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show it to us, so we could get in there and do it. But I think everybody
pretty much had an idea of what they were going to do.
BiTS: From what I see on the Internet over here, there's lots of
Jim Suhler people who are commenting about ‘Louisiana Cockfight’, saying
how wonderful it is that there is a
recorded version of it.
BW: Yeah, it's a great song. I've been
playing it, oh gosh, the original Nitzinger
album came out in ’72. It was his first album
on Capitol Records and they played at the Cellar.
From your time in Fort Worth, I'm sure you
remember hearing about the Cellar. He used to play
there and him and Linda Waring and Curly Benton
and Bugs Henderson. They were all purveyors of
that music, you know, and we kind of grew up on
it. I missed out on the whole Cellar experience
because, for once in something I'm too young to
have done it, you know what I mean? But they all say
they were in there when they were 15 years old. Come in
and sit down and shut up, that kind of thing. But I never
made it. I tried to but didn't make it.
BiTS: Buddy, you must have known Jim Suhler for many,
many years. How long have you known him?
BW: I've known Jim a good while. We’ve run into each other.
I mean, we did a tour in Windsor, Canada, I guess it was, what,
‘20? Around ‘11 or ‘12, something like that. We played the
Windsor Blues Fest up there one time, but I’ve known Jim, just
being around Dallas and Fort Worth for a long time, but that was
the first time that we'd ever actually gone out and worked some
gigs together.
BiTS: I always thought that the name that he chose for his band
Monkey Beat was very daring in this environment these days.
BW: Yeah, well, you know it's a rumba is what a monkey beat
is. Kind of got monkey beat and B-flat, you know, is a rumba
type thing.
BiTS: [Laughing] Do you have a favourite track on the album?
BW: Well, I'm still trying to absorb them. Everybody's
worked on it. I think it's really good. But I was happy that we
got to do the Nitzinger thing.
BiTS: Tell me something about your current guitar. Is it still
the same one as you’ve always had.
BW: Well, I'm playing several, but I still play the old beat-up
Stratocaster a lot and I've been playing the ES-335 a little
bit, and I use it on that record. Just a little bit thicker