For the Record: William “Bill the Beachcomber” Matthews
Courtesy of Tattoo Archive: I recently got a tip about the movie Raggedy Man from Texas tattoo history buff Matt Collins. Raggedy Man, which was released in 1981, stars Sissy Spacek as a divorced mother set in a small Texas town in 1942. Eric Roberts co-stars as a sailor who visits North Beach in Corpus Christi, Texas. During one scene in North Beach, “Bill the Beachcomber” is seen tattooing in the front of his shop at 2810 Surfside.
It must have been in the 1950s that Bill and his wife settled into the North Beach area of Corpus Christi. Located on the Gulf of Mexico, Corpus Christi was a popular stopover for tourists. The beach area where Bill was located remained a popular destination until the Harbor Bridge was built-in the late 1950s and traffic was detoured away. By the time I got to North Beach in the mid-1960s North Beach had been battered by hurricanes for decades, including Hurricane Carla in 1961. The one-time popular tourist hotel like “The Breakers” was run-down and on the brink of closing and only a few curio shops, restaurants and bars were still in operation. Two tattoo shops, one owned by Bill Matthews and the other by L.R. Dean, and both located on Surfside Blvd. were still holding on…
TAM Music: Reverend Horton Heat Interview
By Rose Riot
For the past 20-plus years Jim Heath has been an icon in the 50’s rock-inspired scene. It is fitting then that he is known best by the name Reverend Horton Heat. The Rev has been delivering a message of unity between punk and country and has a devoted cult of followers. The Reverend Horton Heat’s music embodies what rock and roll should be about, doin’ fun things. I talked to the Rev in the fall and we discussed the upcoming release of his box set due out any minute now…
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