2.4.2018   Gary P. Nunn writes about his life in music

Gary P. Nunn is considered one of the founding fathers of the Austin music scene that evolved in the 1970s as a blend of country, rock, jazz, and folk and spawned such iconic figures as Willie Nelson, Michael Martin Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Waylon Jennings.

Nunn was there from the start, usually playing bass or piano or organ, singing backup, and even opening up his home where visiting musicians could crash.

And he started writing songs — the best known of which was “London Homesick Blues,” which includes the memorable chorus, “I want to go home with the armadillo, good country music from Amarillo and Abilene; the friendliest people and the prettiest women you’ve ever seen.”

“London Homesick Blues” would become the theme song for the Austin City Limits TV show from 1977 to 2004.

Nunn, now 72, has published his memoirs, appropriately titled At Home with the Armadillo (Greenleaf Book Group, $24.95 hardcover).

The 320-page saga begins in Oklahoma, where Nunn was born and lived until his family moved to Brownfield when he was twelve. He started playing music in junior high and caught on with several West Texas rock bands before moving to Austin in 1967 to attend the University of Texas and study to be a pharmacist.

Music soon won out over pharmacy. Nunn played and sang with Murphey and Walker, traveling around the country and even overseas.

It was on a trip to London with Murphey that Nunn composed “London Homesick Blues” on a cold, drizzly, miserable day. “I never imagined at the time that anything would ever come of it!” he writes.

Well, it did. Many songs later, now even a book has resulted from it.

Nunn is also an avid photographer, and he said he relied on his photographs to help stir his memories in writing the book. Oddly, the book doesn’t include any photos, but Nunn has talked about a book of photos as a future project.

If there’s ever a second edition of At Home with the Armadillo, the publisher might consider adding an index because Nunn’s narrative mentions so many musicians that he played with over the years. An index would be a handy reference.

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Glenn Dromgoole has been writing his Texas Reads column since 2002, focusing on Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.