Amos Staggs, (a.k.a. his real name Roy Robinson) began playing and singing at age six. He started his musical career at age fourteen with his first band, playing drums and guitar. He began writing songs while still in high school in the early 1960's. He started performing folk music as a solo act in the late '60's around Fort Worth, Texas. He performed in many bands in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California from the late '60's to the '70's, performing original music. By then he had taught himself to play bass, dobro and steel guitar.
While performing in Austin, Staggs' band was the opening act at Armadillo World Headquarters, Soap Creek Saloon and "a folk place, the old Checkered Flag." Recited Amos, "That group got pretty solid. We took off for San Francisco, on the Armadillo School Bus. The band managed to make a living playing clubs like The Family Dog, The Lions Share, even the Fillmore West. The group did a west coast tour with Santana, and a little acoustic group-- The Kinks," It was while playing in an electric band opening for Boz Scaggs that Roy Robinson acquired his musical alter-ego, Amos Staggs. "Our drummer was from Chicago, and he was saying, 'You're much too funky for the Roy deal', and he started calling me Amos, and it stuck."
Over the years, Amos has played music with, and for many of the world's renown artists including Janis Joplin, Gatemouth Brown, Tommy Allsup, Tom Schiffour, Deryl Dodd, Benny Rowe, Tommy Alverson, Curtis Massey, Ray Sharpe, Doug Kershaw, Willie Nelson, Night Watch, Earl Musick, James Pennybaker, The Blues Movers, 'T-Bone' Burnett, Rick Nation, Johnny Winter, Boz Scaggs, Freddie Powers, George Smid, Bill McDavid, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jerry Jeff Walker, Edd Lively, Whistler, Joe Ely, Bill Ham, The Unsung Heroes, Don Edwards, Ronnie Tilson, Steve Miller, Mark Merritt, Randy Brown, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Walt Redding, Commander Cody, Santana, Delbert McClinton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Benny Barnhart, Steve Fromholtz, The Kinks, Cross Country, Eddie Bammer, Stephen Bruton, Rollo Smith, Willie Dees, L.E. 'Gene' Scott, Bobby Potter, Pat Trimble, Phil White, Keith Ferguson, Vaughn Bean, Preston Dunlap, Garth Brooks and Red Stegall.
ARTIST WHO HAVE RECORDED STAGGS' SONGS INCLUDE: SANTANA, GARTH BROOKS, JOHNNY BUSH, DON EDWARDS, DAN ROBERTS, BLUES MOVERS, ED BRUCE, RED STEGALL, DRY BRANCH FIRE SQUAD,TOMMY ALVERSON, PAULINE REESE, KEN OVERCAST, TODD FRITSCHE,RANDY BROWN, EARL MUSICK, SHAWN T. PABST, MARK MERRITT, JOHN GOMEZ AND MAD MARY & FRANK. AMOS ALSO HAS SONGS IN THE MOVIE EVENHAND & RIVER'S END.
Over the past 40 years, Staggs has recorded numerous singles and albums. His style of music ranges all the way from folk, country, rock, blues to a little reggae. His latest CD, 'NOT DONE YET' recorded at SBM studio includes a variety of songs written or co-written by Staggs.
"I write songs. If the idea comes along and I think it's valid or I have some feeling about it, I'll go ahead and write it." That's how 'The Cowboy Song' came about.
It was in 1986 that Staggs wrote the song while raking hay on a hot summer day. He put a guitar track to it in 1987, and that's when Robert Gallagher, Entertainment Director for Billy Bob's Texas, began to look for a home for it. Garth Brooks was just beginning to happen when he first played Billy Bob's in 1988, when Gallagher gave Brooks' manager, Bob Doyle, a tape. Brooks liked it right away. He carried the song with him and played it some. Staggs waited for what seemed like forever before he finally heard that it would be on Garth's 'In Pieces' album, released in the Fall of 1993.
Through past association has current catalogs with Major Bob Music and Two Guys From Texas Publishing both located in Nashville.
NOTE: The "Cowboy Song" was also released on Garth's Boxed Set, and on the Garth Brooks collection CD sold through McDonald's.
