Big Al Bettis

Big Al is a veteran of over thirty years experience in R&B, rock, blues, country and bluegrass. His music and guitar style blends these traditions, honed in clubs, concerts and jams from coast to coast and steeped in the traditions of Austin and Houston, Texas: big, loud, hot licks, soulful and toneful.
He has shared the stage with some of the best in the business and recently was named as one of the Guitarzillas (12 best in Houston) to perform live on KPFT’s Smokin Joe’s Roadouse Show.
As Al tells it, “My brother’s Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley records blew my mind when I was five years old; I didn’t know what that feeling was, but I wanted more of it, and it was rock & roll. Chuck Berry is on Top is the greatest rock & roll record ever made, period. I grew up listening to the soul stations at the far right hand side of the a.m. radio dial, in Houston, James Brown, Wolfman Jack out of Mexico. At the family ranch in West Texas you could pick up the Grand Old Opry and country truck driver stations late at night. My cousins in Fort Worth had a great collection of the original Sun and RCA rockabilly records. I saw James Brown and the Beatles for $5 in the Sam Houston Coliseum.”
Big Al’s early influences were the Memphis Stax soul goups, the Boogie Kings from Louisiana, the British invasion and surf instrumentals. His first paying gig at 12 was with the Malibus, opening for Billy Gibbon’s band the Coachmen (pre-Moving Sidewalks and ZZ) at a church carnival. “Then we got our driver’s licenses at 14. My three years of Flamenco guitar lessons were out the window and I was cranking it up at the Jr. High dances and parties out in the sticks.”
In Virginia he teamed up with fellow Texan Tom Faulkner. They wrecked their grade point averages rocking up and down the east coast and southern frat parties on the weekends. There Big Al developed a deep love of bluegrass as well as Marshall Amplifiers. “There was this ageless guy named Freddie Goodhart who would smoke his pipe and play banjo; he played with Mac Wiseman back in the day and taught me all the old tunes.”
Bettis moved to Austin and took up with a progressive country band, becoming friends with members of Willie Nelson and Rusty Weir’s bands and opening for David Alan Coe, Doug Sahm and others. He picked up the pedal steel guitar and reunited with Faulkner in a popular regional band, the Coconuts.
Big Al was part of the Austin scene during the heyday of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. On Mondays the Thunderbirds were playing Rome Inn and you could see Stevie Vaughan for $1 cover on week nights. Sixth Street was just getting started. “I joined a rocking and soulful band, Mother of Pearl, with a great singer and writer, Ernie Gammage; we had a style called ‘Guacalypso,’ garnered some critic’s choice awards and played the Armadillo World Headquarters.” Bettis became a member of the Austin All Stars, a revolving group of the established players.
“On any given Sunday or Monday with the All Stars you might jam with Eric Johnson, Van Wilks, Al Kooper, Stevie, Double Trouble, etc., or whoever was passing though town. “I remember one night looking over and Carole King just appeared singing background vocals; another time we were doing some Stones song with Bobby Keys and Ian Mclagen. That was a daunting experience, learning on the fly. If you didn’t have your chops together, you would not be back.” The All Stars recorded one album and Al produced a cut on a Christmas Collection featuring Eric and Van.
After relocating to Houston and starting a family, Big Al hosted a blues jam for about six years with Teri Greene at DanElectros Guitar Bar. “The jam continues to this day and I still play shows with Van Wilks at every opportunity. I also played for several years in the Sheetrockers with a legendary cat known as Little Jr. One Hand (Freddie Cisneros) who came from the Forth Worth Jacksboro Highway blues roadhouse and showman tradition.”
After years of fronting the jams and writing, Al decided to record a CD of his own. Bettis’ son Travis had become quite a lead guitarist and was making a name for himself in Nashville with some of the songwriters, B.B. King’s Club and Lee Brice’s touring band. “The opportunity to work with Travis and record with some great players in Nashville as well as Houston was very fulfilling. Travis is featured on several cuts and it’s a special thing.”
Of the new CD, Big Al says, “This is the kind of music I love to play and to listen to: it’s got to kick ass; it’s got to be a good song; It’s got to have good guitar tones, feel good and make you move, either your feet or your heart. There is very little difference in my mind behind the blues, R&B, or pure country. It’s all real music and from the heart. B.B. King said that country is the white man’s blues. Truer words were never spoken; consider the source. Rock, country, blues, Cajun, its all American music. We just have a certain twist to it here in Texas, especially on the Gulf Coast; must be the humidity, the mosquitos, the Bar-B-Q, the Mexican food, the soul.”
Echoes of all the years and experience are here on the BIG Album. Give it a listen and see if you can keep your feet still. Play it loud.