Country music in Houston in the 60s?? Dude, you must not know about the racial demographics of this place. It was all about the BLUES at that time, which is why Ringo wanted to come here. Authentic blues was what Houston was all about back then. Plus it was the Strange Demise of Jim Crow era back then. Houston had a reputation for progressivism back then, as we do today. Largest city in the world that's ever had a gay mayor. And don't buy all that "low turnout" crap. Houston elections are held in off years and candidates are unable to declare party affiliations. Elections here are seldom decided on election day, most elections go to runoffs on a Saturday morning a couple weeks later. If you got the early mornign posse, you win. The fundies just couldn't get a posse to defeat Parker.
I see Ringo getting a job as a house drummer at the Four Aces or Gallant Knight. His quirky Britishness gets him the the attention of local media. He becomes friends with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Big Mama Thornton. Channel 11 (KHOU) starts filming "The Ringo Show" at the Gallant Knight in 1968. It's at 10:30 on Saturday night, but it's a huge hit. Filming is moved to the Shamrock Ballroom. Tapes of the show are distributed to Lake Charles, Dallas, Montgomery, and other cities in the south with larger African American populations.
Bob Newhart saw the Ringo Show at the Shamrock when he was taping his "Button Down Mind" album in Houston. He uses his contacts in the media to get the show syndicated in other markets. This is a huge boon to KHOU TV.
A young Oprah Winfrey sees the show and vows to perform at the Shamrock. Meanwhile, George W Bush went to a taping of The Ringo Show and decided that he wanted to become a record producer. With his connections he's hugely successful throught the 70s in spite of his growing drug problems. Houston becomes a serious contender for "Music City USA". Ringo is still doing his show, and becomes involved with Bush's record company. Misunderestimated Productions becomes internationally known. Oprah Winfrey moves to Houston and becomes an important session backup singer and bass player on the Misunderestimated label. Dub falls in love with Oprah. They have a child, Jared.
Oprah gets made into a star in the 80s. Though many critics complain her sappy pop is not what the true bles reputation of what Misunderestimated Records used to be all about, housewives and teenagers across America. Her second Album True Blue is neck and neck wit Michael Jackson's Thriller. Of course it was. Thriller was just pure pop. It had none of Motown's earlier charm. Barry Gordy and Quincy Jones were no match for George W Bush, who at that time still knew how to feel at that time in spite of the drugs. Ringo was warning W about the drugs. Her protoge, Barack Obama, is quite the firebrand and is considering a run for president in 2012
In the meantime Louise Ciccone gives up on her music career and decides to go into politics. Oprah's just to strong. Ciccone visits Lee Friedlander and that other guy who took nude pix of her and gets them to destroy all prints and negatives. While a few may still cling to her "Madonna" demo tapes as collectibles, the rest of us know Ciccone as a very competent liberal senator from Michigan. Her protoge, Barack Obama, is quite the firebrand and is considering a run for president in 2012.
Shortly after Oprah tops the charts, Ringo has W put into the Betty Ford Clinic. It doesn't work. W is destroyed by his best friend, a "little person" named Bushwick Bill, a drug dealer. Ringo doesn't understand this and helps Bill and Scarface meet earlier than in OTL and Ringo and Scarface form Rap-a-lot records a few years earlier. Somebody needed to counter Bronx rap. Who would you expect it to be? Those hapless LA "Gangstas"?
W dies of a drug overdose in the late 80s. Oprah's 1988 Live Thorugh This produced by Ringo with a few songs mailed in from some weird kid from Washington state named Kurt Cobain tops the charts.
Jared Bush, son of W and Oprah is just now running for US Congress as Jackson-Lee was forced to retire in scandal. You can get the documentary on Enronflix.net . Isn't cool how a pipeline company like Enron got on the bandwagon with digital video early and made it work?