Al Dexter

Al Dexter was a Texas-born pioneer of the honky-tonk sound, famously scoring a colossal wartime crossover hit with 'Pistol Packin' Mama' in 1943. Working the rough-and-tumble East Texas oil-boom taverns, Dexter helped codify the barroom honky-tonk style. Operating in a Texas musical landscape where Western swing, country, and blues were constantly bleeding into one another, he utilized heavy backbeats and bluesy brass arrangements.