About — Jay Boy Adams

Jay Boy Adams spent a number of years honing his craft playing in bands in Houston and then in Midland, Texas with noted bluesman Johnny Heartsman. In 1972 Adams landed an opening slot in Lubbock for ZZ Top, whose manager Bill Ham was impressed enough to recruit Adams as the group’s regular opening act.

After four years on the road with ZZ Top Adams hit the touring circuit in earnest again for the next six years, sharing concert bills with such artists as The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Cocker, Jackson Browne, Marshall Tucker Band, Bonnie Raitt, The Kinks and many others.

Throughout the 1970s into the early ‘80s Adams spent some 200 to 250 days a year on the road. But the grind of touring and pursuing his musical ambitions eventually took their toll, and he was also intent on being a good father and husband. So he put his guitar down, left the road and quit music. “When I walked away, I walked away,” says Adams.

Country star Lee Roy Parnell invited Adams to join him onstage at a show in 1997, and his songwriting muse and love for playing guitar and performing returned with a vengeance. He has since toured on George Strait’s 1999 Country Music Festival, headlined the Kerrville Folk Festival and also toured Europe as a special guest star with The Texas Tornados.

Following the 2007 release of The Shoe Box, he hit the road again as a special guest opening for Stephen Stills.

Adams has also joined the Southern rock supergroup Brothers of the Southland alongside such notables as Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie, Henry Paul of The Outlaws and Blackhawk, “Dangerous” Dan Toler of the Allman Brothers, Steve Gorman of The Black Crowes, Bo Bice of “American Idol” fame and other top players.

A well-known name on the Texas scene is making exciting new music. Jay Boy Adams, who toured with ZZ Top, The Band, Jackson Browne, The Marshall Tucker Band, Joe Cocker and other arena-filling acts in the 1970s and 80s, is back with a new album, The Shoe Box. The new CD has already become a Top Five hit at Americana Radio and also spawned an extensive tour as special guest for the legendary Stephen Stills, not only opening the show, but also playing some guitar and singing back-up vocals as part of Stills’ band.

The independent Rockin’ Heart/Smith Entertainment Records release represents the first new music from the West Texas native in several years. The album also features guest appearances by Lee Roy Parnell, Jack Ingram, Marty Stuart and Asleep At the Wheel’s Ray Benson.

“When I was running hard in the seventies and early eighties, I never dreamed or planned that I would walk away from music, and in 2007 I never dreamed that I would be walking back,” mused Adams. “I wrote ten of the 12 songs on The Shoe Box. The songs are on a CD of course, but this is a true ‘record’ of the important things in my life. Hopefully, one of these songs will strike a nerve with some of you.”

Chances are, more than one of the songs on The Shoe Box will resonate with listeners. The album is a chronicle of both growing older and growing up, of good memories of good friends, and life’s lessons learned—some of them learned the hard way. It’s a record, in other words, of the ups and downs in a singer/songwriter’s life and the costs that roller coaster ride can impose.

Jay Boy Adams’ music has always represented a resonant mixture of country, rock and blues, while remaining steeped in tradition. A native of Colorado City, Texas, in the South Plains of West Texas, Adams grew up with the same influences that fueled the music of Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Terry Allen and Butch Hancock, all of whom hailed from nearby Lubbock. Earlier West Texas musical icons much as Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Bob Wills also left their mark.

In 1972, Adams was signed to a management contract by legendary Texas music Svengali Bill Ham, of Lone Wolf Management. Ham, who also kick-started the careers of ZZ Top and Clint Black, put Adams on the road opening for ZZ and caring for Billy Gibbons’ guitars.

After that apprenticeship, Ham arranged for Adams to be signed to Atlantic Records, and he recorded two albums for Atlantic: Jay Boy Adams (1978) and Fork In the Road (1979), which included an appearance by Jackson Browne. Those vinyl albums have been compared to the legendary first album by another Texan, Willis Alan Ramsey, and have become much sought-after by collectors. And though they generated considerable sales and radio airplay, Jay Boy’s unique music was neither country or boogie rock, as his record company tried to market him; rather it was closer to the sound of the West Coast rock bands of the ‘70s, steeped in what has now come to be known as Americana music.

Adams toured from coast to coast with some of the biggest names in the business, but he continued to live in Texas, where he felt grounded, and where artistic inspiration lay always close at hand. But then, in 1982, Adams got off the merry-go-round and left the music business behind. But he never left the music itself behind - just the spotlight.

He married and fathered children and, as the saying goes, got on with his life. But he never put down the guitar entirely, and he had friends who never stopped rooting for him.

In March of 1997, Lee Roy Parnell invited Adams to join him onstage on the spur of the moment at a show in San Antonio. Adams found himself with a guitar in his hands, facing a concert audience for the first time in five years, and his love for live performance was re-kindled. Soon after that show, he decided to back home, dust off the cobwebs and get back to work.

The result is The Shoe Box (produced by Jay Boy Adams and Bakersfield, California-based Monty Byrom, perhaps best known for his work with the under-appreciated group Big House), and Adams’ first sustained tour in 17 years.

2003 – 2009

1986 - 1999

1986 In JBA’s rehearsal hall. Danny Raines, Woody Key, Danny Darling.
1986 Danny Raines & JBA on the bus.
Sound check for the Cattle Barron’s Ball with Reba, circa 1986
Description goes hereIn 1992 Danny Darling and Paul Culver toured Europe with singer/songwriter Kevin Welch.
The 1994 ZZ TOP RECYCLER TOUR: This photo was taken in Phoenix, AZ. one afternoon. It was a major accomplishment to assemble this group. All of the trucks and coaches were matched paint jobs and looked real impressive going down the highway. And down the highway we did in fact go, about 80,000 miles of it to be exact. Who all do you recognize?
1994 Little Bear, Evergreen, Colorado - Bob Macy, JBA, Kenny Jeronimus JBA is pointing out something that seems abnormal in the Little Bear.
June 1995, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, JBA, Gerald Johnson. The Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed on May 7, 1995. Stephen Stills and Graham Nash organized the first benefit for the survivors and family members of the victims. I was asked to play with the band for this benefit. It was a great honor and an experience as well. The band members were: My long time friend Gerald Johnson on bass, Michael Finnigan on keyboards, and Joe Vitale on drums and of course Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. I am playing guitar. This show was one of the most appreciated musical events that I have ever experienced. I will never forget meeting some of the survivors and rescue team members involved in this terrible tragedy.
1996 Stephen Stills, JBA and Mike Finnigan I had just finished playing with Stephen Stills for the first time. This was a dream come true for me. Stephen has always been one of my heroes and definitely had an influence on me. It was after the first Crosby, Stills, and Nash show I attended in Dallas, 1967, after hearing him play BLACK QUEEN that I wrote THE LEGEND OF JACK DIAMOND while camping in the mountains with my friend Ron Witten. I was attending the home of Mean Joe Green, North Texas State University in Denton, Texas. This is also where I met and became friends with Gary Nicholson. We saw this show together.
April 18th, 1999 Texas Stadium, Dallas, Texas. JBA and Band after the show. Joe Forlini, Danny Raines, Danny Darling, Paul Culver, JBA, Ben Witten, Ron Witten. Ron Witten came to the show to continue General Math 101 tutoring lessons.
1999 CELINE DION/ LETS TALK ABOUT LOVE TOUR: Pictured here is JBA’S son Jayson, Sara McDonough, Celine, Clare (JBA’S daughter) and Bill Worrell (JBA’S longtime friend who is also a writing partner and artist)
1999 LETS KNEEL AT THE WHEEL: JBA, The Reverend, Lee Roy, and Ms. Donna (photo by Donna McKenzie)
March 1999: LAY HANDS ON THIS! This photo was taken on Lee Roy’s bus backstage in Houston- JBA, Billy G, LRP, and Steven Segal. (photo by Donna McKenzie)
January 1999: JBA’S writing partner, Bill Worrell, participated in the new Brooks and Dunn video which was shot in Tucson, AZ. I to r: Ronnie Dunn, actor, Bill Worrell.
Brooks and Dunn video shoot in Arizona. Worrell is in full costume and JBA thinks he looks normal.
JBA and the King of the Blues, B.B. King
March 18,1999, was the twenty five year reunion Jay Boy Adams and Band. The show was at Lukenbach, Texas. For more information on this gig, check out the newsletter.
In April, 1999, in Austin, Texas, at the Kinky Friedman Benefit at LaZona Rosa. Lee Roy and Jay Boy with Steve Bruton, Chris Layton, Bob Livingston.
June 9th, 1999, we were on the George Strait Music Festival Tour. Lee Roy Parnell met me in Oakland,California, and joined us on stage for our show. This was too cool, We opened up with him doing Statesboro Blues. He loves Merle Haggard. So it was only fitting and proper for us to do a bunch of Merle’s songs since we were in his neighborhood.
Paul Culver, JBA, Joe Forlini, Danny Raines, and Danny Darling on drums. The George Strait Music Festival 1999.

1963 - 1982

One Monday Night In Midland I lived in Midland, Texas from 1969 to late 1970 and worked with the Johnny Heartsman Trio. “I turned twenty one in Midland” doing life without parole. The group performed six nights a week and I did a solo every Monday night at the Chateau Club in downtown Midland. We played enough pop cover tunes to keep the club owner off of our backs but mostly rhythm and blues was how we would wind up the night. Each Sunday afternoon Johnny would host an open mic jam session. One of those Sundays, I wandered in the club and asked to play. Johnny Heartsman was a rather large black man with a beard. He played Hammond B3, kicked bass, Stratocaster, flute and sang. When Johnny asked what I wanted to play, the answer was “Crosscut Saw.” He sort of got a kick out of that and said, “How old are you, about twelve or thirteen? I guess you want to sing it too?” Of course the answer was yes and on Monday night, I was the new guitar player in his band. I was paid $100.00 a week. I was playing a Gibson SG. The club owner, D.M. Williams, also owned a small independent record company called Chateau Records. Most of the acts that worked his club would eventually record on the label. I recorded my first single for this label. “A” side was IN RAIN IN SPRING and “B” side was THE COLD WIND. The guitar in the photo is a Gibson Heritage. I’m wearing a leather vest that was made by Karen Cascio, my mentor and lifelong friend.
My first band was actually called THE IMPOSSIBLES. We had a female drummer named Linda Ezell. Her cousin, W.H. Ezell, was the other guitar player who was definitely a big fan of ELVIS. The Impossibles did not last long. We eventually became THE IMPALAS. In this particular photo W.H. is playing a National Guitar. I remember it was red and had a hundred different sounds. His guitar had six knobs across the top. Of course I played a Fender Jaguar. W.H. was too cool. Like I said, he loved Elvis. He died his hair coal black and always wore a suit. Steve Bradford was the drummer. When we drafted Steve, he did not have a trap kit so we would borrow pieces of drums from the high school marching band. One night we need another cymbal and sort of found an unlocked window in the band room and sort of borrowed one without proper permission. That was the first time we were all expelled. After that my mother signed a note with Steve for his own set of drums. His payment was $8.90 per month. The bass player was Don Craig. His golf handicap was about an eight at the time. He later fought the law and the law won.
Boothill 1971 - I moved to Lubbock the week of the big tornado. I happened to be in Midland getting the last of my stuff when it hit. Man was I lucky! If I would have been there, chances are I would have been with Tom Jones when the awning and part of the Pink Pig landed on his ‘70 Chevelle big block. This was a fun band. We played a few originals but mostly we played cover material that we liked such as the Allman Brothers and anything else that you could crank it up on. Needless to say club owners did not like us very much. This is the first time that I experienced harmony guitar lead lines and “Midnight Rider.” It ruined me for life. The band members were Danny Darling (drums), Woody Key (guitar and bass), John Moore (Hammond and piano), Tommy Pogue (guitar and bass) and me (guitar and bass). I played a Gibson Gold Top with humbuckings through a Bassman head with a Vox Royal Guardsman cabinet. It screamed!
Paul Culver and his D18 Martin Paul Culver and I met in 1972. Our musical tastes definitely ran a parallel. We listened to a lot of Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape, Byrds, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and of course the Allman Brothers. When I met Paul he was playing a Martin DI8 and learning to finger pick. I had discovered Jackson Browne and Paul was the first one of whom I shared my new discovery. We quickly decided that there had to be a “song writer piano style” added to my songs. Paul purchased a Wurlitzer Electric and began practicing very regularly. Paul’s piano style quickly became a trademark in my original songs.
David Bentley with his Double Bass David is originally from Big Spring, Texas. He received his degree in music from Texas Tech University. We met in the music department and played together in the Texas Tech lab band. I could not read a lick of music. The pieces we played in the band were all numbers that had been recorded by popular groups so I would listen to the record and memorize the music. When it came time for me to do a solo, I would just cut loose and David would tap me on the foot with his foot as a signal when to end the solo. I do not think the instructor ever caught on to what we were doing.
Me and my D41 Martin Looking back on this period I am reminded of the material I chose in addition to original songs. We did cover material such as Jamaica Say You Will, Song for Adam, These Days, and many others by Jackson Browne. This was a great period. We traveled in a yellow Chevy van with my dog. Now we travel in a tour bus with Paul’s dog Maggie. We must have opened the show for just about everyone imaginable. Art Follows, cellist from the Lubbock Symphony, had joined us for a show with Jackson Browne. We were warming up and I looked over my shoulder to find Jackson listening to us do Song for Adam. He asked us to play it that night and we did. The crowd went nuts. My friend, Ronnie Witten, had booked this show. I became friends with Jackson and David Lindley. The next time these guys came through town Bonnie Raitt was the opening act. I was playing at the Main Street Saloon. They all came by after the show and joined us on stage. We burned the place down!
1973 - This is the first promo photo that was made by B.H. Associates, Houston, Texas. I didn’t have a beard because I couldn’t grow one. This was actually a live shot taken from the front of the stage at The Warehouse in New Orleans. I opened the show for ZZ TOP. It was the summer of 1973. I was still living in Lubbock and going to summer school at Texas Tech. My roommate was one of my best friends, Ronnie Witten. He is to blame or credit for my whole Lubbock experience. Ron and I grew up as next door neighbors. He could actually read a book and understand everything in it, even mathematics. He did his best to convince me that I needed a college degree and tried his best to help me pass two summer terms of General Math 101. I was excited to get the call to open the show for ZZ in Dallas, and even more relieved to get the offer that same night to go on the road with them. I would have never passed that math course. For the next several years I saw the entire United States and Canada several times. I opened every ZZ show and also doubled as guitar and backline tech for Billy and Dusty. I was playing a D41 Martin.
1974 - Bentley, JBA, Culver In 1974 I added bass guitar and piano. This is the first line up of additional instrumentation. Paul Culver (Midland, Texas) actually bought a piano and started learning the instrument just to play with me. I haven’t been flattered as greatly since. His action has always been very special to me not to mention the fact of how very talented Paul actually is. He would quickly become my right hand man. Paul’s instrument at the time was acoustic guitar. When we met, Paul was a flat picker and was very close to learning a finger style. I taught him the exact four finger style that I used. This made our guitar styles mesh beautifully. He played a D18 Martin. David Bentley (Big Spring. Texas) was the bass player. David is probably the most technical and talented musician I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. With my very limited knowledge of stringed instruments and unorthodox way of explaining my ideas, he wrote all of the string arrangements and conducted the Memphis Symphony Orchestra on my first album. David’s brother snapped this shot.
Dusty Hill, Jim Lander, Gene Mayer, Billy Gibbons, Mexican Blackbird, Frank Beard, JBA, Scott Nelson. This is a 1974 photo. We always seemed to wind up in Mexico. Most of our vans, trucks, and buses were programmed to take us there at any given moment. One night after a show in El Paso, we headed for Juarez. There was a band playing in this joint and we decided we wanted to play. We played five songs on the house band’s equipment. When we finished the doorman informed us we owed a hundred bucks. Mexican rules: five dollars a piece per song.
Billy Gibbons - 1974 Billy and I would go to Mexico at the drop of a hat, any hat. Actually what true Texan wouldn’t. This photo was taken by him and given to me as a gift. He actually fits in quite well. I do not know what he is thinking about but you can bet he is up to no good. There is a door that is blocked from view by the telephone pole on the far right of the photo that is an entrance to our secret hiding place. All I can tell you is its in Mexico.
Description goes hereThis was taken the same day at the Cactus Cafe. This was the front door looking inside. The hat was handmade by American Hat Company for Dusty Hill and given to me as a gift one night in Mexico. I can’t remember if we were drinking.
Early one morning about 5:00am July 5th, 1974 I came through Bronte, Texas, and stopped at the Cactus Cafe for some coffee. I later wrote a song called THE CACTUS CAFE. I went back there sometime later and took this photo with the owners. It is no longer there, but it was a great old timey, small town cafe. They had great burgers and home made pies.
Circa. 1974 - Billy Gibbons, JBA and Charles Harris
Davis McLarty, JBA, Paul Culver 1974 -1975 The first date I did with a band was the Greater Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta, Ga. We were there for a week with Doc Watson. This photo is in our dressing room warming up before the next show. It was a real treat to play with Doc Watson and quite a learning experience. Me and Paul just thought we could finger pick. It was this tour that I got the idea from Doc to record THE TENNESSEE STUD. With his blessing of course
Culver, Freeman, JBA, Bentley, McLarty This is the first full band line up to do my original music. We took this photo in front of an old cafe in Dallas sometime in 1975. By this time I had added pedal steel guitar and drums. The two new members pictured here: Cal Freeman on pedal steel guitar with a very long beard which could have been the seed for a great idea Cal was actually the first one to introduce pedal steel to pop music. He played in the band who had the giant hit ITS SO NICE TO BE WITH YOU in the sixties. Davis McLarty was my first drummer. I could not have picked a better one. He has perfect timing. Davis is a brilliant technician and went on to play with Joe Ely. However, he could have played with anyone. One of the most endearing months of my life was spent with this line up except for Cal in the mountains of Colorado rehearsing in a cabin on the Conejos River owned by Mr. and Mrs. McLarty. They thought I was a driven mad man.
1975 - I was still thumping the D41 and still handling the big boys guitars. However I started showing THE REVEREND how to finger pick and he introduced me to the slide bar. We also grew beards. The routine was still about the same. Four or five shows a week as the opening act for The Little ‘Ole Band From Texas then string a few guitars and sit back and listen to some incredible stuff that was coming through a wall of Marshalls. This whole time frame was unbelievable. I hear stories about Hendrix, The Allmans, Tucker Band, Skynyrd,and others’ early years being unbelievable. I t was. I heard and saw it too. But believe me, you didn’t hear it all if you didn’t hear THE BOYS do about three hours of early stuff including Salt Lick, Little Wing, Goin’ Down, Hideaway and The Stumble.
1976 - I was still writing songs and I was still experimenting with different instrument combinations. The string quartet was still my favorite but I could not let go of the Les Paul and all of that extended sustain. The band was starting to form and I was close to a record deal. We still lived in Lubbock and I still played the D41 and the Gold Top. However, I had gotten my hands on a Hard Tail Stratocaster which I used for slide.
Mark Pucci, JBA, Mexican Blackbird, The Reverend 1976 - We can not stay out of Mexico or trouble. There is a lot of culture down there. The birthplace of a lot of our song ideas.
1977 This is the first official promo photograph for Atlantic Records. It was taken by Mark Lee and Linda Lesser during a photo shoot for the record company. We were shooting in the country about forty miles north of Dallas. The reason for the serious look was because I had braces on my teeth.
1978 - FORK IN THE ROAD was released during this time period. This photo was shot by Jim Haughton in New York during the session for the album cover. I still had braces but I was still a country boy. I was real impressed when they rolled in a huge fan to blow my hair back. I thought you had to ride in the back of a pick up truck about ninety mph to get that effect. It was a lot of fun. A friend of mine made the vest out of deer skin and I wore a pair of Mary’s jeans. I had a 24 inch waist and so did she. The D41 still with me but needed a fret job.
The BIG CHILI COOK OFF in Odessa, Texas, 1978. There was a guy walking around the crowd lugging a big sign “Texas Succeed” and a petition asking for signatures who had an armed escort in full uniform. When he made his way to the front of the stage I could not resist it. I had to have that hat! This photo appeared on the AP wire the following Sunday. Another bearded wonder seen leaning down between the bass amp and drum kit is road crew member Jerry “Wolf’ Huddleston.
Most of these photos have some sort of documentation on the back. Thank Goodness! This photograph is from Birmingham, Alabama, with THE ALLMAN BROTHER’S BAND in 1978. I never got the chance to hear them with Duane. What a shame! I am certain of one thing, I am playing my gold top Les Paul.
We played Carnegie Hall November 27, 1978. Four nights before we were in San Francisco, Ca. at the Old Waldorf. I flew to New York for interviews and the band rode in the bus across the country. This show, to say the least, was a high light of my musical career. I managed to stay pretty calm until we arrived at the backstage entrance. When we got out of the car, there was crowd of people with promo photos, album covers, and bar napkins wanting autographs. When I got to the dressing room there were flowers, fruit baskets, and telegrams. The most memorable was from J. W. Williams and the flowers from Mary. It completely blew my mind. I was not expecting anything like that. None of our family members or close friends there for this special occasion. If I had it to do over that certainly would not be the case. The young man playing violin is Bobby Kahler from Tucson, AZ. He was seventeen years old.
Paul Culver and JBA at Shaboos in Connecticut sometime around 1978. We were playing “Superkicker” or The Tennessee Stud.
1978 - JBA, Danny Raines, and Woody Key in November at Carnegie Hall.
Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1980. Jay Boy Adams (with Goldie) and Woody Key on bass guitar. Woody is playing a 1958 Fender Precision Bass. We were out of bass players at this time. Woody was the guitar player but switched to bass until a replacement was found and then returned to his real position.
1982 - This was near the end. I was about to need a loaf of bread. In the back ground, behind the tinsel town curtain is the front of a bus with the headlights on bright. And as far as a future goes, those lights were about the brightest thing going. I had been dropped from Atlantic and could not seem to find any record label interest. An alternative was imminent. I am holding an original Chiquita Guitar that was a birthday gift from Mary and Billy Gibbons. I was burned out and up to now if I had a dollar for every mile I made I would have about two million dollars. Of course I didn’t! The real kicker was the fact that my band was so tight and hot. We were a four piece by now and had played thousands of hours together, but it was time to move on. It was a big decision.