#snuffy walden

[mysticalboyarbiter03]

Oh, how seductive it's to live in peace.

For a former high school quarterback like myself, this series is my happy place. I can't help but cry a bit every time I hear this tune.

[periru3]

So my dad has a very particular thing he does when watching The West Wing and I decided it needed to be documented. For several months while showing him the show I also secretly filmed him during the first minute or two of every episode as the credits rolled after the theme song. This is the result. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty proud of it.

(Pandemic Bonus from The Stand)

[vinylspinning]

Stray Dog: While You’re Down There (1974)

Texan trio Stray Dog, comprised of the inimitable W. G. ‘Snuffy’ Walden on vocals and guitar, Alan Roberts on bass and Leslie Sampson on drums, were one of those shooting stars that streaked across the infinite skies of ‘70s rock, leaving more questions than answers in their wake for nuts like me to ponder.

Even though they were signed to Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s supposedly adventurous Manticore label, Stray Dog didn’t really fit the standard prog-band molds, generally shirking technical acrobatics for multi-genre eclecticism, topped by a welcome dose of humor.

But when their eponymous debut failed to carry its own weight in record sales, be that through the band’s own commercial limitations, or Manticore’s lacking promotional muscle, so desperate measures were soon being enforced ... 

1974’s sophomore While You’re Down There saw the original trio expanded to a quintet with the addition of keyboardist Luis Cabaza and, more significantly, one Tim Dulaine, who not only took over most lead vocals and second guitar, but much of the songwriting, too. 

A coup by any other name, this saw Stray Dog’s once bold experiments and often bruising blues underpinnings watered down to polished AOR (almost a California sound), rich in vocal harmonies, for “Calamity Jane,” “Bits & Pieces” (think Styx), and the borderline yacht rock of “Very Well.” 

All that’s left of Stray Dog’s old sonic persona(s) is the growling vocals of “I Would,” forceful drive of “Junkyard Angel,” and a mostly instrumental, seven-minute prog-rock collage entitled “Worldwinds,” which frankly arrived too little, too late.

And so, finding himself relegated to sideman status within his own band, ‘Snuffy’ wisely called it quits, allowing Stray Dog to sink into obscurity while he himself embarked on a successful second career in TV soundtracks, which later earned him multiple Emmy nominations.

More Stray Dog: Stray Dog, “Chevrolet.”

[twwcast]

[ivovynckier]

Film composer Snuffy Walden wrote the theme of "Friday Night Lights".

(He also wrote the theme of "The West Wing".)

[ivovynckier]

Snuffy Walden's guitar theme for the TV series "Friday Night Lights".

[ivovynckier]

Snuffy Walden on the genesis of the "The West Wing" theme.

[ivovynckier]

Another bit of Americana: Snuffy Walden's theme for the TV series "The West Wing".