{"id":28,"date":"2021-09-08T01:29:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T01:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/?p=28"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:14:35","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T21:14:35","slug":"songs-texas-beautiful-texas-by-light-crust-doughboys-pappy-odaniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/2021\/09\/08\/songs-texas-beautiful-texas-by-light-crust-doughboys-pappy-odaniel\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Beautiful Texas&#8221; by Light Crust Doughboys (Pappy O&#8217;Daniel)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Light Crust Doughboys - Beautiful Texas\" width=\"1345\" height=\"757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZxITNu1MYkU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0Essential to understanding Texas pride is listening to music that aggrandizes Texas. This is accomplished through &#8220;Beautiful Texas&#8221; as sung by The Light Crust Doughboys, a 5-piece band.  They became one of the first to make music known as Texas Western Swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon the first listening, it is easy to detect the Texan pride interlaced throughout the song. The song is addressing people who have heard stories about Texas and it seems like the song is there to set the record straight. It does this through its &#8220;Texas is beautiful&#8221; theme captured through various references to Texas geography and history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The song lists visuals that make Texas beautiful such as bluebonnets growing and fore-fathers fighting at the Alamo. These images incorporate a lot of Texan history. The bluebonnet is Texas&#8217; state flower according to Aggie Horticulture, a division of Texas A&amp;M University. (Texas has five state flowers, all of which are bluebonnets.) They grow on hillsides, showering Texan fields. In order to grow these flowers, they have to be planted at the right time in the right Texan region. By mentioning the bluebonnets, I think it adds a visual aspect to hyping up Texas. For everyday listeners, one can see a blue flourishing Texas.\u00a0 For a Texan, this description evokes strong imagery as well as pride. Texans have an understanding that this is their state flower and they are among the few that have the capability to grow it making Texas even more exclusive in their minds. There is also a historical reference early on in the song. The song discusses the Alamo, further drawing upon the Texan listener&#8217;s pride. It reminds them of this great battle that took place. It contributes to the Texan idealization of great warriors. This then adds to the mythos of a great undefeatable warrior. To the average listener, it allows us to place Texas in history and while it wouldn&#8217;t elicit a prideful feeling for us, it serves as a slight reminder of what they have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also this idea that no matter how far you travel or leave, Texas will always outshine any place you visit and the idea that Texas is vast because &#8220;you can live on the plains or mountains or down where the sea-breezes blow and you&#8217;re still in beautiful Texas.&#8221; According to Texas Almanac, Texas has four regions, the Great Plains, the Interior Lowlands, the Gulf Coastal Plains, and Basin &amp; Range Province. This variation of physical regions is important to mention in the song because for an average listener we gain an understanding of Texas geography. For the Texan listener, it reinstates that Texan pride in how much they have to offer. Where the previous section drew on historical facts, this section draws upon the geography of Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More visuals are included as the song mentions its white cotton, forests, rivers, and fields. This also includes a historical reference as cotton was an important factor to their economy back then. In the beginning, they mention how people have heard beautiful stories about Texas. By mentioning cotton, they are attributing cotton as a good piece to the story of Texas ignoring the other historical piece of slaves picking cotton and the horrific conditions attached to this. They also mention create a one-sided story by singing&#8221;to establish this land of the free.&#8221; As it is well known in U.S. history, various groups were excluded from this freedom. The song explicitly states how proud Texans are of their state and that they are even &#8220;healthy and happy,&#8221; almost like it is a given to be in that emotional state if you are in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You\u2019ve all read the beautiful stories<\/em><br><em>Of the countries far over the sea<\/em><br><em>From whence came our ancestors<\/em><br><em>To establish this land of the free<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>There are some folks who still like to travel<\/em><br><em>To see what they have over there<\/em><br><em>But when they go look, i<\/em><em>t\u2019s not like to book<\/em><br><em>And they find there is none to compare<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To beautiful, beautiful Texas<\/em><br><em>Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow<\/em><br><em>We\u2019re proud of our fore-fathers<\/em><br><em>Who fought at the Alamo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can live on the plains or the mountains<\/em><br><em>Or down where the sea-breezes blow<\/em><br><em>And you\u2019re still in beautiful Texas.<\/em><br><em>The most beautiful place that I know.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can travel on beautiful highways<\/em><br><em>By the city, the village and farm<\/em><br><em>Or sail up above on the skyways<\/em><br><em>And the beauty below you will charm<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>White cotton, green forests, blue rivers<\/em><br><em>Golden wheat fields and fruit trees that bear<\/em><br><em>You can look till doomsday, a<\/em><em>nd then you will say<\/em><br><em>That Texas has beauty to spare<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Oh! beautiful, beautiful Texas<\/em><br><em>Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow<\/em><br><em>We\u2019re proud of our fore-fathers<\/em><br><em>Who fought at the Alamo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can live on the plains or the mountains<\/em><br><em>Or down where the sea-breezes blow<\/em><br><em>And you\u2019re still in beautiful Texas.<\/em><br><em>The most beautiful place that I know.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In this song about beautiful Texas<\/em><br><em>There is one thing we just have to say<\/em><br><em>About six million people<\/em><br><em>Who\u2019re proud that they\u2019re here to stay<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It\u2019s great to be healthy and happy<\/em><br><em>And that seems to be our good fate<\/em><br><em>So let us all smile, f<\/em><em>or life is worthwhile<\/em><br><em>When we live in this beautiful state.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Of beautiful, beautiful Texas<\/em><br><em>Where the beautiful bluebonnets grow<\/em><br><em>We\u2019re proud of our fore-fathers<\/em><br><em>Who fought at the Alamo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You can live on the plains or the mountains<\/em><br><em>Or down where the sea-breezes blow<\/em><br><em>And you\u2019re still in beautiful Texas.<\/em><br><em>The most beautiful place that I know.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0Overall, this song contributes to the Texan identity of being proud and prideful as well as to the Texan mythology that everything is bigger and better.\u00a0 In regards to what I am hearing, I hear lots of string instruments like a steel guitar, a fiddle, maybe a violin or accordion-like sound. It was also recorded at Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios located in Dallas, Texas in 1981 according to their vinyl record cover. The Texas State Historical Association notes that the song was written in 1933.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only are they singing this song because they have Texas pride but it&#8217;s also because they are important figures in Texas politics. The Light Crust Doughboys are Texas&#8217; &#8220;Official Music Ambassadors&#8221; as recognized by the State of Texas Legislature. This further puts them on a Texan pedestal and solidifies who they are not only in the music world but in politics as well.\u00a0 They were introduced into the Texas political cycle when they were recruited by Burrus Mill Flour Company. The company sales department was run by W. Lee &#8220;Pappy&#8221; O&#8217;Daniel who essentially ran The Light Crust Doughboys.  The company did radio advertising and they would have the Light Crust Doughboys promote them with their music which &#8220;Pappy&#8221; O&#8217;Daniel would write. He also wrote &#8220;Beautiful Texas.&#8221; \u00a0&#8220;Pappy&#8221; O&#8217;Daniel would soon become Governor after encouragement from his radio fans and also be a U.S. Senator for Texas. He ran as a Democratic candidate and his agenda never really took flight. He would often discuss the Ten Commandments and even tried to censor the University of Texas. During his run for Texas governor, W. Lee O&#8217;Daniel used &#8220;Beautiful Texas&#8221; as his campaign&#8217;s theme song.\u00a0  This would further establish the band&#8217;s importance in Texas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeautiful Texas.\u201d <em>Old Time Blues<\/em>, 9 Jan. 2020, oldtimeblues.net\/lyrics\/beautiful-texas\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBecome a Tsha Member and Join Our Mission to Promote the Unique and Rich History of&nbsp;Texas.\u201d <em>Physical Regions of Texas | Texas Almanac<\/em>, 4 Oct. 2019, texasalmanac.com\/topics\/environment\/physical-regions-texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLight Crust FLOUR Commercial, No. 1.\u201d <em>Texas Archive<\/em>, texasarchive.org\/2014_02447.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medford, Barbara. \u201cAsk Mr. Smarty Plants.\u201d <em>Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center &#8211;&nbsp;The University of Texas at Austin<\/em>, www.wildflower.org\/expert\/show.php?id=5545#:~:text=Lupinus%20texensis%20(Texas%20bluebonnet)%20is,thin%20soil%20coating%20over%20limestone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cO&#8217;Daniel, Wilbert Lee [Pappy] (1890\u20131969).\u201d <em>TSHA<\/em>, www.tshaonline.org\/handbook\/entries\/odaniel-wilbert-lee-pappy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Official Website of the Light Crust Doughboys.\u201d <em>The Official Website of the Light Crust\u00a0Doughboys<\/em>, 26 Mar. 2020, lightcrustdoughboys.org\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Texas Politics Project.\u201d <em>Texas Politics &#8211; Governors: W. Lee O&#8217;Daniel<\/em>, texaspolitics.utexas.edu\/archive\/html\/exec\/governors\/20.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parsons, Jerry M, et al. <em>Texas Bluebonnets- Texas Pride<\/em>.\u00a0aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu\/archives\/parsons\/flowers\/bluebonnet\/bluebonnetstory.html.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Essential to understanding Texas pride is listening to music that aggrandizes Texas. This is accomplished through &#8220;Beautiful Texas&#8221; as sung by The Light Crust Doughboys, a 5-piece band. They became one of the first to make music known as Texas &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5,7],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-songs-of-texas","tag-songs-of-texas","tag-texas-western-swing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":826,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions\/826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unewhavendh.org\/music-of-texas-fall-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}