thedrifter
03-16-09, 03:52 AM
Monday, Mar 16, 2009
Posted on Mon, Mar. 16, 2009
After lifetime of making music, still hope for a hit song
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
RICHLAND HILLS — The former Majestic Theater on Commerce Street in Fort Worth closed in 1953.
The famed Panther Hall of Fort Worth shut its doors in 1978.
And the trips to Nashville became less frequent in recent years.
Those were the places where 77-year-old Robert E. "Lefty" Gifford used to perform.
But Gifford keeps writing ballads and singing wherever there’s something that even resembles a stage. He even recorded an album in 2006, hoping to get that one hit and make it in the music industry.
"I just feel someday it’s going to happen," Gifford said recently at his Richland Hills home. "If I couldn’t write songs, I wouldn’t be living, so I still do it."
That’s the life of a songwriter — one who played and sang during the heyday of Panther Hall in east Fort Worth, where he opened for icons such as Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. It’s a passion that has been a part of his life for 67 years.
He says that he’s written about 100 good songs and that probably hundreds more ended up in a trash can.
Along with his writing, Gifford still schedules local singing engagements.
Recently, he and his son, Michael E. Gifford of Fort Worth, played for about two hours at Moe’s Cafe in River Oaks.
"His songs take you away to another world," Mike Gifford said.
Musical family
Lefty Gifford began his beloved pastime at age 10, singing with his father, Robert Dee Gifford.
His nickname came from the fact that he plays left-handed with a right-handed guitar, just like rock virtuoso Jimi Hendrix.
And, oh, he can play.
As a teenager, Gifford won talent contests at Fort Worth music theaters, taking home $21 prizes.
"I got to winning all the time that at one place they hired me as part of the show to let others win," Gifford said with a laugh. "I took a cut in pay by doing that."
He joined the Marines in the early 1950s, but he didn’t put down his guitar or his writing.
"I didn’t know if I could sing or write for a living," Gifford said. "But I came back to Fort Worth and I continued singing."
Panther Hall years
By day, Robert Dee Gifford and his son, Lefty, were residential painters. By night, they played venues all over North Texas.
His father died in 1962, but Lefty Gifford continued the family’s musical tradition.
He became a mainstay at Panther Hall, playing at The Loft, which was a smaller stage in the hall. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Roger Miller, Marty Robbins and Charlie Pride.
"Music was my life, and I had to be around it," Lefty Gifford said.
Rusty Carter described Gifford as a singer with a Jim Reeves-like voice.
"I just remember what a songwriter he was," said Carter, who worked with musicians during Panther Hall’s glory years and now runs Rusty’s Musical Instrument Exchange in Saginaw. "He sang folk music, and he was such a poet with his lyrics."
Nashville days
A few years after Panther Hall closed, Gifford said he lived in Nashville at times, chasing what he called a musical "rainbow."
To this day, he doesn’t regret his stays in Nashville, when he played with other songwriters.
"Those were lessons for me," Gifford said. "It was how I got my education in song writing."
But Gifford said Nashville could be cruel.
"People lost their cars at many a pawn shop there," he said.
Gifford lost his marriages. He said he’s been divorced multiple times.
When he wasn’t playing or writing songs, Gifford was a pattern cutter at Williamson-Dickie in Fort Worth, and he ran a barbecue restaurant.
"Whenever I got a chance, I’d sing and play at night," he said.
A hit song
For 20 years, Gifford has never given up hope of writing a hit.
At home, he has notebook papers filled with songs, some written in less than an hour and others that have taken longer.
In the past couple of years, he’s played at weddings, anniversaries, barbecues and small cafes.
"Age does take away the energy," Carter said. "But it doesn’t take away the ability to play the notes with more feeling."
Gifford feels he’s not done yet.
"I’m happy to write songs," he said. "I just hope to write one that really touches the heart."
Ellie
Posted on Mon, Mar. 16, 2009
After lifetime of making music, still hope for a hit song
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
RICHLAND HILLS — The former Majestic Theater on Commerce Street in Fort Worth closed in 1953.
The famed Panther Hall of Fort Worth shut its doors in 1978.
And the trips to Nashville became less frequent in recent years.
Those were the places where 77-year-old Robert E. "Lefty" Gifford used to perform.
But Gifford keeps writing ballads and singing wherever there’s something that even resembles a stage. He even recorded an album in 2006, hoping to get that one hit and make it in the music industry.
"I just feel someday it’s going to happen," Gifford said recently at his Richland Hills home. "If I couldn’t write songs, I wouldn’t be living, so I still do it."
That’s the life of a songwriter — one who played and sang during the heyday of Panther Hall in east Fort Worth, where he opened for icons such as Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. It’s a passion that has been a part of his life for 67 years.
He says that he’s written about 100 good songs and that probably hundreds more ended up in a trash can.
Along with his writing, Gifford still schedules local singing engagements.
Recently, he and his son, Michael E. Gifford of Fort Worth, played for about two hours at Moe’s Cafe in River Oaks.
"His songs take you away to another world," Mike Gifford said.
Musical family
Lefty Gifford began his beloved pastime at age 10, singing with his father, Robert Dee Gifford.
His nickname came from the fact that he plays left-handed with a right-handed guitar, just like rock virtuoso Jimi Hendrix.
And, oh, he can play.
As a teenager, Gifford won talent contests at Fort Worth music theaters, taking home $21 prizes.
"I got to winning all the time that at one place they hired me as part of the show to let others win," Gifford said with a laugh. "I took a cut in pay by doing that."
He joined the Marines in the early 1950s, but he didn’t put down his guitar or his writing.
"I didn’t know if I could sing or write for a living," Gifford said. "But I came back to Fort Worth and I continued singing."
Panther Hall years
By day, Robert Dee Gifford and his son, Lefty, were residential painters. By night, they played venues all over North Texas.
His father died in 1962, but Lefty Gifford continued the family’s musical tradition.
He became a mainstay at Panther Hall, playing at The Loft, which was a smaller stage in the hall. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Roger Miller, Marty Robbins and Charlie Pride.
"Music was my life, and I had to be around it," Lefty Gifford said.
Rusty Carter described Gifford as a singer with a Jim Reeves-like voice.
"I just remember what a songwriter he was," said Carter, who worked with musicians during Panther Hall’s glory years and now runs Rusty’s Musical Instrument Exchange in Saginaw. "He sang folk music, and he was such a poet with his lyrics."
Nashville days
A few years after Panther Hall closed, Gifford said he lived in Nashville at times, chasing what he called a musical "rainbow."
To this day, he doesn’t regret his stays in Nashville, when he played with other songwriters.
"Those were lessons for me," Gifford said. "It was how I got my education in song writing."
But Gifford said Nashville could be cruel.
"People lost their cars at many a pawn shop there," he said.
Gifford lost his marriages. He said he’s been divorced multiple times.
When he wasn’t playing or writing songs, Gifford was a pattern cutter at Williamson-Dickie in Fort Worth, and he ran a barbecue restaurant.
"Whenever I got a chance, I’d sing and play at night," he said.
A hit song
For 20 years, Gifford has never given up hope of writing a hit.
At home, he has notebook papers filled with songs, some written in less than an hour and others that have taken longer.
In the past couple of years, he’s played at weddings, anniversaries, barbecues and small cafes.
"Age does take away the energy," Carter said. "But it doesn’t take away the ability to play the notes with more feeling."
Gifford feels he’s not done yet.
"I’m happy to write songs," he said. "I just hope to write one that really touches the heart."
Ellie