Bobby Horton vs. Derek Peterson
14 Jawbreakin’ Hits! (Texas Jamboree)
Where’s Don King when you need him? Instead of a “Thrilla in Manila” or “Rumble in the Jungle,” this musical pairing is “Mental at the Continental,” or “Raisin’ Hell at the Carousel.” How ’bout “Action at the Saxon”? You get the idea. Here’s the blow-by-blow from this South Austin slugfest, presented and promoted by hepcat mag Texas Jamboree. “Cotton Pickin'” Derek Peterson comes out boppin’ on “Don’t Bug Me Baby,” and “Chicken Pluckin'” Bobby Horton counters right back with a very L.A. Confidential “Paper Hearts.” Peterson shakes, rattles, and rolls through “Juicy Fruit,” only to have Horton answer back with an ultra-suave “A Heart That Isn’t True.” Not to be outswung, Peterson flexes some fine zoot-suit footwork on “Come Back Little Girl,” but Horton’s moony-eyed cautionary tale “Be Careful” ends the round in a draw. Next, Peterson channels Bing Crosby on “Lonely Heart,” caressing the supple melody like a velvet-clad thigh, while Horton works through a case of sci-fi heebie-jeebies with “Bobby’s Nightmare.” A cocky “Here ‘Tis” and a squirrely “Hickory Nut Boogie” cancel each other out; ditto with “Draw Me a Map” and “I Ain’t Settin’ Where I Was.” Final round: Peterson’s jivin’ count-off “Closer to My Baby” has Horton on the ropes, but a spirited romp à la Jerry Lee on “Can’tcha Won’tcha Don’tcha” pulls Bobby’s fat out of the fire. And the winner is, by split decision, piano prodigy T. Jarrod Bonta, whose inspired ivorywork throughout adds more aura than a passel of scantily-clad Budweiser ring girls. Rematch, anyone?
This article appears in Carol Keeton Rylander.