Keith Ferguson Collection, 1951-2008
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10605/352647
Descriptive Summary
The renowned bassist Keith Ferguson collected posters from the wide variety of musicians he admired in many genres. Many posters, and his own drawings, have been digitized and are presented here.
Biographical Sketch
Keith Ferguson, noted bass guitarist, was born on July 23, 1946. He was raised in the Sixth Ward of Houston, Texas, and graduated from San Jacinto High School in 1964. Ferguson, who played left-handed, worked with Carlos Santana, Johnny Winter, Peter Kaukonen, Jimmy, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and played with groups such as Night Crawlers, Texas Cajun Trio, The Tail Gators, and Big Guitars from Texas.
Ferguson was nominated for a Grammy in 1986 for his work with the Big Guitars (a strictly instrumental, Austin-based band). He also won the Austin Music Award for Best Bass Guitar in 1985, and in 1997 he was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. Keith Ferguson died in Austin on April 29, 1997.
Scope and Content
The collection contains materials relating to the Ferguson family, Keith Ferguson's education, marriage, and divorce. Legal documents relating to the founding and dissolving of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Also included are his original artwork and reproductions, press reviews, contracts, royalty statements, performance posters for many artists, personal photographs, and artifacts such as hats and T-shirts. More artifact material was added from a donation at the death of his mother Margaret Ferguson.
Ferguson was an aficionado of music of all types. These papers include 486 cassettes, 6 reel-to-reel tapes, and 55 CDs from diverse recording artists. Of special note: Tape cassettes 1 through 64 are unlabeled, undated, and of unknown content if any. Those are followed numerically by Keith Ferguson sessions and live recordings with various bands, some vaguely labeled and/or undated, then by rare and possibly unique recordings by other musicians. The collection then bulks with commercial and homemade recordings that reflect the artist's eclectic and worldwide musical interests.
Related Material
Keith Ferguson Papers, 1951-2008
Don Caldwell Collection, 1968-1996
Margaret Talbutt Ferguson Papers, 1920-2016
Jesse "Guitar" Taylor Papers, 1970-2005
Tommy and Charlene Hancock Family Papers, 1939-2011
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