WF Strong

I laughed. Waylon never said this, of course, but he would have had he been around when White Claw was invented. Thanks to Bill Alvarado for sending this in.

The Texas Quote of the Day finds ZZTop Guitarist Billy Gibbons talking about playing with legendary Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins: “To accompany Lightnin’ meant doing things his way. We were playing a traditional blues and we all went to the second change, but Lightnin’ was still in the first change. He stopped and looked at us. Our bass player said, ‘Well, Lightnin’, that’s where the second change is supposed to be, isn’t it?’ Lightnin’ looked back and said ‘Lightnin’ change when Lightnin’ want to change.’ And we knew —- don’t do that no more.”

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: The story of the infamous Billy the Kid is well-known. Having committed numerous acts of violence that resulted in the deaths of multiple individuals, with nine fatalities directly attributed to him, Billy the Kid was no stranger to breaking out of jails. However, in a unique turn of events, there was a solitary occasion when he ventured to break INTO a jail --- the jail in San Elizario, Texas. This account is derived directly from the meticulous records maintained by Pat Garrett, who started as a friend but eventually became an adversary of Billy the Kid. It was Garrett who ultimately confronted and fatally shot Billy the Kid when Billy a mere 21 years old. As per Garrett's records, Billy the Kid embarked on a journey from Las Cruces to San Elizario upon discovering that his comrade, Melquiades Segura, had been apprehended in the same town. Arriving around 3 am, Billy the Kid roused the slumbering guards by knocking on the jail door. Posing as a Texas Ranger, he deceived the guard by claiming to have two American Prisoners in his custody. When the guard unlatched the door, he found himself staring directly into the barrel of Billy's powerful .44 revolver. Swiftly disarming the guard, Billy the Kid assisted his friend's escape, confined the guards within the jail, and secured the premises by discarding the key. Without delay, Billy the Kid and Segura crossed the nearby river into Mexico, as the distance from San Elizario to the border was merely two and a half miles. Shown here: The jail in San Elizario circa 1936. It still stands and is used as Los Portales, the San Elizario history museum.