Mad Dogs & Okies Pays Tribute to Oklahoma's Music Scene

Sept. 15, 2005 -- From Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, and Taj Mahal to Willie Nelson and Vince Gill, Oklahoma has left its mark on the music of a surprising array of rockers and country crooners.

Mad Dogs & Okies-an album produced by Tulsa native and legendary drummer/producer Jamie Oldaker-pays homage to the Oklahoma music scene and features artists who have been influenced by its homespun sound. The album hit stores at the end of August, but as Oldaker explains, it's been a project more than three years in the making.

Oldaker came up with the idea for a compilation while pondering the effect Oklahoma has had on his own music and career. Having spent most of his life playing and performing with a variety of artists, Oldaker wanted to make an album that would give the harmonic side of the Sooner State its due.

"I wanted to pay tribute to my home state," Oldaker says. "But as I thought more about Oklahoma's influence on my music, I realized I wasn't alone. Oklahoma has been a part of many artists' musical careers in some way."

Clapton, Frampton, Nelson, Gill, Taj Mahal, J.J. Cale, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Bonnie Bramlett, Ray Benson, Joe and Ellen, Wily Hunt, Steve Pryor, Zadig and Marcella, and Willias Alan Ramsey all have Oklahoma ties, and each of them decided to throw their talents into the musical blender that is Mad Dogs & Okies.

Although the artists are from different spectrums of the musical world, Oldaker says, it wasn't too difficult to bring the immensely talented group together.

"Eric's always been involved with Tulsa songwriting or musicians," Oldaker says. "Eric's a huge J.J. Cale fan. He's been influenced quite a bit by that Tulsa, Okie-Groove type of deal. So, he was excited about the project. His response was, 'Man, I'm in; that sounds cool.'"

Most of the members of Taj Mahal's original band in the 1960s were Tulsans, so he fell right in line, Oldaker says. And Vince Gill-a heavy hitter in the country music field-shared Clapton's excitement, he says, naming off Tulsa musicians he wanted to work with before the let-me-just-run-this-by-you conversation ended.

Although enthusiasm for the project was abundant, funding was another matter.

"It took a long time to get it funded," Oldaker says. "But I finally got some project money out of Tulsa, and Concord Records helped a bunch too."

Oldaker says after getting the necessary funds and completing the album, it wasn't the money he might make or the incredible artists that made him happiest about his latest project.

"I wanted to give something back to the city and the state that I love so much," Oldaker says. "I'm saying 'Here, this is for you guys. This is for the state that has influenced my music and that of so many others."

CD information from CDUniverse.com

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