Ashbel Smith Building

The Ashbel Smith Building, also known as Old Red, is a Romanesque Revival building located in Galveston, Texas. It was built in 1891 with red brick and sandstone. Nicholas J. Clayton was the architect. It was the first University of Texas Medical Branch building.

In 1949, the building named for Ashbel Smith, a Republic of Texas diplomat and one of the founders of the University of Texas system. The building was registered as a Texas Historical Landmark in 1969 and renovated in 1985.

In 2008, Old Red was flooded with six feet of water by Hurricane Ike.

References

Ol' Red

"Ol' Red" is a song written by James "Bo" Bohan, Don Goodman and Mark Sherrill. The song was originally recorded by George Jones on his 1990 album You Oughta Be Here with Me and covered by Kenny Rogers on his 1993 album If Only My Heart Had a Voice, although neither artist released it as a single. It was later recorded by artist Blake Shelton, and released in 2002 as the third and final single released from his self-titled debut album, becoming a top 20 hit.

Content

The song's narrator is a prisoner serving a 99-year sentence for committing a crime of passion when he murdered a man with whom his wife was having an affair. He accepts a job tending Ol' Red, a Bloodhound used by the prison guards to track escaping inmates. The dog has foiled every escape attempt on his watch, and the warden even dares the inmates to try because "Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun."

The narrator writes a letter to his cousin, who delivers an unnamed female Bluetick Coonhound and puts her in a pen a short distance from the prison. During Ol' Red's evening exercise runs, the narrator drops him off with the Bluetick, presumably so they can engage in sexual intercourse. After Ol' Red has become accustomed to these visits, the narrator deliberately keeps him away from her for several days in order to make him anxious to see her. The narrator escapes from the prison, knowing that Ol' Red will lead the pursuing guards to the Bluetick instead of following his trail. The final lines reveal that the escape was successful, and that Ol' Red and the Bluetick had a litter of puppies together.

Blake Shelton

Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The gold-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 hits ("All Over Me" and "Ol' Red"). Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, he was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, were each certified gold as well. His fourth album, Pure BS (2007), was re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bublé's pop hit "Home" as one of the bonus tracks. His fifth album, Startin' Fires was released in November 2008. It was followed by the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010, and the albums Red River Blue in 2011.Based on a True Story... in 2013, and Bringing Back the Sunshine in 2014. Overall, Blake Shelton has charted 24 country singles, including 15 number ones. The 11th No. 1 ("Doin' What She Likes") broke "the record for the most consecutive No. 1 singles in the Country Airplay chart's 24-year history". He is a six-time Grammy Award nominee.

Marty Robbins

Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and racing driver. One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of all time for most of his near four-decade career. Robbins often topped the country music charts, and several of his songs also had crossover success as pop hits.

Biography

Robbins was born in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona. His mother was mostly of Paiute Indian heritage. Robbins was reared in a difficult family situation. His father took odd jobs to support the family of 10 children, but his drinking led to divorce in 1937. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle. Robbins left the troubled home at 17 to serve in the United States Navy as an LCT coxswain during World War II. He was stationed in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. To pass the time during the war, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs, and came to love Hawaiian music.