Billy Bob's Texas

The outside of Billy Bob's Texas

Billy Bob's Texas dance floor

Willie Nelson on stage

The Billy Bob's Texas is a nightclub in Fort Worth , Texas in the field of country music . Your operators call it the world's largest honky tonk .

history

The building in which the bar is now located was built in 1910 and initially served as a barn for cattle. The city of Fort Worth expanded the property in 1936, so that from then on it could also be used for entertainment programs. During the Second World War it served as an aircraft factory, after which it was converted into a department store.

Today's Billy Bob's Texas finally opened on April 1, 1981. The first artist to appear in the bar was country singer Larry Gatlin and his brothers. Also, Waylon Jennings , Janie Fricke and Willie Nelson were in the first week after the opening guest.

In the late 1980s, the club ran into financial problems and had to close in January 1988. After the Fort Worth tourism industry suffered badly, an entrepreneur managed to reopen the club that same year.

The club gained further notoriety when it was seen in various films and television programs. These included the action film Over the Top (1987, with Sylvester Stallone), the comedy Love in Texan (1988, with Lesley Ann Warren) and the sports film Armadillo Bears (1991, with Scott Bakula).

Current situation

According to the company, there is space for up to 6,000 visitors a day in the 42 bars. In total, more than 17 million visitors have been counted since 1981. The building covers an area of ​​27,000 m².

Billy Bob's Texas has been named Club of the Year several times by the Academy of Country Music .

Live at Billy Bob's Texas

The Smith Music Group has released the album series Live at Billy Bob's Texas since 1999 . Under this title, various country musicians - including both newcomers and established greats - bring out their live CDs recorded at Billy Bob's Texas. The first of these artists was Pat Green . All of these albums combined have sold more than a million copies.

The following musicians have released such an album in the past (in chronological order):

1999: Eddy Raven 1999: John Conlee 1999: Merle Haggard 1999: Pat Green 2000: Lynn Anderson 2000: Roy Clark 2002: Cross Canadian Ragweed 2002: Janie Fricke 2002: Jason Boland & the Stragglers 2002: Johnny Lee

2002: Kevin Fowler 2002: TG Sheppard 2003: David Allan Coe 2003: Deryl Dodd 2003: Gary Stewart 2003: Jack Ingram 2004: Collin Raye 2004: Larry Gatlin 2004: Michael Martin Murphey 2004: T. Graham Brown

2004: Willie Nelson 2005: Earl Thomas Conley 2005: Mark Wills 2005: Randy Rogers Band 2005: Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers 2005: Tanya Tucker 2007: Stoney LaRue 2008: Bleu Edmondson 2008: No Justice 2009: Doug Stone

2009: Joe Diffie 2009: Micky & the Motorcars 2010: Justin McBride 2010: Wade Bowen 2011: Brandon Rhyder 2011: Josh Grider 2012: Billy Joe Shaver 2012: Cory Morrow 2013: Charlie Robison

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Billy Bob's on fortworth.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Robert Philpot: Billy Bob's honky-tonk woman bids farewell ( memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , star-telegram.com, June 29, 2013, accessed February 10, 2014 (English) 
2. ↑ Description on Facebook , accessed on February 10, 2014 (English)
3. ↑ Recorded Artists ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on smithmusic.com, accessed February 10, 2014  

Coordinates: 32 ° 47 ′ 29 "  N , 97 ° 20 ′ 53"  W.