The Wig

The Wig - from left: Jess Yaryan, Rusty Wier, Benny Rowe, Bill Wilmot and Johnny Richardson. Thanks to Liz for the correction.
The Wig – from left: Jess Yaryan, Rusty Wier, Benny Rowe, Bill Wilmot and Johnny Richardson.
Thanks to Liz for the correction.

The Wig Goyle 45 Drive It HomeUpdated October 9, 2009

The other great Austin, Texas band of the mid-60’s was the Wig: Rusty Wier (drums, vocals), Benny Rowe (lead guitar), John Richardson (guitar), Jess Yaryan (bass) and Billy Wilmont (keyboards).

Benny Rowe had been in an earlier version of the band known as the Wigs that had toured Europe.

The 45 version of “Drive It Home” is phenomenal, but the live version makes the studio cut seem tame in comparison! The live recording was done at the Jade Room, one of their regular spots.

The flipside of the Goyle 45 is “To Have Never Loved at All”, a good ballad I hadn’t paid much attention to until someone requested to hear it so I made a transfer. The Wig released “Drive It Home” / “To Have Never Loved at All” in November 1966.

The Wig Blacknight 45 Crackin' Up“Crackin’ Up” is as exciting as any song cut in the mid-60s. The opening guitar riff is unforgettable for one thing. Rusty Wier’s drumming propels the song, his vocals are confident and Benny Rowe’s guitar solo is intense.

Wier wrote “Crackin’ Up”. The flip is “Bluescene.” It came out on two labels, BlacKnight and Empire. The BlacKnight single is rare enough and came out in May of ’67, but the Empire ones seems even harder to find – one copy I’ve seen was issued on yellow vinyl – anyone have a scan of that?

I don’t have a release date for the Empire version – it may have actually come later than the Blacknight.

There are more live tracks along with both sides of an early unreleased 45, “Little By Little” and “Forever And A Day” that I haven’t heard yet.

After the Wig broke up, Yaryan and Wier formed the Lavender Hill Express, blending country and pop sounds. A lot of information on that group can be found on the Sonobeat site.

I just heard Randy Wier passed away after battling cancer. The Austin360 site had an obituary but it has been taken down. Tommy Taylor had written a comment on an Austin Chronicle article for a personal take on Rusty’s influence on the Austin music scene, but that is now down too. I hope Mr. Taylor does not mind my reproducing his letter here:

Dear Editor,

On reading this week’s article concerning Rusty Wier and his passing, I couldn’t help but make note of the incorrectness of a portion of the story [“Off the Record,” Music, Oct. 16]. Rusty Wier did not join Gary P. Nunn’s Lavender Hill Express. The Lavender Hill Express was formed as a “supergroup” featuring the best guys from many other top local groups. Leonard Arnold from Felicity (Don Henley), Jess Yaryan and Rusty Wier from the Wig, Layton DePenning from Baby Cakes.

Gary P. Nunn was not even in the Lavender Hill Express originally. The original keyboardist was Johnny Schwertner. The group was a year into its tenure before Gary came on the scene. It was Rusty Wier’s Lavender Hill Express from the get-go.

I was disappointed in the size and content of the article. This man was at the very heart and very beginning of everything that this music community now holds dear and prides itself upon. While I realize that the 2002 article pretty much covered the main points [“I Before E,” Music, May 31, 2002], Rusty Wier deserves the cover once again. The passing of these luminaries in our local music community needs top attention, even though they may no longer be at the height of their careers or as popular with the kiddies as the latest flavor of the month.

Rusty Wier was an Austin icon. He had the first major label record contract ever awarded to an Austin artist. He was the first person in Austin to stand out from the crowd of players in bands, to be recognized as an individual, even as a drummer. Rusty Wier and the Wig held the No. 1 slot with their two-sided single “Drive It Home”/”To Have Never Loved at All” for several weeks in 1966-67 on K-NOW, the only radio station in town that played popular music, above groups like the Beatles.

In Austin, Texas, before Rusty Wier, there was nothing.

Tommy Taylor

Rusty Wier’s official site, www.rustywier.com (now also defunct) had more on his career, and many photos, including some I’ve reproduced here.

The Wig Fantastic Sounds business card

Rusty Wier in 1969, when he was with the Lavender Hill Express. Photo taken by Hilton Puckett and reproduced from Rusty Wier's official site.
Rusty Wier in 1969, when he was with the Lavender Hill Express. Photo taken by Hilton Puckett and reproduced from Rusty Wier’s official site (now defunct)
 I like how the clipping above calls Rusty the "lead drummer"! It also gives a different spelling of his last name.
I like how the clipping above calls Rusty the “lead drummer”! It also gives a different spelling of his last name.

The Wig - Benny Rowe, Rusty Wier, Jess Yaryan, Johnny Richardson and Bill Wilmot

11 thoughts on “The Wig”

  1. Paul Harrison is friend of mine.
    Last night we went to the Saxon Pub to see Rusty Weir play.
    Several members of Rustys old bands were there.

    If you have the old 45’s of The Wig I would like to copy them to CD

    Thanks
    Andy Kramer
    512-947-4990

  2. Hi,

    You’ve got the names right on the top photos, but you’ve got Benny Rowe and Johnny Richardson reversed. Johnny is the one on the far right.

    Love the web site.

  3. I’ve always considered the lead guitar break during Crakin Up as 26 seconds of garage, lead guitar perfection….especially considering it was done in 1966!! Ahead of its time…..hidden in this song….God bless the Wig!!

  4. I am searching for a copy of the Wig song “To Have Never Loved At All”.
    Is there a CD of this available for sale? Or does anyone have a 45 of this song to make a CD from? This would be for a personal copy – I lived in Austin in the 60’s and remember when this song was played
    on KNOW – 1490 AM. Sure would love to hear it again!
    Thanks very much !
    GG

    1. I have the 45 of this beautiful song in my little favorites collection. Still sounds good, today! You can e-mail me at ellisongarden@gmail.com about coming over to hear it, in Austin, if you want to. We got to relive a little 60’s at the Shiva’s Headband and Roky Erikson show Friday July 11 at the Bullock Museum — sure was fun to re-experience the 60s at 60!

  5. Thanks for keeping some of the old 60’s rock alive. I came across the poem “It’s better to have loved and lost” and that reminded me of the time The Wig played at our high school, Reagan, in the late 60″s. ’68 or ’69? That night is still playing in my brain.
    Rusty and his bands were part of what gave Austin it’s music capital of the world name. Keep that history alive.

  6. I knew Rusty since I was 12, he was playing at Capital Roller Rink, on Brentwood ave in Austin, Texas , for the uninformed. He was in Travis Hi School, 16 years old. I’m one of many friends and acquaintances who is still missing him so. What I need to know is, did he write the song ” To Never Have Loved At All”, and what group was he with and when it was put out. I would greatly appreciate it.

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