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"Today I'll Think
About The Rain"
Songs by
Ruby Allmond
an
Anthology
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Ruby’s Artistry
is a Legacy
The
Ruby Allmond Music Collection is now a part of the
Special Collections of Texas A&M University -
Commerce. Currently we are administering Ruby’s beautiful
portfolio of music in a desire that Ruby will not be
forgotten and that her songs will always be known as
"Ruby Allmond’s songs".
Before she became critically ill, Ruby assembled 41
of her songs into an Anthology---a book of the
lyrics and two CDs of her singing and playing those
songs. She titled it "Today I’ll Think About The
Rain" It is a very elegant treasure… something
to keep, enjoy, and cherish. Her music is not like
anything to which you probably have been listening; it is a genre of its own…classy, yet simple
and so enjoyable! Someone has described her music as "Texas
Classic".
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Ruby’s
words that she spoke and wrote were deceivingly
simple…about people’s everyday lives and said like
no one has ever said them before. They are said in
such simplicity that one almost overlooks their
depth and profundity... their greatness. Every song
that she wrote has either a story in it or the idea
of a story. She used the impressions of nature to
express feelings or to build the picture. One word
that she used in many of her songs is "gentle".
Another feature that she used was inner-rhyming.
Also, her singing is made beautiful by what she
called "phrasing". These things really portray Ruby,
herself. She attracted the respect and admiration of
people of all ages.
Can you imagine a little 4-year old girl sitting on
her father’s knee playing on the strings of a guitar
while her father held the big back part of the
guitar? That shows the determination that she had to
play pretty sounds. Some people believe that Ruby
was the best guitar player that they ever heard. And
some believe that she was the best fiddle player
that they ever heard. One man in her audience in
Stephenville, TX, said, “I hope you live forever”. |
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YOU WILL WISH THAT YOU HAD KNOWN HER! A Great, Great Lady! |
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Ruby Allmond
1923-2006
Ruby was a
fountain of talent…a bubbling fountain of
talent. She was a notable person in her area of
the world. With her fiddle, her humor and great
personality she won many, many friends. |
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Yes, an easy and
comfortable personality yet stimulative and inspiring and
so much fun!, a sparkling humor, intelligence, a
musical artist, a lyrical artist, a fascinating
entertainer. When visiting with her you had to listen
fast or you would miss the gems that were blended in her
conversation. Ruby’s words were never lightly given.
They were always thoughtful, purposeful and full of
wisdom…to be helpful and encouraging…to lighten the
problems.
History
Ruby was born in 1923. She grew up on a blackland cotton
and corn farm during the depression years and the World
War II era. She began her interest in music early…her
first stage appearance was at the age of four. Music was
a chief source of entertainment for all of her family,
so having access to a guitar and fiddle gave her
opportunity to explore her love for harmony in tones.
She studied people and learned early an appreciation of
words. In high school she was the winner of several
Interscholastic Essay contests.
Ruby’s Musical Career
After high
school Ruby worked hard to challenge the concept that a
girl couldn’t play a fiddle. In those days, women were
barred from fiddling contests that were thought to be
only for men. But in 1947 at the Greenville, Texas,
Municipal Auditorium Ruby was awarded the title of
"National Champion Lady Fiddler". She was playing shows
all around north and east Texas as trio fiddle with two
of America’s best fiddlers…Georgia Slim Rutland and
Howdy Forrester. At that time the band consisted of her
two brothers, Roy and Raymond Allmond on guitars and
Harold Carder , from Gober, Texas, playing bass; Ruby on
the front. Then she formed a band of her own called
"Texas Jamboree" consisting of Guy Bryant, Joyce Bryant,
Gene Bryant and Clay Harvey. It was noted as a "top
notch fiddle band". The Honorable Mr. Sam Rayburn,
Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, took her
band on his campaign tours to entertain the crowds.
During all of Ruby’s life she always had a song in her
heart and she wrote many songs. She was acquainted with
the Great Texas songwriter, Cindy Walker. Cindy liked
Ruby’s songs and sent her to the publisher at RCA in
Nashville to be introduced to Chet Atkins.
Chet took her songs and made several outstanding
recordings of them. "Reno", sung by Dottie West and
produced by Chet, became a top-ten national hit song. He
told Ruby that she was a "great songwriter".
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~ The
Ruby Allmond ~
Songwriting Contest
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In
Honor of the Notable
North
Texan Fiddler and Songwriter
Ruby Allmond
We Are
Inviting You To:
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TUNE UP YOUR GUITAR, DUST OFF THOSE PIANO KEYS
AND WRITE SOME SONGS…Some GOOD songs!!!
Find
Out More Details
Here
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