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Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air: Legends
of West Texas Music
"Indeed, Oglesby's introduction of more
than two dozen musicians who called Lubbock home should be required
reading not only for music fans, but for Lubbock residents and
anyone thinking about moving here. On these pages, music becomes
a part of Lubbock's living history."
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A few thoughts about CB Stubblefield: In the fall of 1975 I was living in a dorm on the Tech campus. I had lived off-campus for several years but tired of cooking and thought a dorm cafeteria was a nice idea. I had played guitar since I was 10 years old in various groups in Austin and Lubbock; during college mostly playing acoustic sets with a friend Brian Mullen. We played the usual circuit for such things in Lubbock - Main Street Saloon, O'Malley's and such. Sharon Ely cut my hair at Main Street Salon ( next to the Saloon ) under a painting by Paul Milosevich of her dangling wet, plucked, headless chickens outside her kitchen window as a kind of 'chicken-puppet theater' before a dinner party she once gave. Along the way that year I met Trey Yancy who also lived in
the dorm and played guitar. He had a company which he was trying
to create to make one of a kind instruments called "Dillo
Guitar" and we won a competition to paint a mural in the
Tech Student Center hallway made of flying armadillos. A $50.
prize I think, and we spent about a week painting it. Our conversation
led to other bars, bands and so on and he asked me if I would
design new graphics for "The Blue Boar" - a bar on
the south side of 34th street. I did some studies for a menu
and such but then Trey asked if I'd help with setting up a new
In those days the pool table was still in the front eating
area before being moved back behind the kitchen and on Sundays
we would put the sound mixing board ( Dee's ? ) on top of the
pool table ( actually a red and white checkered table cloth first,
then the mixer ) but it was awkward at best and almost cut off
access to the restrooms in the corner. And ultimately, the idea
of a mixing board in such a small space was fairly strange. Terry Allen's 'heart'
Cuz lived in the first or second room of the motel which was directly behind ( south of ) Stubbs BBQ and his room contained almost nothing. A hibachi sat at the side of the bed, and after successful fishing trips to area lakes he would cook perch in the room. He always wore suspenders and in about 1978 Joe Ely gave him a silver tractor cap which he wore proudly. Despite his lack of an arm he greatly enjoyed dancing and sometime late in 1978 I took a girlfriend and Cuz dancing. Joe was playing and they danced the night away. At the end of the evening she was wearing the silver cap and I don't believe she ever returned it to Cuz. Once, I had both CB and Cuz sign a sauce-covered menu for my 'archive' ( I guess that it might be the only original menu around ). My younger brother continued to take Cuz fishing after I had graduated. Over the next four years Stubb and I became close and he would,
as all know, give you anything you even asked about. When he
printed new yellow and On occasion I would take my family to Stubbs when they visited,
especially if Stevie [Ray Vaughan] was playing because both CB
and Stevie liked my mom. On one such occasion, CB asked mom after
dinner if she'd like something for dessert. She asked him what
he had and he turned it around to ask her again what she'd like.
She thought for a moment and said a fried pie might be nice if
he had one. He disappeared back behind the kitchen and came back
to the table about 20 minutes later with a fried pie; for which
he had left the restaurant and driven to a nearby convenience
store, bought it, and then returned. My mom nearly cried when
we realized what he had done. She will never forget it.
In 1979, after working in Denver for a few months, my wife and I returned to Lubbock for the Thanksgiving weekend with two friends. When we dropped by to say hello to Stubb he invited us in for Thanksgiving lunch with the Ely band and friends at the other end of the table. Stubb cooked, interestingly, chicken and dumplings for all. In the early '80's when I visited him in his new I-35 location in Austin and asked about Little Pete he left the room and came back with a photo of he and Pete which he gave me although it was his only copy. We took photos and he put his arms around my wife obscuring the entire top half of her body with his two crossed hands. I only saw him two more times.
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2007 Chris Oglesby All rights reserved |
Sunday
Jam at a BBQ place on E. Broadway. He and Dee Purkeypile were
working to help CB make the Jam idea viable and so I helped a
little. ( I didn't paint it, but the word 'Legendary' on the
outside of the restaurant came from my graphic studies and conversations
with Trey ).
white
tractor caps with a drawing of a hand holding a beef rib dripping
with BBQ sauce I asked him to please save me one and next time
I was in I would pay him for it. When I returned a few days later
they had been so popular that he had sold out except for the
one he was wearing himself and insisted that I take it, free.
He refused to let me pay as was usual. He catered my 24th birthday
party in the backyard of my garage apartment at 21st and Indiana.
All there were amazed that there was no limit to CB's generosity.
