Hey, it's Bob Pickett. We are on our way to the legendary Broken
Spoken. Come on, let's get out the truck and head inside the damn
you're proud of it. Come on, let's go and side. Get ready
for another tale from the Broken Spoke. Now, welcome back to Broken Spoke
On Bob Pickett. Let's continue our conversation with Jenny White, Peacock and Michael
Peacock about the Broken Spoken. Share some more tales of the late great James
White. Hey, let's talk about what happened the other night. It was
at the Americana Music Aripolitan. What happened the other night? It was so
cool. They had a big award show there at the Moody deal at a
Clive, a Clive at the Moody and uh and they uh, they paid
tribute to two people that had just passed. I led the tribute to Charlie
Robinson who passed in September, and then Day Watson and Alvin Crow let a
tribute to mister White, and the y'all came out and the wheel came out,
right wheel. So listen, we have a little yeah, we have
a little backstory. And Mike can tell you more. But Dale was like
they had They were like, hey, we think we want the wheel,
so we're gonna do like you know, so it looks like it broke and
spoke, and everybody would be surprised that we had the wheel up there.
And so Mike was like, that's I told him. I said, that's
fine. They could take it every whatever. Well, we have two wheels
up here. One of them is smaller that we use all the time.
The other one is really large. My dad had got it, but he
never used it because it was too big. And that was actually the wheel
though that went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and it was on in
the exhibit, so it's more fame. It's pallowed. Yes. So anyway,
there's two up here. Mike showed them the correct one. But when
Heidi came out, that's cow girl Heidi, the wheel roller my dad named
her. She had it was up to her chin. It was the ginormous
wagon whe ginormous. It was not the small one. And I thought,
oh lord, poor Heidi. And then I was kidding around on social I
was like, well, at least we had a professional doing it. Those
wheels are actually very hard to roll. They're slick and like like heavy and
they're heavy, yes, very heavy. I don't know how much that big
one weighed, but that's pretty cool though. But I got on Saturday night
after Dale played. I mean, so, Dale came up to me and
he goes down it. He goes, we've got to get that wagon wheel.
I forgot all about it. So next minute Dale was like, oh,
well, I'm in my truck and he goes outside and Swayin's took his
truck and he's like, oh, so are we going to get the waing
wheel? So the drama said, well, don't worry, I'll get it
in the van somewhere and Dale was like, okay, well you're just so
no no. So that was the last thing we knew about it. And
I talked to Jenny and she's did they get the wagon wheel and I said
yeah, the Dale said he saw it out, so I guess they picked
the first. It got the wrong one. It was, it was right.
It was way back there by the stage, I believe, the big
one. Usually they didn't get the one and the weather guy rolls, you
know when he comes out tea, so I guess they took. But we
were laughing and I did not know Heidi was going to be there. So
that just made my heart like seeing because I was like, my dad would
have absolutely loved it and kidded her so bad about doing it because he made
her roll the wheel at the Performing Arts Center. The Big Bass was like,
I will only do it for you, James, you know, like
I'm only doing it because I mean that's a big deal, like in front
of all those people. So when I saw her, I thought, oh
my god, that's like a little bit of James White and Dale Watson where
he got her down there to roll that wheel. And you know, my
dad has a group of friends that are, like I said, they're Ride
or Die James White fan Club. I mean they do anything for us.
And the spoke it's Alvin Crowe, Don Green, Jeff Edens, Heidi Heinen
and Stephen Crowe. All of those are like you know, along with the
Bobby Dan and all of those and Winker. But those guys, they were
all down there at the thing and they were backstage and we were up in
the mezzanine. We were backstage. We got there late. A Bobby Dan
about that she was too busy. No no, no, no no,
no, he was gidding it was him. Well, and I gave Don
one of our backstage actually I gave him mine green Yeah, and he goes,
well, this is yours. And I said, are they really you
think they're gonna kick me out? Don? Yeah, I'm fixing a saying
take my past. You know, that's another name that we need to get
on the show. We need to have Don. Uh, you really do,
because he's really so funny and he knows a lot of stories that I
don't remember, guess from the seventies and stuff, and he is so hilarious
when he talks. He's yeah, he's such a great nice person. Just
to really, you know, my dad, all of his close friends are
those kind of people he does not have, Like he never had some big
stars his best friend. He had the regular old folks that came out here,
you know that played, you know, did the nine to five jobs
or what. Those are his friends, you know, but all good men,
all good men. But you know what I mean though, it was
he never was like, didn't have to be seen with a group of big
stars like he He liked real you know, these real people that come in
here and and they're just customers for so long that they become friends. You
know, I want to share a story with you. You all probably don't
know about, but just before Christmas, there was a girl who wanted to
do a thing for Uto. It was like, you know, just that
she had a journalism course. She wanted to do a thing about the Broughton
Spot. And it was a sad I think a Saturday afternoon. We were
in a film in it and I know your dad probably would have loved this
as well. But this lady came in and she was walking around, she
was just looking at all the exhibits and she had another guy with her and
I just went over to her and said, can help you And she was
like, oh yeah, she said, I'm General Patton's great granddaughter. And
so she found out I was from England and she started telling me all these
stories. But we've like shared a lot of stories since she came in about
two weeks ago. She's become a great friend of mine and General Patton's granddaughter,
yes, and she was so she found out that I was from Aland.
And now this is I don't know if I could was it the accent
they gave it up? What was it? Now? I don't know if
I can officially share this story or it's actually out there in the news.
But she was telling me about the preparations for D Day and the landings for
D Day, and they smuggled her General Parton over to England for the D
Day preparations because he was part of the under and first airborne going into D
Day from the Normandy landings and everything. And she was telling me that General
Patton was stationed in this little house newbody knew about, and all he had
with him was a little batman like footman guy that looked after him while he
was there, and he disappeared and they couldn't find him, and they were
like, where's he gone? Like there was this big panic that he disappeared
and nobody knew where he was. And it turned the backstory if this was
he turned out him and the guy looking after him took a little airplane and
they decided to fly over to France and go over all the beaches and look
at the plans for the landing. And he went over there on officially and
didn't tell anybody. So could you imagine if he captured or anything. So
anyway, she's in charge, she knows the guy that's in charge of the
hundred and first Airborne Museum in Bastone where the Battle of the Bulge took place,
and she invited me and Jenny and Anna to go over to France and
Belgium lived there. She's I mean, she does a lot of history stuff
over there. He's going to move to a house in Austin and what she's
doing, she's doing it's I don't know if you're realized, but it's the
atieth anniversary of D Day this this year, so she's doing this. They
put a big song together and they're doing this D Day song about there for
the under first Airborne and she's asked so Dale Watson said he would get involved
and sing on it. So you want to get involved? How could it?
And you know my father in law, Brandy's dady was one hundred and
first Airborne in the sixties, but he was a streaming eagle. Chill thing
was when she was outside the Broughton spoke. She got me to send a
message that she recorded and she sent it to the guys in Band of Brothers
that played all those guys and they so how many left, They're all passed
away, but this was the guy. These were the guys that actually filmed
the band. That's right, you told me so. She said she's going
to bring all those guys out to the Spoke. Make sure it's the last
Friday of the month. When they did, they'll get in free. Yeah.
Yeah, it's the first responding. But how did she find out about
the Spoke? What they were in? And lives in Austin, up in
I think it's Lakeway somewhere, and she's wants to buy her aunt's house in
US. Then, so well, she was in Austin looking at this place.
She came into the Bronx. It looked for the most famous, found
it, found it. She gave a Nutter Medal from the Patton Museum and
bustone and oh yeah, and me and Mike don't drink anymore, but she
has patent beer and champagne and it's real champaign because it's over from France.
It's really cool. So yeah, we've become great friends for the Bronx Spoke
and she you would not have thought like this, you know, just some
lady that comes in and and that's when I always say, like, it
pays off when you're nice to people you don't know who that lady is,
but he was nice to her and spoke to her, and then you find
out and it's you know, yeah, well it's you got. That's why
my dad used to always like when I was up here, because he's like,
you got to talk to people. She goes he would talk to a
lamp post if he stood still longer. My dad the same thing. My
mom used to say. He talks more than five women about my dad as
well, but he loved it. Customers are still coming to me now that
I mean people came up during the Marrow Partner Awards because you know, that's
like a lot of people from out of town and out of the country,
and they were all like, you know, this spoke special that James White
stood there and he went round and he greeted everybody when they came in,
and he after he sang on stage and he went round every table in the
downsill and shook everybody's arm and welcome to the Brokens Course, you know.
And that restaurant next door that's seen that three times go empty. The barn
on that side is the same thing. And then people say to me,
like, what's the story, and I say, you know, yeah,
it's James White. You have to be nice to your customers. You have
to welcome them in. You have to go around and see if they have
any proper that's the up them. Nowadays, they don't get that personal services.
You walk and you get your food, you pay your bill and you
leave. You know, but mister Whitet, you know when he instilled that,
and y'all you've got that mic, you've got that. I was going
to say, I was like, you know that integrity, you have it.
But but when he's gone, you have to keep that. You have
to pick up that mantle. Not like I can just ride it out,
you know what I mean, Nor do I want to. But it's a
if you mistreat that, you know, the reputation. So you have to
be so you have to treat people like you would like to be treated.
To talk to you guys, it comes natural. Well. And also I
know mister White and now we're we were talking in the kitchen one night back
then he would so often he'd pay us in the kitchen always yep and uh,
particularly after a big night because they had that big cutting board in there,
so he would count out. He'd count out stacks, you know,
two hundred stacks not to erupt you really fast, but I'm I have a
d D. I forget what I'm going to say, so I always interrupt.
But sorry. But after my dad, Oh, one time when my
dad was out of town, he had showed me because I was gonna have
to pay a band for the first time or whatever, so he I went
to the James White School of paying bands and the band was Chris Wall and
he gave me so much crap, like he was like kidding around with me,
like, oh, you gotta do it like James does it. And
he would do like the licking the thumb right, you know, like,
oh, let's see what we got here, and he'd and but he would
count out and he would do little piles of twenties like hundreds, and then
he would count it all. But you know what, that way, all
the money's there. He could see it. Dad could see it. Everybody,
you know what I mean, and you know what you got and and
he didn't make any mistakes, so uh but yeah, So anyway, I
was just laughing about the Chris Wall, like, well, did you are
you sure you know you know how to pay the bands? Well, and
a couple of things. One what I was gonna say about mister White,
is he was. I mean, he imparted to me one of the greatest
lessons I've ever heard, well several times he did that, but one of
the greatest lessons I've ever learned. And he just saw that. I was.
I was talking to the fans as they were after the end of the
night, and I said, mister White, you know they're fans. I
enjoyed talking to him. He goes, yeah, but I he goes,
I see that. He said. You know what I've learned is if you're
nice to somebody, they'll tell five people, and if you're not nice to
them, they'll tell fifty people. That's right. And I was like,
wow, what a great you know, I'm glad I'm paying attention. But
one of the very first times I picked here and when you when you when
you picked the spoke it's an eighty twenty split. The band gets eighty percent
of the door and the house gets twenty percent for you know, staff and
everything, and that's a that's a good split, like advertising, et cetera.
Right, right, and it's a good fair split. So anyway,
so mister White goes to pay me, and it'd have been a real good
night. The wagoneer's blessed. We usually have great nights here. And he
pulled out just pretty good water cash, you know. But I was like,
he goes, well, see what we got. He goes, oh,
that's mine, and then he pulls out you know. So he would
he enjoyed monkey and with the with me anyway. Yeah. Yeah, he
was always like yeah, and he would put all the money in his boot
throughout the night. Yeah, it was grubbing out. Now four, wrap
up, Mike, And you told this, mister White service, but tell
the story because you know you're from England and you got that accent when the
group of the big group of tourists came and it was just you and James.
Yeah. So when I came over from England, I mean, my
style of trust wasn't like the best thing you could ever see in the world,
you know. And that White was like, Mike, she gets you've
got to go to Cavendus and got some Judge Straight stuff. And I'm like,
okay, she goes, but you can only buy what Judge Straight was
and I'm like, okay. So I think she gave me either five or
six hundred dollars and I went off to Cavenders and I bought some ice jeans
and some boots and some George Straight shirts and I put them all on.
I came here one day and I sat at the front bar and there was
not a soul in the place. And James come in and he'd got one
of his sparkly shirts on that Ginny had made for him, and he was
all dressed up. I guess he'd been dan like a TV interview or something
somewhere, and we just got talking at the bar about He's like, ah,
so you've got to George Straight stuff, and like he does start laughing,
and next minute, of course, front door bursts open and there's like
tourists outside and all these people are running in. They're taking pictures of stuff.
This lady comes up, like thirty people. They've got to be like,
yeah, thirty or forty. You know, it's a good crowd.
And you know, they were all like excited and you know, bustling around.
And this little old lady comes up to James and she's like, hey,
can I get I'm not very good accent, so this is my She
goes, hey, can I get my pitch? You're taken with you two
Texas cowboys, and James like looks at me and he grabs my knee under
the thing and he squat and he goes Mike, he goes, don't say
a word, like like they had just stood everything around and all and taking
all these pictures quiet stor cowboys. He loved such a kick out of like,
like even for years later on, he was like when it tricked his
mind, he would like, I remember those people that took those pictures.
Yeah, he was. He was as he always got such a kick out
of stuff, and he always got so much joy out of everything. I
mean, it's like when we had like a real every night Adale Watson the
derailers back in the day, and James would all be sat at the front
bard he was all sat in that middle seat and he'd be like laughing and
looking and stores everybody. It was like the last and he saw that we're
like we've been like we look like we've been like you know, lying,
and we were like wowing out. We're not our asses on the tours.
And I would always turn around and I say, you know, well,
I blame that James White for this. And he looked at me and he
goes I guess if you want built this place, we would have just had
our asses under Oh yeah, you got that right. You know the way
he ended every every episode of the first season, it's a bob and there
was this time but wait, that's the story for another time. And that's
the way he ended all of the shows. If you have a listen to
the first season, you want to maybe I don't know, cut some of
those into some of the you know, I wish I wish that he had
done more of stuff like that voiceovers, and because he was so talented,
like like or like acting stuff, I think he would have been amazing.
When the man worked twenty hours a day, but we were getting ready to
come back and do more stuff than COVID hit, and then his health problems
hit and we were getting ready to come back, and that's when I thought,
Okay, it's I guess it's it's the end of the podcast. And
then watching you at his funeral, going wait a minute, mister White's pointing
me to this guy right here who happens to be family, Thank you,
thank you well. When Jenny asked me to give his eulogy, I it's
one of the biggest honors of my whole life, you know, of all
the people that could have been asked. And I told Brandy, I said,
boy, I got to get this right. He did, and you
did. You got the sunshine that day, everything just that day, January
twenty fourth, and it was like seventy gorgeous, gorgeous, and those pictures
that are like there's like a sunbeam. Oh, it's amazing, right.
It was just I remember, like you know, one of the like about
a year before all that ridiculous, useless lockdown crap happened. Uh uh.
I came here and George Strait had just released Honky Tonk time Machine and we
had a big party here and the Wagoneers were playing, and I brought one
of the gold records that George gave me for desperately, you know, and
I wanted to give it to the White family, and uh and I was
talking to mister White and he said, he said, well, you want,
we'll put this on display for you. I said, no, sir,
I'm giving you this gold record. He goes, you can't do that,
and I said, mister White, I don't have a gold record.
If not for the broken spoke, I learned how to write songs keeping the
audience happy here and he said, well, I'll take it then, you
know. Oh he was so proud that. I just saw some of those
pictures of him, like holding that record, and yeah, he was very
proud and he was it was heartfelt when people gave and people give him,
would give him stuff like that because he was so nice and they knew he
would take care of it and that really it meant everything to him and you
wouldn't And I, as a songwriter, I would not have had that without
James. And what James and Netta White have built and what y'all are carrying
on. It's amazing. Thank y'all, Thank you very much. Now,
thank you for allowing us to come in here and do the podcast. I
got to tell you also, I look at the stats of the podcast.
People from outside us listening to this all the time. Awesome. So we
want to give me hours in case they ever come over here, the hours
of Broken Spoke. When can they sample the world famous Broken Spoke Chicken front.
Okay, so Tuesday through Saturday starting at four pm, got you,
that's when our kitchen opens. We open now, yeah, we do not
open during the day, So anytime after four and if they want to get
Broken Spoke merch, they will sell it to you here at the Broken Spoke.
You got to get here the and they can come here Tuesday through Saturday
at nine o'clock and hear the best honky talk music on the face of the
earth. And the last Friday of every month they can hear the world famous
wagoneers and all first responders get in free, all of them. But you
got to talk to Mike, you talk to listen. That's this Friday.
That's just Friday day after tomorrow. And we're gonna bring Vonn in as well.
My son Van will always And I just want to say something before we
go. Since I've been doing all this stuff that James used to do and
running the bron Spoke, Jenny and Dale Watson and Monty Warden, I've all
paid me some compliments that you know. Dale said to me, Goes,
I could see the spirit of James White inside you, and I think that's
probably the best compliment anybody can ever gift to. Jenny said to me,
She said, my dad would have been so proud for what you've done for
the Broker Spoke. And every time and Monthy got together Brandy and everybody else.
I will say the same thing. And I just want to say thank
you to everybody. Well, thank you. Yes, Well, I tell
you know, he didn't do any of these jobs before, uh, before
my dad passed away. He'd never done any of the things that I had.
Because he's doing all the things I used to do, plus all the
stuff my dad used to do, and so he is busy all the time.
You'll have no idea. He's up here at least twelve hours a day
and he doesn't have to do like he's my husband. But I mean it's
not his family, but it is, you know what I mean. But
it's hard to find somebody that will love something like you love it like that.
I mean, I grew up here. That's why I love it.
I don't know anything, and you're you're a part of the Broken Spoke history.
He's so good. I mean he's from England, but he's more Texan
than a lot of Texans. He loves this, he loves our culture,
he loves the Broken Spoke and he loves this music. So yeah, we're
very blessed. I just thought it was a Southman check accent. I have
no idea. Yeah, yeah, it's very East East Texas. Well,
I will say this when we pull up with Van and in our oldest boy
Van, he's he's like the mascot of the Broken Spoke. He's a thirty
four year old man with Down syndrome. So the way he talks, he
talks if you've ever been around people with downs, very much like that.
And when we pull up and you know, coming the back for a Wagoneer
show, he'll first thing, first thing without fail. Oh, let's go
see mister Peacock every time. Let's go see you love that. I love
that, And that's not on accident. You know, it's amazing. Come
after the Broken Spoke visit with mister Peacock, you call him Mike. You're
gonna fall in love with him. You go fall in love with place.
Oh yeah, I've never met I've never met anybody that's just been the Spoke
one time. Yeah, everybody comes back, Yeah, yeah, come back
your family. More tales coming up. Where As mister Why would say it's
a tale for another time, what a great show. Tales from the Broken
Spoke is recorded live at The Broken Spoke in Austin, Texas, hosted by
Country Radio Hall of fame broadcaster Bog Pickett and Monty Warden, recorded, mixed
down and produced by Mike rivera