The Absolute Best Historically Accurate Westerns

November 10, 2017
   Contrary to popular belief, when it comes to authenticity in Westerns, Hollywood gets it right more often than they get credit for. That is the premise of a big feature we are preparing for an upcoming issue of True West magazine.

   Here is a sneak peek at some of the contenders:

Doc Holliday (Dennis Quaid) and Big Nose Kate (Isabella Rossellini  ) in "Wyatt Earp" 1994

   Quaid is fantastic as a lunger and although Val Kilmer gets all the raves for his work in "Tombstone," Quaid captured the look of the emaciated Doc perfectly. Here's another photo from the set of "Wyatt Earp."

Dennis Quaid as "The Man In Gray"

   A few Westerns we are celebrating were small at the box office but played really big, at least to those of us who like and appreciate the authentic, nitty gritty Old West

Culpepper Cattle Co. 1971

   There are sleepers in our coverage, films that were so authentic looking, stills from the movie often end up in history books.

"The Covered Wagon" 1923

   One of the advantages to the older films, like "The Covered Wagon," above, is that the clothing, props and wagons were still around mere decades after the passing of the Old West and in many cases, still being used! I have seen the above photo and this next one, below, being passed off as historic photos, that's how good the authenticity is in these scenes.

"Brigham Young" 1940

"It doesn't matter how accurate a story is if you can't keep awake through it."

—Henry Parke 

  Another early film pulled out all the stops to create a sprawling Old West town in what turned out to be the largest Western town set in American film history.

"Cimarron" 1931

   Of course, the Western that I absolutely love on many levels is, in many ways, considered to be an odd one.

"McCabe & Mrs. Miller" 1971

   The authenticity of the town being built as the movie opens and progresses is quite authentic, with walls and roofs unfinished, and boards hanging out. I love it we see McCabe (Warren Beatty) sewing his shirt. Sewing! When is the last time you saw Gene, or Hoppy, or the Duke for that matter, sewing?! Then, in the main saloon people are talking over each other and you can see their breath! It's that cold. In fact, what I really love about "McCabe" is the weather, the snow, the freezing conditions and heavy overcoats. I think, for my money, it's the most authentic weather in a Western, ever!

Some Westerns get dinged for having bad hats and incorrect weapons for the times they are portraying, but then the geography is dead on.

"Shane" 1951

Some of the early Westerns don't get credit for trying to be authentic, but here is another film that tried to get it right. Great look, at least in this still photo:

"The Gunfighter" Gregory Peck

   And then there are Westerns that failed on so many levels but the look of one of the main actors is just about perfect:

"Wild Bill" Jeff Bridges

   Of course, we haven't even mentioned the film that our readers considered the most authentic of all, and, well, it's not a secret, but I think you know which one that is going to be. Here's a hint:

"Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say 'This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.'"

—Studs Terkel

How Many Roads Must A Man Walk Down Before He Finishes A Book?

November 9, 2017
   Well, it took the better part of 22 years, but it's FINALLY on the press even as you read this.

   Supposed to have office copies here next week. Pre-orders are being taken right here:

Pre-Order for Wild Bill book


   Had eye surgery yesterday. It was twenty minutes. They gave me that Michael Jackson drug (Propofol?) that has a memory loss component. You're out for two minutes, they inject pain killer into your eyeball, then you wake up and they scrape the cataracts off your eye (just a vague feeling of pressure but no pain), then they slip a plastic windshield in through a slit in the wall of the retina and wheel you back into the recovery room. I told the nurse I never lost consciousness and she laughed and said, "Everybody says that!" Basically painless. Honestly, the eye drops BEFORE the surgery hurt more than the actual surgery. 

   One more bit of history. I asked the eye doc how in the hell this was ever developed and he said it came from the Korean War when a pilot's windshield got blown out in combat and plexi-glass ended up in his eyes. Doctors were concerned about infection, but when the eye accepted the plexi-glass, someone, went, "You know if the eye accepts plastic, we could cut open eyeballs and put contacts in there. Who wants to be first to try it?" Today, the cut is very small and I wore an eyepatch for about eight hours. Today I am wearing sunglasses and stylin' it:

   My Future's So Bright I Have to Wear Shades

   Working on a couple cover ideas, like this one:

Arizona Rangers at Naco, 1903

   I think there's a True West cover in there with a little cropping and editing:

Sketched and Cropped Version of Arizona Rangers

photo for possible TW cover.

   Went for a walk this morning and caught this big sucker in the twilight:

How Big? Oh, About THIS big!

   "We tell ourselves stories in order to live."

—Joan Didion

Runnin' Down A Dream Scene for Scene

November 6, 2017
   Listened to Tom Petty all weekend and since his passing, his lyrics, always profound, took on even more meaning:

"Well I know what's right, I got just one life

In a world that keeps on pushin' me around

But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down. . ."

—Tom Petty, "I Won't Back Down"

Daily Whip Out: "Tom Petty Learnin' to Fly"

"Now all the vampires walkin' through the valley

Move west down Ventura boulevard

And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows

And the good girls are home with broken hearts. . ."

—Tom Petty, "Free Fallin'"

Daily Whip Out: "When the wolves and dogs all bark"

"Well I feel like a forgotten man

I understand the dark

when it hangs upon the water

when the wolves and dogs all bark. . ."

—Tom Petty, "Forgotten Man"

Daily Whip Out: "Tom Petty Runnin' Down A Dream"

"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees flew by, me and Del were singin,' Little Runaway
I was flyin'"

—Tom Petty, "Runnin' Down A Dream"

Daily Whip Out: "My Little Runaway"

"Well I heard you in the back room

Your friends had a laugh on me

Passed my name through the cantina

Yeah your face was hard to read

Somethinig in your demeanor

Should of given you away

But I was desperate for a friend

I was getting used to making mistakes

Well I went down hard

Like Billy the Kid. . ."

—Tom Petty, "Billy the Kid"

Daily Whip Out: "He Smiled When He Pulled The Trigger"

"Well you can't turn him into a company man

You can't turn him into a whore

And the boys upstairs just don't understand anymore

Well the top brass don't like him talking so much

And he won't play what they say to play

And he don't want to change what don't need to change

And there goes the last DJ

Who plays what he wants to play

And he says what he wants to say. . ."

—Tom Petty, "The Last DJ"

Jones Boze & Jeanner, KSLX, 100.7 FM

"Smack dab in the middle of the West's Most Midwestern town."

"She grew up in an Indiana town

Had a good-lookin' mama who never was around

But she grew up tall and she grew up right

With them Indiana boys on them Indiana nights. . ."

—Tom Petty, "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

Daily Whip Out: "Mary Jane Heads South"

Daily Whip Out: "The Road Ahead"

"Tom Petty's music has always sounded like open desert highway—what even a martian would recognize as 'America.'"

—Wesley Morris

The Brutal Truth About Most Billy Wannabes

November 4, 2017
   We get a "new" Billy the Kid photo sent to us almost every week. Here is a good example:

A New Billy Wannabe

   Great photo, love the hat and the cocky look on his face. So is it the Kid? Probably not, but hard to prove, either way.

  Some guys bring the photo right into our office:

Frank Abrams and his alleged Billy and Pat Garrett photo

   And here's a typical inquiry that came in this week:

I am a reporter with the Daily Press newspaper in Victorville, California. I recently interviewed two brothers who claim to have a never-before-seen photograph of Billy the Kid posing with his brother/half brother Joseph. I would like to speak with someone from True West about the photograph and its authenticity. Here is the photo:

Alleged Billy and Josie photograph

   The brothers are convinced it's Billy in the photograph for a few reasons. Here are a few: 

1. The gambler's ring on the pinkie finger.

2. The wounds on his other fingers that the brothers say are "consistent with a fistfight matching historical records of the fistfight between Billy and Frank Cahill."

3. A side by side comparison they did of their photo and the authenticated Billy, which they say are similar.

  Okay, here's the deal: we get these Billy wannabes almost every week and they are invariably intriguing and always exasperating because the people who own them want us to sign off on their claims. And when we don't, they get upset and some of them call us names. But some of my friends in the biz have it even worse. One photo expert I know has to wear a bullet proof vest because one of these photo-finders showed up at an Old West auction and pulled a Glock and security had to take him down. He made death threats and now my friend has to wear a bullet proof vest. This is a bit drastic for such a light-hearted hobby, yes? 

   So, back to the above photograph. Is it a great photograph? Absolutely. I love it. The cap on the right is killer. Is there any way to prove it's Billy? No, short of a letter from someone who actually knew the Kid and who specifically mentions this photo, there is no way to prove anything. The pinkie ring is circumstantial, wounds are totally subjective and hard to prove and any facial recognition measuring is about as accurate as a wing ding is for direction. It's kind of close, but so what? That is the brutal truth and I know it will break their hearts but someone has to tell them the truth.

   The only known authenticated photo of Billy the Kid has really strong provenance (a key word in this area of collecting). The Kid had his photo taken and there were four copies, in tin. He gave one to a New Mexico friend of his named Dan Dedrick, who ended up in Oregon in later years and carried the photo with him and his heirs are the ones who came forward in 1986 and gifted it to the Lincoln County Heritage Trust. While it was there, someone—a complete asshole—monkeyed with the photo trying to "wipe off the grime" so he could see the image better and in the process damaged the photo and so the Trust gave it back to the family who, in turn, decided to sell it in 2011. They contacted Brian Lebel who auctioned it off in Denver and it was bought for $2.3 million dollars by William Koch. Since then, every yahoo in the world wants a similar payday.

Daily Whip Out: "His Muddy Visage Has Gone Amuck!"

   In addition to Dan Dedrick the Kid gave other prints of the photo to friends and one of these ended up as a frontice piece in Pat Garrett's book on the Kid which came out in 1881, the year of the Kid's death. It's a drawing, but it's obvious it came from the photo because of the pose (so this is early provenance of the image being connected to the photo). Another copy of the photo, heavily doctored ended up being published in the years after the Kid's death, so you have three sources for the image with very strong provenance, thus the value.

   Everyone since then tries to work backwards, sometimes through fake provenance (a Las Vegas, New Mexico collector claimed he had a photo that came out of his family's photo album. The Kid spent time in Las Vegas so it had a certain location authenticity and believability. When that photo sold for $30,000, the collector quickly found another photo that he purported to be of the Kid but this one didn't look anything like the last one). Also, people use "facial forensics" with computers to try and map the contours of the face to match their new Billy with the face in the only known photo. This is basically a parlor trick masquerading as science. The so-called "croquet photo" project, which was featured on Nat Geo relied on this sexy but suspect technique to great effect. I have seen so many Billy wannabe photos magically match perfectly with the only known photo that it's not even funny.

If you'd like to read the article about the Victorville photo in question here is a link:

Is New Photo Billy the Kid And His Brother?

   After it posted today, the reporter, Mathew Cabe, wanted to know what a "wing ding" is (he said he looked it up and couldn't find it anywhere). Here is my answer:

    I'm an old man who worked as a surveyor as a kid growing up in Kingman, Arizona and sometimes, without setting up a transit, or a measuring instrument, the crew chief would put his arms straight out—like wings—and then slap his palms together, pointing in a 90 degree angle and exclaim, "Let's wing ding this puppy and go." It's a slap dash, sloppy, attempt to locate a direction.

   As an example, my definition is probably a "wing ding."

BBB

"Advise persons to avoid killing other photo collectors."
—Billy the Kid Collector

The True West Class of 2018, Part I

November 4, 2017
   I'm working on a "class project" for next year. It will be our 65th anniversary—that is True West Magazine's anniversary—and after Bob McCubbin sent me a photo of himself at the age he first subscribed, below, I thought it would be a hoot to run photos of all our staff and contributing editors back in the day. Going to take a while to collect them all, but here are the first few for your viewing pleasure:

   The above photos will run in my January, 2018 issue editorial, but in the April issue I plan on expanding this out to include everyone, plus short bios, so I sent out the request to our entire masthead and here are some of the early responders:

Gary Zaboly: February 1957, age 7. "This was taken in Highbridge Park, upper Manhattan, and while not in cowboy attire I assure you, as you can see by the stance, my mind was full of cowboy hero/gunslinger thoughts. My interest in the Old West began when I saw B Westerns on TV around age 3, which were constantly being broadcasted then. They inspired me to draw stories on index cards, each card a scene. Rocky Allan Lane became my favorite B Westerner. I knew of TRUE WEST Magazine from an article in another magazine, and I wrote to them in 1962 seeking info on a subscription. I will never forget the name of the dear kind lady there---Gayle Terbay---who unexpectedly sent me a nice note and two free issues, one of TW, the other of FRONTIER TIMES, and I was ecstatic. The artwork bowled me over! I immediately subscribed, and naturally I still have all those old issues, and many more back issues I began buying back then."

Gary has done numerous covers and inside illustrations for True West over the years. He is a class act from way back.

Allen Fossenkemper: Four Years Old (1947) Tucson.  "I had spent a winter in bed with Scarlet Fever and the Measles, so the Doctor told my Mom to take me to Arizona for six months to recuperate."

Allen was our Marketing Director when we first bought the magazine back in 1999. He still promotes us—Allen is a tireless promoter—as a member of his O.K. Chorale singing group that travels the West spreading good cheer and good tunes.

Linda Wommack: 1966, "I'm just roundin' up the outlaws in the neighborhood!" Photo taken in 1966, in our back yard in Littleton, Colorado and I am eight years old. The boy in the middle is my little brother, (now deceased) and his two friends. I have been reading True West since my college days and have been lucky enough to be a contributing editor since 1995.

   It's hard to tell from this distance, but, based on the head band, at left, I believe this is a Chemehuevi war party. Might be Mojaves, but the breech cloth on the middle warrior is a tad long.

   More to come. Stay tuned.

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see."
—Winston Churchill

Tom Petty Loved The Old West

November 3, 2017
   I have always dug Tom Petty and his music and in the last year I discovered his new-old group, Mudcrutch and several songs on their album, like "Welcome to Hell" and "Billy the Kid." Some of you might know he loved Old West history—in fact he was a True West subscriber.

Tom Petty on the cover of the Rolling Stone

   This latest issue of Rolling Stone has a great tribute to Tom Petty inside. Tom and the Heartbreakers backed Bob Dylan on tour in 1986 and '87, and according to Dhani Harrison (George's son), Tom told him about a concert where Dylan was upset about the brightness of the lights and threatened to leave if they weren't turned down. Finally, Dylan stormed off the stage and as the Heartbreakers continued playing, Petty ran off to find Dylan, still fuming in the wings:"I'm not going back out there. It's like f--king Disneyland out there!" Tom looked at Dylan and said, "Bob, you've never been to Disneyland." Dylan started laughing and they went back out and finished the show.

   Makes me love the guy even more. With that in mind, what other songs of his have a frontier frame of mind? I want to hear them!

Tom Petty and Mudcrutch, with Tom, at left, on bass, Tommy Leadon (Bernie's brother of Eagles fame), and Herb Pedersen on banjo, at right.

   Thanks to Alan Rockman for connecting me with Herb, who I've asked to write up a tribute to Tom for the magazine. I also asked Herb to write up a list of Petty songs with frontier flavor. Here's my list, so far:

Tom Petty's Old West Flavored Favorites:

• "Billy the Kid" ("Did you smile when you pulled the trigger? I went down hard, like Billy the Kid."

• "About to Give Out"("I'm Davy Crockett in a one-horse-town.")

• "Welcome to Hell" ("population two: little ol' me, and little ol' you. . .")

• "On The Other Side of The Mountain" great banjo by Mr. Pedersen, above.

• "Candy" ("I sure like that candy, I don't go for them turnip greens.")

• "Two Gunslingers" ("And there ain't been a gunfight for a long time. . .")

• "I Don't Scare Easily" from the soundtrack for the Western "Appaloosa"

• "A Rebel" ("With one foot in the grave and one foot on the pedal.")

"I thought the world of Tom. He was full of the light."

—Bob Dylan

What Seventy Feels Like

November 2, 2017
   Got up this morning and attacked a painting that conveys how I feel today.

Daily Whip Out: "What Seventy Feels Like."

Perhaps some of my friends and classmates can relate. An alternate title could be, "Bodie Boze Bell" since the sagging building is taken from a photo of a leaning wreck in the ghost town of Bodie. I took one look at it and thought to myself, that's exactly how I feel! A leaning wreck, but still standing with some side support.

  Yesterday I wore my Rolling Stones T-shirt to the doctor's office to get a physical. The attending doctor looked very old to me, if I had to guess, he was in his late seventies, or early eighties. I'm sitting on the examining table and he is taking my pulse when he notices the shirt. "Did you ever see them?" 

Yes, I told him I have seen the Stones six times, including the infamous 1972 tour that the T-shirt represents. The doctor says, "I missed them in DC back in the eighties. I'm too young." The doctor is younger than me!

Two Lutheran Tree Doctors

   The tree doc is Ismael Garnica and that is the Rolling Stones T-Shirt I was wearing at the doctor's office. And, for the record, this is what seventy looks like.

   Meanwhile, after the doctor handed me off to the tech who was going to draw my blood, the lab guy sees the shirt and says, "Did you ever see them?" This time I just nodded my head, then he says, "I always loved the Beatles growing up. Did you ever see them?" I said, "Yes, August 20, 1964 at the Las Vegas Convention Center." His eyes got wide. "Really? You actually saw them?!" He said this like it was an ancient revelation from another century (which it was) and his wonderment made me feel good, but then I realized, that concert was over a half century ago (the blood drawer was born in 1980) and it would be like me as a kid, hearing a guy say, "Yes-sir-ee Bob, that second Bull Run was terrible. Musket fire and cannonballs rippin' by my ears. Like'ta' deafened me."

"Old is twenty years older than you are now."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Media Whores I Have Loved

November 1, 2017
   Normally we end with a quote, but today we'll begin with one:

"The newspaper is the natural enemy of the book, as the whore is of the decent woman."

—The Goncourt Brothers, 1858

   I assume the whore in this equation is the newspaper, although I have known whores in all the media landscape, including book authors and book publishers. Especially book publishers! And since I am a magazine publisher and a book publisher some have even referred to me as a media whore, and if the definition of a whore is someone who shows off for fun and profit, then, well, as they say, if the metaphor fits, wear it.

A Few Media Whores I Have Loved

   There are probably no bigger whores on this side of the Atlantic than Jim Larkin and Mike Lacey:

New Times Weekly crew, circa 1978. That's Larkin, third from right and Lacey, second from right. Jana Bommersbach, far right. Larkin and Lacey own the controversial Back Page money machine that strains the definition of "free speech" and some say it's a front for prostitution and they should be in jail, but, hey, we go back, and I still love 'em both.

   

Stage Door Johnnies and Annie Oakley. If it's attention

you seek and you get paid for it. . .

Buffalo Bill Cody Stylin' It

in Pimp Pants

An alleged photo of Lola Montez. "Whatever Lola wants. . ."

A Media Whore And His Dog Apache

at Ed Mell's Studio, 1986

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

—President James Madison