Gram Parsons

Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973), known professionally as Gram Parsons.

Parsons is best known for his work with the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. He also popularized what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock. He recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Parsons joined The Byrds in early 1968 and played a pivotal role in the making of the seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo album. After leaving the group in late 1968, Parsons and fellow Byrd Chris Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969, releasing their debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin, the same year. The album was well received but failed commercially. After a sloppy cross-country tour, they hastily recorded Burrito Deluxe. Parsons was fired from the band before its release in early 1970. His next solo albums met with little success. Parsons died from a reported alcohol and drug overdose on September 19,1973, he was 26 years old. After his death his body was to be flown to Louisiana for burial. However, his body was intercepted at the airport by friends Phil Kaufman and Michael Martin. After stealing his body they drove to The Joshua Tree Desert and poured gasoline inside the coffin to set the fire. Parsons had stated to friends that he wanted to be cremated at Joshua Tree Desert instead of being buried in the ground. His remains were finally interred in New Orleans. Kaufman and Martin were arrested and fined $700.00 for stealing and burning the coffin as it was not against the law to steal a deceased body. Parsons is interred at Garden Of Memories Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana

 Too late for tears, Spade

Country musician Spade Cooley wipes a tear away after hearing his daughter testify at the coroner's inquest into the death of Cooley's wife Ella Mae, April 13, 1961, in Bakersfield. Cooley would be convicted later in 1961 and sentenced to life in prison. On August 5, 1968, the California State Adult Authority voted unanimously to parole him on February 22, 1970. Cooley had served nearly nine years of a life sentence and was in poor health from heart trouble. On November 23, 1969, he received a 72-hour furlough from the prison hospital unit at Vacaville to play a benefit concert for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County at the Oakland Auditorium (now known as the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center) in Oakland. During the intermission, after a standing ovation, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack backstage.

Hank Williams and second wife Billie Jean Jones. She later married Johnny Horton.

 Haggard tribute album on vinyl

 Sign of the times

Look like Krista K.

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California Angels

Bill Harrelson’s dad had a bar in East Bakersfield. I would visit him there from time to time when he was bartending. I knew him from the Marine Corps.

Harrelson, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, was born in Tahlequah, Okla, November 17, 1945. A towering 6’5” right-handed baseball pitcher weighing 215 lbs., he was a switch hitter.

After debuting July 31, 1968, on August 27, he earned his only MLB victory by going 52⁄3 shutout innings against New York at Yankee Stadium. He allowed only one hit (to Joe Pepitone) but walked six, leaving with a 1–0 lead in the sixth. Andy Messersmith completed the two-man, one-hit shutout and earned the save, as the Angels won 2–0.

He appeared in 10 games and was 1-6.

I found this write-up about him in the Californian newspaper by Bob Slocum:

Harrelson grew up in Bakersfield and attended Bakersfield High School. He was lured off the BHS campus by the Los Angeles Angels and a five-figure bonus in 1963, as a flame- throwing righthander. Though be intended to pursue football after a brilliant Driller grid career, Harrelson was enticed and overwhelmed by the bonus and the prospective glamour of bigtime baseball. But bigtime ball proved to be something less than a rose garden for him. Harrelson spent Jong seasons in Idaho Falls, Quad Cities, HI., San Jose. EI Paso and Seattle before finally getting a coffee and doughnut stint with tbe Angels to 1968 — his first taste of the majors. He finished the '68 season with one win and six losses, though incredibly, in five of his defeats, the Angels were shut out. Harrelson's only victory that season was a sparkling one-hit handcuffing of the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium, a memorable contest in which he also collected his first major league hit. fireballer gets kicks JBA team By BOB SLOCUM "I think the game in New York has to be my biggest baseball thrill," Harrelson says. "Pepitone (Joe, the Yankee first baseman at the time) got the only hit, a blooper off the hands in the fourth inning as Jim Fregosi, our shortstop, had let the ball brush off his glove and die in short left. "I also had gone to the plate 13 times without a hit — actually I think I fanned all 13 times — and I finally dropped one in for a single." Glamour, which came deliberately, departed swiftly for the muscular moundsman who was traded to Cincinnati the following season and immediately found himself on a proverbial yo-yo string from Indianapolis (Cincinnati AAA farm club) to the Reds. Disillusionment set in and Harrelson, tired of the grind, decided to get out of the game at the close of the 72 season. "It was just a vicious circle," Harrelson says of his bumpy career. "I got tired of promises, the politics of pro ball. My confidence was shot and I just decided to get out while I could still get into something else at a decent age. "Every season it seemed like I was sent to triple A with encouragement and a promise that I'd be back after I bad a couple of games to get my sharpness. "But I was never given the opportunity to really pitch," Harrelson continues. "I was labeled a hurler with control problems and every time I issued one walk, somebody would hop up in the bullpen. That sort of has a way of biting into your confidence. "I really can't say I'm bitter, it's just that 1 feel 1 had the arm and the ability to be a successful pitcher in the big leagues. Maybe I just wasn't as fortunate as someone else who got a break at the right time." Harrelson, who stays in excellent condition year-round by playing handball and tackling the golf links, admits he misses the game and that he still occasionally toys with tbe idea of attempting a comeback. After all. at 28 a guy is still a year or two away from the old folks home. "It's difficult to do some thing you enjoy for to years, then leave it and not miss it to some degree," Harrelson confesses. "It's a great game and sometimes I wish I were still playing. I tell you, my arm still feels good. "It's particularly tough to see a game on television and see guys you played with and against, a friend, or a former roommate. I see someone playing that I know I am at least an equal to in talent and it makes me say to myself, 'where's my glove?'" Harrelson, who roomed with Andy Messersmiih in 1968, now stifles bis occasional big league urge vicariously via his San Joaquin Electric junior club. He spends approximately eight to 10 hours per week tutoring the youngsters and usually comes out early to throw batting practice. And when he is beset occasionally by that gnawing, irrepressible baseball bug, with the batting cage empty, he'll uncork a fast ball. The same one that carried him lo a near no-hitter in '68. A fast ball that really hasn't lost that much smoke. When he was sharp, he threw almost untouchable heat, a good slider, and an average curve. Erratic control was his ticket home. He now makes a living as a sales representative for Service Paper Products. He says he enjoys it. But an unquenchable flame seems to flicker deep down inside him. And the birth of a World Baseball League, which is not completely out of the realm of possibility, could conceivably lure the former hurler back to the game. "There has been talk, mostly just that, of a world league," Harrelson says. "But if it ever materialized, it might be worth considering going back. I never really thought the World Football League would get off the ground. Anything can happen, you never know." In the meantime, Harrelson will not sit on the edge of his seat. Currently co-coaching his JBA club, he hopes to land his own team next year. Eventually he may go back to school to obtain credentials for a coaching spot on the high school level. To him. as to most, it is incomprehensible how quickly the years have drifted by. It is not difficult for him to recount JBA 20 years ago. "I think that kids when I was playing were s little more dedicated," he says. "I remember when I put on my little uniform, it meant something very special to me Today, kids seem to take things for granted more." Though just a rookie at coaching, Harrelson has his own distinctive style and feels that the most effective way to instruct a young ballplayer is to let him know in a rather stern manner of his mistakes, making sure he understands what he did wrong and why. "Sometimes I may be a little hard and get down on them a little." he explains. "But it's just to get an important point across and I always make sure they understand what the mistakes are. why they are mistakes, and that I'm just trying to help them become better players " I really love to win, and I try to instill this attitude in my players. But I try to teach them, above all. to do their best and to have confidence in themselves." "Coaching can be unbelievably rewarding." Harrelson continues. For example a parent came to me earlier in the season and said that last year her boy didn't make contact at the plate once — like he didn't even hit a foul ball. He also couldn't catch a ball for anything. She couldn't believe the change. This year the boy has had some hits and has been fielding really pretty well . he's become a ballplayer." And this year Bill Harrelson has become a coach. Rookie coach Bill Harrelton directs mound conference with his San Joaquin Electric battery and Infielderi during recent JBA action. Harrelson, 28, has embarked on the final leg of a "storybook" baseball iourney that began with JBA participation 20 years ago, included a 10 -year tour of professional ball and concludes with a return to the league where he got his start, this time from the other side of the fence. -(Photo by Laurie MacLeod) Foreman 2-5 pick over Ali LONDON (API - London bookies Tuesday made George Foreman 2-to-5 odds-on favorite to beat Muhammad Ali in the world heavyweight title fight at Kinshasa. Se

 The Murdering Staffleback's of Galena, Kansas

Nancy Wilson, widely known by the name of her first husband as Mother Staffleback. She lived with her sons Ed, George, and Mike, her daughter Louisa, her daughter in law Cora, and for a time the man she later married, Charles Wilson. Their home at Picker’s Point quickly developed a reputation that hung over the mining district like smoke.

 Mickey Mantle 

(middle, bottom row
Right click on photo

Trona Railroad

Near Argus, Calif., in 1987

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Kodachrome by Scott Snell

 Union thug laid-low by a pick handle wielded by a tri-state miner

1937 Press Photo

 

Black Friday

Hagadious

Compiled in 2016, here are Haggard’s biggest selling albums as tallied by the RIAA. In the U.S., gold certification translates to sales of at least 500,000 copies, and the threshold for platinum is 1 million.

Okie From Muskogee (1969) — Certified gold: Oct. 2, 1970. Platinum: Dec. 3, 1991

The Fightin’ Side of Me (1970) — Certified gold: March 11, 1971

The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard (1972) — Certified gold: April 30, 1974. Platinum: Dec. 3, 1991

Big City (1981) — Certified Gold: July 11, 1983

Pancho & Lefty with Willie Nelson (1983) — Certified gold: July 11, 1983. Platinum: Aug. 7, 1984

His Epic Hits (1984) — Certified gold: Aug. 7, 1989. Platinum: Jan. 29, 1997

Super Hits, Vol. 2 (1994) — Certified gold: Nov. 14, 2002.

16 Biggest Hits (1998) — Certified gold: Nov. 5, 2002

For the Record (1999) — Certified gold: Nov. 5, 2002

By the way, friend and bus driver Dean Holloway's words about Los Angeles being "a dirty old city" inspired Haggard to write the song "Big City" in about 20 minutes and to record it minutes later in one take with a band that had not rehearsed it. “We didn’t have an ending, but the band came up with one they thought I’d like and ran me off as we wound down,” Haggard said. He also credited Holloway as a writer of the song, entitling him to half the royalties of it, which amounted to about half a million dollars for Holloway.

 Gap-toothed Red Simpson on early 1966 Buck Owens Ranch Show

 Sam Elliott

I don't recall Trout's being a rough place at all; it was always "a clean well-lighted place," to borrow from Hemingway. The Highland Inn? Now that was a different story.

Eugene Moles says this was his setup when he worked on a tour with Merle Haggard, temporarily replacing Haggard's Strangers band lead guitarist Roy Nichols -- '58 Tele and "Vintage twin. JBL'S"

 Don't know the graphic artist here.. but dig it

Bakersfield Kountry Komix mag back and front cover 

 "The place to have a barrel of fun"

Jimmy Thomason's last TV show

Yes!

Chalk it up as sadly now gone

Walter A. Martin
Walter A. Martin died Friday, Dec. 7, 2007
at Ridgecrest Healthcare Center. He was 92.
Funeral services were held Dec. 10 at the
Trona Foursquare Church. Pastor Mel Wilson
officiated.
Walter was born Jan. 10, 1915, in Joplin,
Mo. He came to the high desert in 1937 when
he helped build the tungsten mill at Atolia,
Calif.
In 1940, Walter found work at the
American Potash and Chemical Company in
Trona and moved his wife Annabelle and their
one-year old son Larry to Crumville (now
Ridgecrest). Walter worked at the Trona plant
until his retirement on Feb. 1, 1980. When
World War II began for the United States in
December 1941, Walter took steps to join the
service. Although he passed his physical,
American Potash wanted to keep him at the
plant and arranged for him to be classified 2A.
Over the years, Walter lived in Crumville,
Poison Canyon, Trona, Onyx, Lake Isabella
and for the past 11 years in Ridgecrest.
In the early 1950s, he was on the
bargaining committee for the International
Union of Mine and Mill Workers (CIO). Walter
served on the Searles Lake Federal Credit
Union board of directors for 35 years from
1954 to November 1989. Over the years, he
owned and operated various used car lots in
Trona.
Family was always important to Walter. In
1999 he and Annabelle celebrated their 60th
wedding anniversary surrounded by his four
sons, their wives and numerous
grandchildren.
Walter is survived by his wife Annabelle of Ridgecrest, sons Larry of Ridgecrest, Wallace of Portland, Ore., Walter of Cookeville, Tenn., and Jim of Ridgecrest; four daughters-in-law; and 42 grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews.
Flowers are acceptable but donations may be sent to Searles Valley Cemetery Association,
P.O. Box 171, Trona, CA 93592.

Arrangements were provided by Holland & Lyons Mortuary.

Current Issue Links
Walter A. Martin
December 12, 2007

NOTE: Mostly correct I guess, EXCEPT, Walter was born in Cave Springs, Mo., at the Martin home bordering the Missouri and Kansas state lines.

Steve Turner 2025

November 2 at 10:08 AM ·

This is a rare c. 1910 real photo postcard (rppc) for Atolia, California. Atolia, California which is now a ghost town. It once was one of the world's most important tungsten mining locations. It was located in the northwestern part of San Bernardino County near the border of Kern County and the town of Randsburg. Tungsten deposits were discovered in the area around 1904, and the Atolia Mining Company was established in 1905. The town's name is a contraction of the names of two of the pioneer operators, Atkins and DeGolia. This rppc is part of my collection of vintage Southern California ephemera and photography which encompasses all aspects of the region's development with strong focus on architecture, real estate, mining, transportation and culture. The Mojave Desert region is very well represented and is a strong interest. More examples may be seen on my Instagram page @steveturnerantiquarian

Filed for marriage license, Joplin Globe, June 27, 1964, My very best friend:

 James Michael Shaw 21 Galena Kan., and Seva Marie Ogle 18, Joplin, Mo.

Line a Day Journal

 

December 8, 1941

 Way too cool -- Zingo's is a nice touch too

Bakersfield Theme guitar built by V8 Custom Guitars. The Bigsby vibrato arm is a salute to Oildale and its oil. Eugene Moles Facebook

Best of times movie

Pulled from a "Vintage Taft" website; year of post not noted.

I devoted an entire chapter to that movie in my book, Kern County Sports Chronicles, published in 2013

 Betty Jo Jacks

 ·June 11 ·

Here's some of my personal photos from when I was involved in the movie The Best of Times.

Best of Times was filmed in Taft.

I had my dog, my truck and myself in the movie.

I traveled with him down to Moorpark for continuity.

I got to know Robin Williams while filming the movie.

My dog Buck actually got a credit in the movie.

At the end, it says dog Buck.

The pictures of Buck with football players we're taking down in LA.

This was almost a year after the filming in Taft.

They called and asked if I still had the dog and could I bring him down and get some film rolls, so they could put him into the movie in more places.

They wanted him to be the mascot.

I was told by the sound guy when I met him when I first became an extra on the movie to never let my dog be seen on the Bakersfield side.

And if I did, that my dog would end up getting a part in the movie, and it happened.

I didn't avoid going to the all call when we had to be on both sides as the crowd, but I did not let my dog be seen.

I stayed in the back, but when I was on the Taft side I always made sure my dog got seen.

When they did some previews of the movie everybody liked my dog so much they wanted to see more of my dog in the movie.

Buck lived 14 years, he was born in Riverton Wyoming in 1980.

I brought him out to Taft California in 1983 and then we landed in the movie Best of Times, I was at Wyoming girl with a dream of going to Hollywood and getting in a movie and it happened.

I brought Buck back to Wyoming to bury him in 1994.

Buck is buried in the Tensleep Wyoming Foothills, and I didn't know one day I would end up living back here where he is buried.

I didn't move back to Wyoming until 2012.

If you have any questions about the movie or Robin Williams, I would love to share them.

Betty Jo's chow-husky mix Hollywood star canine, Buck, in front of robin Williams on sidewalk