Ruff Stuff Part 1 of 2
started in the early 60's recording regional music for my folklore class. I ended up recording a large body of work. I opted to stay on at UT (University of Texas) and get a fellowship and become UT's resident folklorist. I was more interested in playing than recording, at that time. I continued as a musician for many years and finally when all of that came to a halt, and my drug use ended, I decided to stay out of the music business for a while. Then in 1987, there was a blues exhibit at UT and they highlighted the Grey Ghost and mistakenly said that he was dead. That pricked my conscience and I looked him up. It took me a month of going by his house, everyday, to talk him into seeing the exhibit. To get rid of me, he consented to go and when he saw that there was all this information on his music, he was really pleased to see that his music was valued. He did some practicing for six months at the piano. And then he started another career that lasted until his death in 1996. It was when I became involved with the Grey Ghost during my re-acquaintance, that I started the record company.
D.J.: What is your educational background in regard to the field that you are involved in on the Blues Scene in Austin, Texas? Would we be accurate in saying that you are a blues historian as a hobby or do you have a degree?
T.O.: I have a degree in anthropology with a specialty in folklore and that is what prepared me to be a blues historian.
D.J.: How did you come up with the idea of wanting to archive these old-time bluesmen? When you recorded Mance Lipscomb, did you realize at the time that you were in the company of such a great legend or was it just somebody that you knew about and wanted to record?
T.O.: Ruff Stuff is the best of Texas's guitar blues that I recorded in the 60's. They were all relatively unknown, except for Mance Lipscomb. I knew how special Mance was. I was very honored that he let me record him in his home. I made a documentary of the return of the Texas Bluesmen to Austin for a "Reunion at the Victory Grill" and this brought the black blues scene back to Austin.
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