Music Hall of Fame Inducting Three Legends
Three music legends, plus the historic Cain’s Ballroom, will be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame October 27. The induction ceremony and concert will be at 8 p.m. at the Muskogee Civic Center. The 2005 inductees include Oklahomans Tommy Allsup, Billy Parker and Toby Keith.
Each of the inductees will perform during the show at the vaunted Muskogee Civic Center where Merle Haggard and Eddie Burris wrote “Okie from Muskogee” in 1969. The 60’s era Civic Center is to undergo renovation next year and this will be the last OMHF concert in the old arena.
THE 2005 INDUCTEES
Tommy Allsup, perhaps best known as one of Buddy Holly’s Crickets, along with Waylon Jennings and drummer Carl Bunch, was born in Owasso and raised in nearby Claremore. After losing the coin toss that put him on a bus instead of on the ill-fated plane ride that took the life of Holly, Allsup moved to California and joined Liberty Records where he produced such notables as Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Willie Nelson and Tex Williams.
Toby Keith was born in Clinton, Okla., and although arguably one of the biggest stars in music, continues to make Oklahoma his home. Keith has had a string of hits and has become virtually a household name, having garnered Entertainer of the Year awards from the Academy of Country Music in 2003 and 2004, all the while reflecting the lifestyle and values of working-class people and the independence born of Oklahomans.
Billy Parker was born in Okemah, Okla. in 1939 and is recognized as one of the nation’s top country music disc jockeys. Parker won the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music honors for Disc Jockey of the Year five times in the 1970’s and 80’s and was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1992. Parker has also charted a number of songs as a performer and was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1993.
The Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Okla. is one of the most well-known music venues in the nation, if not the world. The facility is a piece of rock’n’roll history and is the undisputed ‘cornerstone’ of western swing music. The Cain’s Ballroom is now owned by Tulsa’s Rodgers family. Under their care the music landmark has been carefully renovated and restored and regularly hosts regional and national acts of many musical genres.
Tickets for the induction concert are $23, $33, and $44 and are on sale at www.starticketsplus.com, by calling (800) 585-3737, or at any local Albertson’s store.
Updated 10-25-2005
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