Hugh Hefner a playboy? He's a piker compared to these guys. Bob Wills' Texas Playboys embody Western Swing music. We saw the Playboys in concert at the restored Coleman Theater in Miami (Miamuh), Oklahoma, on Friday night. Leon Rausch, 81, is the band's lead singer and has been a Playboy since the 1950s. Jimmy Young, 80, is a fiddle player and vocalist. There weren't programs so I can't supply you with the name of the steel guitarist, but he is excellent. The most interesting performer, as far as I am concerned, is Tommy Allsup, the guitarist. He played with Buddy Holly in 1958 and 1959 and was at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on the night the music died. Tommy gave up his seat on the plane to Ritchie Valens. Waylon Jennings was also a member of Holly's band at that time.
It was a strange feeling to look at that tall, 77-year-old gentleman on stage and try to connect him with rock and roll in the 1950s. He sang "Raining in My Heart," a Buddy Holly song that was released posthumously.
One of the finest things about the concert was the delight the band took in their music and in each other.