Dollywood: “Wild Texas Wind”

When I was interviewing subject/star/co-writer Ray Benson for “Comin’ Right at Ya,” he told a lot of very funny stories about the fabulous Dolly Parton, a buddy of his for decades. Most of Ray’s stories about her went into the book chapter titled “The Film Industry Is a Series of Peaks and Valleys.” And something that figured prominently into that chapter was “Wild Texas Wind,” a 1991 made-for-television movie starring Dolly as honkytonk singer “Big T” (hey, it was their joke, not mine) alongside co-stars Gary Busey as her abusive slimeball boyfriend Justice Parker, and Ray Benson as bandleader “Ben Rayson.”

I had a good laugh at that, and then I asked Ray if I should make a point of seeing “West Texas Wind” for research purposes. He kind of cringed.

“Aw, please don’t,” he said, we both laughed and that was that.

But then, wouldn’t you know it, darned if Ray himself didn’t recently post the opening segment of “West Texas Wind” to the Asleep at the Wheel Facebook page. And so I share it here with you. You can watch all six 15-minute segments of the film here. All I’ll say is it’s quite a period piece, down to the fonts used in the credits; and there are worse ways you could spend your Memorial Day.

 

Happy Memorial Day, from Whiskeytown

Ryan Adams grew up in a military-base town, so maybe that had something to do with why he wrote one of the best Memorial Day songs there is. So dig “Houses on the Hill,” as performed by Whiskeytown in 1998 on “Austin City Limits” — and on this day, remember the people you should…

Eisenhower sent him to war
He kept her picture in his pocket that was closest to his heart
And when he hit shore
Must have been a target for the gunman…

Whiskeytown is a lake, not just a band

Today is Memorial Day, the unofficial kickoff to summer’s get-away vacation season. People across America will spend the next few months scattering to far-off resorts, tourist attractions, parks and bodies of water — including Whiskeytown Lake. And yes, there is such a thing.

It doesn’t have anything to do with the Ryan Adams-led band from “Losering,” but there is indeed a Whiskeytown Lake in California, which is part of a National Recreation Area about 250 miles north of San Francisco; it even has an artist-in-residence program (talk about a missed opportunity for Ryan!). The lake is of relatively recent vintage, dedicated by President John F. Kennedy as part of a water project in 1963. But there is still a fanciful story about the name, which supposedly goes back to the mid-19th century:

While no one really knows the origin of the Whiskeytown name, local folklore tells of a miner by the name of Billie Peterson who had a mishap in the 1850’s. While hauling supplies back to his mine, the pack on his mule’s back came loose and a whiskey barrel went tumbling down the hillside, breaking on the rocks below and spilling its contents into the creek. From this christening came the name Whiskey Creek, and the small settlement that established itself next to the waterway became known as Whiskeytown.

Apparently, Whiskeytown’s members didn’t know this story because I’ve never seen or heard any of them reference it as a source. And it does seem so quaint that I’m not sure I trust it as actual folklore. But good stories are often that way.

UPDATE (8/2/2018): Wildfires are devouring the area around Whiskeytown Lake.