Jimmie Dale Gilmore.  Butch Hancock.  Joe Ely.  Three of the most respected singer-songwriters in Americana music.
The story of how they joined forces once-upon-a-time in their native Lubbock  is so much the stuff of myth that when their rare first Nashville recording was reissued on Rounder in the early ‘90’s, it was titled “More a Legend than a Band”.  Despite overdubs and other compromises meant to make the record more palatable to ‘70’s country radio, the Flatlanders’ Nashville sessions have long been regarded as a seminal work in the evolution of ‘alternative country’ music.  The recording was a sales flop, but it helped launch the careers of Gilmore, Hancock and Ely—leading the New York Times to brand The Flatlanders a “supergroup in reverse”.
But now that history is being rewritten.
Believed lost for 40 years, an earlier tape of the Flatlanders has been found in a bedroom closet in Lubbock.  Before the Nashville sessions, the Flatlanders recorded 14 songs in a studio outside Odessa, Texas.   To the surprise of virtually everyone, not only is the tape still in pristine physical shape, but the performances themselves are superior to the Nashville sessions, capturing the uncompromising sound and youthful spontaneity of the Flatlanders as they actually were then.  It is a musical time capsule that still sounds vital today.
In this hour long special featuring the recollections and reflections of the Flatlanders plus interviews with Grammy award-winning producer Lloyd Maines and others, we hear the story of the Odessa Tapes: how they were recorded, how they were rediscovered, and how they impact the story of the founding fathers of Americana music.  We also hear music from the tapes themselves—including the original version of the iconic song “Dallas” --- for the first time.

The public radio special "The Lost Odessa Tapes" is hosted by veteran public radio journalist David Brown and produced by the award-winning music journalism unit at public radio’s KUT in Austin, TX.

"The Odessa Tapes" - a 14 song CD -  will be released by New West Records on August 28th.  There will be special collectors editions with rare photographs and commentary plus limited edition vinyl.

A musical Rip Van Winkle tale from Denton: the unexpected return of the Baptist Generals. Also, R&B sensation Latasha Lee's remarkable bounce-back from reality TV disaster. Remembering the place with a coffin shaped door and a constant parade of young musicians who’d one day become among Austin’s most celebrated artists: The One Knite Dive and Tavern. And what can a 27 year old audio tape tell us about the state of Austin music today? You might be surprised. NPR’s John Burnett joins us to talk about it…Plus a real life story from the road: musician David Ramirez with an intimate coming of age tale — the weeks music news and more.