{"id":63808,"date":"2018-11-23T10:01:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T17:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/michael-martin-murphey-keeping-history-alive\/"},"modified":"2018-11-23T17:01:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-23T17:01:33","slug":"michael-martin-murphey-keeping-history-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/michael-martin-murphey-keeping-history-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Martin Murphey keeping history alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Michael
Michael Martin Murphey will be bringing his Cowboy Christmas tour to the Henry Strater Theatre on Dec. 4.<\/span>Courtesy of Joe Ownbey<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For the past 25 years, beginning right after Thanksgiving and running up to Christmas, country music icon<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually started doing Cowboy Christmas shows before that, but it wasn\u2019t a tour; just three or four shows scattered out over the end of November and December,\u201d he said. \u201cWe started off doing stuff in New Mexico when I lived in Taos, and we\u2019d go down to the panhandle and do something in Amarillo, but then I released the \u2018Cowboy Christmas\u2019 album in 1991. It took off and became such an item that we turned into a tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not your average concert of standard Christmas songs, Murphey\u2019s tour comes with a heap of history behind it. The Cowboy Christmas show is based on an annual ball that began in Anson, Texas, in 1885.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cowboy Christmas Ball\u2019<\/div>\n

Anson\u2019s annual ball began in 1885 and became a hit when a journalist for the New York Gazette <\/em>and the New York Times<\/em> named William Lawrence \u201cLarry\u201d Chittenden went to a wedding that was actually a big dance. After the event, he wrote a poem called the \u201cCowboy Christmas Ball.\u201d Murphey said it became one of the first pieces of cowboy poetry that became internationally popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a huge hit in The London Times<\/em>. In fact, it was a bigger hit in that paper than it was in any American paper, at least at first,\u201d he said. \u201cChittenden\u2019s uncle owned a big cattle ranch out in West Texas, so he comes out there for this wedding, he sees it and he\u2019s so amused by the cowpunchers dancing with the ladies dressed up in their ball dresses that he writes this funny poem called \u2018Cowboy Christmas Ball\u2019 and it becomes incredibly popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphey said he first became aware of the ball in 1985 when his mother gave him a book of the stories behind Western songs called \u201cHe was Singing this Song\u201d by Jim Bob Tinsley. Tinsley used to be a professor at University of North Carolina and the University of Northern Florida and was also in Gene Autry\u2019s band. Murphey said he learned the song, thinking it was \u201ca nice song to sing at Christmas.\u201d He then decided to take it even bigger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started doing a few Cowboy Christmas Balls. And I did an album called \u2018Cowboy Christmas,\u2019\u201d Murphey said.<\/p>\n

And then he got the call.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong about 1992, I get a phone call from the people in Anson, Texas, and they said, \u2018Hi, we\u2019re the Texas Cowboy Christmas Ball committee, did you know that the ball is still going on? We\u2019ve kept it alive since 1885,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said, \u2018We want you to come play for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But there was one condition, Murphey said: The committee asked that the band not include drums \u201cbecause we have too many old-timers who come and they can\u2019t stand the drums.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we let the drummer sit it out for that one show,\u201d Murphey said. \u201cOur jaws dropped at what we saw. We saw a picture from the Old West \u2013 people who had been doing these dances for over a hundred years. It was their tradition in their family, and there were a few old-timers when I first started playing it who were in their 90s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Martin Murphey will play songs from his latest release \u201cAustinology\u201d during his Cowboy Christmas show.<\/span>Courtesy of Michael Martin Murphey<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Keeping the legacy aliveMurphey said his relationship with the ball became more involved. Now, it was not just about the music or the dance, it was about keeping its history alive.<\/p>\n

About eight years ago, he was asked to be a part of the Southwest Collection in Lubbock, Texas, an archival collection of materials about the history of the American Southwest, Murphey said. They asked him to be in their Crossroads Collection, which is about Texas musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted my papers, my letters, all these things,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter a couple of years of that, I said, \u2018You know what? You might notice that a whole lot of this stuff I\u2019ve given you is about the Cowboy Christmas Ball, and maybe we ought to start a sub-archive or a separate archive that\u2019s the history of the Texas Cowboy Christmas Ball because nobody\u2019s ever done it: It\u2019s a hundred-and fifty-year-old tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphey said the people in Lubbock, only an hour from Anson, did not know about the Cowboy Christmas Ball or its rich history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat year, I took them over there, and their jaws dropped just like mine did years and years ago. And they said, \u2018OK, we\u2019re going to start an archive,\u2019\u201d he said, adding that they began collecting all manner of items related to the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began with a professional archivist to start collecting materials about this tradition and about the original ball \u2026 so we use those images now that we\u2019ve collected and throw those up on the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a book called \u201cDancin\u2019 in Anson.\u201d Written by Paul Carson, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University, with a forward by Murphey.<\/p>\n

When asked if he thinks he is helping to keep the legacy of the ball alive, Murphey\u2019s answer is quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think, I know I am,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cI\u2019m absolutely certain I\u2019m carrying it on and happy to be doing it. It\u2019s not a sacrifice, by the way; it\u2019s nothing but fun. I\u2019ve never had anything but fun doing it, and it\u2019s been one of the defining things in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Cowboy Christmas\u2019 show<\/div>\n

With all the material Murphey accumulated over the years, he said he has no shortage of ways to keep his annual Cowboy Christmas show fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s from that tradition we developed this entire show, changed out the material every year, found all kinds of old-time dance tunes that they danced to at the original ball,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is really a show about Southwest music, too, and how it\u2019s developed over the years. From Texas to Colorado, to New Mexico to Wyoming, it\u2019s about Western music\u2019s history from the original cowboy era all the way up to the present. We throw all that together in one show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphey said the big change this year will be the addition of dancers who will perform old-time dances, re-enacting them on stage as the band plays.<\/p>\n

And even though Murphey \u2013 who is known for hits such as \u201cWildfire,\u201d \u201cGeronimo\u2019s Cadillac\u201d and \u201cCarolina in the Pines\u201d \u2013 has been performing the Cowboy Christmas show for a quarter century, he said it\u2019s still a good time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m having more fun with it than I\u2019ve ever had. I love the challenge every year of changing the show and bringing in new stuff and surprising people with new elements,\u201d he said. \u201cI love being able to keep the tradition going; it\u2019s been a part of my life\u2019s work at this point that I\u2019ll always be grateful for. It draws good crowds and makes people happy, and I don\u2019t know what else you could ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

katie@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Murphey to perform songs from album \u2018Austinology\u2019<\/h4>\n

Added to Michael Martin Murphey\u2019s Cowboy Christmas show this year are songs from his newest album, \u201cAustinology: Alleys of Austin,\u201d which was released Oct. 19.
\n Three and a half years in the making, \u201cAustinology\u201d features a reworking of Murphey\u2019s songs from his time in Austin, Texas, for which he is credited for pioneering the Austin music scene.
\n \u201cI said I\u2019ve got to go back and make new versions of my old songs from that era, which was the \u201970s, late \u201960s and all through the \u201970s. And also do songs of other people that I consider to be the best examples of the style of songwriting that developed then,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it turns out, because of the style that was there, I was able to fit in a couple of things into the Cowboy Christmas show.\u201d
\n Among the songs he will include in the show is \u201cTexas Trilogy,\u201d a song about his family trying to survive in the drought of the 1950s.
\n \u201cI\u2019m 73 years old, so I remember that as a kid,\u201d Murphey said. \u201cMy parents and grandparents and my relatives went through that drought; they were ranchers. My grandfather would never give in and take any kind of government assistance or anything because he was a real anti-government guy.\u201d
\n When he performs the song, Murphey said he relates it to a bigger lesson.
\n \u201cWhen I go into the Cowboy Christmas show this year, I remind people that times haven\u2019t always been this good out in the West, and during hard times, we didn\u2019t even know if we were going to get a Christmas present,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018Texas Trilogy\u2019 comes in at that point. I like to remind people that Christmas is about giving, and it\u2019s not just your family; it\u2019s about giving to people who are less fortunate.\u201d
\n \u201cAustinology\u201d also features some of country music\u2019s heavy hitters, including Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Amy Grant, three performers whom Murphey said working on the album with were some of the highlights of the project.
\n \u201cWillie Nelson coming in to sing \u2018Cosmic Cowboy\u2019 was huge, but probably all in all, I\u2019d say Lyle Lovett coming in. He did several songs \u2026 so I\u2019d say Lyle Lovett was my favorite,\u201d Murphey said. \u201cA really close second was Amy Grant coming in to sing a duet on \u2018Wildfire.\u2019 She did a great job, and I always thought it would be cool to do that as a duet, so in a sense, it\u2019s a new thing.\u201d
\n katie@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

What:<\/strong>
\n Michael Martin Murphey Christmas Show.
\n When:<\/strong>
\n 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4. (Doors open at 6:45 p.m.)
\n Where:<\/strong>
\n Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave.
\n Tickets:<\/strong>
\n $49 general, $65 reserved. Available at
\n https:\/\/bit.ly\/2znfdnc<\/a>
\n .
\n More information:<\/strong>
\n Visit
\n https:\/\/bit.ly\/2ziX2z8<\/a>
\n .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

country musician brings \u2018Cowboy Christmas\u2019 to Southwest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[938,13,28,559,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-63808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-country-music","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-music","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63808"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=63808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}