30-Minute Music Hour

(city traffic noise) It's the 30 Minute Music Hour. I'm Andy Moore. Tonight, from Madison, Wisconsin, by way of South Texas, it's Cris Plata and Extra Hot. Cuando yo la miro tengo la esperanza de llegar hacer su dueo Y cuando la miro la miro hasten mi sueno Si la estoy mirando me estoy acordando cuando no la conosilla Desde la maana pienso en ella todo el dia Y cuando me duermo la empieso ha sonar Y cuando despierto la quero mirar Y vello su retrato para poder me consolar Y cuando me duermo la empieso ha sonar Y cuando despierto la quero mirar Y vello su retrato para poder me consolar Cuando no la miro siento la nostalgia Que no puedo soportarla Y cuando la miro quicera abrazarla Y tambin quicera besarla Si la estoy mirando me estoy acordando cuando no la conosilla ella es on a jolla de una gran jolleria Y cuando me duermo la empieso ha sonar Y cuando despierto la quero mirar Y vello su retrato para poder me consolar Y cuando me duermo la empieso ha sonar Y cuando despierto la quero mirar Y vello su retrato para poder me consolar Thank you very much. I can hear clapping somewhere. This song is about, where all the lonely people go. It's a little town way out there in Wyoming called "Big Lonesome." IF THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE LEAVES TO MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WONDER WHY YOU BOTHER TO BREATHE OR STAY ALIVE BUT COME TOMORROW MORN I'M GONNA CASH MY CHECK AND HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I'VE GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE I GOT LITTLE PLACE THERE THAT WAITS FOR ME UP ON A HILL WHERE I CAN SEE THE RIVER BELOW CALLED MISERY SO COME TOMORROW MORN I'M GONNA PAY THAT FARE AND HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE IF THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE LONGS FOR SOME OTHER ARMS TO HOLD HER MADE IT CLEAR THAT THERE AIN'T NO DOUBT YOU GOT TO QUIT STOP REACHING OUT BUT COME TOMORROW MORN I'M GONNA CASH MY CHECK AND HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I'VE GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE I GOT LITTLE PLACE THERE THAT WAITS FOR ME UP ON A HILL WHERE I CAN SEE THE RIVER BELOW CALLED MISERY SO COME TOMORROW MORN I'M GONNA PAY THAT FARE AND HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE HEAD MYSELF TO BIG LONESOME I'VE GOT A LITTLE PLACE THERE I've been going down to South Texas for 20-something odd years to see my parents who live down there, and Ann had never seen the ocean. So I decided that since we were in San Antonio, we'd go down to Corpus and see a little bit of the ocean down there at the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane had come through, so it had blown all the trash behind the dunes, so it looked real pretty. I decided on this occasion that we should write a song about it. And by the way, this could be used if there's a natural disaster that happens out in the world, feel free to use this song. OH, THE HURRICANE IS COMING SEE ALL THE PEOPLE RUNNING TIE UP THE BOATS LET'S HOPE THEY FLOAT HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR LIFE WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY THE ANCIENT ONES FROM YUCATAN THEY ALL CALLED YOU HURACAN SPIRIT WIND THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU GONNA BLOW THEIR WAY AGAIN, AGAIN OH, THE HURRICANE IS COMING SEE ALL THE PEOPLE RUNNING TIE UP THE BOATS LET'S HOPE THEY FLOAT HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR LIFE WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH MODERN MAN DON'T UNDERSTAND HE BUILDS UPON YOUR GOLDEN SAND WHERE THE WAVES CRASH ON THE SHORE HE SAYS TO YOU DON'T COME NO MORE, NO MORE BUT YOU LOOK OFF IN THE DISTANCE OH, THE HURRICANE IS COMING SEE ALL THE PEOPLE RUNNING TIE UP THE BOATS LET'S HOPE THEY FLOAT HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH, OH-OH, OH-OH HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY I HOPE YOUR WHOLE LIFE DON'T BLOW AWAY, AWAY OH-OH! Okay, thank you! Run it! - Thank you. Cris Plata, everybody. Ann Plata, Tom Dehlinger. This is Extra Hot. You talked about South Texas just a little bit. Your folks are still there. Actually, they passed away, but they were from South Texas. In the hurricane story, they obviously were still with us. - Right, correct. How did you wind up in the upper Midwest? I have to blame my wife for this. She's from this area, so when I got married, I decided well, I think I'll stick around in Wisconsin, because it seemed like a really nice place. And I really have enjoyed my 30-some-odd years here. How did you two meet? We were working driving pea combines. We used to come up as migrant workers. How romantic. - Yes, very. It was, very. - In the pea fields. Did you start playing music right away together? Did you find that you had that in common? No, but Ann was a guitarist, but then she's quite a renaissance cowgirl, so she's a musician, a physician and all kinds of different things. So I played professionally for a long time. And then finally, when I was going to record, the bass player that I was going to use decided that he wanted lots of money, so I turned to Ann, I said, "You want to be a bass player?" And you only charged a little bit less? I haven't gotten paid yet. I'm still amateur status. Amateur status, well, that's all right though. Who taught you how to sing, Cris? My mother. My mother was a singer. My father was a guitarist, accordionist. They met at a dance in South Texas. We grew up really poor, but we always had musical instruments, so we entertained ourselves. She was the one that taught me how to sing. And taught you as a very young boy. From what age? I started playing bars when I was about five. My brother would take me in there and say, hey, we got this little kid that can play all these songs. They'd set me up on the bar and I'd be playing, and they'd be drinking beer, and they'd give me soda water and peanuts, and everything, till my stomach was out to here, you know. What do you miss about South Texas? In the winter, the warm weather. (laughs) But no, actually, the thing that I miss the most, but I've also made up for that is the brisket. ( chuckles ) So, when you say you made up for that, it sounds to me like you're making your own. Yes, in fact, Ann and I took a barbecue trip, we call it, and we went down to Memphis, Central Texas, and then we made our way back up to Kansas City. So, we were looking for, the quest was a dry rub or marinade. Which one won out? - The dry rub. I wish we'd had this conversation before you came, I would've begged you to bring some. Well, I tell you, you can't beat it. Once you learn how to make it, it's the best. Well, some more music? - Sounds good to me. Thanks, Ann, Cris. Thanks, Tom. (tuning guitar) I'm going to tune up here. When we traveled around as migrant workers growing up, I remember a sweet young woman who used to live in a migrant camp down in Indiana. One of the most beautiful women that I'd ever seen in my whole life. She always treated me really kind, gave me candy bars and everything. She always had all these friends that would come over and visit her, and I thought just because she was a very beautiful woman. But as I grew up, I found out that there might have been other reasons why everybody was coming over at all times of the day and night. She was one of those ladies that you never forget, so I wrote a song for her. It's called "Tequila Mockingbird." OH, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD OH, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD EVERY NIGHT YOU PACK YOUR BAGS AND PRETEND TO GO BUT ALL THE MUCHACHOS DOWN IN THE BARRIO KNOW IF YOU JUST TAKE YOUR TIME A LITTLE TEQUILA SALT AND LIME SOON YOUR STEPS THEY MIGHT SLOWLY BE A WALKING DOWN THE ALLEY WITH TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD OH, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD A PICASSO POETESS PAINTING PROSE ON A DIRTY BACKSTREET CANVAS THAT SHE CHOSE IF YOU BRUSH AWAY THE MILES ON THAT MONA LISA SMILE SOON YOUR STEPS THEY MIGHT SLOWLY BE A-WALKING OH, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD OH, TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD HEY, SINGING THE SWEETEST BACK ALLEY SONG THAT YOU EVER HEARD A PICASSO POETESS PAINTING PROSE ON A DIRTY BACKSTREET CANVAS THAT SHE CHOSE IF YOU BRUSH AWAY THE MILES ON THAT MONA LISA SMILE SOON YOUR STEPS THEY MIGHT SLOWLY BE A-WALKING OH, OH, WHOA-OH WHOA, OH-OH OH, OH, WHOA-OH WHOA, OH-OH (vocalizing) (applause) Thank you. Like I said, I grew up really poor. We didn't have much stuff to do, so one of the favorite things that I did as a kid was when the moon was full, I would just sit on the front porch and play my guitar and listen to all the owls, and the night birds, and other things in the dark. And I called it-- ( laughs ) I called it one of my favorite songs. But before that, I'd like to do a song that I'd like to dedicate to my good friend Clyde Stubblefield, who was the inspiration for this song. I WAS STANDING ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE HE WAS A SITTING IN THE SHADE SMILED AND THEN HE TOLD ME, BROTHER MAYBE I'LL SEE YOU IN A BETTER PLACE YOU BETTER TAKE YOUR TURN ON THIS WORLD AS IT'S SPINNING 'ROUND AND 'ROUND YOU BETTER TAKE YOUR TURN ON THIS WORLD AS IT'S SPINNING UPSIDE DOWN TAKE YOUR TURN ON THIS WORLD AS IT'S SPINNING 'ROUND AND 'ROUND AND OUT OF CONTROL AND ALL YOU GET IS OLD I WENT WALKING ON SOME DIAMOND COLORED SAND BUT THE DIRTY WATER RUSHED THE SHORE SOMETHING INSIDE OF ME KEPT SAYING WHAT HAVE WE DONE? WHAT HAVE WE DONE? WE POLLUTED THE WATER AND THE AIR AND KILLED THE FISHES IN THE SEA THEN WE TURN ON ONE ANOTHER IN A WORLD OF ONLY ME WE'RE THE FLAME THAT BURNS THE HOTTEST IN A FIRE OUT OF CONTROL WE'RE OUT OF CONTROL AND ALL WE GET IS OLD WHEN OLD ADAM BIT THROUGH THAT FORBIDDEN FRUIT BITTERSWEET IT MUST HAVE TASTED DAWNED ON HIM THAT HE JUST WASTED HIS LAST CHANCE IN PARADISE IT'S THE SAME ROAD WE TRAVEL LEADING OUT OF PARADISE WE'RE LIVING IN A TIME NO ONE'S ASKED TO SACRIFICE A SINGLE THING I'LL SHARE SOME BLAME WHOA... ( vocalizing ) I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER WHAT WERE WE THINKING OF? I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER WHAT WERE WE THINKING OF? WHEN OLD ADAM BIT THROUGH THAT FORBIDDEN FRUIT HE WAS SITTING IN THE SHADE SMILED AND THEN HE TOLD ME, BROTHER MAYBE I'LL SEE YOU IN A BETTER PLACE ( vocalizing ) (applause) Thank you! Now, as I was saying about growing up poor, you don't forget that kind of stuff. We were so poor that a robber broke into our place, and we robbed him. And we lived in a house that was so small, the mice were hunchback, but that's a different story! But I love walking around in the moonlight, and listening to all the animals, and coyote, and everybody howling. FEEL THE MOON PULLING YOU TIGHT CALLING YOU OUT AND INTO THE NIGHT INTO THE DARKNESS AWAY FROM THE LIGHT ON THEIR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT ON YOUR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT BROTHER COYOTE CALLS IN THE PINE HOWLS AT THE HEAVENS TO GIVE HIM A SIGN SO HE CAN GO DANCING INTO THE MOON SHINE ON HIS MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT ON HIS MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT THE HAWK ON THE WING HAS FLOWN FROM AFAR THE NIGHT OWL IS WAITING PERCHED ON A STAR THE LIONS AND PUMAS ALL KNOW WHERE YOU ARE ON YOUR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT ON YOUR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT THE MOUNTAINS LAY SLEEPING IN BLANKETS OF WHITE AND THE GHOSTS THEY'RE ALL DANCING ON MOON BEAMS OF LIGHT IN CANYONS OF TURQUOISE THEY FADE OUT OF SIGHT ON THEIR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT ON THEIR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT THE NIGHT SHE IS SETTING AND THE SUN WILL SOON RISE THE NIGHT WILL TAKE LEAVE AND CLOSE HER DARK EYES AS SHADOWS OF DREAMS SING SWEET LULLABIES ON THEIR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT ON THEIR MOONLIGHT WALK ABOUT (applause) Thank you very much. This is a song about my first train ride down to San Antonio, Texas, on the Texas Eagle. I got on board in Chicago, and then we picked up a gentleman in Marshall, Texas, an African American man, and he was dressed to the nines, beautiful hat. We're in the dining room, and he picks up this cell phone, and he was talking to his daughter and he says, "Yeah, baby, I'm on a train bound for Dallas, and she's running late." I just stopped what I was doing, and I just wrote that line down, and I said here's a song. One, two, three, four... I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE MY BIG OLD MAMA, LORD SHE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT A LITTLE BIT LONGER TILL I COME ROLLING IN THE TEXAS EAGLE, LORD SHE'S FLYING SO LOW TELL THE CONDUCTOR AND THE ENGINEER SO THEY BOTH KNOW THEY GOT TO MOVE IT A LITTLE ON DOWN THAT LINE THE TRAIN IS RUNNING 13 COACHES LONG AIN'T SUPERSTITIOUS BUT IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG I HOPE MY BESSIE'S AT THE END OF THE LINE 'CAUSE ME I'M RUNNING BEHIND ON TIME I BOUGHT A TICKET AND I HOPPED ON THAT FREIGHT MISTER CONDUCTOR PLEASE DON'T HESITATE DON'T WAIT ANY LONGER MAKE THEM STEEL WHEELS ROLL AND SPIN MAKE 'EM SPIN, SON I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE MY BIG OLD MAMA, LORD SHE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT A LITTLE BIT LONGER TILL I COME ROLLING IN THE TEXAS EAGLE, LORD SHE'S FLYING SO LOW TELL THE CONDUCTOR AND THE ENGINEER SO THEY BOTH KNOW THEY GOT TO MOVE IT A LITTLE ON DOWN THAT LINE THE TRAIN IS RUNNING 13 COACHES LONG AIN'T SUPERSTITIOUS BUT IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG I HOPE MY BESSIE'S AT THE END OF THE LINE 'CAUSE ME I'M RUNNING BEHIND ON TIME I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE I'M ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR DALLAS AND IT'S RUNNING LATE (cheers and applause)