Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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MAINES, Lloyd, and the Maines Brothers Band

Grammy-winning producer Lloyd Maines came from a country-rock sextet of musical brothers, an integral part of the Lubbock, Texas scene. The band began in the 1950s with father and uncle, James and Sonny Maines; legend has it that another uncle, Wayne, taught Buddy Holly his first guitar chords. Lloyd Maines (b 28 June 1951), Steve (b 24 November 1952), Kenny (b 26 July 1954) and Donnie (b 2 August 1958) are all from tiny Acuff, outside Lubbock.

Lloyd was a full-time producer at Don Caldwell's local studio; described by Terry Allen as the only mountain in Lubbock, he produced Allen's two-disc masterpiece Lubbock With Everything, and proved to Allen (a refugee from the Flatlands) that he couldn't stay away after all. Lloyd also produced Butch Hancock and many others; played in the Joe Ely band, and joined his brothers on guitar, dobro, steel guitar and harmony vocals, Steve on rhythm guitar; Kenny on guitar and harmony. All sang except Donnie on drums, who left in the late 1980s to do some ranching, replaced by Louisiana's Mark Gillespie. Richard Bowden (b 18 April 1952, NC) played fiddle, mandolin, trumpet and sang (he became half of a comedy act, Pinkard and Bowden); Jerry Brownlow (b 18 August 1958) played bass and sang, and older brother Randy played keyboards and guitar (both from White Face, near Lubbock). Randy left '82 replaced by Big Spring's Cary Banks (b 24 January 1950), also a vocalist and songwriter.

The Brothers' albums were on Texas Soul: The Maines Brothers And Friends '78, RT. 1. Acuff '80, Hub City Moans '81, Panhandle Dancer '82; High Rollin' '84 and The Boys Are Back In Town '85 on Mercury-Polygram included chart singles; Red, Hot And Blue back on Texas Soul included a rockin', boppin' version of Allen's 'Pink And Black Song', Jerry's 'Dark Hearts', Blind Blake's 'Diddy Wa Diddy', and 'You Can't Get The Hell Out of Texas' by John Hadley and Jim Stafford.

Lloyd has produced Texas legends Ray Wylie Hubbard, Wayne Hancock, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many more. (Well, Jerry Jeff wasn't from Texas, but he got there as soon as he could.) Lloyd is the father of Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, and earned a Grammy as producer of their 2002 album called Home. One of his latest productions was the new album by the Flatlanders in 2009, with Hancock, Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, all Lubbock boys.