The Steel Guitar Forum

These were two shows on D/FW local channel 11 for years. Jim "Shootin" Newton was a country music show that featured local acts. The early years local artists would perform in the studio, and later the cameras would go to the clubs and video live. Some of the stuff was real bad, and some was great. I first saw Junior Knight and Gary Carpenter at the Longhorn Ballroom and others like Boxcar Willie, Vernon Stovall, Kenny Serratt, Claude Grey... help me Junior.
Jim Newton always sucked on this huge cigar and told the worst jokes. It was great.

Sorry, I forgot to mention Cowboy Weaver. Also a local show with a lot of the same acts in studio. I can't remember if Shootin' Newton or Cowboy Weaver used to feature the Dewey Groom segment with Junior. Help me Junior.

In the 60's when I lived in Waxahachie I remember seeing Panther Hall on Sat. night TV with I think Wille Nelson hosting it and leading the house band. There was a lot of good some great and some bad gorups but it was good watching and hearing.

Mario

Whenever we worked Texas,I used to look forward to seein' the Cowboy Weaver Show. It was the funniest damn show I ever saw,even if it didn't mean to be. Worst lip-syncs I ever saw. Wish I had some vid-tapes of the show. If you told someone,today,about the show,they,probably,wouldn't believe you.

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Chris it was the cowboy weaver show that had the segment with Dewey Groom. was that not the worst lip singing you ever have ever seen in you life. I use to sit down with Ted Lynch and watch what they did and laugh our buts off.

I remember "Sootin' Newton". It was great. I had forgotten about "Cowboy Weaver and the Pals of the Saddle at the Sunset Ranch". They sure looked the part. Panther Hall was big Saturday night TV in the early to mid sixties here. They sort of switched formats in the latter sixties with "Panther AGo Go", an attempt to cash in on the Shindig/Hullabaloo success. Panther Hall did redeem itself (in my eyes) when Charlie Pride recorded a live album there (with Lloyd Green) in 1969.

Don't forget "Shootin' Newton Theater." Shootin' Newton showed up a few years later on a UHF channel with his same old footage but then he added had a western movie in the mix. He had a female sidekick that told worse jokes than he did.

I am pretty sure that the Dewey Groom footage was on the show. A lot of Vern Stovall and the Sattellites for the Silver Saddle Club on the County Line Strip. I remember he had a good guitar player. Also had footage from the Steak Pit on Harry Hines.

I drove my roommate in college up the wall watching it every afternoon around lunchtime.

Sam in AZ

the best part of Shootin Newton was that he always had Joe the truckdriver with him. "Joe" was alays a volupturous female setting next to Newton during the show.

Some of the early shows were live..or ALMOST live..lol..then they started doing the soundtracks in local recording studios..Gary Hogue and I did most of them.
Cowboy Weaver was the show that Dewey was on..later on it was the Cowboy Weaver--Dewey Groom show,I think.

Those were good times on Saturday mornings.

Jim would come on with that big voice sayin Howdy Somebody.

I had just started taking steel lessons and Junior and Gary carpenter were the first steel players I got to know via The Shootin Newton Show.

I will never forget the time they were showing a close up of Gary paying on some tune and he spun the bar in a circle while smiling at the camera and it just freaked me out trying to figure out what he had done.

Thanks for the thread Chris,it brought back some good memories and a big smile to my face.

Wow. It only took you guys 7 1/2 years to reply !
How 'bout Sweet Pete and all of his Pleasures? Or Sunshine and Cloudy Days?
That was great stuff.
Junior and Carp were the highlight of that show for me. Junior, what ever happened to Curt Ryles (sp)? I thought he was great too.
Someone told me that all of the tapes of these show were destroyed in a fire. It may have been Joe Bielinski. Can anyone confirm that?

Well Chris maybe some of us have been busy lately...LOL

From what I remember,the girl drummer (Linda?) was hot and a good drummer too.

Chris, you're right about tapes being lost in a blaze of glory. In 1998 there was a fire at Cowboy Weaver's place while he and Tommy were on the road, and all the film, tapes and memorabilia were destroyed.

I don't think it was Bielinski, though. It was an more like an Act of God.

OOOPPSS! Laughed so hard, I just spilled my Pinot Grigio!

All of the Weaver stuff (music tracks) were recorded at my buddy's (Buzz Busby) studio, Songbird down on Greenville Ave. in Dallas. Cowboy would pull up a crappy old motor home out back for a couple of weeks and they would do about six months of music in a couple of weeks. And I think it was Little Red who would stay out in the motor home with Cowboy.

Been a long time ago.

I wish I knew what Jim did with those KTVT tapes. Probably got trashed. He's been deceased for a long time. I took part in all of the above. I worked in a pawnshop/music store for Pete Sullivan of Pete and the Pleasures for 10 years. Shootin' Newton did our advertising. I also lip sinked my record at the KTVT Ch. 11 studio and wore a 10,000 dollar diamond ring Pete loaned me for the shoot and wore a rhinestone suit. I would get a good laugh out of it myself today. I also played Panther Hall on New Year's Eve 1978 when I was with Tony Douglas and the Shrimper's.
Jim Newton was a good friend of mine and interviewed me a couple of times at the radio station he worked at in Ft.Worth. I remember seeing all those tapes in his house but that's been a long time ago. Good old days!
I know it's an old post but all those guys were my everyday life for many years.