Welcome

This site is intended as a tribute to the life and music of B.W. Stevenson. Born Louis Charles Stevenson, BW was better known as Buckwheat to his friends.  He was born in 1949, and died in 1988 following heart surgery complications. He is sorely missed.

This site gets visitors from all over the world. Some are looking for song tabs, which I don't have. Others are looking for information about the artist. I had hoped to have a discussion page where visitors could share their own tributes and memories. But Google hasn't really picked up this site yet, so I've taken down the discussion for now. If you'd like to leave an entry, please send me an e-mail (webmaster at pmblonestarlady.com). Thanks for visiting!

Album Discography (see gallery for album covers)

1. 1971       BW Stevenson
2. 1972        Lead Free
3. 1973        My Maria
4. 1973        Pass this Way*
5. 1974        Calabasas
6. 1975        We Be Sailin'
7. 1976        Best of BW Stevenson
8. 1977        Lost Feeling
9. 1980        Lifeline
10. 1989        Rainbow Down the Road
11. 2001        Very Best of BW Stevenson
12. 2003        BW Stevenson/Lead Free (reissue)
13. 2003        My Maria/Calabasas (reissue)
14. 2005        We Be Sailin'/Lost Feeling (reissue)

I haven't tried to keep up with all the singles that were released.

In addition to the records listed, BW appeared on several compilations and on others' records.  He did background vocals for Steven Fromholz's recording "Blue Lines on White Linen" ( A Rumor in My Own Time), and probably others like that.  There are Kerrville recordings: "Temper, Temper" with John Vandiver & Dan McCrimmon, "Shambala" with his band.  He sings "A Special Wish" on the Texas Christmas Music CD, and he appears in the 1974 Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic video.  There is existing video of two of his appearances on Austin City Limits, which may someday see the light of day commercially. (Write them and ask for it!). At least one other commercial recording, "Sunny," was released but never made it to any of his own albums.

* I don't have, and have never been able to find, Pass This Way , but it does exist.  Apparently it was an early version of My Maria , with the same songs.

Memories & Trivia

I've included the "official" bios of BW Stevenson in the press kits.  This section is for tidbits that I remember or have heard over the years. 

BW Stevenson graduated from high school in Dallas, and after a few years went to NTSU (now UNT) in Denton to study at its highly-acclaimed school of music.  He wasn't happy in school, so he left without finishing the program.  The rumor we heard was that they wanted to train him to sing opera.  He didn't think that suited him at all.

Not too long afterwards, the "cosmic cowboy" era was coming into full flower in Texas.   Redneck rock, progressive country, cowjazz... whatever you called it, it was a small renaissance.  It began at the old Rubaiyat Club in Dallas, and up in Denton at NTSU.  But then the Rubaiyat closed down, and most of the musicians migrated to Austin, where the movement coalesced.  I think most of them lived out on Lake Travis, where they had one big party going on!  

Wherever they lived, we loved them all.  We had Jerry Jeff calling us buckaroos. Gary P. Nunn crooned about going home with armadillos.  Steven Fromholz made us laugh about bears and cry about Darcie.  Ray Wylie Hubbard introduced us to the term "redneck mothers."  Willis serenaded muskrats and northeast Texas women.  Rusty Wier rhapsodized about dancing, and Michael (no-Martin-yet) Murphey got us doing it on the tables.    

And then there was Buck.  He looked like a teddy bear, and had the voice of an angel. 

He had a national Top 40 hit with "My Maria", in 1972, and that got him a lot of attention.  Still, he played mostly in Texas.  He got scooped by Three Dog Night and the Eagles on two other national releases ("Shambala" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling"), so maybe Texas is where he belonged anyway.    

I can't remember all the times we went to hear him.  I know there was once at Six Flags... several times in Austin.   I remember at least once at Poor David's when it was the new kid in town.  Whisky River, The Old Church...lots of places that aren't around any more.  We went to see him wherever we could.  

And yet, I never really got to talk to him much.  Once we saw him at the Austin airport, and I had my brand new copy of Calabasas right there in my hands, and I was too shy to approach him and ask him to sign it.  (What can I say, I was 18.)  My friend Dave has a funny story about meeting him in the men's room once, but for obvious reasons I didn't get in on that one.  Still another time, at the Old Church, he sat down at our table and chatted through the whole set break. But I had just finished a 48-hour all-nighter studying for finals, and was crashed through the whole conversation.  I haven't heard the end of that one yet. 

The best show that I saw was during the We Be Sailin'   tour in January 1976.  We all went to Whisky River to hear Buck's new band.  It was an amazing show.  I remembered my camera and got pictures.  I also got engaged that night.  Guess I'll never know if it was my charm, or the music. :)

Not too long after that, I got married and we moved to California, so we missed a few years.  During that time, his career started to slide.  He cut Lost Feeling , but it wasn't as well-received, and he & Warner, and some of his band, parted ways.  I don't think he was too happy with Warner anyway.  He continued to play at Kerrville and the local venues.  In 1980 he did Lifeline, a Christian album on the Songbird label, and also around then he appeared in the TV special, "On This Christmas Night."  

We saw him a few times in the mid-80's at Poor David's, doing solo shows.  At one, he brought and introduced his children, Collin & Katie.  Katie was upset because the volume hurt her ears.  He explained, " You know how kids are--they have all these new parts."  Those were some of the best shows I saw him do.  He was relaxed, and sang his songs the way he wanted to sing them.  If you never heard his live version of "My Maria," man, did you ever miss something.  

The last time was Feb 8, 1986.  I remember the date because that was the day I found out I was going to be a mom.  It seems that Buck's shows coincided with important events in my life.

After that, he led a songwriters' workshop at Kerrville in 1987.  He also started work on his "real" country CD, Rainbow Down the Road,.  Many of his old friends turned out to help.   Steven Fromholz, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bobby Rambo, and Willie Nelson sang with him.  Willis Alan Ramsey produced.  Riley Osbourne returned to work his keyboard magic.  I think they all had high hopes that it would be his comeback record.  Sadly, Buck didn't live to see its release.

I heard about his death in Nashville over the radio.  It was sudden, and we were shocked and grieved.  Since then I've heard a lot of rumors about how & why he died.   What does seem to be true is that he was having heart surgery which was supposed to be relatively minor.  But there were unexpected complications from a case of the flu, and he never came out of surgery. 

It's been about 35 years since I first heard the the music of BW Stevenson.  I've still never grown tired of it. (Okay, there were days while I was remastering, but I got over it.)  I don't know what it was about him.  At least partly, it was the times.  And partly it was because he was  just dang fun.  But mostly, it was the voice.  Haunting... you just couldn't forget it.

He is still missed.  Our loss is the angels' gain.

Collecting

All through the 90's, we waited for RCA and Warner... or Ryko, someone, ANYONE... to reissue BW's albums on CD.  Finally we got a souped-up My Maria  with some bonus tracks (called The Very Best of BW Stevenson, Collectables, 1997). And I was glad to get it!  But I wanted all of them, especially my favorite Lead Free.

In 2000, I gave up and began to record my own records.  That didn't work out too well. Who knew that vinyl wouldn't last forever? Especially vinyl that's been played into oblivion for 25 years.     

So I started collecting.  Eventually, I was able to find multiple copies, both new and used, of all the records.  I collected and remastered, collected and remastered, and remastered some more, for about four years.  Finally the day came when my burns were as clean as they were ever going to get.  Two months after I hung it up, Collectables [sic] reissued the first four albums on two CDs.

Collectables has also now reissued We Be Sailin' and Lost Feeling.  Except for The Very Best of,  each of their CDs contains two albums.  They sell all four CDs directly at oldies.com.  They also sell through other vendors.

Rainbow Down the Road  was originally issued on CD, and as far as I know it's still out of print, so you'll have to look for it through second parties on eBay.  To my knowledge, Lifeline and The Best of BW Stevenson (1977, RCA)  have not been reissued by anyone.

Look for vinyl on eBay, Gemm, and grooverecords.net.  If you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Forever Young in Arlington is a huge warehouse with lots of goodies.  You could spend a week there.  (I don't know if they do mail or phone orders, but last time I checked, they still didn't have a website.)  Bill's Records on South Lamar in Dallas specializes in Texas music.  Bill remembers BWS fondly and sometimes carries some of his records.

Sometimes you can even find still-sealed records, which record very well.   Don't be surprised, though, if even sealed copies are not in perfect condition.  Some are reshrunk by unscrupulous sellers, and some are just banged up from being in warehouses all these years.

If you're looking for more than music, there are also a lot of people around who still miss BW Stevenson. A friend looked up and found a former band member online.  I met BW's manager who promised a taped interview (which he never delivered).  Family members are around, and on Napster, I met many other fans in search of the perfect record rip.  We had a great time comparing memories.

It's easier now to find things. These days, a Google will show you several sites of musician friends and collector sites.  I've included links to some of them below.  Shake Russell (who wrote "Temper, Temper"), Steven Fromholz, & Rusty Wier were all good friends of BWS and have photos on their websites.   Larry Joe Taylor mentions BWS in his essay about his memories of those days.  Brian Burns (who covered "Temper, Temper" and "East India Company" on his Angels & Outlaws CD) was a friend and big fan.  My online friend Hugh has a great memorial site at napathon.com.

Memorabilia is around too.  I've found posters, ticket stubs, sheet music, promos, programs, press kits, and even a Spanish 45, mostly on eBay. I bought the Kerrville records on eBay.  I ordered the 1974 Willie Nelson Independence Day Picnic video from Amazon UK (but caution:  it's in PAL format).  You can find a new copy of the Texas Christmas Music  CD at lonestarmusic.com.  Both the video (VHS) and CD (audio only) of On This Christmas Night  are often available on eBay, although you might have to search under B.J. Thomas.

Sometimes I'm asked, am I willing to trade?  Maybe.  I don't trade the music any more, since the rights are owned by Collectables and back in print. I am still looking for memorabilia & videos, and might be willing to trade an extra record or two.  

Links

Poor David's BW Stevenson Memorial Songwriting Competition

Poor David's Pub still has BW Stevenson photos up in its amazing photo gallery. Poor David's also sponsors the BW Stevenson Memorial Songwriter's Contest each April in Dallas, with the winner being announced the weekend closest to the anniversary of BW's death.  This contest  benefits both the winner and the live music scene. Many recipients have gone on to become well-known local talent.  It's a fitting tribute to BW Stevenson.  You can read more about the competition here.

Informational sites

1. Hugh's memorial site on Napathon
2. BWS burial site (leave a cyber-bouquet)
3. Bad Cat article

Photo pages

1. Shake Russell's photo album
2. Steven Fromholz's scrapbook
3. Rusty Wier's photos
4. Posters from Armadillo World Headquarters

Press Kits

RCA Victor Press Kit for Calabasas
Warner Brothers Press Kit for We Be Sailin'
MCA/Songbird Press Kit for Lifeline

RCA Victor Press Kit for Calabasas

B.W. ("Buckwheat") Stevenson hails from Dallas. A born musician, he taught himself guitar and drums at an early age. After graduation from high school, B.W. decided he'd prefer to "live by his own devices," rather than continue an academic career, and so for five years he journeyed around the U.S., spending his longest stretches in the West and Southwest, where he worked for a time as a wrangler. B.W. subsequently studied music briefly at North Texas State University in Denton, but it was the extra-curricular music community in Austin that monopolized his energy. "I actually threw my watch away," he says, recalling that time, during which he says he "had no lifestyle at all."

In 1964, the Rubaiyat, a local Dallas club, offered Stevenson his first important gig. At that time he was still performing other people's songs--the material ranging from country and folk, to rhythm and blues. From playing in the Dallas area, B.W. picked up a small, devout following, which increased after he began writing his own songs. B.W.'s first composition, "My Feet Are So Weary," is included on his second album, "Lead Free." Stevenson's musical career was interrupted by a hitch in the Air Force. Subsequently, he returned to the Rubaiyat where RCA producer David Kershenbaum heard him and signed him to a recording contract. His first album, "B.W. Stevenson" (LSP-4685) was a regional success in the southwest as was his first single, "On My Own." "B.W. Stevenson" was followed by a second album, "Lead Free" (LSP-4794) that spread the word about B.W.'s talents beyond Texas. He began to do nationwide concert tours, opening for such groups as the Allman Brothers Band, Dr. Hook, Seals and Crofts, and Three Dog Night. Ironically, Steven's first national hit, "Shambala," was covered with even greater success by the latter group. Still it established B.W.'s commercial viability, paving the way for his top ten single, "My Maria," a collaboration with Danny Moore, who also wrote "Shambala" and B.W.'s follow-up hit, "River of Love."

B.W. aptly categorizes his own music as "progressive country" and is generous in acknowledging Bob Dylan, Patrick Sky, Keith Sykes, Steve DeWitt, Jerry Jeff Walker, and close friend Michael Murphey as influences on his vocal style. With the success of "My Maria" came national critical recognition. Janet Maslin wrote of it in "Rolling Stone": "This whole album feels like a debut--and a very important debut at that. It marks a successful attempt to bring something original to the whole nouveau-country milieu."

B.W.'s fourth album, "Calabasas" (APL1-0410), was released in March, 1974. Among the distinguished personnel helping out on the sessions were Linda Ronstadt, Red Rhodes, Jim Gordon and Jimmie Haskell.

Reactions to the album have been uniformly enthusiastic. A Spotlight pick in Billboard, "Calabasas" was reviewed as follows: " The Texas vocalist hits his stride with this most impressive package...This LP is the most significant Stevenson has released in his short career as a nationally known artist. All the infectious ingredients in pop and rock are blended perfectly..."

As B.W. expands his musical horizons, he is beginning to consider such projects as developing his own studio for the production of his albums. He's interested in writing film sound-tracks. And while he's at it, he might be interested in getting in front of the movie camera himself as an actor. But his primary goal regardless of how many times he gets sidetracked, is music. To understand what B.W. Stevenson wants from life, one need only listen carefully to what he says in his songs.

4/74

Warner Brothers Records Press Kit for Lost Feelin'

"B.W. Stevenson, like Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and Michael Murphey, has both feet planted firmly in the C&W mainstream of music, yet appeals almost exclusively to rock audiences...His performances, consisting for the most part of original compositions, is pleasing in a warm, easy-going way. He has an outstanding tenor voice and the material he uses permits him to be both feathery and gutsy...Stevenson is worth seeing. He's a dead ringer for Smokey the Bear." ---- The Houston Post

The "great papa bear of progressive country music" seems to attract nicknames. While he gave himself the name "Buckwheat," then shortened it to B.W. ("because there were too many 'Buckwheats' in the business"), the handle he started with was Louis Charles Stevenson, III. That was back in Dallas in 1949, long before B.W. made the crucial decision to make music his profession or progressive country his pre-eminent domain.

Bob Johnson, who managed Dallas' Rubaiyat coffee house where B.W. has turned his decision into many a well received live show, remembers it well: "One day, about 1971, right after he got out of the Air Force, B.W. told me, 'Bob, I'm gonna be a star.' I told him, 'Buckwheat, maybe you should be thinking about another line of work just in case things don't work out."

Too genuinely honest to ever fall to vanity, B.W. obviously knew something Johnson didn't. Things worked out and by 1973, he had two king-size hit singles--"My Maria" and "Shambala"--under his belt, and a loyal following (based on LP's and live shows) that stretched from coast to coast. The early 1976 release of his debut Warners album We Be Sailin' represented a major turn of direction; the maturation of an artist who had experienced a king-sized musical career in a comparatively short space.

B.W. Stevenson's earliest musical experiences go back to the time he traded in the drums in his junior high school marching band. Picking guitar and singing ever since, he graduated from high school in Dallas in the mid-60's to take off in search of "identity." He spent the next few years traveling, in California and Colorado, before returning to Texas and entering North Texas State in Denton. It was at State that B.W. studied voice and came under the influence of Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dylan, Steve Stills and the Moody Blues.

His informal music education continued even when his formal studies at State ended, and in 1967 the Rubaiyat in Dallas gave him his first paying gig. He became an immediate local favorite, but he was a singer-guitarist performing other artists' material, a situation which didn't change until around 1970 (his first composition, "My Feet Are So Weary", turned up on his Lead Free album). By then, a hitch in the Air Force had intervened and B.W. made a triumphant return to the Rubaiyat. If the "progressive Country" boon hadn't hit the rest of the country upside its rock & roll ears, Texas was more than ready for the music and B.W. Stevenson was already one of its foremost practitioners.

Ensconced in Dallas, it didn't take long for talent scouts from RCA Records to locate Stevenson. He signed with the label in 1971, made four albums ( B.W. Stevenson, Lead Free, My Maria and Calabasas), enjoyed chart singles in "Shambala", "My Maria" (a Top Five hit which he co-wrote) and "River of Love" and established himself as a concert performer of some renown.

In the summer of 1975, Stevenson signed with Warner Bros. and began recording his first album for the label, We Be Sailin. Produced by Warners' Tommy LiPuma, played by Stevenson's road band, Sailin' was comprised of both original material (the rollicking "East India Company" and "Jerry's Bar and Grill") and songs by other writers (Danny O'Keefe's "Quits" and the Roy Orbison standard "Dream Baby").

Stevenson is the master of the melancholic, a moving chronicler of life's trials, travails and romantic impasses. Many find it quite easy to relate to B.W.'s "sad" songs. But he terms his work in a different fashion. "I write songs people think are sad," he told a writer. "And they think they're sad because the songs are living their lives."

His second album for Warner, Lost Feeling, contained more of this particularly distinctive Stevenson realm. "Long Lost Feelin's" and "When You Touch Me This Way" demonstrated once again B.W.'s knack for the evocative melody and appealing phrase. The LP's theme of love lost got a buoyant tongue in cheek treatment on "One on One" and "Down to the Station", written by Dennis Linde, who wrote "Burnin' Love" for Elvis Presley.

The album was recorded in Nashville with all the famous players that locale brings with it, and Bob Montgomery (Charlie Rich, and writer of "Misty Blue" for Dorothy Moore) produced.

The album reveals Stevenson the artist as having reached a new plateau; his classic virtues--warmth, the strength and richness of his vocals--remain intact but exude freshness, a spirit that bears the unmistakable mark of a performer having a good time doing what he knows he does best.

MCA/Songbird Press Kit for Lifeline

B.W. Stevenson looks imposing. And when he sings, his voice is booming, occasionally striking, as he throws out those often-intense and compelling lyrics he's so well known for. One's immediate impression of this singer/songwriter is one of formidability, bigger-than-life presence. But on closer inspection, there is a gentle, deeply-concerned individual, a truly gifted man who reaches out with his delicate and inspiring lyrics to hopefully build truer bonds between men.

Stevenson is hesitant to be in the limelight, and occasionally awkward when trying to explain his reasoning for wanting to do what he does: sing. It's not fame he's reaching for, it's people. He opens his heart up, hoping others will in turn.

And that's why B.W. Stevenson is throwing out a "Lifeline" which is also the title of his debut album on MCA/Songbird Records.

"It's a very personal album, one that I've always wanted to record, but never had the chance," Stevenson explains. "I would like to hope and pray that there is an audience out there for this record. I believe in the songs Chris and I wrote, and I think others will too."

Chris is Chris Christian, who co-wrote with Stevenson most of the music, and co-produced with Brown Bannister "Lifeline." And why the singer hopes and prays for a positive reaction is that it is a contemporary Christian album. It's rock 'n' roll, it's folk, it's beautiful ballads, but it is also an album about brotherly love based on Stevenson's beliefs.

"Take for instance the song 'Headin' Home'. It has a dual meaning. We're talking about not only heading home per se, but also going home to God, to the Lord.

"I've always sung Christian songs, but usually one to an album, not an entire album like this one. Even 'Shambala' (which was a major hit for both Stevenson and Three Dog Night), if you read between the lines, is a song about God. I've never had a chance to really express myself in this way before, but I sat down with my wife and Chris and decided this was the direction I wanted to go."

The most important thing to know about "Lifeline" is that it is good music. It might have a point, but it also has a beat.

This MCA/Songbird release is the singer's eighth album, but the first which has meant so much to him. Stevenson has been known for a number of popular songs including not only "Shambala" but also one of the largest hits of the '70s, "My Maria."

"I know you can't always sing to Christians," Stevenson adds, "and I'm not. Whatever talents I might have I thank the Lord for, but at the same time, I sing for everyone. And I hope they enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed makin' it."

Article from CCM, March 1980

B.W. Stevenson:
I Sing for Everyone
by Ron Velten

It was last year that MCA Records broke into the contemporary Christian music field with the formation of its Songbird label. Among the first artists to come aboard was B.W. Stevenson, noted songwriter and recording artist. Stevenson wrote or co-wrote a number of hits in the early '70's, including My Maria, River of Love and Lifeline available this month. A Chris Christian/Brown Bannister production, Lifeline will be anything but a disappointment to B.W.'s fans (see CCM, "What's New,'' Feb, 1980).

"It's a very personal album, one that I've always wanted to record, but never had the chance," Stevenson explains. "I would like to hope and pray that there is an audience out there for this record. I believe in the songs Chris and I wrote, and I think others will too."

Stevenson gives Chris Christian most of the credit for offering the needed encouragement and support as he took his first step in Christian recording. After years of being silently ripped off in the secular industry and blatantly robbed in his own home, this first step proved to be more of a great leap forward. "I've never had a chance to really express myself in this way before," he says, "but I sat down with my wife and Chris and decided this was the direction I wanted to go."

Too young in the faith to be as articulate as some might wish, B.W. is nevertheless convinced that both he and his wife Barbara have finally found the Prince of Peace. Speaking of the inspiring moment three years ago when he was first persuaded that he was lost without Christ, B.W. recalls: "We were tied up with guns at our heads. Barbara was pregnant, and it was the third time that our house had been robbed. I really thought [pauses to clear throat uncomfortably] that they were going to kill us. The told me they were going to kill me if I didn't shut up!" [These were obviously not B.W. Stevenson fans.] "I remember saying a prayer: 'Jesus, I don't know what you're gonna do with me, but please let my wife and child live.' " He nervously concludes this recollection by repeating the old saying that there's no such thing as "an atheist in a foxhole..." Judging from the unsettling grimace that lingers on his face, it's obvious that he is convinced of the statement's validity.

Concurrent with this awakening as a Christian came a decline in his fortunes as an artist. "I went up so fast and came down so fast," he recalls. "One day I was playing in a coffee house and the next day I was playing in front of 50,000 people with Three Dog Night and Rod Stewart. Then the career kind of hit rock bottom. There was nothing right at all... everything was wrong."

Later, through a friend, B.W. Stevenson met Chris Christian. He speaks of Chris with an affection that is impossible to disguise, indicating that he might be the first true friend he has ever had. Planning an initial Christian recording on Chris' Home Sweet Home Records, he completed Lifeline (his eighth album) in Nashville. Plans for the album changed suddenly last October when Chris and Michael Ehrman, MCA/Songbird's executive director, visited B.W. at his Dallas home to offer an MCA venture. He readily accepted.

As a relatively new Christian, B.W. Stevenson looks forward to meeting other people like his new friends at MCA/Songbird...people mature enough to be honest with him and with themselves. As an MCA press release accurately states, "It's not fame he's reaching for, it's people. He opens his heart up, hoping others will in turn." He offers his music to all people, Christians and non-Christians. "Whatever talents I might have I thank the Lord for, but at the same time, I sing for everyone. And I hope they enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed makin' it."

Download live music

A few months ago, some friends and I went to Vince Bell's CD release party. At the show, Freddy "Steady" Krc was playing guitar for Vince, and graced us with his own opening act. We remembered him from his days with Buck's We Be Sailin' band, and we enjoyed talking with him after the show. He mentioned that someone had recently sent him a live radio recording. Freddy didn't play in this appearance, so he doesn't know when or where this show was aired, but he was kind enough to share the songs.

You can visit Freddy at his MySpace.

1. Lucky Touch
2. Don't Go to Mexico
3. On My Own
4. Sunset Woman
5. She's a Dreamer & Peaceful Easy Feeling
6. My Maria
7. Maybe Mexico