Where would rock be without Bruce and Marty Glasscock?

Francis James McElroy-Glasscock arrived a fugitive from creditors from England in the small Mexican port of Cabo Corrientes after months at sea in the middle of the Summer of 1879. He spoke very little Spanish, but somehow managed to obtain various odd jobs as a traveling worker for large sugar-cane farms along the coast. After crossing the border into Texas, Francis James found work with the Texas and Pacific Railway and was able to save enough money to buy a piece of land just off the line in what was then known as the community of Catclaw.

By 1890 the small town had been renamed Putnam and Francis James had a growing business as a leathersmith. Originally known for the "Catclaw Work Glove," his catalogue soon included such 19th century staples as riding boots and horse furniture to such oddities as the "Glasscock Groin-Sheath (a kind of leather thong that was supposed to give the wearer added protection from the elements as well as provide a noticeble bulge).

James Francis had also married by this time to Eleanor Jenkins, the fourteen year old daughter of a local rancher. This union produced three offspring: Chauncey James, Cyril Frederick, and Edna Frank. The sons were taught the leather trade and in 1913 moved the family business with Francis James to Nacogdoches where they set up the Glasscock-Sperringer Leather Goods factory with Eleanor's cousin Grady Sperringer.

A government contract landed at the begining of World War I to make all manner of leather products and accessories paid off their bank note and soon the family had established a national reputation for durable, quality products. The family business survived the Depression having a small fortune tucked away from profits accrued from the popular "Gentleman's Flask Holster" and later by developing a line of inexpensive work boots, belts, and holsters that became popular with vagrants riding the freight lines.

The second World War proved profitable in much the same way as the first with new lines of holsters for mess kits, first-aid kits, and prophylactics being ordered in mass quantities by Uncle Sam.

During all of this financial growth, the family had been growing as well. Chauncy James married his third cousin on his mother's side, Belinda Grace, in 1945 and they soon bore two children, Bruce John and Trevor Langston (nicknamed Marty by Belinda who was a big fan of professional wrestler Marty Lester "The Crooning Giant").

As children, Bruce and Marty were being tailored to take over the leather empire. They attended boarding schools and were quite well behaved outside of the normal pranks and games associated with growing up. It was at Canyonville Christian Academy in Oregon that the brothers met Earl Sheppard, a native New Yorker who brought with him what seemed to them a vastly sophistocated knowledge of music. They were turned on to everything from Duke Ellington to Woody Guthrie. Marty soon dropped out of school against the wishes of his parents to follow Sheppard around the country, looking for work as what today would be called "roadies."

"We saw alot of good music back then," explained Marty in a recent interview. "Amboy Dukes, the Kinks, Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Strawberry Alarm-Clock, everyone. I even tried my hand at guitar but I was always better at moving them around than I was at producing any kind of palatable sound."

Meanwhile, Bruce finished school and was attending college at Bremers.

"I kept in touch with Marty during that whole time. I became addicted to collecting records and sometimes Marty and Earl would write to me about some band they had heard or I would turn them on to something. That's how I originally found out about DeLoache."

to be continued...