pike)
The Golden Light shines through May 12, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Restaurants, Television.add a comment
Roy McCoy, a correspondent with KAMR-TV in Amarillo, checks out that city’s historic Golden Light Cafe, located on the main alignment of Route 66 through town. Click here to see the video.
Roadfood.com also lists it as a recommended restaurant in the area.