Episode 49: Austin City Limits and the 70s Country Music Revolution

PLAY LIST

  1. My Maria by B.W. Stevenson (1973)

  2. Bloody Mary Morning (Live) by Willie Nelson (1974)

  3. Angel from Montgomery (Live) (1989) by John Prine and Bonnie Raitt

  4. Just Remember I Love You by Firefall (1977)

  5. The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band (1979)

SUMMARY

In 1974, a local Austin PBS station aired the first episode of "Austin City Limits" and, with that, took the first step to showing the entire country how Austin, Texas celebrated and encouraged experimentation with country music. One of the founders of the show carried a business card that described the show's music as "free form country folk rock science fiction gospel gum existential bluegrass guacamole opera music." As the show celebrates it's 50th anniversary in 2024, it continues to be an example of how a commitment to music rather than glitz and glamour can find a loyal television audience.

SOURCES

“Angel From Montgomery by John Prine.” n.d. Songfacts. Accessed March 23, 2024. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/john-prine/angel-from-montgomery.

Bream, Jon. 1980. “Daniels Doesn't Fiddle Around with America.” Minneapolis Star, August 8, 1980.

Carter, Walter. 1978. “Boulder Musicians Team Up to Form Successful 'Firefall.'” The Tennessean (Nashville), November 24, 1978.

Chiu, Allison. 2020. “Angel from Montgomery.” Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon), April 9, 2020.

Elliott, James. 1973. “The Third Ear: My Maria.” The Standard (St. Catharines), October 11, 1973.

Gaudiosi, Jeff. 2023. “Misplaced Straws.” Jock Bartley of Firefall. https://youtu.be/GGoaoP5qJ5M?si=WPHc55gQD_XlwYts.

Hellewell, Emily. 2012. “How Public Radio Scotch-Taped Its Way Into Public Broadcasting Act.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2012/11/08/164624162/how-public-radio-scotch-taped-its-way-into-public-broadcasting-act.

Holloway, Diane. 1979. “Austin City Limits Just Like a Live Concert.” Austin American-Stateman, October 19, 1979.

Houghton, Cillea, and Gary Miller. 2023. “Revisit Willie Nelson's Lively 'Austin City Limits' Debut.” American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/revisit-willie-nelsons-lively-austin-city-limits-debut/.

Laird, Tracey E. W. 2014. Austin City Limits: A History. N.p.: Oxford University Press.

Maitland, Keith, dir. 2016. A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story. Gravitas Ventures.

Myers, Marc. 2017. “The Story Behind The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” Wall Street Journal, Octoer 16, 2017. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-story-behind-the-devil-went-down-to-georgia-1507978832.

Newton, Scott. 2024. “Episode premiere: ACL 9th Annual Hall of Fame Honors John Prine.” Austin City Limits. https://acltv.com/2024/01/09/episode-premiere-acl-9th-annual-hall-of-fame-honors-john-prine/.

Schaddelee, Talor. n.d. “About production ACL.” Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/AustinPBSACL.html.

Sillers, Anna. 2015. “'Austin City Limits' founder Bill Arhos dies at age 80.” PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/austin-city-limits-founder-bill-arhos-dies-age-80.

SMU Jones Film. n.d. “WFAA Story on Willie Nelson and the 1974 Austin Music Scene.” YouTube. Accessed February 13, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFAyj0SqGpY&t=55s.

Stone, Rachel. 2019. “'My Maria': The golden voice that gave us a country classic.” Oak Cliff Advocate. https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2019/11/my-maria-the-golden-voice-that-gave-us-a-country-classic/.

Time. 1974. “Groover's Paradise.” September 9, 1974.

Amy Lively