James McMurtry’s “Choctaw Bingo” was never a single nor was it a major hit on the Billboard charts. However, much like the man who wrote it, the song didn’t need chart success or the radio to become massively popular with large swath of the music-loving world.
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McMurtry’s version of the song appeared on his 2002 album Saint Mary of the Woods and his 2004 live album Live in Aught-Three. The track also appeared on the Beer for My Horses soundtrack. Additionally, Ray Wylie Hubbard covered it on his 2005 album Delirium Tremolos. No matter where one hears the song, it is unforgettable. That’s likely while both of McMurtry’s versions and Hubbard’s cover have each garnered millions of streams.
Recently, McMurtry sat down with American Songwriter to discuss his forthcoming album The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy. During the conversation, he shared the inspiration behind this classic tune.
James McMurtry on the Origins of “Choctaw Bingo”
“That came from touring back and forth,” James McMurtry says of the song. “There for a while, it seemed like all of our tours either started or ended on Highway 69 going through Southeast Oklahoma. At that time, we rarely even played in Oklahoma. We just went through there to get to St. Louis or Kansas City,” he recalls. “There was all this weird stuff along the road. And, just as a writing exercise, I tried to stuff it all into one song just to see if I could do it.”
Anyone who has been to that region of the country knows he’s telling the truth. Signs for adult superstores stand side-by-side with billboards threatening eternal damnation or advertising rehabilitation centers. That area may be nothing but long stretches of flat land, but it’s never a boring drive. Unfortunately, though, fans won’t be able to find many of the things that inspired the song.
“About the time I put the song out, a lot of that stuff disappeared within a year. Other weirdness popped up in its place,” McMurtry says. “Our live version of ‘Choctaw Bingo,’ which has never been successfully recorded in the studio, has an extra verse and an instrumental bridge. The verse is about there for a while, there was a big billboard on I-44 in Missouri with this big, giant baby saying, ‘Who’s my daddy? DNA Testing.’ It was perfect, so we had to have a verse about that,” he recalls. “I also worked in Red River Rehab, which is back down around Chickasha, Oklahoma,” he adds.
The song may not be finished. ”It might continue to build over the years, depending on what I see. That whole song came through the windshield,” James McMurtry says.
Featured Image by Mary Keating-Bruton
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