Texas Oprey House
-----circa 1975, Houston, Texas
I'll miss you old friend......
Posted on 10/10/2009 6:41:30 AM PDT by wolfcreek
Hearing was Rusty Wier's last sense to go, so although he was almost unresponsive when surrounded by relatives and friends, including Jerry Jeff Walker, at his son Coby's house in Driftwood on Thursday night, Wier tried to raise up his head when the group sang "Amazing Grace."
By the next morning, the Austin musician, who had a hit when Bonnie Raitt covered his "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance" on the soundtrack to "Urban Cowboy," was dead after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 65.
He will be missed.
Texas Oprey House
-----circa 1975, Houston, Texas
I'll miss you old friend......
Rusty Wier Tribute
May 3, 1944 - October 9, 2009Rusty Wier told us early on that he didn’t want to lay his guitar down. And we most certainly didn’t want to let him. We watched and prayed and prayed some more these past two years as he fought the demon cancer with that same sense of determination and commitment he brought to entertaining every time those big ol’ boots of his hit the stage.
Joe Ables, who owns the Saxon Pub, home of Rusty’s regular Thursday night gig for 14 years, knows something about that: “I use Rusty as an example to these younger acts, who get a little sniffle and then want to cancel. Even before it happens, I always tell ’em about him. I’ve seen him sicker ’n a dog, but hit the stage, and you’d never know it. A true professional.”
And Margaret Moser told us about the time Rusty stepped up on that stage for one of those Thursday night shows less than twelve hours after his mother had passed away. “She didn’t want me to miss the show,” he explained. “Just make ’em smile. It’s what I’m there for. They’re not there to hear all my problems. And I do my best to make ’em laugh.”
And, boy, was he good at that. Having discovered his inner ham at the tender age of three while charming patrons of his father’s Austin restaurant by riding his stick horse between the tables as the pianist played “The William Tell Overture,” Rusty fully embraced the joy of entertaining.
He banged on pots and pans with spoons until the age of ten, when his parents finally bought him a set of drums. “Then they turned around and bought me a soundproof room,” he adds with a touch of that typical Wier humor.
Within three years, Rusty was defying parental and legal curfews to begin his professional career drumming for the Centennials. Over the next ten years, he drummed his way through several rock and roll outfits, including the Wig with Benny Rowe and Lavender Hill Express with Layton DePenning and Gary P. Nunn. Somewhere along the way, he discovered the blues clubs of East Austin and began to broaden his musical horizons.
Rusty’s adamant stand against being pigeonholed into any one genre of music probably dates from this period in the Sixties, when folk, rock, and blues all cross pollinated to produce new strains of music. And he was already looking to throw another element into the mix. As he recalled, “I wanted to call Lavender Hill Express ‘the Blue Mountain Train.’ I was trying to go country even then.”
But there was a different change of direction in Rusty’s immediate future. When Lavender Hill Express broke up, he put down his drumsticks, picked up a Mel Bay book of guitar chords, and began teaching himself to play the guitar.
Heading into the Seventies, our budding Texas troubadour was right on schedule for a head-on collision with his destiny. Just as Michael Martin Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker, Steven Fromholz, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings were all busy turning that Sixties blend of folk, rock, and blues into the “Austin Sound,” Rusty Wier came back from an ill-advised trip to LA with the inspiration for a little ditty called “Don’t It Make You Wanna Dance.”
The rest, as they say, was history. Recorded by artists as diverse as John Hiatt, Barbara Mandell, and Jerry Jeff, the song became a monster hit when Bonnie Raitt’s version appeared on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, earning Rusty a double platinum record for over two million sales. His signature song, it catapulted him to fame, fortune, and life in the fast lane. He suddenly found himself touring with such artists as Ray Charles, the Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker bands, The Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pure Prairie League, The Allman Brothers, Commander Cody, Asleep at the Wheel, Doug Kershaw, and Gatemouth Brown, among others. Sometimes, as was the case with George Strait, they opened and he headlined the shows.
Rusty signed his first contract with ABC Records and later recorded with both 20th Century and Columbia Records, producing more than a dozen albums during the course of his career. He also appeared on Austin City Limits on three different occasions, delivering his unique brand of what Margaret Moser labeled “Rusticana.”
A songwriter’s songwriter, an entertainer’s entertainer, perhaps Moser summed up Rusty Wier best of all when she observed, “Through rain, sleet, and dark of night, Rusty Wier delivers.” And now Rusty Wier has been delivered. And if that don’t exactly make you wanna dance, do it anyway. It’s what he would have wanted.
Yeah I was working in Austin must have been in 74 or 75, I played in a mostly amateur country/rock style band at the time. Anyway I had seen Rusty play and liked his style. One morning on the way to the jobsite we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and Rusty was inside setting at the counter. Talked to him for a few minutes and could tell immediately he was a really nice guy. Sad to hear he’s dead.
I’m sorry to hear this. Texas lost a good’n. Rest in peace Rusty. Prayers and condolences to his family and many friends and fans.
Thanks!
He will be missed. RIP, Rusty.
Rusty was a real Texas legend.
First time saw him and Jerry Jeff at Armadillo World HQ. Man was Austin the place back then!!
In the late 80’s ran into Rusty playing in a small bar in downtown Austin (NOT on 6th), Rusty, my friend Mike and I did shots of Cuervo way too long, but didn’t bother Ol Rusty just sittin on the stool pickin and singin.
Rest in Peace, Rusty, you won’t be forgotten.
The Old Saxon Pub brings back memories..
My daughter and Kinky performed at a benefit for Rusty in Dallas shortly after he was diagnosed. She also did many festivals with him. He always put on a great show, as he did even that night.
R.I.P.
WC, the last time we saw him was over here in Pflugerville at Hanover’s. I guess it was about 4 or 5 years ago.
RIP Rusty
Straight forward music, no studio gimmicks......
One of the best out of Texas. 100% Texan!!!!!
man, how time flies!
Do you remember when that was? My Wife was asking.
Does anyone know what type of the Big C he had?
The benefit at Poor David’s Pub was in January 2008. According to the Statesman article he was diagnosed two years ago.
And I heard it was liver cancer. The Cuervo probably didn’t help much.
Thanks!
RIP.
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