Bob remembers James White

With Texas Independence Day coming up on Sunday March 2, let's salute a great Texan, James White. Mr. White, owner and operator of the world famous Broken Spoke was a true Texan. We lost Mr White in January 2021 but his legacy lives on.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Bob Piggott. Welcome to Bob Pickett Radio. That's
a podcast about my time in radio. You know, looking
at the calendar, this coming Sunday is Texas Independence Day,
and I've got to talk about a man. Well, when
you visualize Texas, you've got to visualize the late great
James White. Ever been to the Broken Spoke in Austin.

(00:23):
If you haven't, yeah, you owe yourself a trip to
walk inside the Broken Spoke. We started a podcast called
Tales the Broken Spoke back in twenty nineteen and I
started doing it with the owner, James White. And the
reason why I wanted to start a podcast is because,
listen you, if you know Austin, we are losing parts
of Austin every day, parts of old Austin, and I

(00:45):
didn't want to lose those Tales of the Broken Spoke.
The people that have played there, George Strait before you
got famous, of course, people that continue to play there,
Alvin Crowe, Del Watson, Randy Travis had been there, Clint
Eastwood ha been there, Dolly Parton, I mean a cavalcad
of stars and Ernest Tubb have walked into the Broken
Spoke and been on the stage Willie Nelson's Willie Nelson

(01:08):
Booth there. But we started a podcast called Tales and
Broken Spoke, and I got the owner, James White, to
tell us all the tales, all the stories of the
Broken Spoke. We started the podcast in April of twenty nineteen. Now,
if you've ever been the Broken Spoke when mister White
was alive, you know the little spill, the little speech

(01:30):
that he would give every every night.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I kind of build over it over the years. I'll
add a few things and most of the sins have
got a reason why I do it. But it's kissed
my country bown way of inviting and you know, just
inviting the people and to be welcome at the Broken Spoke.
So I just get up there in Alvin, and we

(01:55):
do have that on record, And did I give you
a recording?

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, me recording it. We're gonna try to get you
to say.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Kay anyway, Alvin Crowe and I recorded it years ago.
And I just get up there and I said, all right, ladies, Jim,
we welcome all the Broken Spoke, the last of the
true texted dance halls. And damn sure prout of it.
We ain't fancy out of it. We're doing shore country.
The good news there. We ain't going to change nothing.
We ain't getting no hanging fern, basket center ceilings, no

(02:22):
gray poopone, no pi air water.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, we do have.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Cold beer, good whiskey, and good looking girls to dance with,
So what else do you need out here but that?
And then also last, but not least, we have good
looking girls to dance with. And if it's uh, and
I'll also talk about good looking cowboys, and then I'll
kind of jump into the band. And also, you know,

(02:46):
we've had so many good things happen right here at
the Broken Spoke. We've had people like Bob will Willie Nelson,
Georgie Strait, the Dolly Parton, Earnest to object with. The
list goes on and on. But what the best thing
that happens the short time back? They was a young
man to play in Austin, Texas. So they came right
eat the big old old tree, walked across the old
dirt parking lot, and threw the door open on this red,

(03:07):
rusty gold building, knowing, damn good and well it wasn't
a car. Nagie Hall, Let's make it welcome singer songwriter
recording star day All Watson.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Just comforting to hear his voice again. Mister James White.
We did about ten to eleven episodes of Tales That
Broke and Spoke with James White, and he always ended
it with what we like to call a hook at
the end. This is an example of how he would
end the podcast.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
But Bob Pigas, now you remember the day that George
Street came through here, Dane sold O, We're back there.
But that's the tale for another time.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
That's a tail from another time. I missed mister James White.
Every day. I miss his tales. Unfortunately, we lost James
White January of twenty twenty one, and we were just
getting ready to go back and record some more tales,
some more episodes of the podcast. Unfortunately, a COVID hit
which put us to up to everything. So we've done
ten eleven episodes and mister James White telling the real

(04:04):
story of the Broken Spoke. And then at mister White's
funeral memorial service, I'm looking at the man giving the
eulogy and it's Monty Warden, who, by the way, related
to James White, to the White family, and I thought,
here's the perfect co host to continue the story of

(04:26):
Tales and Broken Spokes. If you have not listened to
the podcast, Tellson Broken and Spoke. We've got over seventy episodes.
Getting ready to go back into the Broken Spoke the
Willie Nelson Booth and record a bunch more for this year,
but learn about history, country music, history, Austin history. The
podcast is called Tales and Broke Spoke, which you could
also listen to on the same app that you're listening
to the podcast right now. But with Texas Independence State

(04:49):
coming up, I just wanted to remember probably the greatest
text that I ever met, mister James White. We miss you, buddy,
and thank you goodness, Thank goodness, the White family, James
White's family, his daughters and Michael Peacocker keeping the tradition
of the Broken Spoke alive and well in South Austin.

(05:13):
And we got more tells coming up very soon. Bob
Picket Podcast. Follow me on Instagram of course, Bob Picket
Radio on Instagram. You can find me my YouTube channel
Bob Picket Radio with a lot of the interviews, and
again go back and listen to Tales the Broken Spoke
the podcast. We'll continue with more episodes of this podcast
Bob Picket Radio. Next week celebrate Texas Independence Day and

(05:35):
celebrate the legacy of mister James White and the Broken Spoke.