Fifty years and four months ago, a magazine headline told readers something that remains true today.
“Oklahoma Buzzes With Musical Activity” was the headline at the top of Billboard’s cover page.
The November 19, 1973 issue of Music and Entertainment Industry Magazine focuses on Oklahoma’s burgeoning presence in the music world.
“Music Erupts in Oil Fields,” reads a headline that introduces more than 20 pages of inside content about Oklahoma music.
Tulsa was mentioned first, with readers learning about entertainment impresario Jim Halsey and Leon Russell’s Church Studio. Englishman Danny Cordell, who co-owns Shelter Records with Russell, was interviewed for the story. At the time, Shelter Records had offices in Los Angeles and Tulsa. Church Studio was a Tulsa recording studio and workshop for artists on the Shelter Records label.
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An advertisement in the issue lists many musical artists who have recorded at the Church Studio. Another ad salutes Tulsa resident Roy Clark, the reigning Country Music Artist of the Year.
Current Church Studio owner Teresa Knox owns a copy of Billboard’s “Oklahoma” issue. It’s a cool piece of history. But Tulsa’s status as a music town has risen in the five decades since this issue of Billboard was published.
Consider: An ad in the issue was devoted to Tulsa’s concert-ready venues — the Gathering Center, the Maby Center and the Fairgrounds.
Want to compare Tulsa concert halls then and now? The BOK Center is in its 16th year of operation and annually attracts the biggest headliners in music. Three casino venues in Tulsa — The Cove, Hard Rock Live and Skyline Event Center — book touring artists. The Mabee Center remains part of the concert landscape along with the Tulsa Theater and Cain’s Ballroom, which are celebrating their centennial and are more appreciated now than when the ink was still fresh on the Billboard article. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are embarking on a summer tour as part of Cain’s Ballroom’s 100th birthday celebration.
In 2020, Rolling Stone identified Tulsa as one of eight cities where live music is “exploding.” That was two years before Church Studio rejoined the fray.
Knox purchased Church Studio and spared no expense to turn the recording studio into a destination for music makers and music lovers. Church Studio occasionally hosts intimate concert events. The Turnpike Troubadours, taping a SiriusXM concert there in January, joined Bill Champlin, Kenny Loggins, George Thorogood, Taj Mahal, Jimmy Webb, Air Supply and John Ford Collie as Church Studio artists.
Tulsa’s new reputation isn’t “just” a music town. Tulsa is a music education city. The Bob Dylan Center, home of the Dylan archives, draws visitors from around the world to downtown Tulsa. A few doors down from the Bob Dylan Center is the Woody Guthrie Center, dedicated to the Oklahoma-born folk singer. The Church Studio archives tell a story of their own, and the as-yet-undiscovered Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture hopes to someday share the stories of Oklahoma creatives in many fields of entertainment.
Tulsa and Oklahoma are becoming increasingly visible in the film and television industry. Tulsa director Sterlin Harjo’s critically acclaimed Oklahoma-set series “Reservation Dogs” ended a three-year run in 2023, the same year Martin Scorsese’s Oklahoma-set film “Killers of the Flower Moon” was released. Scenes from both ventures were filmed in Tulsa. Harjo will reunite with “Reservation Dogs” guest star Ethan Hawke for a new project that will shoot in Tulsa this year.
In 2020, Rolling Stone identified Tulsa as one of eight cities where live music is “exploding.”
