Although Red Dirt music is widely associated with the Stillwater-scene that would establish itself in the subsequent decades, Norman's Jesse Ed Davis is often noted as the "first Oklahoman to hint at the 'genre'" with his 1972 track 'Red Dirt Boogie, Brother.'
In a 2006 biography of Jesse Ed Davis in American Indian Quarterly, Steve Ellerhoff Gronert describes this track as a form of self-identification. Gronert notes that in the American Indian autobiography "often, the sense of a relational self is connected intimately to a specific landscape."
In this same track, Davis distinguishes himself from mainstream Oklahoma culture, commenting in the notable line near the end of the song "I ain't a Okie from Muskogee." In ostensibly one of the the first Red Dirt tracks ever, an artist is separating themselves from both traditional country music and mainstream Oklahoma culture.
Even beyond Davis's funky country-rock vibes, his self-identification with the Oklahoma landscape and rejection of mainstream country-music culture shows early glimpses of some of the enduring elements of Red Dirt music.
Jesse Ed Davis may have hinted at the genre, but the liner notes for the 1973 live album by Stillwater rockers Moses is widely considered to be the true genesis of the name. According to the notes: Red dirt is a hue of funk, a shade of sound, and a basic spirit embodied in Moses' music. As told by Moses founder Steve Ripley:
When we did our first record, the Moses record, recorded live in Enid, and that
really is red dirt country over there. The guy writing the liner notes combined with the guy
doing the artwork for the label, and it’s great, Carl Bruney and Mike Dugan was the writer.
Carl Bruney is the artist. In conjunction with us. It’s really Mike Dugan came up with this
deal of Red Dirt music. Red Dirt Records was going to be our label. It had to do with the
color of the dirt where we lived and recorded. A reference to being organic.
According to the legend:
[Jimmy LaFave] says he went to sing in Europe, small-time or something, but they’re
interviewing him. And they said, “Well, what do you call your music?”
And he just flashed back to the Moses record of Red Dirt Records and said, “Well, Red
Dirt music.”
It makes sense the artist responsible for adapting the Red Dirt name into a genre identifier is also responsible for popularizing and spreading Stillwater-music worldwide, Jimmy LaFave.
As described by Josh Crutchmer, the author of Red Dirt: Roots Music Born in Oklahoma, Raised in Texas, At Home Anywhere: "Jimmy LaFave is the reason Red Dirt is Red Dirt."
Before extensively touring, at the very beginnings of what would become a prolific career, LaFave released two albums 'Down Under' in 1979 and 'Broken Line' in 1981. These were recorded while he was living in Stillwater and working alongside other artists like Bob Childers, John Cooper, and Greg Jacobs. His move to Austin in the mid-1980s brought attention to the Stillwater-scene and paved the way for the next generation of Oklahoma singer-songwriters who chose to hone their craft south of the Red River.
This track from his 1979 album reflects a period before the global phenomenon of Red Dirt, before LaFave's evangelism brought the Stillwater-scene global recognition when the foundations of the sound and community were still catalyzing. Fittingly, it takes place in a "lonely bar in Oklahoma."
Since moving to Washington, D.C. in 2014, Oklahoma music has helped me stay in-touch with my roots. Although miles and years separate me from my hometown, local music continues to help me communicate with my friends and family, it is the framework from which I explore history, and a tool I use to mediate difficult political issues.
For many years, I have collected records and songs by Oklahoman artists. As reflected by this project, my interest has recently shifted to a style of music that I believe encompasses some of most representative songs of the Oklahoma sound and spirit – songs from the 1970s Oklahoma music scenes. Although many of these artists enjoy relative obscurity, their impact on popular culture is undeniable. Fortunately, due to recent scholarship on the topic, I have been able to more fully explore these artists origins, catalogs, and contributions in greater depth. This project has given me a better understanding of a specific moment in Oklahoma history that established a foundation for the production of one of Oklahoma’s most remarkable contributions to popular culture.