Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Gilmore is one of the many singer-songwriters to emerge from Lubbock: he says, ‘People used to ask us why there is so much music in Lubbock and we'd say that maybe it was the UFOs that came through in the early '50s. There was a famous sighting that was known as the Lubbock Lights.’ Apart from such extra-terrestrial help, Gilmore has the three common influences for American singer-songwriters: Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. His father played in an old-time country band, and Gilmore learned fiddle, trombone and guitar. He began to perform around coffee houses in Lubbock and one of his earliest compositions was Treat Me Like A Saturday Night. Joe Ely gave him a Townes Van Zandt record which changed his life: ‘It was a revelation to me because I heard both worlds, folk and country, in the same place.’ Gilmore, Ely and Butch Hancock worked in different combinations until all three came together in The Flatlanders, which was formed in 1971. The acoustic band also featured Steve Wesson's musical saw, and fanciful commentators have likened its sound to the Lubbock wind. The Flatlanders took their name from the landscape and they played bars around Austin and Lubbock. Gilmore's nasal whine was as flat as that landscape but it was suited to his laidback, evocative songwriting. Under the name of Jimmie Dale, they released a single of Gilmore's Dallas with its oft-quoted first line, ‘Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?’. Another key song was Gilmore's Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown, but the album they made in 1972 was not released until 1980. The Flatlanders was over within a year but it is fondly remembered by Ely and Hancock, who have developed solo careers. Gilmore, meanwhile, spent much of his time studying philosophy. His two albums for Hightone, FAIR AND SQUARE and JIMMIE DALE GILMORE, have strong country roots and include some superb Butch Hancock songs (Red Chevrolet, Just A Wave, Not The Water). In 1988 Hancock and Gilmore sang nearly 300 different songs over the course of a few nights in London. They recorded together and Gilmore became part of Elektra's American Explorer series, excelling himself on his AFTER AWHILE album. Gilmore may never match Ely and Hancock, but he is a significant influence on their work.