Gary Don Rhodes
"Have You Ever Heard a String Band Swing" the Light Crust Doughboys asked record buyers in 1936. After a spin of this CD, and a play-through of this song book some six decades later, not a single music fan Around the World can answer "no" to that question.
Since their inception in 1931, the band has remained the beating heart of western swing. After original members like Bob Wills and Milton Brown nurtured the music in the early days of the Great Depression, the Doughboys became a group as hot as any of the thirties' jazz bands. Members like "Zeke" Campbell, Bert Dodson, Kenneth Pitts, Knocky Parker, Dick Reinhart, Jim Boyd, and Smokey Montgomery swung their way through a repertory of tunes that extended from Fort Worth to Harlem ... from the Bob Wills' to the Stephane Grappelli's.
Now, thanks to the collaboration of producers/members Smokey Montgomery and Art Greenhaw, the Light Crust Doughboys blaze into a new era of hot "western string," echoing those wonderful early days of the band.
For example, the Doughboys jam through instrumentals like Doughboy Parade and That's All Brother with a both lively and "live" sound - even though the tunes were waxed in-studio. Joining the group on these hot Doughboy originals is "the best dressed band in the land," Texas' own Southern Methodist University Mustang Band.
Veteran bandmember Smokey Montgomery transforms The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise into a fantastic tour-de-force, strutting the stuff that's ranked him as one of the world's top banjoists. Pianist Bill Simmons glows too, playing the fingerbuster Spaghetti Rag with a verve that aurally illustrates why he too is one of western swing's pre-eminent men of music. Together, the two represent not only the tremendous talent that has always marked the Doughboys, but also its inventive spirit and ongoing vitality.
The band also tackles vocals like Deep In the Heart of Texas and Miss Molly with a similar quality, as Jerry Elliott's and Art Greenhaw's vocals shine along with splendid guitar work. Their electric guitar/electric bass sound represents an amalgam of rural blues, clean, sophisticated jazz, and country - transforming into a perfect stylist blend to play this kind of music.
As well as taking on such tunes with the same fire as the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhart or southwest swing of Claude "Fiddler" Williams, the Light Crust Doughboys look to their roots for a handful of additional tunes associated with Bob Wills, the Fiddlin' Man himself ... Elliott's strong vocal work takes them to the Big Ball in Cowtown. He also handles Faded Love with a tender and soulful quality not heard in any other version of this ballad.
With such tunes as the Yellow Rose of Texas and Red River Valley, the Doughboys explore other bygone years, ranging from the history of Texas song to cowboy music. Old Joe Clark, a longtime favorite, includes fiddle work by the late Johnny Strawn. His pure and clean sound exemplified some of the best work on that instrument, insuring his own place in musical history. Western swing's loss of Strawn was a major one.
But, if the Light Crust Doughboys are at the heart of western swing, it is a tender heart that - like the music itself - beats forward. Famed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie once said that jazz needed to keep one foot in the past and one in the future. The Doughboys believe much of the same of western swing, respecting their own roots as its cradle while breaking new ground and incorporating fresh music and musical influences.
For example, the hot strings turn sweet for John Walden's memorable rendition of Kelly Waltz. His fiddle work on the entire album is a joy, as it offers him the chance to play the blues, the ballads, and of course his eclectic version of the Texas classic, Listen To The Mockingbird.
Even further proof of the Doughboys' mixture of music is Art Greenhaw's rockin' and rollin' version of Hangin' Round Deep Ellum. Art and the Doughboys can rock with the best of 'em, but that's not the end of it. His voice graces the beautiful gospel Keep Lookin' Up, then changes gears for an uptempo Toy Yodeler. Joined by the Ethridge Elementary Select Choir directed by Jamie Shipman on the Cindy Walker tune Miss Molly, Greenhaw swings through another vocal, demonstrating yet again his talent is not only strong but versatile.
Whether in Dallas or Vienna, Austria - whether in 1937 or 1997, the Light Crust Doughboys always delight audiences with their blend of hot and sweet strings. Around the World with the Light Crust Doughboys, however, means more than geography or time. It means the world of music encompassed by their unique umbrella of western swing. It means that the heart of their music beats on.
Gary Don Rhodes
Rhodes is the writer/director of two western swing documentary films, Fiddlin' Man: The Life and Times of Bob Wills and Texas Swing: A Memoir of Music, Politics, and the Light Crust Doughboys.