Author: michael

Austin City Limits was saddened to learn of the death of Sammy Allred, Austin radio DJ and one half of ACL three-timers the Geezinslaw Brothers. He was 84.

As noted in the May 10 Austin Chronicle, the Geezinslaws were one of “Austin’s first breakout acts,” with a career going back to the fifties and stints on the Louisiana Hayride with Elvis Presley. Allred and Dewayne “Son” Smith released twelve albums over the course of forty-plus years, starting in 1963 with The Kooky World of the Geezinslaw Brothers and concluding with 2005’s Eclectic Horseman. The duo scored via tunes like “Five Dollar Fine,” “I Wish I Had a Job to Shove,” “Help I’m White and I Can’t Get Down” and unique takes on classic tunes like the Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit” and Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Besides ACL, the band appeared on The Tonight Show, The Smothers Brothers Show and The Roger Miller Show. Meanwhile, Allred’s work in Austin radio spanned decades, including a long stint on KVET-AM that proved both contentious and beloved.

“To really appreciate Sammy Allred, you had to have a slightly – maybe very – warped sense of humor, which is probably why I considered him my favorite DJ of all,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He also came to be a good friend in later years, and we had many laughs together. His on-air persona stirred some controversy, but as he often said, ‘That’s just a character’ (think: Stephen Colbert back in the day). As for the Geezinslaws, their fans loved them dearly, and there were many of them – in Austin and far beyond. They did their part to ‘Keep Austin Weird’ before it became a ubiquitous slogan. To borrow one of his favorite expressions (stolen from Fatty Arbuckle), ‘Choo-choo bug, Sammy…and goodnight, nurse.'”

Allred and the Geezinslaws appeared on ACL in 1982, 1986 and 1989. Here they are doing their distinctive version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Austin City Limits was sad to learn of the death May 3 of singer/songwriter/bassist Tony Kinman of Rank & File, the pioneering alt.country band who appeared on the show in 1983. He was 62.

Along with his guitarist brother Chip, Tony Kinman formed the Dils, one of America’s first punk rock bands, in 1977 in Carlsbad, California and based in San Francisco. After the Dils ended, the Kinmans moved to Austin, Texas, picked up then-local guitarist Alejandro Escovedo, and formed Rank & File, one of the first groups of ex-punks to explore country music and what would later be called Americana. The band’s 1982 debut Sundown, released on pioneering indie label Slash, is now considered a classic forerunner of the alt.country/No Depression wave in the nineties. Following R&F’s three-album run, the Kinmans became Blackbird, a noise pop duo indebted to the Jesus & Mary Chain. The brothers shifted gears later in the nineties to Cowboy Nation, an acoustic duo that performed old cowboy ballads and originals in a similar vein. Throughout the brothers’ career, Tony’s rock-solid bass playing and distinctive baritone voice were the anchor of all the Kinmans’ musical endeavors.

Tony’s most recent work was producing the debut album by Chip’s latest band Ford Madox Ford. He died of cancer in hospice in his home of San Diego, surrounded by family and friends. Our hearts go out to his loved ones and we hope he rests in peace.

Below is Rank & File performing “Amanda Ruth,” a song some felt was the quintessential Tony song and performance.