Discover Oklahoma: Exhibits celebrate state’s role in rock music history

Buzz up!
BY MAX NICHOLS

Published: April 26, 2009

Above: Cain’s Ballroom was the site from which Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys broadcast nationally on Tulsa’s KVOO from 1934-43. pHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVE

I was a young sportswriter for The Oklahoman in 1956 when I first began to hear rock ’n’ roll music on KOMA radio. So, it mostly was curiosity that led me to see a young performer named Elvis Presley at Municipal Auditorium (now Civic Center Music Hall). It was easy to join the excitement of young fans bobbing and weaving with Elvis, but I had no idea I was witnessing a major new development in music history during one of his early tours. Two years later, I knew much better when I met Elvis, who was an Army tank crewman when he came to Wuerzburg, Germany, where I was stationed. His comrades described him as a good soldier. He joked around with us but did not sing.

Now, Oklahoma’s role in the international development of rock ’n’ roll will be celebrated by the Oklahoma Historical Society with "Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Exhibit.” Famous performers will be featured along with Oklahoma destinations such as Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom and Oklahoma City’s Zoo Amphitheatre and Civic Center Music Hall.

The exhibit will open Friday at the Oklahoma History Center with a 7 p.m. reception and the launching of a special rock ’n’ roll edition of Oklahoma Today magazine. Public visitors will be invited starting Saturday with a full day of shows and family fun.

The exhibit will feature the roles of artists, radio stations, venues and personalities in Oklahoma during the first 50 years of rock ’n’ roll. Satellite exhibits will open that day at the Pioneer Woman Museum in Ponca City and the Route 66 Museum in Clinton.

"The exhibits will show how growing up in Oklahoma influenced the artists and their music,” said Bob Blackburn, director of the Oklahoma Historical Society. "These stories will be displayed innovatively to encourage visitor participation and to give visitors a new perspective on the history of rock ’n’ roll in Oklahoma.”

Artists from all eras of Oklahoma rock ’n’ roll will be featured in the E.K. and Thelma Gaylord Special Exhibit Gallery. They will range from the early influences of Bob Wills’ Western Swing to Charlie Christian’s lead guitar, Woody Guthrie’s social protest music and Wanda Jackson’s rockabilly to current bands such as The Flaming Lips.

Fourteen bands will perform on three stages from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. They will feature sounds from the rockabilly Oh! Johnny Girls, the sweet renditions of Camille Harp and the rock of Unmarked Cars to the contemporary Crocodile, John Moreland and the Black and Gold Band, and West Reynolds.

At the exhibit, Tulsa’s great musicians, who became known for the "Tulsa Sound” during the 1960s and 1970s, will be celebrated. They include Leon Russell, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Carl Radle and guitarist J.J. Cale, who collaborated with stars such as John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.

The Insasmuch Foundation Gallery will focus on recording studios, record stores such as Rainbow Records and Sound Warehouse, and radio stations such as KOMA.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Gallery on the third floor will present rockabilly culture, rock ’n’ roll fashion and hair, and Oklahoma rock venues such as Cain’s Ballroom, the Brady Theater, the Zoo Amphitheatre, the Blue Note, The Blue Door, the Diamond Ballroom and the Bowery.

Cain’s Ballroom played a special role in Tulsa. The venue opened as The Louvre during the 1920s and was bought by Madison W. "Daddy” Cain in 1930 as the Cain’s Dance Academy. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys broadcast nationally from there on Tulsa’s KVOO from 1934-43. It was closed during the 1960s and reopened in 1977 as Cain’s Ballroom by Larry Schaeffer, who presented the Sex Pistols in 1977 to help put Tulsa on the rock ’n’ roll map.

Music festivals such as Groovefest in Norman, Edgefest and Diversafest in Tulsa and Rocklahoma in Pryor also will be featured. The history of these venues and the artists who made them historical places will all come together in May at the Oklahoma History Center.

Max Nichols writes a monthly column for the Oklahoma Historical Society.