Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 21, Number 2, Fall 2009 Page: 54
60 : ill ; 27 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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when most banks were off-limits to African-
Americans, the Jewish-owned pawn shops on
Elm Street were a source of quick cash. When
Dallas-raised bluesman T-Bone Walker sang, 'It's
a mighty funny world where a man's got to
pawn his shoes,' he may well have had in mind
such Elm Street establishments as Honest Joe's
and Good Ole Dave's." Historians will find that
particularly in Dallas, the story of the city is
embedded in many of the songs from that era.
The stories reveal that the early Dallas blues
scene, while famous for its guitar players, was also
dominated by piano players. Cotton field work-
ers came in to Dallas from across the region via
the interurban trains to enjoy music and have a
good time. Ordinary urban locales, such as the
Tip Top Tailors, became hotbeds of American
musical development.
Govenar takes his readers forward on a jour-
ney in time, as the music evolves into good-time
rhythm and blues. The stories of Dallas, Fort
Worth, Houston, and Austin continue to unfold
right alongside the music. He explores how
Texans drove the electrification of the guitar
and, interestingly, focuses one chapter on the
saxophone in Texas blues music. By the time the
1960s roll around, actors in the story such as
Steve Miller, Boz Skaggs, and Stevie Ray
Vaughan play prominent roles in the accelerated
exportation of Texas blues around the world.
As the story progresses to the present day,
the desires of blues musicians and enthusiasts
return to a back-to-basics approach, with a
greater appreciation for a more "pure" formula-
tion of the blues. An expression of disappoint-
ment is evident-that modern day Texas (and
particularly Dallas) doesn't seem to understand
the cultural significance of this history, nor do
the musicians feel appreciated as artists. Govenar
has pointed out that Texas deserves to be held in
equal regard to Mississippi in the development of
the blues. In fact, Texas often surpassed
Mississippi in those earliest days when Dallas was
the state's key focal point. Dallas and Texas will
eventually understand, embrace, and celebrate
this history and the talent that continues to carry
the story forward. Local history enthusiasts will
play an important role in bringing a broaderunderstanding of this heritage to the greater
population-with the payoff of exploring the
interesting tapestry of Dallas and Texas cultural
development that is so often overlooked. To
begin that journey, Alan Govenar's book is a
worthwhile addition to the book collection of all
local history enthusiasts.
-Larry Taylor
Other Review Copies Received
Alan C. Elliott, Patricia K. Summey, and Gayla
Brooks Kokel, Oak Cliff(Charleston, SC:Arcadia
Publishing, 2009, 128 pp., $21.99)
Bruce A. Glasrud and Archie P. McDonald, eds.,
Blacks in East Texas History: Selectionsfrom the East
Texas Historical Journal (College Station: Texas
A&M University Press, 2008, 188 pp., $29.95)
John L. Hill Jr. with Ernie Stomberger,John Hill
for the State of Texas: My Years as Attorney General
(College Station: Texas A&M University Press,
2009, 256 pp., $35)
Frank R. Kemerer, William Wayne Justice: A
Judicial Biography (Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1991, epilogue 2008, 512 pp., $24.95)
David G. McComb, Spare Time in Texas: Recreation
and History in the Lone Star State (Austin:
University ofTexas Press, 2008, 290 pp., $24.95)
Jefferson Morgenthaler, Promised Land: Solms,
Castro, and Sam Houston's Colonization Contracts
(College Station: Texas A&M University Press,
2009, 240 pp., $29.95)
John Miller Morris, Taming the Land: The Lost
Postcard Photographs of the Texas High Plains
(College Station: Texas A&M University Press,
2009, 220 pp., $45)
Fort Worth:A Personal View, Photography by Phil
Vinson, Foreword by Quentin McGown (Fort
Worth: TCU Press, 2008,108 pp., $29.95)54 LEGACIES Fall 2009
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Dallas Heritage Village. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 21, Number 2, Fall 2009, periodical, 2009; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth66965/m1/56/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Historical Society.