Digitizing Photos

Digitizing Photos

Over the long months of the COVID-19 pandemic I've spent a lot of time at my computer working to digitize and blog old photos, albums and slides. Some photos are ours, some are family photos we've inherited. You can see this work in my blog with lots of stories and photo albums recovered and back filled from years gone by. It's an ongoing project and I doubt I'll ever catch up.

We went digital in 2004 for a 5-month sabbatical trip of Kate's to Australia and New Zealand (see blog entries for that year). The year before we had been in Australia for a month and had came back with 60 rolls of 35mm slide film — Kate convinced me that we weren't going to cart around a suit case full of film on the much longer 2004 trip. As you can imagine we have a lot of photos from before and after that digital divide.

Some friends have asked for my advice on how best to digitize their collection of old photos. For example, here's what Leslie asked:

"I need some advice from someone who has experience digitizing old photo negatives. Can I use my regular printer/scanner for this task or is a special scanner required? What is the software that you use to create a photo from the negative? This is a task I should have started months, or years, ago, but better to get at it sooner rather than later."

Some of what follows is my advice to Leslie or anyone else who is interested. It's an attempt to summarize my experience and guide yours. If my context and goals are nothing like yours then this advice isn't relevant. So, before I start, here's a bit of background.

Background: before you start
You need to understand where my advice comes from. I am an "advanced" amateur photographer and have been taking pictures for the last 50 or so years. Most of my pre-digital work has been with 35mm SLR cameras — mostly advanced amateur Canon equipment. During that period I took a lot of slides, especially on trips and vacations. We also have a collection of black and white as well as color negatives. For a time Kate and I did some dark room work at our home, e.g., we developed our wedding photos in the kitchen of our apartment (35mm E-6 color slides which we had wound onto cassettes). Our friend, my classmate, Neil Farnsworth was the wedding photographer. But we were never very good or comfortable in the darkroom.

As mentioned we went digital in 2004. But taking digital photos is one thing, working with them is quite another. Some may have treated digital photography as just another means of getting prints from their local lab. And, while we still print physical albums, my goal has always been to show and share my photos in computer albums. I.e., to make digital "slide shows" that could be presented to and shared with others. As such I've been finding the tools I need to organize, edit and display photos for others to see. Having photos squirreled away on your computer isn't much different from having photo albums in the basement — they're not readily shareable. And, they're not readily searchable. That's a virtue of on-line photo albums.

These days I use Corel Paintshop Pro to edit my photos on my computer. Others recommend Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom — I've not used either of those. I sometimes use the photo editing tools that come with Windows 10. They're good and work well but are limited in what they can do. I believe, for example, that the Windows 10 Photos editor cannot convert negatives (from black and white or color film) to positive images. If you do much work with digitizing old photos you'll soon discover that you'll need an good photo editor to deal with scratches, dust and other photo flaws. But on the other hand photo editors like Paintshop Pro can be overly complex and burdensome to learn.

All of my photos are uploaded into the Google cloud where they're tagged, sorted and organized into albums with Google Photos. Some of the tagging and organizing is my work, some is done automatically by Google. I can access my Google Photos from pretty much any device. And I can do minor photo edits there as well. Google Photos will archive photos at 16MP for free (and down size your photos automatically to that size if needed) and that's adequate for most of my needs (they're changing the policy on that come June of 2021).

I also archive my photos locally on a 2TB hard disk and, as a backup to that, I also save them on SD cards (the same cards I use in my cameras). These days you can buy very large SD cards at a reasonable price. I used to archive onto CD and DVD but these days they're too small and, I fear, not very permanent.

If you're going to be working with digital photos you're going to need a photo editor and a photo filing system. I'd recommend you start with the native Windows tools and progress to the professional editors as needs become apparent — e.g. for me one of the pressing needs was to be able to fix perspective problems on photos of artwork, buildings, etc.

I really like storing my photos with Google. Others use Amazon Prime, still others use the Apple iCloud, and no doubt there are many more. All of these cloud services are good places to archive your photos and provide good tools to tag, search and organize your photos.

My Advice
Given that background, here's a summary of what I have done and continue to do to digitize old photos. It's very much a rabbit hole of technologies and software but here goes...

1. If you've only got a few photos, slides or negatives pay the money and take them to a photography shop and have them digitize the photos for you. I have done this, with mixed results. Alternatively, if you have a friend who digitizes their work perhaps you can persuade them to scan your photos. I have done this for friends, but I'm not looking to make more friends. So don't ask me unless you are already a very good friend and only have a very few pictures to digitize!


2. If you want to digitize old photos you can take pictures of them with your camera or cell phone ... but watch out for reflections, light source and camera shake. You'll need some device, a tripod or copy stand, to hold the camera steady. This is the poor man's solution and produces poor man results. I've done this early on and was happy with the results at the time.

   

   Flat Bed Scanner

   
   


3. However, I recommend a flat bed scanner for old photos. I'm currently using an Epson V600 scanner which will also scan slides and negatives. We also have an "all in one printer/scanner" which we travel with (we won it on a draw at the supermarket). You don't need an expensive scanner for old photos. There are lots, new and used, available at very modest prices.


4. But Beware: the perennial problem with scanners, any device which attaches to your computer, is the software drivers. There's lots of old scanners which worked very well but are no longer supported on current computer systems. You'll find that there is only one solution for that: I use Vuescan from Hamrick as my scanning software — I have the professional edition which works with all of my scanners and I can use my Epson V600 flat bed scanner for slides and negatives. But also beware: I have a very old Dimage II slide/film scanner which I purchased used in 2005 when I scanned our wedding photos. I can no longer get it to work even with Vuescan! Sadly, all technology becomes an obsolete door stop at some point so if you shop on the used market be careful about what you buy.


5. Not all flat bed scanners are capable of scanning slides and negatives. Scanners work by reflecting light off the image under the lid. For slides and negatives you need to project light through the slide or negative. My Epson V600 scanner does that (there's a light source in the lid), my "all in one scanner" does not. I have tried, and have had no luck, to project a light source through slides and negatives on a flatbed scanner that doesn't have a light source in the lid.


6. My Epson V600 flat bed scanner will scan slides and negatives at an incredible density (at 6400dpi scan rate you get an image over 60MP!) should you have an image worth preserving at that detail. I usually scan at 3200dpi which produces an image of about 15MP which is more than enough for my needs. However, the big problem with flat bed scanners is they are incredibly slow, especially if you're trying for higher resolution. If you have a handful of negatives they're great; but, if you've got boxes and boxes of slides and negatives, they're prohibitively slow. I have two solutions for quickly scanning slides and negatives.

   

   Stand Alone Scanner

   
   
   
7. Quick Solution No. 1: After much research I bought a Kodak Slide N Scan stand alone film and slide scanner on Amazon. There are a few stand alone device available to scan film and slides but the market seems to be drying up. The virtue of these devices is you don't have to worry about drivers as you needn't connect them to your computer. Instead, I scan onto a memory card (the same cards that fit my cameras) and "sneaker net" the pictures to my computer. I.e., I take the card out of the scanner and plug it into my computer! This scanner advertises that it scans at 22MP but really it scans at 14MP and interpolates to get the higher resolution. Watch out for scanners that only scan at 5MP (that's very low resolution). One virtue of this device is the large screen; you can see what you're going to get. Another is the ability to adjust exposure by several f-stops. The feeder mechanism is pretty slick which makes it easy to load images and scan quickly. One limitation of this device is that it only scans JPEGS. If you want raw format images this isn't for you. But it's good enough for me. I use this device to scan the majority of my images and they are good enough for viewing on a computer screen. If I need a better quality scan I use my flat bed scanner.

   

   Macro Photography

   
   


8. Quick Solution No. 2: Before biting the bullet for the stand alone scanner I did a lot of scans using macro photography with my Canon SLR cameras. I have an old photographic enlarger which I use as a copy stand to hold my camera steady. Canon has some tethering software which connects the camera to my computer with a USB cable: so I can focus, adjust exposure, etc. without touching the camera and have the pictures automatically transferred to my computer. I bought a cheap tracing light table on Amazon as the light source (you can use your tablet or phone as a light source but you'll need to diffuse the light or have your film some distance from the light). You'll need to be able to do close up "macro" photography: I use extension tubes (very cheap), I have friends who have macro photography lenses (these tend to be expensive even on the used market). And you'll need to rig up something to position your slides/film over the light source and properly framed to fill your camera view finder. Once you've got that figured out you can quickly scan film/slides at the camera resolution (24MP on my Canon T6i) and in the image format your camera supports (e.g., Canon Raw Format). Beware: getting your film positioned at exactly the right distance for macro photography is awfully fussy. For me it worked best with my prime 50mm lens stopped down to f11 or more.

Some thing I've not tried but looks interesting

If your cell phone will do close focus/Macro that can work. But you need a copy stand and light source (a tablet or another phone will do but you need to defuse the light). There's YouTube build your own examples (e.g., DIY Cardboard Smartphone Film Scanner (v2)) and a little cardboard device you'll find on Amazon. Our cell phones won't get close enough for 35mm film so I've not done that.

An observation: buying a flat bed or film scanner that attaches to your computer can take you down the rabbit hole to software and photo editor hell... which can get very complicated and pricey. We bought a scanner device, scanner software to run the device (Vuescan) and a photo editor (Paintshop Pro) to clean up the images. Avoid that path unless you want to become a digital photo geek.

Finally. All of these old photos are interesting to see again and some of them are quite good photos. But many are out of focus, poor exposure, poor composition, etc. But then I've always said that if you want to take a lot of good pictures, you have to take a lot of bad ones to get there. Sharing these old photos with friends has been a great joy for us.

P.s. Of course you're going to need a good computer. I'm using a laptop but last year, at Christmas, upgraded to a larger screen, topped out the memory to 16GB and replaced the hard disk with a 1TB SSD (solid state device). Work flows go much quicker now. That's another path in the rabbit hole.

Maurice Quinton & Sons Transport

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My father had a trucking company — Maurice Quinton & Sons Transport, Walter's Falls. They had a slogan: "Big enough to handle your job, small enough to appreciate it." For more photos, click on the image.

He and mom had seven children, six boys and the eldest daughter Ellen. At the left that's a picture of his sons with his newly purchased International Harvester cab over diesel. The sons are Larry, Tony, David, Reg, Dale and Paul in a row from oldest to youngest. I don't recall the date but my guess is it's sometime around 1964. I do recall the occasion, it was a big deal when he brought this newly purchased cab over sleeper rig home. It was a big investment and a big risk on borrowed money.

In the background is the modest home I was raised in. During my university years, when my brother Tony returned to work with Dad, they moved to a larger home in the village with an attached work shed and large yard for the trucks. That was during their expansion years and would be the home Kate remembers.

Before this diesel he had gasoline powered trucks which spent a lot of time at Miller's garage on 8th Street in Owen Sound getting valves replaced. Gasoline engines run hot, they spin faster at higher RPM and the valves burn out. Buying a diesel was a leap of faith which worked out well. Diesel engine spin slower and are much more reliable on long haul jobs. Much of Dad's business was long haul — trucking loads of calcium chloride from Allied Chemical in Amherstburg to the far north for road construction. A sleeper cab gave you a "Hilton on four wheels"; no need for expensive motels. I understand this was the first diesel truck in the area. In the album there's old photos which predate this vehicle. Tony recalls the snow plow and has a story which I'll come to in a moment.

Dad had "Maurice Quinton & Sons" painted on his vehicles. It was a bit of wishful thinking. At the time of this photo Larry was off on his own career. Tony and David both worked summers with Dad while at school and both drove this truck — it was a bit of a bone shaker with solid blocks of rubber for the rear suspension. I worked summers for them when I was at university but never really learned to drive the big rigs. Tony was the only son who returned and went into business with Dad. Dad's grandson Ken (Ellen's son, our nephew) drove many years for Dad as well. There's a good picture of them mugging together in the album.

The first equipment Tony remembers is the snowplow.  He recalls being in it with Dad who was trying to break through the drifts on the church hill in the village. He got motion sickness and vomited in the cab — he was not a very popular boy that day! 

When Tony graduated from the Haileybury School of Mines he worked in the mines of Northern Ontario and BC and then on the Churchill Falls Dam project in Labrador. He had saved some money, came home, bought his first truck (a blue Ford Louisville) in 1971 and went into business with Dad. I recall riding with Tony on jobs during my summers from university. Dad and Tony formed a corporation and for the next 25 years ran the business together. They had some very good years and had expanded to a fair sized fleet but ultimately started to lose money by the early 1990's. I recall the deregulation of the Mike Harris years contributed to their ultimate failure; there became too many guys chasing not enough jobs for too little money.

Dad was getting on in years and it was left to Tony to decide what they should do. In 1993 he decided to sellout and move on. Everything went to an auction outfit on airport road in Mississauga. They had quite a bit of quality equipment at the time: there were three Kenworth cabovers (No.s 6, 9 and 12), two Kenworth conventionals (No.s 14 and 15) and there would have been several trailers as well. The auction house had offered a guarantee of $130K but they decided to take what the sale would get and ended with only $125K. They had lost again! When all the bills were paid Tony got only what he had started with back in 1971; he had worked 25 years for no return (he was remembered in Dad's will). Mom and Dad retired and moved into the city of Owen Sound. Tony moved west and worked in the oil and gas industry in Alberta and BC until he was 65 then co-drove a truck from Edmonton, AB to Houston, TX for a year and a half. They'd drive down and back in 6 days loaded both ways.

Tony asked, as an aside, if I remember the tire exploding on you at the  Allied plant? It was scary. 

I do indeed remember the tire exploding at Allied Chemical. This was early on after Tony had come back to go into business with Dad. They were in the plant together and I was riding along with Tony; two trucks were loading up 25 tons or so of calcium chloride for road construction. After the trailers were loaded and we were preparing to go a final walk around revealed that Tony had a flat on his trailer. Dad was pissed about the flat on a fully loaded trailer — lifting the axle to change the tire would be difficult given the weight of the trailer. Tony was pissed because Dad was being nasty ("You should have known!"; "How the hell would I have known that!"). Dad had the expectation that everyone should know what he knew without ever communicating it.  Tony was learning his way with a terrible teacher. Dad was not a good communicator.

Anyways, I was trying to help them (and stay out of the fray) and was under the trailer getting out the spare tire. I had pushed it out of the cage, it fell to the ground and promptly exploded with some force. Truck tires are under tremendous pressure and these had a metal retaining ring around them that held the tire in place. The explosion was the retaining ring slipping out of it's place and the air pressure letting go. The ring dented the metal of the trailer under carriage — had I been in the way it would have cut me in two. When the tire blew my first thought was I had screwed up and now Dad is going to be pissed at me as well! Instead he and Tony both recognized that I might have been killed and blown to bits. Dad was almost in tears and held me close. He would let you know that he loved you, but he was often a bear. Tony, working with Dad, got a lot of the bear.

There are other stories about the various sons and the trucking company, but that's enough for now. I'm sure more will be added later as I continue conversations with family. Until then, enjoy the pictures.

Ps. a few years ago a hobbyist, Robert Fitzsimmons, got hold of me for pictures of Dad's trucks. He was building a model and wanted to get the painting scheme right. He also shared with me a picture of one of Dad's trucks that is now in the possession of a collector. You'll find pictures of both in the album. The model he produced is a bit misleading — it's not the right truck and, while over the years they did haul a lot of lumber for Hallman Lumber of Walter's Falls, they never produced shrink wrapped kiln dried lumber.

After sharing these stories and photos Leslie wrote "Thanks for sharing! I have memories of both houses and even of sitting in the sleeping cab - always secretly hoped I could hide away in there on a trip. " I replied that I recall sleeping with Dad in the truck on long trips but it's not that cozy!

Alison wrote "I have some memories of Grandpa’s trucks. I remember riding in them at times, a bumpy ride and feeling so high in the sky in the cab. I remember Apple loads and watching the process of having them washed on some kind of device."

69th Birthday

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Most years it seems we're out of the country for my birthday. And most years Kate, as designated driver, takes me on a tour of local wineries where ever we might be travelling. This year, like everyone else, we're not travelling. But that doesn't mean we can't continue the tradition.

Kate arranged a wine tasting for my birthday at Fielding Estates near Grimbsby (it's on the Beamsville Bench in the Niagara wine country). Fielding Estates is one of the "F'ing Wineries" — Featherstone and Flat Rock being the others. She had booked this back in the fall. Since the COVID-19 crisis, which began last year just as we returned from Texas, this winery has had these neat little geodesic domes set up outside where you can socially distance but still enjoy the sun, something to nosh on and some fine wine. Unfortunately, back in February, when it was my birthday the wine area was completely locked down because of the virus. She rebooked and we went over on Saturday. This was our first adventure out of the house in a very long time. We put gas in Kate's car on the way — the first fill up this year!

It's a little over two hours from here to the winery and we got there in good time having planned an extra half hour. Since it was my birthday Kate insisted on being the designated driver; I was the designated drinker, she limited her tastings. We got there early and were advised that we'd have to wait until our 1:00pm appointment — they have to wipe things down and let the dome air out for a half hour between customers to keep things safe. Some domes had comfy chairs and sofas in a lounging setup. Ours was a table with 6 chairs in a dining style. We could have brought some friends with us but we're not comfortable with doing so yet. All our friends agreed that going to this event would be safe enough, some even encouraged us to visit a few of the other wineries. We'll do that another day.

We had our reserved dome (you need to book ahead and it costs $20) from 1:00pm until 2:30pm. We ordered a cheese tray with several extras and sampled all of their white wines (that included a Rose). That was a flight of 7 wines, 2oz each that we shared. I was particularly impressed by their two Riesling and a Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend they call White Conception (the name doesn't do justice and doesn't tell you enough about what to expect). From our Australian adventures we've had a lot of "Sem/Sauv"; it's a pretty much a "go to" blend there; it's also a common Bordeaux blend. All of these wines are well worth enjoying; however they do command a wine boutique price. We ended up buying several of their Rose which were more in my price range. 

We shared two cheeses (Gunn's Hill Handeck and Cows XO Aged Cheddar — both impressive and presented as huge blocks) with some crostini (we ordered extra), some Greaves Marmalade, Garlic & Red Pepper Olives (a whole jar!) and some crackers. There was more than enough for us to munch on as we enjoyed our wines for our allotted one hour and a half. After the white tasting we ordered a glass of their 2016 Syrah and their 2017 Rock Pile Chardonnay. Again Kate only tasted, while I finished them off. Kate encouraged me to sample a flight of their 6 reds but instead I just tried a glass of the one. We added a bottle of their Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay to our take home bag — that's six wines we took home.

The experience in the dome is pretty slick. As you can see from the photos they're clear vinyl and quite large. You're zippered in and given instructions to help manage the virus. E.g. we were required to wear a mask when ever a server entered and we had a paging device to summon the server when needed. It was a sunny day and quite warm within the dome. There was an electric space heater but it wasn't needed when the sun was out. Mind you it cooled very quickly when the sun went behind the clouds. There are zippered windows and a door to keep out the cold. It was quite comfy, we actually looked them up on the web thinking that we might enjoy having a dome on our deck.

It was a lovely day spent together. An especially nice gift for my birthday from my Sweet Baboo. We enjoy Niagara wines and miss our adventures in the wine country. When things return to normal later this year (touch wood) we'll be back.

Kate remarked that it's been a year with us at home every night (modulo a couple of hospital visits for each of us).

Snow Back Turtles.

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Kate and her friends have been meeting safely outside during the pandemic. Over the summer that's been easy.

However, with winter coming on, they've taken it perhaps a little too far. Here they are sitting outside around our fire pit on the deck as a snow squall descends on them. 

Around the circle from the 7:00 position it's Cathy, Jane, Jan, Kate and Janis -- the "Snow Back Turtles".

William (Mac) Dixon

My Uncle Mac Dixon (his first name was William but he went by "Mac" for his middle name McKay) served in WWII as did his older brother Walter Dixon who died in a training crash and never returned. Mac signed up with the First Hussars out of London and was the driver of a Duplex Drive Sherman tank, the "Bold", on the June 6, 1944 D-day Canadian landing at Juno Beach in Normandy. 

These tanks were amphibious and were supposed to float. They were brought close to the shore in landing craft and launched at sea. They had a large inflatable canvas screen for floatation and were self propelled with propeller screws to make the landing where the tank treads would take over. Mac's tank sank quickly either because of rough water or having taken a hit. There's a harrowing story in the accompanying video playlist about how he survived and managed to make it to shore that day.

The fishermen at Courseulles sur Mer (the town at Juno Beach) retrieved and restored the tank in 1970 — it had been a fishing hazard for years fouling their nets. On June 6 1971 Uncle Mac, in a troop of 85 First Hassars, attended the dedication of his tank as a Canadian war memorial.

The Juno Beach Centre, a museum and memorial to the Canadians who landed to liberate Europe, proudly displays and maintains Uncle Mac's tank. We made a tearful visit back in 2002 on a trip to Paris for one of Kate's conferences.

One autumn day in 2007 Aunt Shirley (Mac's wife) called — they were showing a video at the Mitchell Legion about Uncle Mac and the First Hussars. I recall it was a project by local high school students to learn about and preserve history told by those who had lived it. If you click on the image above you'll be taken to a YouTube playlist — a copy of that video. Some of it is from very rough super-8 film of their 1971 trip to France for the memorial and dedication, other parts are from CFPL TV specials recorded on VHS. The technical quality is pretty rough but all of the story of our Uncle Mac, D-day on Juno Beach and those dual mode tanks is well worth a listen.

I've posted these notes and the video playlist with the hope that the story survives. Lest we forget.

See also

• War time photos of uncle William (Mac) Dixon.
• My 2021 blog on uncle Sgt. Walter Dixon.
• Canadian Kangaroo Regiment Archive (re: William (Mac) Dixon)
• “Mac” Dixon and the “BOLD” at Juno Beach Center

 

Billy Joe Shaver

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What a year it's been for our music heroes. First John Prine, Justin Townes Earl and then Jerry Jeff Walker. Now Billy Joe Shaver, who was probably the greatest country songwriter ever, has crossed that river. When will this end?

Billy Joe was 81 years when he passed away on October 28, 2020. He apparently had a bout with COVID-19 over the summer and then a fall in September. The last time we saw him, four years ago at Riley's Tavern in Hunter Texas (November of 2016), he was hale and hearty, full of piss and vinegar. And having a hell of a time: "Fit to kill and goin' out in style." As you can see from the picture at left he's grinnin' like the "Wacko from Waco" — which of course he sang.

Click on the image to see more pictures from that event.

We had seen him at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto with his son Eddy as "Shaver" many years ago. So we were really excited to see him again at Riley's Tavern — we don't often get to see legends like Billy Joe and, as time has shown, they don't last forever, even if their songs do.

We had never been to Hunter Texas -- it's a small town (barely a crossroad) just a few miles north of Gruene (where you'll find the famous Gruene Hall -- where Billy Joe had his heart attack on stage and continued to play!). It's just off the IH35 between Austin, where we were staying, and San Antonio. It was about an hour away from our holiday long stay home in South Austin. 

Riley's Tavern is a very small club/Honky Tonk in a country setting with bikes and pickup trucks parked around. There's a bar at front and a bit of performance area attached where, unlike Austin clubs, smoking was permitted. Packed, as it was that night, you might squeeze in 100 people. An intimate environment. Billy Joe, the "Honky Tonk Hero", was up front at the bar glad handing fans as we arrived. We arrived early and found ourselves in a prime location up front to stage right where we had seats (there were very few, mostly it was standing room only). I was able to get some pretty good photos. The front band was the Texas KGB. They played a good set but were really blown out of the water by Billy Joe and his band. They played without a break and went on forever. Billy Joe was smiling and laughing, telling stories, never tiring and making sure that a) we knew that all these songs were written by him and b) he had been saved by Jesus Christ. In spite of buggered up knees and hip surgery he would get down on his one knee to praise Jesus Christ. I recall he said he was waiting to get the other hip done, or was it the other knee?

It was quite a night in Hunter Texas and one we'll long remember.

While there's lots of great music in Austin, we've never caught Billy Joe there. He sometimes played the White Horse Tavern, and that would be a great place to see him. He was honored at the Ameripolitan Awards in February of 2015 which we did attend. Unfortunately at that time he was not well and Joe Ely accepted the award for him. Joe Ely sang Bill Joe's song "Live Forever" in his honor. Cowritten with his son Eddy, it's a song that's fitting now:

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
Nobody here will ever find me
But I always be around
Just like the songs I leave behind me
I'm gonna live forever now

Of all the many tunes Billy Joe wrote we are especially fond of "(We Are) The Cowboys". Willie Nelson has recently released a version on the album "First Rose of Spring" (2020). The verse that we especially like is:

We are the cowboys, the true sons of freedom
We are the men who will get the job done
We're picking our words so we don't have to eat 'em
We're rounding them up and then driving them home

Billy Joe certainly had a way with words. And, at least in our house, he will live forever in his songs.

Ps. the album "Live at Billy Bob's Texas" (2012) is a very good sample of what the show at Riley's was like. Unfortunately, that album seems to be out of print. It's still available on iTunes and Spotify.

Jerry Jeff Walker

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October 23, 2020: Scamp Walker has left the building. 

We are saddened to hear that Jerry Jeff is no more. He shaped our love of Americana music. We would not have explored Texas so many times were we not exposed to Scamp Walker and his Gonzo Band. Many thanks, rest easy, we'll carry on.

I think the first I heard of Jerry Jeff was from my friend Mike back in the early 1970's when we shared the "Horbinger Home" in London while attending school at Western. While the music of the home was dominated by bands of the day (Supertramp, Rolling Stones, Rick Wakeman, etc.) Jerry Jeff opened our eyes and ears to what music could be. And of course that hard drinking life style appealed to both of us.

I only ever saw him a few times but have pretty much every recording ever made. The first time would have been in the late 70's at the Horse Shoe Tavern in Toronto around the time of "A Man Must Carry On" (my favorite album). My girlfriend at the time knew about my affection for his music and we drove from London to Toronto to see him. When we got there the bar was full and we could not get in. Sadly, we settled for some long forgotten show up the street at the El Mocambo. But luckily on leaving that show early we stopped by the Horse Shoe and were fortunate to get in and catch the last set! It was an excellent experience, magical and beery.

The second time, sometime in the 80's or 90's, Kate and I caught him at the El Mocambo. And the last time was recently at Ray Wylie Hubbard's 70th birthday bash at the Paramount Theatre in Austin November 12, 2016 where he came on stage to sing a few tunes with his old friend who authored "Red Neck Mothers" made famous on the "Viva Terlingua!" album recorded in the Luckenbach dance hall.

In 2018 we visited the Jerry Jeff Walker Exhibit at the Wittliff Collection, Albert B. Alkek Library, Texas State University, San Marcos. They have the archive of Jeff Jeff memorabilia.

We've travelled many times to Austin over the years to discover the rich music scene introduced to us through his music. Our many adventures in Texas might never have been, if not for Scamp Walker.

Many thanks, Buckeroo!