Latest / San Joaquin Sound / Sonny Anglin: He's A Truck Drivin' Pool Shootin' Son-Of-A-Gun and a Bakersfield Sound Legend

Transcript

Sonny Anglin: He's A Truck Drivin' Pool Shootin' Son-Of-A-Gun and a Bakersfield Sound Legend · San Joaquin Sound

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It's 1982 and you feel like going out. You hop
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in your car and head down to Wild Bills off Union
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Avenue in Bakersfield, California, home of the
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greatest country music that ever was. At Wild
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Bills, they have all three 45s of Sonny Anglin
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in the jukebox. You walk inside and put a quarter
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in the jukebox and pick your favorite song, Time
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to Shoot Some Pool. There's a pool game away
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at the end of my run. I'm a truck driving, pool
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shooting, son of a gun. You're listening to the
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San Joaquin Sound Podcast, the podcast about
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music in Bakersfield and the surrounding valley.
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For this episode... I interviewed local country
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music legend Sonny Anglin. He's been a mainstay
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in the Bakersfield country scene for over 50
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years. At age 87, he still sings multiple nights
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a week around town. He's played all the classic
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spots, like the Blackboard, Texas Barrelhouse,
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and Trouts. He's recorded multiple songs, toured
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the country, and even headlined a show at the
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Sahara in Las Vegas. Let's talk about growing
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up in Bakersfield. You were born and raised here,
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right? Yeah. My folks come here from Oklahoma,
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and I was living up on the side of the road about
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early March on 99 Highway, sleeping out, and
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my mama had the panes with me. They brought me
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to Kern General. May the 21st, 1938. I've been
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around for a couple weeks here in the county.
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So growing up, your parents were Benjamin and
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Gertrude, right? Yeah. What type of music did
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they listen to? Country. My dad was an avid cousin
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of Herb Henson and the Trading Post gang. We
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didn't turn the channel during the day because
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when the cousin of Herb and the Trading Post
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come on... If there's no red rider or what, you
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had to watch the trading post. That was his rules.
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Don't turn the channel on. And if you haven't
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heard of Cousin Herb's trading post, that was
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a huge country TV show that had a lot of country
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stars on. From 53 to 63. Yeah. He brought them
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all in here. He had wrestlers on, singers, and
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name it. Cousin Herb was the man. That really
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influenced your taste, huh? Because your dad
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loved country music? My most avid fan was my
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mama. She'd get me up and singing in church,
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and she put me in drama classes at Mountain View
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School. In seventh, eighth grade, she made sure
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I got there. She had a car she could drive, and
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they'd take me to rehearsals and whatnot. So
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actually, she got me ready for the States when
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I was a kid. That's awesome. I knew someday I
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was going to be doing this, you know. Were there
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musicians in Bakersfield that you looked up to
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as well? Well, I probably looked up to my dad's
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brothers, my Uncle John and Uncle Fred. When
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they'd come to our house, they was both pickers.
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They played guitar and fiddle and what have you.
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So they would do all the entertaining. Wow. Instead
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of playing hide -and -go -seek with my cousins,
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I'd say, hey, I'm not playing on hide -and -go
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-seek. I'm going to listen to the music. So I'd
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get around the edge of the house and I'd watch
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them. I had one uncle that wanted us to listen
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to the other one. He wanted the kids to go play.
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But my Uncle Fred was always saying, I'd let
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them listen to it. They might be pickers too.
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So I kind of catered to my Uncle Fred. That's
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cool. So did you start playing the guitar? I
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was about 15. I started Mickey Mousing with it.
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Yeah. Yeah, I said about 15, I started strumming.
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Do you remember what type of guitar you had?
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I had an old Epiphone when I first started playing,
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yeah. I'd say down in the Hawaiian Guards area
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when I started out, a Lady Lomi, an old Epiphone.
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So it was a hollow body one? Yeah. With the F
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-holes? Yeah. Nice. That was my first instrument
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was lent to me from a lady from Weed Patch area.
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that I knew in Hawaiian gardens, and so she let
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me have a guitar to play. That's great. Musicians,
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Dale Bennett, I don't know if you've heard of
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Dale Bennett. No, I'm not sure. He was quite
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a guy in the Los Angeles area. He is in Oklahoma
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City now. Dale Bennett would call me up and get
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me up to sing there at the old Red Barrel in
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the day, and that's where they all came. I seen
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Johnny Cash on butcher paper in front of the
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Red Barrel. Wow. Coming soon. And all of them
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came to the Red Barrel. The guy that I grew up
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on, I loved to hear him sing and watch him. He'd
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cup his ear, and that was Winn Stewart. He was
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my first star that I really idolized. I'd say
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it was Winn. Do you remember the first time you
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sang at a concert, like a country concert somewhere?
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Oh, Lord have mercy. To do a concert, I say,
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after I cut my first record, Mrs. Olsen. Okay,
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for Faber, right? Yeah, yeah, Faber Records.
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1972. And I went to KMOR in Murray, Utah, took
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me to number one on their station. Wow. And I
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flew up there and had done a show that was up
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there on the wall. That was my first big gig,
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I'd say. Saratoga? Yeah, Saratoga Springs out
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of Salt Lake City. Wow. That was my first big
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gig, I'd say. That's cool. Yeah. So talk to me
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about recording that 45. It had Mrs. Olsen on
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the A side, Today's Tomorrow Yesterday on the
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B side. Where'd you record it at? I recorded
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those in Los Angeles with Ed McNeely, old boy
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from Utah. He was with Gene Autry. He left Gene's
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label to produce me. I'd say he gave me my first
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big break. That's awesome. When Faber signed
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me, I wanted to get myself out there. Today's
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Tomorrow's Yesterday is a song later on, years
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later here in Bakersfield, that got me into the
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Bakersfield sound, was Today's Tomorrow's Yesterday.
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When I was researching, I was looking in the
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archives of Billboard magazine, and I found an
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ad for Mrs. Olsen with your face on it right
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here at the bottom. I'll hand it to you. Oh,
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Lord. Boy, that brings back some memories. This
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was out of Billboard, huh? Yeah. Yeah. They were
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advertising your record in a lot of magazines,
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and Billboard was one. You got reviewed in Billboard,
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too. Yeah, right below Dolly and Porter Wagner.
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Boy, if I ain't lucky. I hadn't seen this in
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a long time. Growing up, I'd stay in that area
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down there. That's what got me involved in getting
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started into the arts was the Red Barrel. And
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I'd go to Evelyn's Panama Room in Long Beach.
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I'd go over there and sing with some of them
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people. And then I'd go down to the... Hollywood
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on the Pike, which was about a few blocks down.
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That's when the Pike was going in them days.
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But they had a club down at Hollywood on the
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Pike. It was a club. And you had to go up the
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back staircase. Behind the bar was the stage.
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And I'd go over there to Cindy Carson. She'd
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get me up and sing some songs. And as it goes,
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when you're coming up, you have people that really
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help you along the trail. That's great. Yeah.
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They had a place there called Clown out on Nile
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Street, East Bakersfield. They wore out five
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records on that jukebox over there on Mrs. Olsen.
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So they played that thing off the wall out there.
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That's before I had really much recognition at
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all. So that was the beginning of it all, I'd
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say, was Mrs. Olsen. That's cool. But after I'd
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done Mrs. Olsen, everybody thought I had a hit.
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And Hawaiian guards, they go in them clubs and
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they say, hey, son, he's here. That's awesome.
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I also read in 1972 you went all the way to Arkansas
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to the Anglin Mooney Williams family reunion.
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I sure did. And you saw some other Anglins that
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play music too, the Anglin brothers or something
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like that, right? Well, Jim and Jack Anglin,
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you know, they were writers in Nashville. They
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was Tennessee Anglins. My dad's Ken Folk. My
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dad was cousins to, you ever heard of Ralph Mooney?
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Yeah. Wrote Crazy Arms and all. Yeah, Pedal Steel.
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He was a steel player for Wayland for years.
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But we was related. Oh, wow, that's cool. Yeah,
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I was related. He played with Merle for a bit
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too, right? Ralph Mooney, sure did. He played
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with a bunch of them. He was probably the inventor
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of Pedal Steel. He was great. That's cool. What
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other places did you tour to? All of them days,
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really, so many of them I can't remember. So
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many bands since my later stuff, you know, was
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here in Bakersfield. I found this ad in the Bakersfield
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Californian, and it says, Terry's Highland Inn,
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one night only. Sonny Anglin and the Golden State
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Playboys. So you must have been with a band then,
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huh? Oh, yeah. Womack, Warren Purcell. I toured
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with Warren. My first job on the road was with
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Warren Purcell. You know, he played for Wayne
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Stewart. Cool. And he wrote a song, Hands Spoon
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the Clock, in the A -side. And I went on tour
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with Warren. We went all the way to Virginia,
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Minnesota, and through Colorado, Dakotas. Played
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a lot of honky -tonk stuff. Probably the toughest
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gig I ever had was in a club in a... in the stockyards
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there at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and them
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cowboys wanted to fight all night. I don't know
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if my singing was bad, what made them to sing
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and fight, but on the break, they didn't make
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up. And these guys, I'm talking about fist fighting.
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And I was back in the corner thinking, am I going
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to get out here alive or not? I had some gigs
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that I wondered about, but that's part of it.
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Doing your apprenticeship. Yeah. Paying your
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dues. Paying your dues. You said it right there.
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That's the main word. Paying dues. That's what
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it's all about until you get to a certain level.
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I guess I reached that one here in Bakersfield
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due to people that love me. I know the night
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that I went up and got my, put into the Bakersfield
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Sound at Buck Orange's Crystal Palace, where
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they put me in, and it was today's, tomorrow's,
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yesterday. Got me into the sound. That's cool.
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Ate that trip. Yeah. And you helped write that
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song, right? Oh, yeah. You and Jerry Osborne.
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Me and Jerry Osborne, a buddy of mine from Muses
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Mill, Kentucky. When Jerry Reed passed. Jerry
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Osborne was playing bass for him. Wow. My first
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check I got from BMI, I still got it. I never
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did cash it. I think it was about $7 or something.
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That's cool, though. I still got it, yeah. So
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did you play at some of the honky -tonks in town,
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like the Blackboard? I played them all. What
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was your favorite one to play at? My favorite
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one, I'd say, was probably when I got up at the
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Blackboard. The first time. How was that? Well,
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Ted Forrest called me up out of the audience
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and scared to death. Man, I got up there and
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laid some songs. I don't even remember what I
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sung, but had a good reception from the crowd
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and shook all the way back to my seat. Scared
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to death. Certain things back in them days bothered
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me. I've overcome it since. I've been doing stage
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stuff for the last 40 years without anything
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but root beer. and made a whole lot better decisions
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than I did when I was on Jack Daniels. Yeah,
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old Jack lost out. You know, alcohol ain't the
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best thing for a man when you can't control it.
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It's all right. Nothing wrong with drinking because
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I'm still around it now. You know, I go out to
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Ethel's and here or yonder in town and Rustic
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Rail and get up. I wish to work to deal with
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Norman. over here at his 92nd birthday. Yeah,
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I was there. That was a great one. Yeah, that's
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where I run into you again. Yeah, I was over
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there. What memories I have with Norman Hamlet,
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you know. He was such a nice guy when he was
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with Merle. When Merle would come to New Orleans,
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my sister was in the show business, and she had
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a CNS talent out of New Orleans. My oldest sister.
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And every time that they'd come to town, Norman
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would call them, call her up and tell her, come
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over here and get some tickets. We're coming
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into town, won't you? And he would always give,
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Merle would give tickets to my sister. So they'd
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come to the show. It was good memories with Norman,
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yeah. So you're in Bakersfield in the 70s. playing
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the honky tonks, doing some touring. And then
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let's talk about your next record that comes
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out. I had Letter Dance. Oh, actually, yeah.
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I had Letter Dance. Buddy Mize had a label, and
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Buddy Mize, the writer. Was he related to the
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other Mize? Yeah, it was Billy's younger brother.
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Oh, cool. He's the founder of the Nashville Songwriter
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Association. One of him and Eddie Miller started
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the NSA in Nashville. Oh, yeah, on Cowboy Hat
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Records. And Cowboy Hat is what I recorded. Me
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and Bobby Durham, I'm not a braggart, but me
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and Bobby Durham's the only artists that ever
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recorded on Buddy's label, the Cowboy Hat Records.
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Wow. And I had to let her dance, and the B -side
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was Hanging On, the Vern Godson song that Buddy,
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he wrote. Hanging On, him and Ira Allen were
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writers on Hanging On. That's cool. I couldn't
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find that one. I could only find the A side.
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Someone posted it online on YouTube, but I never
15:48
could find the B side, so that's cool. I'll have
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to try to track it down. How you know it was
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the B side on that one, yeah. So how did that
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I Had to Let Her Dance do? How did that record
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do? Still playing out there somewhere. If somebody
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had told me they'd seen it or listened to it.
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Good song. I done it today here at the Rasmussen
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Senior Citizens. I went over there and sat in
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today with Country George and his band, and we
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done hanging on today. That's awesome. Yeah.
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All right, so let's talk about your third record
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then, right there. I'm a truck driver and pool
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shooting son of a gun. We sing Barn to Lose.
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which I'm having a whole lot of blessings over
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now. Soda Crackers, a group out of Bakersfield,
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they just done it on their album. It's on the
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A -side. It's the third song. And they've done
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I'm a Truck Driving, Pull Shooting, Son of a
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Gun. And Devin Brinsfield, another upcoming singer
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here, he's cut it. I've had several people cutting
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that song. But a little lady here called Shantice
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Marie, she done Sing Born to Lose. And that's
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the first female artist to do any of my songs
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was Shantice. And she's done had a lot of luck
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with that song here in Bakersfield. That's so
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great. I'm a truck driving, pool shooting son
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of a gun is kind of like your signature song,
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I think. Do you? I think so. I saw your shirt.
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In the Kern County Museum. Okay. And it has a
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pool table on the back. You know, my wife done
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all that work. She nudied that thing out for
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my one -nighter at Sahara in Las Vegas. Wow,
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that's awesome. She put that together for me
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that they've got over there. I had no idea when
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I signed it off to them that it would be out
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there now. I figured after I was long gone, then
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they'd probably bring some of my stuff out. But
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I got blessed again. Got it over there for people
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to see now. Yeah, it's right there in the glass
18:06
case at the Bakersfield Sound Exhibit at the
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Kern County Museum. With Ronnie Sessions. Yeah.
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Me and Ronnie shared that corner booth down there,
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yeah. And look for the trout sign, and that's
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where the exhibit is. Yeah, yeah. And I have
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heard a lot of people say that you're a sharp
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dresser. Well, thank you. I'm glad to hear that.
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That makes me feel good. Oh, I had a random question
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about earlier. I was looking in the copyright.
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The Copyright Library. And it said that there
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was a song called Rack Em Up written by Sonny
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Englund and Bobby Cunningham. What song is that?
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It was Rack Em Up. That's the song that caused
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Faber to sign me. And they never did cut it.
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They put Mrs. Olsen out instead. But that's how
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I got on there. They heard, my producer heard
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me before he signed me. I sung it for him, and
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when he was going to cut it, we never did really
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get around to cutting and racking them up. I
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have several people that's been interested in
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cutting it since. Leo Iford was just down here,
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and he told me his son was talking about cutting
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it. That's cool. He's a picker. Al Bruno taught
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him guitar, so you know he's a good picker. Wow.
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Yeah, but he was talking about doing it, but
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nobody's done racking them up. But that's the
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one that got me introduced into the business.
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Yeah, like your audition song. Yeah. That's cool.
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That was a 72 song too, huh? 72, yep. Bobby Cunningham,
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old boy from Tennessee, Waverly, Tennessee. So
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for truck driving. pool shooting son of a gun
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you wrote that with jerry osborne again right
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just like we wrote that uh uh lord that was back
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in 72 i say wasn't it oh yeah yeah so you wrote
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it at the same time you wrote the other one but
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you saved the song till later cool yeah and you
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had a kind of a choir back a backup vocals in
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that song too right oh yeah what does the bakersfield
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sound What is the definition of Bakersfield sound
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to you? Very rewarding spot in my life as a singer
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to be from Bakersfield and to be put into the
20:42
sound over a song. It's really amazing to me
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how songs can lead you along the road. to stardom
20:58
and new things in your life. What a tune can
21:02
do for a man if he hangs in there long enough.
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But I've had a lot of help along the road. I
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had a lot of people that admired me and through
21:18
it all has pushed for me. The day I got my...
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opened up the Bakersfield Sound over there. That's
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the day I met the Soda Crackers. They played
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out there. And I went inside and seen my suit
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that I'd signed away. That was the beginning
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of, you know, glory in music for me because I
21:45
never done no, even though I was. Close to being
21:49
on a major label a couple of times along the
21:53
road. I never did reach that plateau. But all
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these here wondering things has happened to me
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since. It's covered it. I'm very happy. I'm a
22:07
happy guy in Bakersfield. Yeah, and you're still
22:12
out there singing constantly. I have seen you
22:17
multiple times at the Rustic Rail singing, and
22:20
I know you're always singing, and so it's so
22:24
cool to see you still playing music. Well, thank
22:28
you, AJ. That makes me want to do it more. Oh,
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I should give you this. Here's another ad I found.
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This is an ad I saw for I'm a truck drive -in
22:41
pool shooting son of a gun. On the Cougar Records,
22:45
yeah. Is this out of Billboard? It should say
22:50
on the top. I can't remember. Country Nashville
22:53
scene, hot country LPs. Yeah, I think it might
22:56
be Billboard again. Yeah, Gene Watson and there's
22:59
old Sonny right below there on Cougar Records.
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I appreciate these. I'll put them in my keepsake
23:05
book. For sure. Yes, sir. That's where they go.
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So what did you do after truck driving? Came
23:15
out. Done quite a few songs I've cut that I never
23:21
have really got out there yet. They're just now
23:23
surfacing. Some of this stuff that they're having
23:27
local artists do my stuff 40 -something years
23:30
later. Now, that was 43 years ago. Yeah. Huh?
23:36
Yeah. It's amazing how songs go. Like Sing Born
23:41
to Lose. Yeah. Shantice Marie, she's only 39,
23:45
and I done that song, what, 43 years ago? So
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the song's older than her. Wow. But she loved
23:52
the song and done a good cover on it. I wish
23:55
you could hear her sing that song. Yeah, I'll
23:58
have to look it up, yeah. So, oh, we didn't talk
24:02
about Red Simpson. We should talk about Red Simpson.
24:06
We can't miss Red Simpson. Oh, Lord, how much
24:08
time we had to talk about Rojo, man. I sung Truck
24:12
Driving Man for him today over at the Rasmussen's.
24:15
Wow. Yeah, I do that song a lot of times. And
24:19
it's always, it's my, thank you, Red, for being
24:25
my mentor. I tell people, no, he took me, when
24:29
he had Hello, I'm a Truck. Yeah. He took me on
24:33
the road with him several times and exposed me
24:36
to his crowds. San Francisco, I went all the
24:39
way through Oregon. The first time I went to
24:42
the state of Oregon, I was with Red Simpson.
24:45
And we was going through the snow in Ashland.
24:48
And we was making tracks on the inner lane, inside
24:52
lane, coming into Ashland, Oregon. Wow. With
24:56
Red Simpson, me and him. He took me out there
25:00
and exposed me to his crowds. That's good. Oh,
25:04
yeah. He was a mentor. Red was a real writer,
25:09
man. He wrote every day. He's like Buddy Mines.
25:12
Wow. He wasn't writing on something. Real writers,
25:18
that's the way. I'm a halfway writer. Because
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I just ride it once in a while, something hit
25:24
me. Yeah. But them guys, they rode every day.
25:27
Yeah. But I was blessed to be around them. See,
25:32
I went to school with Buddy Mize and Dallas Frazier
25:35
at East High. Wow. A lot of people didn't know
25:38
that. They put it in the paper here a while back.
25:40
Did you know that Sonny England went to school
25:43
with East Bakersfield High School with Dallas
25:46
Frazier and Buddy Mize? We'd meet in the mornings,
25:50
and then all of a sudden he disappeared for a
25:52
while. And I said, hey, where'd Dallas go? Some
25:54
of the guys said, I seen Dallas lately. He said,
25:56
oh, man, Ferdinand Husky took him down to L .A.
26:00
Said he's singing down there on some kind of
26:02
big shows. I said, you're kidding. I didn't know
26:06
Dallas had even wrote Alley Hoop. He never said
26:10
nothing about it, you know. That's funny. So,
26:15
like I said, I didn't know these guys long. It's
26:18
like I was meant to be in this business. Yeah.
26:22
Some of the people I've met, yeah. But my hero,
26:27
if I had a hero, I want all of them in the business.
26:33
I hate to leave anybody out, but I'd say it was
26:36
Dorsey Burnett. He was my brother. I loved Dorsey.
26:41
And I knew he loved me. A lot of people would
26:44
see me around the Palomino, walking around Dorsey's
26:48
arm around me, around my neck. Everybody thought
26:52
I was Sonny Burnett. But Dorsey was my inspiration.
26:59
I admired Dorsey Burnett. That's wonderful. As
27:04
a brother, big brother, yeah. He was quite a
27:07
guy, man. He left here when he was 46. We don't
27:12
know when a number's going to come, but, you
27:15
know, I can share with old Dorsey now that I
27:18
made it to 87. I'm not bragging. It's because
27:22
the Lord knows what my number is. If I make it
27:25
to May the 21st, I'll be 88. Now I'm doing gospel.
27:30
My whole new turn is this new stuff I've done.
27:33
You got a copy? Did you get a copy? No, I don't.
27:37
But I did read about it, right? Last year, you
27:39
cut an album in Nashville, right? Yeah, you got
27:42
it. I'll give you a couple copies. Oh, thank
27:45
you. I got a couple copies for you out there
27:47
in the car. I carry a little box around with
27:49
me. Everybody said, well, Sonny, how much owe
27:52
you for this? I said, this is on Jesus and me.
27:56
That's what I tell them. My little four songs,
28:00
best songs I ever done, I believe, on recording.
28:05
All of the others mean everything in the world,
28:08
from Mrs. Olsen to name it. But doing my first
28:13
gospel and it turning out like little Eugene
28:16
Moles. I met him when he was seven years old
28:18
over here a couple blocks away. And I know that
28:23
someday, 60 years later, he'd be recording me.
28:27
I didn't know I'd even be recording then when
28:30
I was at his dad's house. And his dad introduced
28:34
me to him that day. He was seven years old. And
28:37
look at him now in Nashville. His circles. Everybody
28:41
loves Eugene. Yeah. He's just a sweet little
28:44
guy, man. He's one of them sweet guys. Yeah.
28:49
And we need more of him in the business. Yeah.
28:53
He's a great guitarist himself. Incredible. Scary.
28:57
And his dad was a legend here, too. Oh, yeah.
29:00
Well, yeah. Big Gene. He played with Nokia. It
29:04
was an adventure. Yeah. That's cool. Not very
29:09
many people get to record an album and especially,
29:12
you know, keep recording albums, you know, throughout
29:18
the years. Well, I'm going back, it looks like,
29:21
in June. I haven't finished up an album, but
29:26
we're working on it. It might take until Christmas,
29:29
but I want to make it right, what have you. Do
29:34
you have your top three favorite concerts that
29:37
you played? Yeah, I'd say Fox and the Nile here
29:45
in Bakersfield. The Nile is where I stood in
29:49
line at the Nile Theater to watch James Dean
29:52
and Rebel Without a Cause and all that was done.
29:55
And the first time I was on stage there, you
29:58
know, the feeling I had of standing in line out
30:02
front and here I am, I'm on stage performing
30:05
years later. Yeah. That's high. That was high
30:10
at the Nile. But I'd say the Fox and another
30:14
one. When I played out in 1970, I went to Kern
30:21
Park, where they used to have a lot of Oklahoma
30:24
Days and what have you, Buck and all. I went
30:28
out there, and they were trying to get lights,
30:30
money raised for the lights for the Junior Baseball
30:33
Association so they could play ball at night.
30:37
Cool. And I put in Hal LaFoon. He was a local
30:41
celebrity. And so I went and co -hosted with
30:48
him out at Kern Park. And instead of the 3 ,000
30:51
dinners they had set up, well, they had to call
30:54
Rudnick Beef Company and get another 2 ,000.
30:59
Well, 5 ,000 people showed up out there for a
31:02
steak dinner, and they built the lights. That's
31:08
one of my honored things I worked. That's a good
31:11
memory. Yeah, of course, when I see a ball game
31:15
over by Sam Lynn Ballpark anymore and the lights
31:18
on, brother, baby, I got a light out there. That's
31:22
the way I feel about it. That's cool. It was
31:25
from the heart. See, I played JBA here for two
31:28
years, Oak Lane Shopping Center when I was in
31:31
high school. And when they took my number, I
31:34
was playing for East Bakersfield Blades. I got
31:37
pulled from the team because of my grades. Well,
31:41
I joined the Navy. I quit school and joined the
31:46
Navy. Then you could join the service if you
31:49
was in your senior year. Oh, yeah. Now you've
31:52
got to have a high school diploma to get in the
31:55
Marines or Navy and what have you. So I slid
31:59
through another one, but it was high. I'm on
32:04
a roll now. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, I am. So blessed,
32:09
buddy. I like having you here today. I'm happy
32:14
to be here. Let's say, what about the top three
32:18
concerts that you got to go to to see other people
32:21
play? I'd say the one was Buck, and that's where
32:26
Bobby Durham was opening his shows at Long Beach
32:30
Arena. That's in 63. I seen George Jones. and
32:38
i worked a lot of stuff with al i don't know
32:40
you know who al hendrix was but i don't he was
32:44
an old he played with the go daddies in their
32:47
day there's a band and they've done rock at the
32:52
barn over here which is the moose club now on
32:55
stein i've got pictures up here on the wall with
32:58
al hendrix and the band played with some good
33:03
people smiley wilson the bakersfield brass and
33:07
a big shopping center in Los Angeles. Eastland
33:11
Shopping Center, I believe it was that day. Got
33:14
to play a big one with Memories. I think that
33:21
was one of my higher gigs because it was a big
33:25
time deal. I was one of the stars of the show.
33:33
Good memories, man. Yeah. Yeah. Which they all
33:39
are. To tell you the truth, they all mean something,
33:43
yeah. What's the craziest thing you saw happen
33:47
at one of the concerts or honky -tonks? Probably
33:52
playing here at home, out the pump room, out
33:57
on Edison Highway. I had a fist fight right in
34:00
front of the stage. And I told him, hey, you
34:05
know what? You're going to do that stuff you
34:07
can't do it here, bud. You guys break it up.
34:09
I got on the microphone and told him, you want
34:12
to tear places up, go to Edison out there where
34:16
the cops would take them a lot longer to get
34:17
there, but you can't do that stuff where I play.
34:20
I want a place where Grandma can come and have
34:24
a good time. I was known for standing up for
34:29
my rights. Of course, I was still drinking Jack
34:34
then, too, so I had a low tolerance for ignorance.
34:41
And I let them know it right over the microphone.
34:44
I was well known for that. But I didn't tolerate
34:47
crap in the club because I really meant that.
34:51
When I worked the club, my name was featuring.
34:55
I wanted Grandma to have a good time. That's
35:00
so nice. Yeah. And the Lord blessed me. He got
35:05
me out of it. He stood behind me. Is there anything
35:13
we're missing that you wanted to talk about that
35:15
you want people to know? That I've changed my
35:21
life through the Lord helped me. Get to a spot.
35:28
And I'm so glad where I'm at now. I'd say my
35:32
turn was a picker here in Bakersfield kept after
35:34
me sometime, Tommy Hayes. And Tommy Hayes is
35:39
one of the local all -time old pickers. And Sonny,
35:43
I seen him at the VFW post on Union. And he said,
35:49
when are you going to go to church with me, Sonny?
35:51
And I said, you know, Tommy, this is the third
35:54
time you've asked me. I'll tell you what, I'll
35:58
be there. I'm coming. I don't know if it'll be
36:01
this Sunday, but I will come. I finally took
36:05
that Sunday. A couple Sundays later, I go out
36:08
to the manor, to the cowboy church over there.
36:13
It's changed my life. I'm not a complete, I'm
36:17
not no, say, devout, dyed -in -the -wool guy
36:22
that is ready to fly away. But I like Sonny better
36:29
than I ever did. Been around drinking still yet,
36:33
but I don't. It gives me that more tolerance
36:37
to put up with crap, that I see what alcohol
36:41
does and still be around it. You can't break
36:44
it, and you can't knock the bottle and sing to
36:48
them. So I've had to learn how to be a wiser
36:51
guy. Keep my thoughts to myself. Let them check
36:57
for their own. They see the change. If you shine
37:01
your light, that's all you got to do. If they
37:05
knew you before, and I've always had a good nature
37:09
with people, and I could say something to some
37:12
bunch of guys saying, hey, you know, there's
37:14
some ladies here, man. What's the language you
37:18
got, man? I could say something. A lot of people
37:22
didn't, but I did, and not one time did I get
37:25
skint by some hillbilly because I said something
37:30
about their language. I was always protected.
37:35
Somebody had their hand on me, and I think I
37:39
know who it was now. It's been a blessing since
37:45
I've done this little gospel CD with Gene Mose.
37:49
out of nashville what a producer i got the best
37:53
little producer in the world we're going to do
37:56
an album by the christmas oh a new one oh yeah
37:59
this these four songs is going to go on to eight
38:03
more i'm going to put a 12 song oh yeah that's
38:07
cool album out gospel album And you're still
38:10
going to be playing around, right? You told me
38:12
you're going to keep singing all around town.
38:15
I'll play everywhere they want me to come and
38:17
play. I'll be there at the side door ready to
38:20
go on, or back room changing clothes, getting
38:24
ready for the crowd, please my fans. That's what
38:29
it's all about. That's great. Yeah. All right.
38:34
To end off the show, we always talk about, we
38:36
do shout -outs. So is there any Bakersfield musicians
38:41
you want to shout -out that you want people that
38:44
are listening to this episode to listen to to
38:46
check out? In Bakersfield? Yeah, Bakersfield
38:50
musicians. Kyle Appleton. Have you heard of him?
38:54
Oh, yeah. Kyle Appleton. I've seen him a few
38:57
times playing with different groups. He's a great
38:59
guitarist. He's a West Coast Gene Mos. He can
39:04
play anything. Yeah, he's a very good guitarist.
39:06
And very good, and a nice guy. Yeah, several
39:11
of them. Davin Brinsfield, Shantice Marie, what
39:15
can you say, Jerry Whittington, Oscar's boy.
39:19
He plays bass, you know, and saxophone. Country
39:22
George, McGammon. Oh, yeah, my little buddy Zane
39:28
Adamo with the Soda Crackers. What a new venture
39:31
in my life to know him and his brother. They
39:35
have been an uplift to me since I met the Soda
39:39
Crackers. Well, thank you so much for being on
39:42
the show. Thanks for the interview. Thank you,
39:44
AJ, for taking time out to give old son a shot
39:48
here. Yeah, I appreciate this. Let the people
39:52
know how much I appreciate it. All right. Without
39:57
the fan. There'd be no Sonny Anglin. That's the
40:01
way I feel from my heart and soul. My fans has
40:05
made me. That's who made me. So I got to keep
40:08
singing for them. Yeah. I can't quit. I'm hooked.
40:16
I remember the first time with her by my side.
40:28
We walked in the spring morning sunshine And
40:33
like a dew that lays upon a blade of grass She
40:38
lays pretty heavy on my mind And then in the
40:44
evenings, warm in her embrace I ventured to a
40:48
place you've never been And in her way of loving
40:54
me, she's made my life worth living Warm my heart
40:58
like early summer wind. And today's tomorrow's
41:04
yesterday. Tomorrow's what I'm looking for. And
41:11
today's tomorrow's yesterday. As sure as winter
41:17
snow falls, I'll be with her evermore.