Oral History Interview of Alan Munde Interviewed by: Andy Wilkinson December 8, 2011 Wimberley, Texas Part of the: Crossroads of Music Archive Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program Copyright and Usage Information: An oral history release form was signed by Alan Munde on December 8, 2011. This transfers all rights of this interview to the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University. This oral history transcript is protected by U.S. copyright law. By viewing this document, the researcher agrees to abide by the fair use standards of U.S. Copyright Law (1976) and its amendments. This interview may be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes only. Any reproduction or transmission of this protected item beyond fair use requires the written and explicit permission of the Southwest Collection. Please contact Southwest Collection Reference staff for further information. Preferred Citation for this Document: Munde, Alan Oral History Interview, December 8, 2011. Interview by Andy Wilkinson, Online Transcription, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. URL of PDF, date accessed. The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library houses almost 6000 oral history interviews dating back to the late 1940s. The historians who conduct these interviews seek to uncover the personal narratives of individuals living on the South Plains and beyond. These interviews should be considered a primary source document that does not implicate the final verified narrative of any event. These are recollections dependent upon an individual’s memory and experiences. The views expressed in these interviews are those only of the people speaking and do not reflect the views of the Southwest Collection or Texas Tech University. 2 Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program Technical Processing Information: The Audio/Visual Department of the Southwest Collection is the curator of this ever-growing oral history collection and is in the process of digitizing all interviews. While all of our interviews will have an abbreviated abstract available online, we are continually transcribing and adding information for each interview. Audio recordings of these interviews can be listened to in the Reading Room of the Southwest Collection. Please contact our Reference Staff for policies and procedures. Family members may request digitized copies directly from Reference Staff. Consult the Southwest Collection website for more information. http://swco.ttu.edu/Reference/policies.php Recording Notes: Original Format: Born Digital Audio Digitization Details: originally recorded in three parts, combined for transcript Audio Metadata: 44.1kHz/ 16bit WAV file Further Access Restrictions: N/A Related Interviews: Alan Munde was also interviewed December 9, 2011, March 2, 2012, March 3, 2012, June 13, 2012, and August 22, 2012. Transcription Notes: Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson Audio Editor: N/A Transcription: John Clements Editor(s): Katelin Dixon Interview Series Background: The Crossroads Artists Project encompasses interviews conducted by the Crossroads of Music Archive Staff members. They hope to document the life, career, and creative processes of artists and songwriters from all across the Southwestern United States. 3 Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program Transcript Overview: This interview features banjo player Alan Munde. Munde discusses growing up in Oklahoma, playing sports in school, and attending the University of Oklahoma. Munde describes his growing interest in bluegrass music and his experiences playing the banjo with different groups. Length of Interview: 04:19:25 Subject Transcript Page Time Stamp Background and family 5 00:00:00 Catholic school 14 00:26:00 Playing sports growing up 16 00:32:25 Developing an interest in music 19 00:41:00 Mike Richey’s Guitar Center 22 00:47:34 Interest in bluegrass 23 00:56:00 Banjo lessons 29 01:13:00 Slim Richey 32 01:20:22 Playing with a group 33 01:25:41 Byron Berline and Eddie Shelton 35 01:33:49 Music and time and place 38 01:44:23 Playing style 45 02:06:41 Goals in music 48 02:16:50 Going back to Oklahoma 54 02:38:09 Going to Nashville, touring with Jimmy Martin 60 02:57:57 Rayon City 65 03:13:52 Jimmy Martin’s approach to music 69 03:23:41 Quitting Jimmy Martin’s band 73 03:38:10 Flying Burrito Brothers in Europe 76 03:47:14 Country Gazette Tour 80 03:58:24 Eddie Tickner 86 04:14:22 Jimmy Dickens story 87 04:17:16 Keywords banjo, bluegrass music, University of Oklahoma, West Texas music 4 Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program Andy Wilkinson (AW): This is the—what is this—the eighth of December, year 2011. We’re in the hobbit hollow home of Alan Munde and Kitty Ledbetter, talking to Alan Munde. It’s—what time is this—about eleven— Alan Munde (AM): Eleven—ten after eleven. AW: Perfect. So we’re—you know, I don’t know that we’ll get everything done we want to do today, and there’s all kinds of stuff to cover, but I think we can get a good start on it. AM: Alrighty. AW: I just want to get things going, and so whatever digressions you care to make are perfect. There’s nothing to follow. Although, I’ve got to say I’m interested—you know, we need to capture biography-kind of details, but I’m really more interested—and I think people will be, you know, fifty, a hundred years from now, listening—to hear you talk about your—the way you approach your music. And so that’s the thing I’m really most interested in, but let’s go ahead and start with some bio—like your date of birth, and where. AM: Alrighty. I was born November 4, 1946, Norman, Oklahoma to—my mother was Zelda May Ogle, originally from Shawnee, Oklahoma. And my dad is George Leonard Munde, originally from Providence, Rhode Island. He hitchhiked out to Oklahoma during the Depression because he had an uncle that was in the army at Fort Sill in Lawton—and he had been, in his own words, he was a pooped out child prodigy. AW: Really? AM: Yeah—and he had been a sort of a math wizard, and at a very early—relatively early age, he attended Brown University—I think, maybe like when he was fifteen. AW: Wow, that is— 5 Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program AM: And he didn’t like it at all and resented just the whole social aspect of it. So during the Depression, a lot of people were on the move. His father had died, and he had been what at the time would have been called a chemist in—and I don’t know if it was a dye factory, or a fabric factory that used dye—but I’m sure back in those days, all of that stuff was carcinogenic. So I think he probably died of cancer at a relatively early age. And then my dad was there—his mother and three—there were three siblings, all brothers—and he, being the oldest—as he describes it, they were just standing around on the street corner one day with nothing to do, and said, “Well, I’ve got an uncle in Oklahoma. Let’s go.” AW: All three of them? AM: No, just one of them, and then a buddy of his. So my dad and his buddy hitchhiked and rode the trains to Oklahoma, and got there—I don’t know how old he was—would be at this time. I’m going to guess seventeen or eighteen. He had heard that they were recruiting students at the University of Oklahoma, so he went up to Norman—and back in those days you actually went into the president’s office— AW: To apply? AM: Yeah, you just went and he recruited you. So he went in there and was recruited—started school at the University of Oklahoma, and that’s where he met my mother, who was going to school there, also. She was from Shawnee and going to school there. So they met in the late thirties, married—and I have an older brother who was born in 1940, Mike—Michael—Munde, and then another brother, Jeffery, was born in 1943, then I was born in 1946, and then I have a sister who was born in 1949. And if you look at that, you’ll see it’s three years apart. Well, my dad was Catholic, so it was—they had their little plan. And my mother, interestingly enough, was Baptist, but converted—because you had to—and she became much more—as many times happens, the convert becomes the more— AW: assiduous churchgoer— AM: Yes—and adhered to the canons of the church, and one thing and another than, then you know, my dad may have been. So they met, and I was born in ’46—and my dad is a civil engineer— 6 Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oral History Program was a civil engineer. And at the time I was born—let me back up. He worked, after he graduated from the University of Oklahoma, he worked for the Oklahoma Highway Department—and with the war, they loaned him out to the Department of Interior, and he traveled and did things like map the coast of North Carolina, part of it, map part of the coast of Texas, worked on the TVA project, and so—and there’re all stories that go along with those. But then, finally, he felt obligated to get in and join the navy.