Photo courtesy of Ron BakerI've been thinking a lot this week about Cliff Antone who passed away on May 23rd 2006 and wondering what the city of Austin is going to do to honor the man responsible for bringing so much music and recognition to the city. For Stevie Ray Vaughn there is a statue on the banks of Lady Bird Lake and it is a grand testament to the life and career of one of Austin's more famous residents. So what to do for Cliff? I'm proud to say he was a friend of mine and I can still see him in my mind with his funny habit of standing on one foot then the other while swinging his arms in conversation, especially if he was excited about something, a song or singer or an old record he was listening to. I was also proud to be one of the first graduating students in his History Of Rock N' Roll class, still have my "diploma" on the wall in my office.
I always thought he was under- appreciated for all that he had done and was responsible for and I always felt like the city was paranoid over the prison thing (he was never mentioned in the Austin American Statesman without a referral to it and he hated that) and it seems to me that a memorial or statue or anything else that might honor the man is slow in coming, too slow for me.
So what shall we do? What are the city's plans if any, to honor this man for his achievements in bringing it to the forefront of the music industry and making it famous all over the world?
Let me know what you think would be the best thing to do to honor Cliff and I'll certainly pass it along.
