Real Texas Pearls

Pearl, the book and the musical

I grew up in the back yard of Santa Rita No. 1, the discovery well of the Permian Basin.  The Permian Basin is an oil producing area that is about 250 miles wide and 300 miles long.  It is a geographic area of legendary status.  Absolute fortunes were made and lost with the drilling of Santa Rita No. 1 and the thousands of wells to come after it.  I still have a small bottle of oil from the Santa Rita No. 1 oil well which has since been shut in.  I have played on its old wooden derrick many times and climbed on the newer steel derrick that still stands at Texon.  And I have worked as a floorhand on wells close enough to throw rocks at and hit Santa Rita No. 1.

I wrote another post scheduled for next week where I talk more about the ongoing current oil boom.

The original big Daddy oil boom was back in 1923 when Santa Rita No. 1 blew in on May 23.  Santa Rita No. 1 attracted a whole generation of oil workers and speculators and San Angelo became a major beneficiary of the oil boom.  There was a railroad which ran from San Angelo to very near the drill site of Santa Rita No. 1.  The train ran from San Angelo to the Santa Rita Well site and it attracted oil speculators, con men, young men with big dreams, plenty of money, and plenty of women to San Angelo.  It provided access to areas west of San Angelo and as it turned out, there was plenty of oil west of San Angelo and Santa Rita No. 1 was the discovery well of the entire fabulous Permian Basin.

My friend Cynthia Jordan,whom I swear is a re-incarnation of my late sister Beth, is a multi-talented singer/songwriter and she has written a book detailing the ‘Concho Pearls’, the ladies who lived and worked on Concho Avenue in  San Angelo under the direction of the fictional Victoria Pearl.    Miss Pearl’s  ‘Pearls’ came to cash in on the oil boom created by Santa Rita No.1 in 1923.  Miss Jordan has also written a musical to go along with the book and it is all so synergistic…..it all works well together.  It will be as big a success in some areas as ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” starring Dolly Parton and others.

There are some old timers who lived in San Angelo and West Texas and visited Concho Avenue ‘back in the day’ and there are a slight few left who remember stories of a real person who lived, worked, loved, and was a much admired businesswoman.  However, Miss Jordan is careful to point out her story is a work of fiction.  What is not fiction is the enormous talent involved in writing the book, composing the songs, and bringing the story to life.  It is a uniquely West Texas and San Angelo story and those times back then and the talent of Cynthia Jordan has brought this story to life.

Cynthia Jordan, also known as Cindy Jordan has had some success as a songwriter and you already know the words to her song, Jose Cuervo, you are a friend of mine.”  That song was written and recorded by Cindy Jordan in 1982 and Shelly West picked it up and it hit #1 on the country charts in 1983.  It is still popular and most of us can sing it almost word for word at some point during a night’s revelries.

What I’m saying here is that Miss Jordan brings some authentic credentials to this “Pearls” project as she called it for a while.  And since I have gotten to know her quite well in the last few years, and heard her perform many times in many different venues, I’m convinced you will be seeing this musical in a major venue, possibly even Broadway.

I think the first time she told me about this project of hers, she sidled up to me and started softly singing a suggestive tune, “On Concho Avenue, they’ll take good care of you.”…….then she started to excitedly tell me about her project.  She has worked her heart out, but because she is so good with tunes and lyrics, the songs flowed out of her like a west Texas dry creek after a thunderstorm.  I got excited too!

Here is what Cynthia Jordan wrote about her book Pearl:

FUNNY, SEXY, ENLIGHTENING, INFORMATIVE, CHARMING

The year is 1923. The Santa Rita No. 1 has hit the pay in West Texas, and San Angelo is becoming an oil boom town. Prosperity is flowing, and Miss Pearl’s Parlor is open for business! Thirteen women have come to work at Miss Pearl’s Parlor. How did they get there? What challenges did they have to overcome? Why did they make so much money? Why did they have so much business? Why San Angelo?

In 1904, fate has brought Victoria Pearl McDougal to live in the adventurous West Texas frontier. In 1921 she has opened Miss Pearl’s Parlor, a profitable business on the Concho River in San Angelo where she has incorporated her experiences working as a courtesan at the famous Everleigh Club in Chicago. Just like her mentors, Minna and Ada Everleigh, Victoria Pearl is an expert on men, business and making happy, satisfied customers. “Miss Pearl” is extremely protective of her “lady pearls”, and allows only a select, gentlemanly clientele.

Yep, she is that good and after you listen to a few songs and read her book, you will see it all fall into place in your mind’s eye also.  And whatever you do, don’t blush if she reveals the origin of the word ‘poontang’.  She enlightened me on that subject on a cruise ship at a party.  I’ll let her tell you all about that.  I’ll also let her book explain how the term ‘getting laid’, came to be a part of our vernacular.

Enjoy Cynthia Jordan’s rendition of Santa Rita Boogie:

This book and coming musical have come along at the right time and the right place for a talent like Cynthia Jordan.  We are slap dab in  the middle of a big gobsmakin’ oil boom, the young men have plenty of money again, lots of folks are coming to this part of the world….and we sort of promised we wouldn’t screw it up this time.

Let the good times roll and let us remember the start of it all with Santa Rita No. 1 near Big Lake through the talents and songs, and book about the Pearls of Concho Avenue in San Angelo brought to us by Cynthia Jordan.

Tagged as: Concho Avenue, Cynthia Jordan, oil boom, Pearl the musical, Santa Rita No. 1