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Bobby Bridger Accessions

 Collection
Identifier: UPWC-18087

Scope and Contents

Archival materials relating to the career and personal life of musician/playwright/author, Bobby Bridger from 1944-2018. Included are photographs (including a photo of Bridger with Lady Bird Johnson); promotional material for A Ballad of the West; handwritten lyrics such as Heal in the Wisdom; and Bridger’s vinyl records of Merging of our Minds, And I Wanted to Sing for the People, and Heal in the Wisdom. Also, included in the collection is a screenplay for Shakespeare and the Indians.

Dates

  • 1944 - 2018
  • Majority of material found within 1963 - 2003

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials from the Wittliff Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user assumes responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish, and abiding by U.S. copyright laws. https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/visit/policies/publication.html

Biographical Note

Bobby Bridger began his professional recording career in Nashville, 1967, with Monument and Nugget Records. In 1970, Bridger signed with RCA Records and recorded two albums of original material (Merging of Our Minds, and And I Wanted to Sing for the People) before parting ways in 1973. Bridger launched his own Golden Egg Records in 1980 and released Heal in the Wisdom (1981), the four-disc boxed set, A Ballad of the West (2000), Songs from A Ballad of the West (2003), and Bridger's seventh studio album and current release, Vagabond Heart (2015).

Bridger has performed twice on PBS's Austin City Limits as well as other programs. Bridger's songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists from pop (Bobby Goldboro) to country (Claude Gray), even to rock (The Lost Gonzo Band). His song, Heal in the Wisdom, has been the official anthem of the Kerrville Folk Festival since 1979.

A Ballad of the West, Bridger's trilogy of historical epic ballads, has been highly-acclaimed by renowned screenwriters and playwrights, western American historians, organizations, universities and institutions since its debut in the early 1970s. Bridger was the very first artist-in-residence at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming and the John G. Neihardt Center in Nebraska, and at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. His 1990 theatrical company was the first professional theater troupe to ever tour Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The production was invited to return for an encore in 1991. He also remains the only ever "Balladeer-in-Residence" at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.

Bridger toured internationally from 1975-2011 performing A Ballad of the West as a one-man show and acting in Dale Wasserman's Shakespeare and the Indians and Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation of Black Elk Speaks. Full company productions of Bridger's Seekers of the Fleece ran from 1988-1994 in Cody, Wyoming. Bridger continues to perform his ballad Lakota but has retired live performances of ballads Seekers of the Fleece and Pahaska.

Bridger is the author of A Ballad of the West, the award-winning Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West, Bridger (autobiography), and Where the Tall Grass Grow: Becoming Indigenous and the Mythological Legacy of the American West. He resides in Houston, TX, with his wife Melissa and son Gabriel.

- From artist's website

Extent

3 Linear Feet

3 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • The descriptive data created for this finding aid is licensed under the CC0 Creative Commons license and is free for use without restriction.

Abstract

Archival materials relating to the career and personal life of musician/playwright/author, Bobby Bridger from 1944-2018. Included are photographs (including a photo of Bridger with Lady Bird Johnson); promotional material for A Ballad of the West; handwritten lyrics such as Heal in the Wisdom; and Bridger’s vinyl records of Merging of our Minds, And I Wanted to Sing for the People, and Heal in the Wisdom. Also, included in the collection is a screenplay for Shakespeare and the Indians.

Physical Location

Materials may be stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use: https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/makearesearchappointment.html.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Bobby Bridger, 2018

Title
Guide to the Bobby Bridger Accessions
Author
Tabitha Henderson
Date
2018
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2021: Revised for ArchivesSpace by Katie Salzmann

Repository Details

Part of the The Wittliff Collections Repository

Contact:
601 University Drive
San Marcos Texas 78666 USA