It was written by a guy from North Carolina. It was made famous by a pair of singers – one from Texas and one from England – who each released the song three months apart 40 years ago.
Despite the lack of a local connection, Tulsa may have no closer tie to its identity through a single song than it has to “Tulsa Time,” which in 1978 was made famous by a country-music star and by a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
That’s an indication of how well-received the song was immediately. The fact that it has for so long remained a staple of classic country and classic rock radio demonstrates its staying power.
“Of course, the song was special to us. We were all from Tulsa, and in a way, it was about what we felt we were doing is living on Tulsa time,” said Jamie Oldaker, one of three members in Eric Clapton’s band in the 1970s from Tulsa who recorded and toured with the song for years.
But the revered rock drummer stressed the universal appeal of the song, which spoke to dreams of stardom, as well as disillusionment, that went far beyond Oklahoma’s borders.
“I can tell you, playing that song from Madison Square Garden to the Forum in L.A., people always sang along,” he said. “I think a lot of people can identify and can think about it and come up with their own definition of what ‘Tulsa Time’ means to them.”
What it has meant for local classic rock cover-bands for decades is a faithful addition to a set list.
The Eagles, during a June concert at the BOK Center, were merely the latest group to cover the song for a hometown audience.
Snowed in
But what did “Tulsa Time” mean to Danny Flowers, who wrote the song and was the guitarist in the band of country-music favorite Don Williams?
Flowers told the story to the Tulsa World in a 2000 interview of a night on the road in 1978 on a tour stop.
“We were staying in the Tulsa Sheraton, I think, when a blizzard came up. We were all snowed in, and there was absolutely nothing to do. I was sitting there in my room, watching ‘The Rockford Files,’ with some hotel stationery beside me, just bored, and I started writing out some verses,” Flowers said of the song that took about a half-hour to write.
When he played it for Williams the next day, Williams wanted to record the song.
When they later hit Nashville, as the opening act for a tour with Clapton, the two bands got together after the show.
As Oldaker remembers it, Williams and Flowers played “Tulsa Time” for Clapton and said the tune would be on their next album. After hearing it, Clapton said he wanted to record it for his next album, too.
“That was the old days, and that kind of thing would happen,” Oldaker said, “and hey, everybody wants somebody famous to cover your song.”
A classic, whether country or rock
The Don Williams album “Expressions” was released Aug. 23, 1978, and “Tulsa Time” topped the country singles chart in October.
The song took home awards for Williams as well in 1978: record of the year from the Academy of Country Music and male vocalist of the year from the Country Music Association.
The Clapton version – released on the “Backless” album Nov. 25, 1978 – has always had more of a local flavor because of the three Tulsa natives in the guitar god’s band.
Oldaker was on drums, along with bassist Carl Radle and keyboardist Dick Sims, all key figures, along with Leon Russell and JJ Cale in developing the “Tulsa Sound,” a kind of country-rock hybrid musical style.
The three men also played on classic Clapton albums like “Slowhand” and “461 Ocean Boulevard” during the 1970s; Radle died in 1980, Sims in 2011.
So whose version was better?
“They’re both good,” Oldaker said. “The Clapton version was based more around that ‘Tulsa Sound’ because it was us guys, and we played it the way we knew to play it.
“Don’s version is more of a laid-back, ‘front porch sitting in a rocking chair and playing it’ song. I can tell you that ours worked really well live. It translated. Man, I can play it in my sleep.”
As a testament to that fact, the Clapton version from “Backless” never became a hit. But then he began kicking off concerts with the song, as he did for his chart-topping 1980 live album, “Just One Night,” and that version went to No. 30 on the Billboard singles chart.
The ties that bind ‘Tulsa Time’
Not only did “Just One Night” open with “Tulsa Time,” but it also featured a song co-written by Clapton with Leon Russell (“Blues Power”) and two songs written by JJ Cale (“After Midnight” and “Cocaine”).
While “Tulsa Time” may not be the product of one of the “Oklahoma creatives” – state-born artists who will be celebrated at the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture to be built in Tulsa, known as OKPOP – the song will be honored in a different manner.
That’s according to Jeff Moore, the museum’s executive director, who noted it as “one of the great Tulsa songs,” along with Bob Wills’ “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and Gene Pitney’s “24 Hours From Tulsa.”
“The song feels like it’s sort of a signature statement for Eric Clapton and the respect that he had for Tulsa music and that time, from the guys in his band to his having a working relationship with Leon Russell to having a close friendship with JJ Cale,” Moore said.
“I think the way that he embraced that song was that he felt a part of that Tulsa scene. That he was living on ‘Tulsa Time,’ in a way.”
Any way you look at it, “Tulsa Time” sounds mighty fine at 40.
Michael Smith
918-581-8479
Twitter: @michaelsmithTW
‘Tulsa Time’ lyrics
By Danny Flowers I left Oklahoma drivin’ in a Pontiac Just about to lose my mind I was goin’ on to Arizona, maybe on to California Where all the people live so fine My baby said I was crazy, my momma called me lazy I was goin’ to show ’em all this time ‘Cause you know I ain’t no fool and I don’t need no more schoolin’ I was born to just walk the line Livin’ on Tulsa time Livin’ on Tulsa time Well, you know I’ve been through it When I set my watch back to it Livin’ on Tulsa time Well, there I was in Hollywood wishin’ I was doin’ good Talkin’ on the telephone line But they don’t need me in the movies and nobody sings my songs Guess I’m just wastin’ time Well, then I got to thinkin’, man I’m really sinkin’ And I really had a flash this time I had no business leavin’ and nobody would be grievin’ If I went on back to Tulsa time Livin’ on Tulsa time Livin’ on Tulsa time Gonna set my watch back to it ‘Cause you know I’ve been through it Livin’ on Tulsa time Livin’ on Tulsa time Livin’ on Tulsa time Gonna set my watch back to it ‘Cause you know I’ve been through it Livin’ on Tulsa time
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