A keeper from Archie’s country collection
ESPN’s The Book of Manning documentary, which aired last night, featured some fascinating footage of Archie on the field in his 1960s college days. But they didn’t happen to mention his musical tastes back then.
About 12 years ago I came by this old Buck Owens LP. It was among a bunch of Archie lore an in-law got me at an estate sale at the home of Archie Manning’s mother in Drew. Evidently, his collection of records from college didn’t make the trip to New Orleans when he signed with the Saints and instead was stored in a box at his mom’s for 30 years. I ended up with three of Archie’s albums, by Johnny Cash, Flatt & Scruggs, and this one by Buck Owens & His Buckaroos—the only one on which he wrote his name with a magic marker: “ARCH.”
It’s framed on the wall in my home next to the framed cover of an album by another great Mississippian, Muddy Waters. Also on the wall, fittingly next to Archie’s album, is another sixties classic, Whipped Cream and Other Delights by Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass.
— Tad Wilkes, tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com
