Leon Payne (1917-1969) was a popular musician and songwriter from Texas. Blind from birth, he spent a large part of the 1940s performing with Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys under the stage name “The Texas Blind Hitchhiker,” and in 1949 he formed his own group, the Lone Star Buddies. They performed regularly on the radio, appearing on Louisiana Hayride and later on the Grand Ole Opry, and the Big D Jamboree. He is best known to country music fans for two of his songs that were recorded by Hank Williams Sr., “Lost Highway,” and “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me.”
Another song written by Leon Payne was “Psycho.” It has been recorded a few times, most effectively by Elvis Costello, on his album Almost Blue. “Psycho” tells the story of the Charles Whitman, The Texas Tower Sniper. On August 1, 1966, Whitman killed his mother and his wife at their homes, and then proceeded to pack his old marine footlocker with provisions; spam, a radio, gasoline, a hammer and hatchet, knives, a compass and a flashlight. He also armed himself with a sawed-off 35mm Remington rifle, a 6mm Remington with a scope, a .357 Magnum revolver, a 9mm Luger and another pistol. He rented a dolly to transport the foot locker and headed to the University of Texas campus in Austin, stopping along the way at a gun shop to buy a 12 gauge shotgun and a carbine. He hauled his arsenal to the top of a 27-story tower in the middle of the campus, and calmly shot & killed 14 random people from the parapet, and wounded 31 more, before police finally managed to shoot and kill him. Charles Whitman’s shootings were considered the impetus for establishing SWAT teams and other task forces to deal with situations beyond normal police procedures, and it also led President Lyndon B. Johnson to call for stricter gun control policies. Here is newscaster Chet Huntley delivering a news report about the shootings:
The Western Caravan featuring Thirsty Dave was formed in 1995 and has been playing classic Country, Western Swing and Honky-Tonk standards for New York audiences ever since. In 2001, they released their own take on the song “Psycho” by changing the lyrics to adapt to Christmas, making this one of the most bizarre Christmas songs ever recorded.
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Thirsty_Daves_Western_Caravan_-_Psycho.mp3
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The Western Caravan featuring Thirsty Dave - Psycho…
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Hi, this is Myrtie Le Payne, Leon Payne’s daughter. Daddy did not write Psycho after Whitman’s rampage. He did write “Selfishness In Man” after the shootings.
Daddy wrote Psycho after we had gone to the movies and I explained the head rolling down the staircase in a scene of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.