OKLAHOMA CITY — When most people think of Oklahoma, they think of the oil and gas industry. Other imagine tornadoes or, say, the Land Run. Some talk about the Dust Bowl. Others mention football. But few talk about music.
Until now.
Today Oklahoma’s rich musical heritage continues to grow and evolve – and despite what some would have you believe – the Sooner State has always been known for its music.
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma notes that, since the early 1900s, Oklahoma has been home “to a diverse range of musical styles and genres.”
From the earliest traditional folk and country songs of Oklahoma Territory to its role in gospel and blues and later, contemporary rock and even rap, the state has produced a variety of sounds and artists, the encyclopedia noted.
Consider Woody Guthrie, the great folk musician, or the less well-known Robert Lee Dunn, a Braggs native who, in 1934, wanted a different sound and invented the electric steel guitar, using a homemade pickup.
Dunn recorded with Milton Brown’s Musical Brownies in Fort Worth – making him the first country music musician to record on the electric guitar. While some historians credit Dunn with the electric guitar, the patent when to George Beauchamp of California who created the ‘electrical stringed instrument.’ Beauchamp received his patient in 1937.
Other Oklahomans such as Gene Autry, Bob Wills, Conway Twitty, Charlie Christian, Lowell Fulson and Chet Baker, each left their mark on the music industry during the first have of the 20th century.
At the same time, Oklahoma Jazz came into its own many prominent jazz musicians launched their careers on Second Street in Oklahoma City, known locally as “Deep Deuce,” and in Tulsa’s Greenwood section.
By the 1950s Oklahoma musicians and the state, itself, had become a major player in the music industry. Gospel, blues and folk birthed a new genre, rock and roll with a skinny kid from Memphis as its self-declared ‘King.’
Yes, you could say that it would take at trip to Oklahoma before Elvis learned where he could and couldn’t wiggle his hips. During an appearance at the Civic Center Music Hall in 1956 Elvis, touring as the Hillbilly Cat, began dancing on stage and, in the process, offending the powers that be.
Seventeen-year-old, Mandell Matheson was there. Matheson was as a photographer for The Daily Oklahoman. That day, Matheson’s editor assigned him to photograph Elvis. Matheson took his photos and returned to the newspaper, but his editors weren’t happy, Matheson’s wife Karen said to the OCCC Pioneer in 2018.
“The Oklahoman refused to take them at that time,” Karen said. “They wouldn’t publish it because the pictures were considered salacious.”
The photos stayed in a cardboard box, unseen for decades.
“I think he kept it because it was his own slice of history,” Karen said.
Matheson, who would go on to become one of the state’s best-known lobbyists, died in December 2011. His photos of Elvis were published by the Pioneer in 2017.
“He would’ve been proud and excited for it to finally be seen by people,” Karen said. “He wanted people to see what he saw and he would’ve been happy wherever it was seen.”
Others would follow the King.
Wanda Jackson, who mastered the art of rockabilly at an early age, David Gates, B. J. Thomas, Sheb Wooley and Mason Williams were notching hits along with Hoyt Axton, Roy Clark and Patti Page.
By the 1990s, Oklahoma could claim a number of world-famous musicians including Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Elvin Bishop, JJ Cale and the brothers Hanson. Others included Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Leon Russel and Blake Shelton.
Music and Oklahoma, it seems, runs deeper than oil and gas.
In addition to its share of award-winning musicians, Oklahoma is home state-of-the-art recording studios like Castle Row and The Church Studio, both alongside iconic venues and museums like Cain’s Ballroom, and Woody Guthrie Center which serves as home to the Bob Dylan Archives.
And then there’s our state song.
Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Claremore native Lynn Riggs, the movie, Oklahoma!, forever changed the way musicals – both on the screen and on Broadway – were produced.
“It was a musical play with an acting component. Both Ado Annie Carnes and Will Parker were transformed into romantic plot elements,” the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma states.
Oklahoma! opened on Broadway on March 31, 1943, and ran for 2,212 performances – making it the longest-running Broadway musical in history. In 1955, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced the film version the show and, in the process, spawned the state’s official state song.
A young George Nigh, then a member of the Oklahoma Legislature, convinced MGM to allow the state to use the song, Oklahoma!, as the state’s official song.
We’ve been singing it since.
And, as musical styles continue to evolve Oklahoma musicians have changed, too.
By the late 1980s, the state became a major stop for countless major artists including Queen, Hank Williams Jr., Paul McCartney, U2 and Justin Timberlake.
Today, Oklahoma continues to play a major role in the musical heritage of the nation – a role that brings something new to each generation.
This year, two Sooner State musicians had their song listed in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Best Songs of 2022: Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” landed at No. 21 while Kaitlin Butts “What Else Can She Do” came in at No. 44.
Not bad for a state that has its share of tornadoes, oil and gas wells and football teams.