Yodeling

We remember country music singer and yodeler Don Walser, who died Wednesday at the age of 72 of complications from diabetes. Walser was a country music icon in Austin, Texas, where he lived and played at clubs, VFW halls, and honkytonks. He's best remembered for his series of records in the 1990s, produced with Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson. This interview originally aired Dec. 13, 1994.

Walser has been called "the best pure cowboy singer in the state" ("Houston Chronicle"). At age 60, he retired from his job as a Texas state internal auditor to concentrate on his music. He just released an album called "Rolling Stone From Texas." He joins Fresh Air with his guitar to sing a few songs.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks back at the birth of the country music industry, during the early days of Fiddlin' John Carson, A.P. Carter and his wife, Sarah, and the Tenneva Ramblers.

Folk singer Bill Staines gives an introductory lesson in yodeling.