Welcome to Cliff's Notes, a conversation with Clifford Antone celebrating the 46th release on the Antone's records label, the compilation Clifford's Picks. Mr. Antone is not only the label's founder but the proprietor of Austin's Home of the Blues, the nightclub that bears his name, Antone's. Clifford's Picks is an album that features 16 songs Clifford Antone personally selected from his label's catalogue.

Q: Clifford, as a kid growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, you must have been exposed to the Beatles and the rock music of the times. Do you remember when your passion for the blues... was ignited.

A: Yeah, Jody. I was about five, I heard Fats Domino. And that was the first one I'd heard. And I used to take the radio -- it was a clock radio -- bring it in to the bed with me and hide under the covers listening to that Louisiana swamp pop and blues and zydeco. And that's how I grew up. Those: cajun music - zydeco, swamp pop and the Louisiana blues. You didn't hear the Chicago blues, you know. But you got to hear Slim Harpo and Lightning Slim and Lonesome Sundown and Clifton Chenier and all the great swamp pop guys, like Jiving Gene Bourgeois from Port Arthur, Texas. And Huey Meaux was on the radio, the great Huey P. Meaux, the great record producer, and gave us all so much music - he was on the radio at KPAC in Port Arthur. And KJET was the Black station in Beaumont. Boy Brown, KJET radio. And those things, you know. And Lightning Slim, I got to hear people like that. And Guitar Junior and the great Louisiana music. The only ones that really crossed over -- the main crossover was Jimmy Reed, from Chicago. And the other person that really crossed over was Bobby Blue Bland. So those were two of my first heroes. And James Brown and the Famous Flames was probably the greatest thing that every happened to me, in my life, was James Brown.

Q: And now we flash forward so many years later. You've got a record label that's put out 45 albums, Clifford's Picks is No. 46. It must have been hard narrowing down your favorites from the Antone's Records label for this disc. How did you pick out the songs?

A: Well, you know, like you take a guy like Doug Sahm. Juke Box Music, every song on there could be the pick. So this was kind of an unusual one. And just songs that had a really good feel to 'em. I really enjoyed Toni Price with the Leroi Brothers and things like that. It made 'em unusual, you know. But on most of the records, the Girl Group and the Doug Sahm, record, every song on there could have been my pick.

Q: The first song on Clifford's Picks is Doyle Bramhall's "Too Sorry." It features Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Most people probably know that Doyle wrote or co-wrote some of Stevie's biggest songs. But a lot of people, when they hear Doyle sing, they think he's copyin' Stevie. Can you tell me a little bit about the relationship between Doyle Bramhall and Stevie Ray Vaughan?

A: Well, the whole group of us here in the early -- late '60s and early '70s here in Austin who were blues lovers were a real minority. And we were all very good friends. And Stevie and Doyle just had a beautiful relationship. I was lucky enough to get to jam with them before I had a club. You know, some nights I'd get to play bass with just Doyle and Stevie and me. And I got to know how much they both loved each other. And just together, musically, they were so beautiful. But we've always known -- just like Jimmie's little brother, Stevie was great, we knew Doyle Bramhall was great. We knew he was a great singer and a great drummer. Always. It just took the world a long time to find out about these things. But we knew it from Day One. And there is nobody can play drums and sing better than Doyle Bramhall. And, of course, his son, Doyle II, is as great a blues guitar player as there is. He can really do it. So it's a very talented family. And him and Stevie were just the very, very best of friends and had that beautiful communication as some of the blues guys had, that same kind of communication. To see Matt Murphy with James Cotton or something like that, they have this communication. It's one of the most beautiful things about music is seeing that communication, where you know what the other cat wants without even saying it, you know. I love that. And Stevie and Doyle had that.

Q: The song "Too Sorry" comes from the album Bird Nest on the Ground, by Doyle Bramhall, one of the most successful releases on the Antone's label. "Too Sorry" also features Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clifford, what is your earliest memory of Stevie and what is your favorite memory of Stevie?

A: The earliest memory of Stevie was Jimmie Vaughan's little brother. He was so young and skinny. But I tell people all the time that whenever Stevie walked in the room, everyone smiled. That was the great thing about Stevie. No one ever dreamed of making a record, of going on tour or even having $100 in their pocket. But we loved him as he was our own brother, you know. When he walked in the room, everyone would smile.

The greatest memory with Stevie Vaughan is, the guy most responsible for Stevie's sound and success, to me, is Albert King. And I know because when -- in '75, '76, when we first opened, the first time we brought Albert King, Stevie was there. And that's the one thing in his life that he wanted was to play with Albert King. And so he asked me if I would go ask Albert King if he could play. Well, you know, I'd never dealt with these guys, you know, before. He was a big man, Albert King. And very intimidating, you know. So I didn't know him. This was the first time. It wasn't like later years. So I went up and asked him. I said, "Sir, I have a friend, this little bitty scrawny boy standing right next to me, and he really wants to play with you. Would it be okay?" He said, "No." I said, "Thank you, sir." I walked away. I told Stevie, "He said no, man." Stevie said, "Oh, please, ask him again." "I'm scared, man." You know, I really was. But I loved Stevie so much I got the courage to go ask him a second time. And so I said, "Sir, I just want to tell you, we really respect you and we're honored to have you here. And I would never do anything to embarrass you, but I promise you, I promise you this kid can really play." So, you know, Albert had been through the Fillmore trip and all of that. And I guess to shut me up or something, he said, "Okay." And so he got Stevie up there and they started playing. And Stevie almost scared him to death. I mean, he had never seen -- he had seen Clapton and Hendrix and everyone else. But he had never seen anything like this kid. Even though Stevie was little, he had those hands that could really bend those strings, man. And he was doing Albert King. And so Albert had to dig into his bag of tricks, man. And it was the best I've ever saw Albert or the best I ever saw Stevie.

Q: That's amazing. We were talking about the early days of the Antone's nightclub. Antone's opened in July of 1975. And it became a place where the, the torch was passed from the original blues greats to the next generation, just like in the scenario you described. Did you ever envision things like that happening when you started the club a quarter century ago?

A: No. No, I didn't. We were so young and inexperienced that after we got the club built, we booked Clifton Chenier for that week. We did the shows Tuesday through Saturday, five days. We booked Clifton Chenier and didn't even think that we had to book someone the next week. That's how inexperienced we were. And so -- no, we didn't think anything. All we knew is -- this gang of kids that helped me put this thing together is that we wanted to hear the blues before these people all passed away. And that's what we did. We didn't have a business plan. People just got together and built that club with me, you know. And it was beautiful.

Q: Another of the next generation of artists that got a start with Antone's is Toni Price. You chose the song "Chain of Love" from the first of her four Antone's discs for Clifford's Picks. How did Toni join the Antone's family?

A: Well, through her manager at the time. She came to the South by Southwest. She was really good and really nice. And I talked to her. She said she'd like to, you know, move to Austin. I said, "Well, if you come to Austin, we'll take care of you. And don't worry about anything." And she did. And she got to play with Derek and the house band. That's how she got started. And we worked together for a long time before we ever made a record, you know. She's got loyal fans, that's all I can say. The people who know about her, really, really love her. And they love her records. And she makes good records.

Q: Clifford, your family was in the retail business in Port Arthur. And your first business when you moved to Austin in the early '70s, it wasn't a nightclub, right?

A: No. The first thing we did was open an imported clothing store, with beautiful clothing from -- mostly from Mexico. Blankets and baskets and beautiful stuff. And in the back of that store, we had a big office. Well, that's where all the music equipment was set up. And every night, after the store closed at 7:00, all the musicians would come in and play until the wee wee hours of the morning. And some of the best music I ever heard was in that back room. That's where me and Stevie and Doyle used to get to play and all the musicians in the blues world came back there and played. Then, after that, we opened an Antone's imported food store, from my uncle in Houston's store. And we had a food store and a clothing store. And Texas Monthly opened right across the street. So we knew them in their infancy. And it was a nice little neighborhood. It was at 16th and Guadalupe, more or less.

Q: And then the first of the Antone's nightclubs' four locations was on 6th Street, which is now Austin's equivalent to Bourbon Street. Clifford, you've been credited with helping to make that area an entertainment center. How did the Chicago blues greats, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, how did they hear about Antone's and wind up playing there?

A: Well, first, I'd like to say, the reason we opened the club on 6th Street, is they made 2:00 drinking. That was the big key. Without that, we couldn't have never opened it. And so, when we got to 6th Street, there was not one thing open at night. It was totally dark. And that club, all of a sudden became the nicest place in Austin. And of course, the two house bands were the Thunderbirds and Paul Ray & The Cobras with Stevie and Denny. So, after the first band, Clifton Chenier, we got Sunnyland Slim, the great piano man. The most -- probably the most well-respected musician in Chicago. And he brought Big Walter Horton, the great harmonica player. Walter Horton I call the prodigy. Those two came and played. And then Sunnyland told everyone in Chicago and around the country about us. And his word was so good, that they all just started calling me. And the rest is history.

Q: The perception of Clifford Antone, when it comes to your nightclub and your record label, is that you're the music man and you leave the business to others. Is that fair?

A: No, that's not true. You know, that's the perception, but I -- with the first club, I did all the booking and all the bank deposits and all those kind of things myself for years. And as time went on, you had people helping you. You know, they did a part and I did a part. But no, I'm completely involved in everything. And I love it. It's never been like work. It's always been a privilege and a pleasure and an honor to be in the music business and to be associated with all these fine people, just like the people you know. It's a pleasure to you to meet these people and talk with them. And it makes your life rich.

Q: There's also a record store in Austin that bears your name. And it's the kind of store where one might have found a rare 45 by the late Dallas guitarist, ZuZu Bollin. Who is ZuZu and how did you wind up releasing his album, Texas Bluesman?

A: Well, he was just one of the many, many great, obscure Texas/Louisiana blues artists. And he had run into some hard luck in his life and he was pretty much out of the business. And the Dallas Blues Society, which is a good group of people, kind of brought him back. And he came to Austin and he stayed. And we took care of him. And he loved it and we loved him. When we were recording Doug Sahm at the Fire Station, we brought Wayne Bennett, who was living here, and ZuZu over there. And we cut these tracks. Doug Sahm also used the same track and recorded over it with his voice, too. But ZuZu was just an example of the great, rich history of Texas, of Dallas, the Deep Ellum - there's a good book on that out right now, Eddie Wilson just gave it to me. And you know, just one of the many great artists in Texas, be it in Dallas or San Antonio or Houston. Now, we just lost Clarence Holliman in Houston, he was on the first Bobby Bland records. There's another example of the best people in the history of music, but they're obscure.

Q: Looking back over the last 25 years, what was your favorite location of the Antone's nightclub, 'cause there's been four of them.

A: Well, of course, 6th Street. That was the great, great days. Of course, we're still doing great things. And, of course, Guadalupe had so many historical shows. But 6th Street, we were just kids on a mission. And more people were alive at that time. But in '82 when we opened on Guadalupe, we brought in a whole new cast of characters, like Dr. John, Lazy Lester, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin and many other people who hadn't been at the other clubs.

Q: Antone's nightclub has always gone through periods of instability. Why is it so hard for clubs to survive? Is it the taxation of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Their taxation is pretty heavy. Is that the reason? Why do you think?

A: Well, all the reasons that exist are the reason. We bought that building in '85 in the peak of the real estate boom. And by the end of the '80s, you know, it was half the value. Well, the taxes were triple. Even though the building's going down, the taxes were going up. You know, things like that. And trying to bring art-form music and bring so many people, you know, to make these shows great, you just -- sometimes you don't make it. It's just rough. But, you know, when you heard the music, it gave you the strength to keep going and to find a way to keep it all going.

Q: Clifford, you're a noted teetotaler. So your memory may be better than some of the rest of us who spent long nights at Antone's. We talked about a great night with Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I know there's hundreds you could mention as favorites, but pick out a couple of nights that you remember at Antone's.

A: Well, back then, at 6th Street, there was so many of them. That's how it started, you know. We'd have Muddy Waters and on the same night, Bonnie Raitt and Johnny Winter just showed up. Both of them on stage with Muddy Waters. And seeing these young people get a chance to play with an idol like Muddy Waters was great. And then, of course, all the Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan playing slide with Muddy. It's something you never forget. And when he heard Kim Wilson play harmonica, Muddy just went crazy. And he told me, he said, "That's the best harmonica since Little Walter, for me." Muddy told me that. And then, of course, Angela and Lou Ann all playing with Muddy. And it was really a wonderful thing.

We talked about the Albert King night. It would be like James Cotton and his good friend, Stevie "Guitar" Miller would show up a lot of times and play with James Cotton. Bob Dylan and them would stay at the Driskill across the street and they'd come over. You know, you saw a lot of great nights. But each one of the Chicago Blues people was a treat. Having Eddie Taylor and Jimmy Reed playing together for the first time in ten years was awesome. And things like that.