DOAK Snead
“Think of Me Sometime”

1977
Crazy Cajun Records
SugarHill Studios, Houston, TX
Produced by Huey P. Meaux

Before I begin I must thank Doak for all his stories he shared in the interviews that we had & for his music, for without, this episode couldn’t exist. Thank you so much Doak! Secondly, a Texas sized thank you goes to Cameron Davidson, Engineer at Mastermind Recordings & partner with Bob Clement at the Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa in Nashville, who engineered & mixed Doak’s newest album in 2018 “A Welcome Affair.” Mastermind Recordings lives up to & surpasses its name thanks to Bob & Cameron. In the makings of this episode, I reached out to Cameron asking to interview Doak, & it was he who put Doak & I in touch. I am ever so grateful & appreciative of Cameron for connecting Doak & I. Also, a fun bit of music history to start, Cameron is married to Emily, Roy Orbison’s Granddaughter.

The Doak Snead band first got to Austin in June of 1973.  They were one of the few bands that were doing all original material.  Doak took pride in being a "thinking man's country singer." It was writing first for him, and the singing second.  He said, "Hell, if Kris Kristofferson can make it as a singer, then so can I."

                The DSB opened & played with the likes of Austin Icon, Kenneth Threadgill, Asleep At The Wheel, the legendary Ramblin' Jack Elliot, John Prine, Freddy King, Mance Lipscomb, Loudon Wainwright & Willie Nelson, among my others.

                The Doak Snead band toured all over the southwest. He said a few years prior, in Dallas at the famous Mother Blue's, he opened for Ray Wylie Hubbard. He first met Ray Wylie down in New Mexico, when Ray Wylie was in a band call Three Faces West. 

                The night the Doak Snead Band played at the Armadillo World Headquarters, Doak told me, he thought that they'd made it big time. Saying the exposure you got while playing there was huge. Right up there with playing at Willies picnic.  Saying the exposure you received playing at the 'Dillo was huge. After playing there is when you start to get noticed at the national level.  The Doak Snead Band was definitely a favorite at the Armadillo.  On any given night for one of their shows they'd have a crowd of at least 100 or more people.  They played there upwards of 50 times, putting them in the Top 5 all time.

                He told me they soon added horns & drums to the band because at first they weren't the most energetic of bands.  And once they did that, their connection with the crowd grew exponentially. People would be getting down, dancing and hollering, clapping and singing every word to their songs.

                Shortly after their show that night the Doak Snead Band went on to record one of the first, if not the first Shiner Beer commercial.

                One of their shows they opened for Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Doak said, Jack came out and played a few songs, but he was so damn stoned. He only played a couple songs then said, "Goodnight Everybody!" and walked off stage. Doak said he thought that Jack may have come back out later on that night to play again.

                In talking with Doak about playing at the Armadillo and just the headquarters as a whole, he couldn't have spoken more highly of it. Saying their staff was huge.  Jan Beeman, who worked there, who later would become the Doak Snead Band manager, and also his first wife. Saying when you walked into the place it had the strong smell of patchouli, sweat and beer.  He said it was always so hot in there, he can't remember it ever having air conditioning.  The 'Dillo kind of swallowed you up when you walked inside. It was an old abandoned Armory that was founded on the shoulders of Eddie Wilson, Jim Franklin, Mike Tolleson, Hank Alrich, Bobby Hedderman, Dan Perkin, Mad Dog Inc, and Bud Shrake.

                He said one day BMI came down because they had gotten wind of this new scene happening in Austin.  Every artist within earshot came because everybody thought that they were going to get a record deal.  Doak said absolutely anyone who was somebody was there. Saying there were already a few that had record deals, like Michael Martin Murphey, Steven Fromholz, & B.W. Stevenson.  He said the biggest act to first come out of Austin were The Geezinslaw Brothers. But the band that really set the stage and laid the groundwork for the "Outlaw" scene was Freda & the Firedogs.

                Talking with Doak about playing there, he said they were the first folky band that played there.  There were multiple stages with the main one inside that was incredibly huge, and another side stage, then one out in the beer garden.  Said their sound wasn't the greatest, but that wasn't what it was all about.  It was more about the sense of community and the culture it was creating.  People of all walks of life came to the 'Dillo, and once you were there, you were family. Red-necks, Cowboys, Hippies, & Businessmen all became friends, especially when the music started.  He credited Willie as the one who really brought everybody together.

                They played with Willie Nelson twice at what was called "Johnny Mack Brown" nights at the Ritz Theatre on East 6th Street, before it was the Alamo when it was a vacant building. Doak said there would be a dinner & then they’d play Johnny Mack Brown cowboy movies, & afterwards there would be music. It was a $2 admission.  He did that twice with Willie in 1974. There's an awesome poster of the event with the recognizable art done by Austin's very own Jim Franklin.

                After some time spent in Austin and watching the "Outlaw" & "Cosmic Cowboy" scene take its shape, Doak decided he'd pack up and head west. He said the band wasn’t exactly coming up with any new material, so thought it best to part ways.  Saying, “I meditate when out West, I can really hear the thoughts I’m thinking out there.  All the sky & flatland just do something to me.”

                In 1977 he took his songs to Houston and recorded his first album, “Think Of Me Sometime,” at the famous SugarHill Studios. He said, “Everyone hasn’t heard my songs, so I did the album so they could.” The studio produced chart-topping hits from artists like Lightnin’ Hopkins, George Jones, Willie Nelson, The Big Bopper, & Austin’s 13th Floor Elevators.

                "Think of Me Sometime" was produced by Huey P. Meaux.  Yes, the Crazy Cajun himself. That same Huey who produced Freddy Fender's most famous song "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," also Doug Sahm's Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About a Mover."

                Listening to this album, you'll get glimpses of Austin in the early 70's. You can really hear the similarities between him & Guy Clark, most notably in the song "Dead Dog Blues."

                Doak said the man really behind making the album, and getting it out, and who also co-wrote the title track, "Think of Me Sometime" was Danny Epps who Doak said was a close mentor. Danny worked at Crazy Cajun and did it all, he wrote songs, he sang and produced. Danny wrote hundreds of songs for Freddy Fender, Roger Miller, Don Gibson, Johnny Lee, and many more.  Danny's singing and writing was in the same vein as Kristofferson, Townes, & Willie. He toured with Bobby Bare and Billy Joe Shaver. Billy Joe Shaver and Epps became very good friends. It was through Danny that Doak met Billy Joe. Fun fact, Doak told me the hat he's wearing on the album cover is actually Billy Joe's hat. It's a story to remain under that hat.

                Doak said he recently visited the "Outlaws & Armadillos" exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and as he was getting off the elevator, there was Billy Joe Shaver. They greeted each other, and Billy Joe looked at Doak and said, "Man, can you believe it, we've made it, we're finally here!"

                Epps was also a dear friend of Townes. Townes revered him and his songwriting. Doak and Townes were great friends as well.  Townes was a judge at the 1977 Kerrville Festival, alongside fellow Heartworn Highways compadre, Steve Young, and Doak performed.  Others who performed that year at Kerrville were Jimmy Driftwood, Joe Ely, Gary P. Nunn, Townes Van Zandt, Buck White, Delbert McClinton, eclectic classical composer-conductor David Amram, Peter Yarrow and John Vandiver with the Shake Russell Band. Doak didn't take top prize, but a close relationship with Townes was established.  Doak said his sound didn't exactly fit the Kerrville 'folk' sound.

                Doak did go back and perform at the Kerrville festival though.  At the 10th anniversary of the festival in May of 1981, Doak played that opening Friday evening. Also playing that night was Townes Van Zandt and Rusty Wier. Others that played that weekend were Guy Clark, Uncle Walt's Band, Ray Wylie Hubbard, & Gary P. Nunn.

                Doak spent a lot of time with Townes, writing songs together, singing each other's songs. Doak told me about a time when he was staying with Townes and Jeanene for a few weeks at their house at Old Hickory Lake.  Said, one morning Townes woke up, and was looking for his whiskey, but had soon realized Jeanene had hidden it.  But he said Townes knew exactly where it was. He was right, and once he found it, he began tossing that whiskey back.  He also said Townes had about $50 worth of quarters in his pocket and tried to get him to gamble and bet, horsing around with Doak.  Sipping on his whiskey all morning & working up a good buzz, Townes then suggested they go for a drive, putting on his big trench coat, Doak remembers, and they hopped in the big blue Bonneville that Townes had at the time.

                Townes was driving, and Doak said Townes was acting like he was drunk and losing control of the car, screaming and hollering, "Oh Doak, I'm too drunk to drive, I'm too drunk to drive. I’m losing control." He wasn't fooling Doak, as Doak called him out a handful of times. Townes realized he wasn't pulling a fast one on Doak, so he quit the shenanigans.

                They pulled over at a little picnic area by the lake. They were brainstorming about a song, and Townes had an idea. He said, "I know, let's pretend we just robbed a bank, and we're on the run from the police, and we’re shacked up here by the lake."  They wrote it down and Doak recorded it that afternoon, but he said nothing ever came of it, but he's still got the tape, and teased that he may pull it back out someday and give Townes the co-writing credit on it.

                Doak would frequent Nashville, and finally ended up moving there at the behest of Townes in 1990.  Townes took Doak immediately to the famous Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, and introduced him to "Cowboy" Jack Clement.  Clement is most known for his close work with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins & Roy Orbison.  That's where Doak met Bob Clement, Jack's second cousin, who screened most of the songs that came through the studio.

                While living in Nashville, Doak worked at the Country Music Hall of Fame for three years as a tour guide.  Doak said he combed through all of the records there looking for anything on the Outlaw movement in Austin during the 70's. He barely found anything, he said, just some stuff on Asleep At The Wheel & Alvin Crow. There wasn't even anything on Willie that he had found. He said, I guess time just had to go by first.

                It is also while Doak worked at the Country Music Hall of Fame where he met his soon to be wife, a songwriting partner, Kelley.  She worked there for 10 years.  Kelley was a beautiful singer and great songwriter herself.  She and Doak wrote songs together and his band covered some of her songs.  They were married two years later in 1992. 

                In 1993, Snead would sign on as a staff writer at Reba McEntire's Starstruck Publishing, with songs recorded by Lari White (his "John Wayne Walking Away, co-penned with Austin Cunningham and Jerry Boonstra, earned a positive review in People magazine upon its release in 1995), as well as Grammy-nominated Contemporary Christian group  Avalon. Others who recorded his songs include musician Mark W. Winchester (Emmylou Harris, Brian Setzer Orchestra), Americana artist Lanie Marsh and duo J.P. and Red Fontaine. 

                After his exit from Starstruck, Snead recorded four self-produced albums, including Inside, which CMT's Country Music Today magazine hailed as "frighteningly brilliant." He also recorded two children's albums under the pseudonym Mister Doak, including Kids Rule!, helmed by Grammy-winning producer Drew Ramsey (Jonny Lang's 2007 album, Turn Around). In 2008, the Doak Snead Band reunited briefly to release After 33​1⁄3 years, After 33​1⁄3 rpm. Catalogue, a career-spanning compilation, was issued in 2017. 

                As of 2018, Doak is now back where he first started when he came to Nashville. Back at the Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa.  He made and released his newest album, "A Welcome Affair" Produced by Bob Clement and Mastermind Recordings. Listening to the album I’d place it right alongside Johnny Cash’s “America” series, anything by Guy Clark and Steve Young, and & it most closely aligns with John Prine’s newest album “The Tree of Forgiveness.”  In “A Warm Night in Paradise” you hear his low, gravelly voice leading you through each lyric and line, reminiscent of Johnny Cash in his later albums.  It’s stripped down-ness with the upbeat tempo of the guitar, Doak’s voice and lyrics pierce right through.  The album is full of life and memories that Doaks words illustrate so well.   I’ve listened to this album countless times, enjoying the great riffs on “Meet the Renaissance Man,” and the attitude that comes with “Come & Get Your Rock.” 

posters by Guy Juke, John Stokes & Jim Franklin from shows mentioned above.