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hit and sold over a million copies. Suddenly, the whole country had an opportunity to hear
what Ken Nelson dubbed ‘the Bakersfield Sound.’
Back in the working-class town of Bakersfield, just shy of 100 miles from Hollywood,
the local music scene was jumping. After
A Dear John Letter
, things started moving quickly
as local artists signed record deals, started labels, launched TV shows, and continued to
pack ‘em in at the various local dance halls and honky-tonks that dotted the outskirts of
the city. In addition to the ‘Dear John’ crew, influential performers such as Cousin Herb
Henson, Billy Mize, Cliff Crofford, Red Simpson, and a long list of others became regional
celebrities. It was from this environment that Haggard and Owens would emerge as national
stars in the following decade.
The population of Bakersfield – particularly in the honky-tonks – leaned heavily toward
transplants from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and other states that were most
impacted by drought and depression during the ‘Grapes of Wrath’ era. The fruit pickers, oil
field workers, and day laborers who filled the city’s beer joints and dance halls in the
1950s went out to blow off steam, which meant plenty of drinking, fighting, and – most
importantly – dancing.
The emphasis on moving one’s feet stood in contrast to the prevailing country music
culture back east at the time. It was a new experience for Rose Lee Maphis who, along
with husband Joe, is credited as a songwriter on
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud
Music)
. The song was inspired by the first gig the Maphises played at Bakersfield’s storied
Blackboard Club after relocating to California from southern Virginia, where they were
regulars on ‘The Old Dominion Barn Dance’.
“We were not used to people dancing when
you were performing
,
”
she recalled.
“We worked in theaters, or parks, or school auditoriums
where people sat and listened
.
”
By the early to mid-1950s, Bakersfield’s musicians were perfecting an amplified small-
combo hybrid of Western swing and honky-tonk that, precisely
because
it was dance
