| ( in his "Book of Texas Bests" -- Taylor Publishing, 1988) Written, and first performed by Steven Fromholz in 1967, TheTexas Trilogy has stood the test of time. Much of Steven's work is poetry set to music and in April, 2007 he was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Texas Trilogy is a complex tune about growing up/life in rural, small-town Texas, and captures the essence not only of that moment but pretty much as it still stands today. The Trilogy was first recorded by Steven himself on the album Frummox in 1969. Long-time buddy Lyle Lovett performed the tune on his CD Step Inside This House. A song with deep roots in Texas' history, it is often used academically as an example of authentic Texas poetry. Fromholz' book "Texas Trilogy" (the famous song in poetry form) released by Esteban Publishing, is an exquisitely designed, lettered, collector's edition. (See "Book Store" for more information.) |
| The Texas Trilogy |
"Best song ever written about Texas" - Kirk Dooley
AUSTIN CHRONICLE - (by Louis Black)
In my first days in Austin, knowing almost no one, I used to go hang out in the store,
checking the records, voraciously reading all the material on the cover while
eavesdropping on the ongoing conversation. One day I listened to Cooper enthusiastically
recommend an album to a regular customer as just his "kind of music" and "a rare
shipment from the warehouse." Later, I bought a copy of Here to There by Frummox and
took it home.
The first listen really knocks you out, especially if you have no expectations. It's the first
song on the second side that takes you down: "Six o'clock silence of a new day
beginning/Is heard in the small Texas town/Like a signal from nowhere the people who
live there/Are up and moving around."
The Texas Trilogy I've heard hundreds of times since -- but, I'll always remember that first
time. Steven Fromholz wrote that song. Frummox had broken up by the time I got to
Austin, but I saw Fromholz live many times over the next years.
A great performer, Fromholz always struck me as one of the most talented -- if not
ambitious -- of the progressive country bunch. A brilliant songwriter ("I'd Have to Be
Crazy," "Dear Darcy," "Bears"), Fromholz has led a life that is rich and worthy of study. A
songwriter, performer, storyteller, actor, white-water rafting guide, Fromholz has spent a
lifetime doing it his way.
In my first days in Austin, knowing almost no one, I used to go hang out in the store,
checking the records, voraciously reading all the material on the cover while
eavesdropping on the ongoing conversation. One day I listened to Cooper enthusiastically
recommend an album to a regular customer as just his "kind of music" and "a rare
shipment from the warehouse." Later, I bought a copy of Here to There by Frummox and
took it home.
The first listen really knocks you out, especially if you have no expectations. It's the first
song on the second side that takes you down: "Six o'clock silence of a new day
beginning/Is heard in the small Texas town/Like a signal from nowhere the people who
live there/Are up and moving around."
The Texas Trilogy I've heard hundreds of times since -- but, I'll always remember that first
time. Steven Fromholz wrote that song. Frummox had broken up by the time I got to
Austin, but I saw Fromholz live many times over the next years.
A great performer, Fromholz always struck me as one of the most talented -- if not
ambitious -- of the progressive country bunch. A brilliant songwriter ("I'd Have to Be
Crazy," "Dear Darcy," "Bears"), Fromholz has led a life that is rich and worthy of study. A
songwriter, performer, storyteller, actor, white-water rafting guide, Fromholz has spent a
lifetime doing it his way.
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN - (by Arnold Garcia, Jr., Editorial Page Editor)
Meanwhile, the rural areas of the state continued to watch young people take their educations and their talents with
them, confirming repeatedly the truth in a Steven Fromholz lyric about how that ol' train doesn't stop in Kopperl
anymore. The circumstances may make for great country music, but it also makes for a lousy future for Kopperl and
other places like it.
Meanwhile, the rural areas of the state continued to watch young people take their educations and their talents with
them, confirming repeatedly the truth in a Steven Fromholz lyric about how that ol' train doesn't stop in Kopperl
anymore. The circumstances may make for great country music, but it also makes for a lousy future for Kopperl and
other places like it.
REVIEW ON "STEP INSIDE THIS HOUSE", LYLE LOVETT, ARTIST - (by John Metzger)
While there isn't a weak point on Step Inside This House, perhaps the greatest highlight is Lovett's rendition of
Fromholz's Texas Trilogy. The song is an epic tale of the effect of time and progress on a small Texas town.
While there isn't a weak point on Step Inside This House, perhaps the greatest highlight is Lovett's rendition of
Fromholz's Texas Trilogy. The song is an epic tale of the effect of time and progress on a small Texas town.
AUSTIN CHRONICLE - (By Lee Nichols)
TexasTrilogy, comprised of "Daybreak," "Train Ride," and "Bosque County Romance," isn't merely Fromholz's most
ambitious work, it's also his most enduring. Taking the seemingly mundane world of small-town farm life, the song
elevates it into an epic. It's a tale filled with the drama and heartbreak of just living life, enough so that Fromholz would
later co-author a play based upon it
TexasTrilogy, comprised of "Daybreak," "Train Ride," and "Bosque County Romance," isn't merely Fromholz's most
ambitious work, it's also his most enduring. Taking the seemingly mundane world of small-town farm life, the song
elevates it into an epic. It's a tale filled with the drama and heartbreak of just living life, enough so that Fromholz would
later co-author a play based upon it
FT. WORTH WEEKLY - (by Jeff Prince)
Texas has spawned tons of musicians, including some of the most brilliant in modern history — Bob Wills, Buddy Holly,
Freddie King, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Waylon Jennings, and so on. Nobody loves Texas more than Texans.
The state has inspired more songs than probably any other in the union. So it’s no small feat to have penned what many
people consider the best song ever written about the Lone Star State. Texas Trilogy is poetic, elegant, and dazzling in
scope while remaining as simple as the Kopperl farmers who inspired Fromholz to write it in 1967.
Texas has spawned tons of musicians, including some of the most brilliant in modern history — Bob Wills, Buddy Holly,
Freddie King, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Waylon Jennings, and so on. Nobody loves Texas more than Texans.
The state has inspired more songs than probably any other in the union. So it’s no small feat to have penned what many
people consider the best song ever written about the Lone Star State. Texas Trilogy is poetic, elegant, and dazzling in
scope while remaining as simple as the Kopperl farmers who inspired Fromholz to write it in 1967.
From
The Handbook of Texas Online - copyrighted by The Texas State Historical Association
KOPPERL, TEXAS
Kopperl, near Farm Road 56 fourteen miles northeast of Meridian and forty miles northwest of Waco in northeastern
Bosque County, was founded in 1881 and named in honor of Moritz Kopperl, a Galveston banker and Santa Fe
Railroad director. The community was on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. In 1953, after the construction of
the Lake Whitney dam, a levee was erected around the town to protect citizens from possible flooding. In 1904 the
estimated population was 329. The population in 1974 was 225. Kopperl was the subject of a song by Steven
Fromholz,
The Texas Trilogy. In 1990 the population was still reported as 225.
The Handbook of Texas Online - copyrighted by The Texas State Historical Association
KOPPERL, TEXAS
Kopperl, near Farm Road 56 fourteen miles northeast of Meridian and forty miles northwest of Waco in northeastern
Bosque County, was founded in 1881 and named in honor of Moritz Kopperl, a Galveston banker and Santa Fe
Railroad director. The community was on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. In 1953, after the construction of
the Lake Whitney dam, a levee was erected around the town to protect citizens from possible flooding. In 1904 the
estimated population was 329. The population in 1974 was 225. Kopperl was the subject of a song by Steven
Fromholz,
The Texas Trilogy. In 1990 the population was still reported as 225.
| "Frummox: Here to There" Album Cover - 1969 Steven Fromholz/Dan McCrimmon The first recording of "The Texas Trilogy" |
| Frummox II Steven Fromholz and Dan McCrimmon - "Frummox" -- team up again with new and different tunes by both songwriters. |
| Sorry Folks! Our "Texas Trilogy" file has been corrupted and we are therefore unable to present the music on this page. We're working on it! Patience -- Please! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |