Al Stricklin was the longtime piano player for the Texas Playboys, the band led by Western swing pioneer Bob Wills. Fans knew Wills would often call on Stricklin for a solo. Stricklin lived in Cleburne and died in 1986 at age 78.
His son, David Stricklin, a historian and former head of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, has written a biography titled "Brother Al Stricklin Now: Memories of a Texas Playboy." TCU Press published the book on Oct. 13. David Stricklin said he decided it was time to tell the story and that people still show interest in the music.
The book begins in the spring of 1974, not during the peak years of Western swing. That spring, Al Stricklin, then 66, and his son drove from Cleburne to Austin to see a band perform at the Ritz Theater. The band was Asleep at the Wheel. The book's release comes as Fort Worth holds the Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing Festival this week.