Austin Music Scene

What do Muddy Waters, Earl Scruggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Mose Allison have in common? Or Guy Clark, Fats Domino, Roy Buchanan, and Janis Joplin? The answer lies in the pages of photographs taken by veteran photographer Burton Wilson of Austin. The book is a collection of more than two hundred black and white photos of the American music scene made by Burton from 1965 to 1994. Burton Wilson became interested in jazz and blues while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1930s. After training under internationally known photographer Russell Lee, he began to chronicle music visually. In 1970 Eddie Wilson, founder of the now-legendary Amadillo World Headquarters, said to Burton, “Just tell anybody that asks that you own the place. That way, you’ll never need a backstage pass.” Burton became the house photographer. It was an extraordinary time in music, when the old guard of blues legends and the younger generations of rock-n-roll musicians inspired by them came together. It was a time when talents such as Willie Nelson sought an alternative to Nashville and found it in Austin, Texas, launching the progressive-country movement. Rather than taking photos of “stars,” Burton documented musicians and performers, some of whom happened to be or became famous. The results are authoritative, intimate, and honest images of a trusted insider. For those who were there, this book will remind them of how it really was. For those who weren’t, these photographs are the next best thing.