Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

[Bo Borland]

Herb .. that is too funny..
I ran into Josh at Filly's in Philly...would have been around early 80's I guess. Urban Cowboy era. He was playing a ZUM and played his a@@ off. The band was from NYC and was very talented. My band was one of the local house bands.

[chris ivey]

i played 'whorehouse' years ago..twice at the music circus in sacramento, and once for some production in reno..i don't read music, but learned how to count measures watching the score and basically new what to play from listening to the record...i guess i pulled it off ok.

[T. C. Furlong]

I got the steel understudy gig for Josh Dubin for the Chicago leg of the national tour in 1979 or 1980. Alexis Smith played Miss Mona. In 1985, I played 64 shows at the Drury Lane in Chicago. It was pretty fun because the cast interacted with the band which was on stage. I learned Lynne Frazier's parts in about a month of woodshedding with a board tape. That guy was an amazing player as I recall. The book was nothing like the tape which lead me to believe that Lynne was doing wshatever he wanted to in the Broadway run. All good.
TC

[Joe Goldmark]

I played a few shows about 15 years ago when the local college (USF) did it. As I remember it was quite difficult and i didn't play enough shows to get comfortable. Lynn Frazier is a monster player, and the best part was copping his licks off the record. I can read music a little, but it's almost impossible to sight read on the steel. There's way too many places to find the same note, where as on the piano there's only one place. Doug Livingston in L.A. is the only guy i know who gets gigs because he can sight read on the steel. At any rate, as many have mentioned, the show was a lot different than gigging, and challenging in many ways.

[Roger Rettig]

Correct, Joe, and I don't come close to sight-reading on steel. I sing the phrases to myself, then decide where would be the best place on the neck play it. Before you know it, you find that you've memorized the whole steel-part.

I may get another chance to do this show here in SW Florida - I do hope so!

RR

[Brint Hannay]

I did it twice (about ten years apart) for four-week runs (maybe six) at a dinner theater. Very little money, but the show and the music are a lot of fun. They didn't have any other steel player, so they were at my mercy--I could still play gigs with my regular band for real pay, and they would just do without. We had the book with the steel parts written out, and I can read (not sight-read!), but the music directors were quite amenable to my ad libbing, for the most part. There are a few spots where you really have to play (or at least approximate) what's written, but there are a lot of places for improvisation. There's one spot at the end of a lengthy high-energy dance number (the Aggie song) where the steel is left all alone to play a sort of Turkey in the Straw "hoedown" ending lick on the open strings. The way it's written out seemed awkward to me, but that's how they wanted it, so I always sweated that, and on the very last night of the second run, I muffed it completely! If they do the show again in another few years, I hope they'll call me--I want to make up for that!

[Christopher Hillman]

sorry to dig up an old thread but i've got the gig doing this production! i've only had chance to sit down tonight (uk) and look thought the score with the original production i've been pointed to. its amazing steel playing and the score is really in depth... much more than i can read but! i would love to get some of this as is.

If we're all talking about the same recording (1978) would anyone be able to help out a quick transcription of the first line of "20 Fans"? the record has a beautiful line from the C to the F that i just cant work out... I know it sounds bad it the first line of the first song!! but out of what i've heard/seen i just cant get that line.

Thanks
Chris