Armadillo World Headquarters: A Memoir

by Eddie Wilson, Jesse Sublet

The story of the historic Austin music venue, from 1970 to 1980.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Memoir

521 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 29, 2020

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Armadillo World Headquarters was a warehouse sized music venue during the hippie era of the 1970s in Austin, Texas. It achieved legendary status in its own time, and author Edwin Wilson, who was the creator, boss, chief cook and bottle washer is just the person to tell you all about it.

The Armadillo closed in January, 1981 but the glow of its aura continued . Throughout the 80s and 90s in Austin your social coolness status was defined by your reply to the question “Did you ever go to the Armadillo?”

The Armadillo has many claims to music fame, but like a rock star who dies young, its absence made it even more famous. Wilson seems straightforward about the goods and bads, ups and downs, such
as he wonders how many business decisions worked out despite being under some kind of drug and or smokey haze most the time.   Though he does note that the enterprise wasn’t profitable until after he left in ’76.

Any Austinite, or patron from wherever of the Armadillo, would get a nostalgic look back from Wilson’s many stories of the various bands, change of the Austin scenery or assortment of characters. Also even if you had no local connections, it provides a look at the music and the club scene of the era.

There are a lot of people photos and of the music posters, which are now in high demand selling for several hundred dollars, if not more. In addition to being sprinkled about the book, there is a whole appendix of the posters featuring the artwork, especially of Jim Franklin.

Austin is now a much larger city than it was in 1970. Any attempt at creating something like the Armadillo now would take at least 5 years to get the permits.

Wilson closes with a few chapters of his life after the Armadillo, which primarily covers his ownership of Threadgills a popular restaurant and venue that continued his part of the Austin music scene.

[Laura, still reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was introduced to the Armadillo World Headquarters when my wife bought us tickets to a day-long concert of artists that played at the AWHQ this past summer. They played a visual presentation of the history, and I was hooked & wanted to learn more. 6 months later, our local NPR station had this book for one of its monthly book club selections. Fate. So I picked it up.

Great book about the musical history of Austin! I loved the inside stories he told about the likes of Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, and other renowned artists that played at AWHQ that you can't learn in history books. He spoke about places in Austin that both still exist and don't exist anymore, which made that interesting to someone like me who loves our city and loves its history.

If you have any interest in learning more about AWHQ or even the history of music during the late 60s & 70s (particularly in Texas), this is the book to pick up. It was written by the guy who had the vision for the place and made it what it was. Great book.

[John Spiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book with a generous discount from UT Press, but I was not eager to dive into it because I feared it would be another example of self-aggrandizing Austin myth-making. Fortunately, I was wrong. There was some self-aggrandizing, but it wasn't myth.

Eddie Wilson discovered the location for the Armadillo World Headquarters while taking a leak after a show at a nearby venue. Wilson and a motley band of weirdos banded together to convert an old armory and adjacent ice skating rink into one of the legendary musical venues in Texas. You could say that AWHQ set the foundation for Austin as the "Live Music Capital of the World," and Wilson makes a pretty compelling case for it. Wilson is self-aware enough to make fun of the hippie-dippy attitude, which rates as a positive for me.

Wilson is an engaging storyteller and isn't afraid to name names and call out famous people on the petty crap they tried to pull. The book is replete with gig posters and candid photos. I thought I would read this and pass it on, but I think it's a keeper.

This is a must read for anyone with a passing interest in Texas music history.

[Ulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic memoir covering the 1970s Austin music scene as seen through the eyes of Eddie Wilson who spearheaded the Austin live music venue, Armadillo World Headquarters for the first 6 years of its 10-year existence. Great read for anyone interested in live music and/or anyone who lives in Austin, TX. It's a fantastic story about true passion for great music. It's doubtful that Austin would be the "live music capital of the world" if it wasn't for the many people depicted in here and their willingness to give everything to this project.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only man to properly tell the story of this venue had finally done so. Liberally sprinkled with photos and reproductions of posters, it's a well-told tale of a 10-year adventure in Austin's history.
The hardcover edition is presented on quality stock with superior binding and will last many years.

[Chris Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing decade in Austin history, from a character as interesting as his material. The 'Dillo died, but Eddie is still a driving force in Austin culture. His book should be required reading for any Millennial moving here.

[Ray Eary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read for anyone but a MUST read for Texans. I lived this era and visited the Armadillo World Headquarters.

[JoAnna Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Further proof I was born a decade and a half too late... What a great trip down memory lane, even if I wasn't there. My old soul is happy. And more than a little bit nostalgic.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history of the Armadillo World Headquarters (1970-80) in Austin, which was the music venue at ground-zero of the "cosmic cowboy" or "outlaw" movement within country music that brought musicians such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Michael Murphy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, Kinky Friedman, Gary P. Nunn and B. W. Stevenson to national attention. It was at the Armadillo they first found their audience, made up of strange combination of hippies, cowboys and rednecks and then quickly rose to stardom and the domination of country music by the late 70s.

This book is a great companion to the very first book written on the movement, Jan Reid's The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, as well as to Michael Streissguth's Outlaw: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and the Renegades of Nashville.