Did You Know These Musicians were Texans?

People have this image of Texas that is very fixed. Chuck Norris. Dubya. Bob Wills. Boots. Cowboy hats. J.R. Ewing. Walking with a certain confidence. Steel guitars. The music and the stereotype sometimes obscure each other.

And yet, Texas is one of the most musically diverse states in the lower 48.

You know ZZ Top and SRV. You know George Jones and Willie Nelson. Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. And you know Archie Bell and the Drells from Houston, because they not only sing but they dance just as good as they walk.

Here are three very important performers who each made a big impact in their genre. All Texans by birth.

LEON HAYWOOD

His recent passing brought to light this R&B singer's Texas origins. Houston was where he was born and raised before heading west in his early 20s to become part of the Los Angeles R&B scene. He played with Guitar Slim as a teenager in Houston and by the end on the 1960s he had his first hit with "It's Got to Be Mellow."

But it was his later funk/disco period in the 1970s which yielded a steamy number, "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You." You KNOW it!

And you know it was sampled by Dr. Dre in his "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang." You'll need to search for that.

SCOTT JOPLIN

A historical figure predating even jazz as we know it, the seminal Joplin had a #1 smash posthumously in 1973 with Marvin Hamlish's rangement of Joplin's "The Entertainer."

Joplin was from Northeast Texas, born in either Linden or Texarkana (predating the incorporation of the town itself) in 1868. Near 1899 he wrote his signature piece he's known for, Maple Leaf Rag. An American treasure, he died in 1917.

JOHNNY MATHIS

this one shocked me. I always thought Mathis was from San Francisco originally. He was born in Gilmer but moved with his family to the Bay Area as a teenager. He was also a decathlete and had to choose between sports and singing.

Luckily for lovers everywhere who relied on tunes like "Chances Are" to provide an appropriate slow dance backdrop, Mathis made the right choice. In fact, his greatest hits album was the biggest selling LP ever at one time.

And he sang the song which led to a movie where a radio DJ gets pursued by a knife-wielding psycho. Thanks Johnny!

Those are just three. Next time, I'll introduce you to the late and lamented sideman for Mick & Keith who once drank a whole bathtub filled with champagne. Another example of a Texan doing it big.