Sherwood Cryer
Encyclopedia
Sherwood Cryer was a businessman from Texas. His most famous club was Gilley's Club
. It was an enormous honky tonk that lead to The Movie The Urban Cowboy
Starring John Travolta
released in 1980.
Gilley's was located on Spencer highway in Pasadena, and was named after singer Mickey Gilley
. Cryer met Gilley in another bar and he invited Gilley to reopen his other Club with Gilley being co partner. After Mickey Gilley requested the club be remodeled.They soon became partners,when Cryer made the club into Gilley's approval. Gilley,The cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis,was playing six nights a week. The club brought entertainers like Willie Nelson
, Charlie Daniels
, Crystal Gayle
, Hank Williams, Jr.
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, George Jones
, Johnny Lee
, Conway Twitty
, Keith Whitley
, Johnny Paycheck
and so many more it was amazing.
He managed the club's needs until Gilley wanted to end their partnership.It was late 1989 the club closed down and the court battle began.
Their separation made headlines because of the popularity of the club.Cryer did not want to lose anything so he tried to come up with documentation showing their partnership was still valid.It wasn't good enough for the court.On July 5, 1990 an Arson fire Attack destroyed the Main building.Several fingers pointed to Cryer but he denied this and acted on the most difficult part of his life.Cryer filed for bankruptcy after a long court battle with Gilley.
.It featured a scene in the Urban Cowboy
movie when John Travolta
rode the bull without being thrown from the machine.The Mechanical Bull was Cryer's fortune, it is copy written in his name.He bought the bull from a man in New Mexico for a lot less than he was asking for.After the Movie's release the bar remained even more popular.Launching its own beer brand, radio show, and recording studio.The huge night club has a place in the Guinness book of world records.There were lines to get in stretching two football fields long down the street.During the daytime tours if any one wanted to take home a souvenir bearing the Gilley's logo they were for sale in the gift shop.From baseball caps,to denim jackets,and shirts,To jeans,socks,mugs,umbrellas, gloves,women's panties,and garter belts.There was Gilley's brand of beer with Gilley's face on the can.
During the 1980s you couldn't drive through Houston without seeing a Gilley's bumper sticker on people's car.Fans would steal tiles from the acoustical ceiling because they were stamped with the club's logo. After The Urban Cowboy movie Gilley's added a indoor rodeo arena. Eventually,the night club increased in size to an incredible 48000 square feet (4,459.3 m²) capable of holding 6,000 people.More than half of them were seated, getting them all in was no problem. The problem was being able to breathe,
There was a Texas-size bars and huge Texas-size dance floors.Gilley's was so big that you could not see from one end of the club to the other.Everywhere you looked Gilley's had fun things happeneing on the property.Open seven nights a week 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.The club had dozens of pool tables,many pinball machines punching bag games.Strong-arm wrestling games,There were mechanical bulls,mechanical horses, mechanical calfs.The mattresses that supported the fall from the bull was supplied by Cryer.He would ride around Pasadena with various tips for mattresses that were being thrown out.Gilley's had staged everything from Dolly Parton look-alike contests to tricycle races.The cowboys looked so funny trying to ride the tricycles but they would fall off and make everyone laugh.It was the mechanical bull that made the cowboys come in every night.Cryer and Gilley thought there would be a lot of lawsuits but there were none.With a sign bearing "Ride At Your Own Risk" they did just that.Men would come down and get on to impress their girls.But When It finally threw them they would get back on and yell,"Turn it up"!.
a frequent visitor of the club.Sherwood Cryer told Latham to write about Gilley's, and from Latham's experiences.He wrote a cover story for Esquire magazine titled "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy America's Search for "True Grit"' for its September 1978 issue. Cryer knew a movie would come from this article soon after it was happening.
The stars would be John Travolta as "Bud" the lead character and Debra Winger as "Sissy" "Bud's" romantic interest.The movie was filmed on site in Pasadena.It was an enormous box-office hit in 1980.The film's sound track album featured "Looking' For Love" By Johnny Lee.And Mickey Gilley with "Stand By Me".John Travolta coming to Pasadena Texas is what did it for the movie.A man who had made disco movies popular was now making Country movies popular also.
After that,Country Artists were playing to people who might have ignored country music.The movie was one of the best things to happen to country music
and Pasadena.
s, bar
s, sign shops and vending machines in Houston, Texas. He kept true to this routine for forty years. He wore signature overalls, his hobby was collecting old coins, and he enjoyed listening to older country music. Cryer has three daughters from marriage and three children from affairs, two boys and a girl; also many women have come forward after his death claiming to be his children. Cryer was married twice. He is of French and German descent. Cryer spent the rest of his life at G's Ice House and The Barn, his homes and businesses.Cryer died of a stroke in 2009 his brother Gean joined him the same year.
Gilley's Club
Gilley's is a bar/honky tonk founded in 1971 by country singer Mickey Gilley in Pasadena, Texas. It was the central location in the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy.It was a huge building with a corrugated steel roof that housed multiple bars and mechanical bulls...
. It was an enormous honky tonk that lead to The Movie The Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy
Released as a 2× vinyl record album, re-released on CD in 1995.Side A:#Hello Texas – Jimmy Buffett #All Night Long – Joe Walsh #Times Like These – Dan Fogelberg #Nine Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band...
Starring John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
released in 1980.
Biography
Charles Sherwood Cryer was from Diboll in East Texas. Prior to his career he served in World War ll in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He worked for Shell Oil as a welder for a few years after the War. Pasadena, Texas was his home. This city houses many of the refineries on the Gulf shore.Gilley's was located on Spencer highway in Pasadena, and was named after singer Mickey Gilley
Mickey Gilley
Mickey Leroy Gilley is an American country music singer and musician. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the country charts, but the pop charts as...
. Cryer met Gilley in another bar and he invited Gilley to reopen his other Club with Gilley being co partner. After Mickey Gilley requested the club be remodeled.They soon became partners,when Cryer made the club into Gilley's approval. Gilley,The cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis,was playing six nights a week. The club brought entertainers like Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
, Crystal Gayle
Crystal Gayle
Crystal Gayle is an American country music singer best known for her 1977 country-pop hit, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". An award-winning singer, she accumulated 18 number one country hits during the 1970s and 1980s...
, Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr.
Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Johnny Lee
Johnny Lee
Johnny Lee is an American country music singer. His 1980 single, "Lookin' for Love" not only spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard country singles chart in the second half of 1980 but also went to the Top 5 on the Pop charts, and Top 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary survey...
, Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, Keith Whitley
Keith Whitley
Jackie Keith Whitley , known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters...
, Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck
Johnny Paycheck was the legal name of Donald Eugene Lytle , a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It"...
and so many more it was amazing.
He managed the club's needs until Gilley wanted to end their partnership.It was late 1989 the club closed down and the court battle began.
Their separation made headlines because of the popularity of the club.Cryer did not want to lose anything so he tried to come up with documentation showing their partnership was still valid.It wasn't good enough for the court.On July 5, 1990 an Arson fire Attack destroyed the Main building.Several fingers pointed to Cryer but he denied this and acted on the most difficult part of his life.Cryer filed for bankruptcy after a long court battle with Gilley.
The Bull
Gilley's became vastly successful,through Cryer's innovation the mechanical bullMechanical bull
A mechanical bull, also known as a rodeo bull or bucking bronco is a machine that replicates the sensation of riding a bucking animal, such as a rodeo bull or horse. It is usually powered by a variable-speed electric motor...
.It featured a scene in the Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy
Released as a 2× vinyl record album, re-released on CD in 1995.Side A:#Hello Texas – Jimmy Buffett #All Night Long – Joe Walsh #Times Like These – Dan Fogelberg #Nine Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band...
movie when John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
rode the bull without being thrown from the machine.The Mechanical Bull was Cryer's fortune, it is copy written in his name.He bought the bull from a man in New Mexico for a lot less than he was asking for.After the Movie's release the bar remained even more popular.Launching its own beer brand, radio show, and recording studio.The huge night club has a place in the Guinness book of world records.There were lines to get in stretching two football fields long down the street.During the daytime tours if any one wanted to take home a souvenir bearing the Gilley's logo they were for sale in the gift shop.From baseball caps,to denim jackets,and shirts,To jeans,socks,mugs,umbrellas, gloves,women's panties,and garter belts.There was Gilley's brand of beer with Gilley's face on the can.
During the 1980s you couldn't drive through Houston without seeing a Gilley's bumper sticker on people's car.Fans would steal tiles from the acoustical ceiling because they were stamped with the club's logo. After The Urban Cowboy movie Gilley's added a indoor rodeo arena. Eventually,the night club increased in size to an incredible 48000 square feet (4,459.3 m²) capable of holding 6,000 people.More than half of them were seated, getting them all in was no problem. The problem was being able to breathe,
There was a Texas-size bars and huge Texas-size dance floors.Gilley's was so big that you could not see from one end of the club to the other.Everywhere you looked Gilley's had fun things happeneing on the property.Open seven nights a week 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.The club had dozens of pool tables,many pinball machines punching bag games.Strong-arm wrestling games,There were mechanical bulls,mechanical horses, mechanical calfs.The mattresses that supported the fall from the bull was supplied by Cryer.He would ride around Pasadena with various tips for mattresses that were being thrown out.Gilley's had staged everything from Dolly Parton look-alike contests to tricycle races.The cowboys looked so funny trying to ride the tricycles but they would fall off and make everyone laugh.It was the mechanical bull that made the cowboys come in every night.Cryer and Gilley thought there would be a lot of lawsuits but there were none.With a sign bearing "Ride At Your Own Risk" they did just that.Men would come down and get on to impress their girls.But When It finally threw them they would get back on and yell,"Turn it up"!.
The Urban Cowboy Movie
The Bull attracted people like Aaron LathamAaron Latham
Aaron Latham is a journalist who wrote the article that inspired the movie Urban Cowboy and co-wrote its script with director James Bridges. He also co-wrote the book for the short-lived 2003 Broadway musical version....
a frequent visitor of the club.Sherwood Cryer told Latham to write about Gilley's, and from Latham's experiences.He wrote a cover story for Esquire magazine titled "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy America's Search for "True Grit"' for its September 1978 issue. Cryer knew a movie would come from this article soon after it was happening.
The stars would be John Travolta as "Bud" the lead character and Debra Winger as "Sissy" "Bud's" romantic interest.The movie was filmed on site in Pasadena.It was an enormous box-office hit in 1980.The film's sound track album featured "Looking' For Love" By Johnny Lee.And Mickey Gilley with "Stand By Me".John Travolta coming to Pasadena Texas is what did it for the movie.A man who had made disco movies popular was now making Country movies popular also.
After that,Country Artists were playing to people who might have ignored country music.The movie was one of the best things to happen to country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and Pasadena.
Personal life
Sherwood Cryer managed and owned convenience storeConvenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s, bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s, sign shops and vending machines in Houston, Texas. He kept true to this routine for forty years. He wore signature overalls, his hobby was collecting old coins, and he enjoyed listening to older country music. Cryer has three daughters from marriage and three children from affairs, two boys and a girl; also many women have come forward after his death claiming to be his children. Cryer was married twice. He is of French and German descent. Cryer spent the rest of his life at G's Ice House and The Barn, his homes and businesses.Cryer died of a stroke in 2009 his brother Gean joined him the same year.