Sherwood Cryer
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Charley Sherwood Cryer (September 2, 1927 – August 13, 2009) was an American entrepreneur. After forming a partnership with
Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer, businessman, actor, and musician. Among his hits are " Room Full of Roses", " Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and “ Lonely Nights”. ...
, Cryer became co-owner of Gilley's, a
Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Harris County. It is part of the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the 23rd most populous city in Texas and the second mos ...
-based western nightclub and bar.


Personal life

Charles Sherwood Cryer was from
Diboll, Texas Diboll is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,457 at the 2020 census. Diboll is named for J. C. Diboll, a local timber salesman. Geography Diboll is located in southwestern Angelina County. U.S. Route 59 (f ...
, and worked as a welder for
Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...
for a few years after his service in the Air Force during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In addition to operating Gilley's, Cryer owned and managed
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
s,
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...
s, sign shops, and
vending machines A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...
in the
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
area. He wore overalls, collected old coins, and enjoyed listening to classic country music. Cryer married twice and had children. He was of French and German descent.


Gilley's Club

Cryer settled in Pasadena, where his large tent-style honky tonk concept developed into what became Gilley's in 1971, located on a sprawling parcel of land at 4500 Spencer Highway, Pasadena, Texas 77504. It was named after country music artist
Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer, businessman, actor, and musician. Among his hits are " Room Full of Roses", " Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time", and “ Lonely Nights”. ...
. Cryer met Gilley in a bar where Gilley was performing and invited him to become a co-owner of Cryer's new club. Gilley, the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis, was soon playing six nights a week, helping the new hotspot to attract entertainers like
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
,
Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...
,
Crystal Gayle Brenda Gail Webb (born January 9, 1951), known professionally as Crystal Gayle, is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit " Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same ...
,
Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of count ...
,
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
,
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
, Johnny Lee,
Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...
,
Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music and bluegrass singer and songwriter. During his career, he released only two albums, but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and seven more af ...
, and hundreds more.


Gilley's success and the Mechanical bull

Gilley's fame spread in the early 1980s with the help of Cryer's patent-holding, the
mechanical bull A mechanical bull, also known as a bucking machine, is a device that replicates the sensation of riding a bucking animal, such as a rodeo bull or horse, popularized by Sherwood Cryer. It is usually powered by a variable-speed electric motor. ...
. The bull became a huge nightly draw as cowboys from the area took turns testing their skill in front of large crowds. Cryer and Gilley expected lawsuits from patrons getting hurt on the bull but no one sought them. Rides were conducted with a sign posted nearby stating "Ride At Your Own Risk."


''Urban Cowboy''

The bull was prominently featured in the 1980 film ''
Urban Cowboy ''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy ( Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spurri ...
'', with actors
John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...
,
Debra Winger Debra Lynn Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), '' Terms of Endearment'' (1983), and '' Shadowlands'' (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Awa ...
, and
Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
shown riding the bull in many scenes. Journalist Aaron Latham became a frequent visitor of the club, and Cryer asked Latham to write about Gilley's. Latham captured the spirit of Gilley's in a cover story for ''Esquire'' magazine titled "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America's Search for 'True Grit'" for the September 1978 issue. Music executive
Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American businessman, who is chairman of Full Stop Management, a company that represents recording artists. During the course of his career, he has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert pr ...
took notice and secured rights to the story for a movie. Latham and director
James Bridges James Bridges (February 3, 1936June 6, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor. He is a two-time Oscar nominee: once for Best Original Screenplay for '' The China Syndrome'' and once for Best Adapted Screenplay fo ...
co-wrote the screenplay,
John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...
was chosen for the lead role of Bud Davis, and
Debra Winger Debra Lynn Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), '' Terms of Endearment'' (1983), and '' Shadowlands'' (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Awa ...
was selected to play Sissy, Bud's romantic interest. The movie was filmed on-location in Pasadena, with all of the club interiors and exteriors filmed at Gilley's, and regular patrons and locals featured as extras. It was a box office hit in 1980, grossing over $50 million. The film's soundtrack showcased a collection of country music's top artists and songs, including the hit " Lookin' For Love" by Johnny Lee. After the movie's release, the club's popularity skyrocketed. Gilley's launched its own beer brand, radio show, recording studio, and hundreds of merchandise items from drinking glasses and stickers to panties and jeans emblazoned with the Gilley's logo. Gilley's white-and-red bumper stickers were commonly seen on cars throughout the Houston area. Fans would steal tiles from the acoustical ceiling because they were stamped with the club's logo. With Gilley's indoor rodeo arena as an added attraction, the club hosted a packed house of thousands every night. The space fielded oversized bars and dance floors to accommodate crowds, and the club was so big that visitors could not see from one end of the building to the other. With a capacity of 6,000, Gilley's was listed in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' as the world's largest night club. Open seven nights a week from 10 am to 2 am, Gilley's regularly featured a myriad of activities, contests, and food. The club offered dozens of pool tables,
pinball machines Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
, video arcade games, punching bag games, even strong-arm wrestling games. There were mechanical bulls, mechanical horses, and mechanical calves. Cryer supplied the mattresses that surrounded the mechanical bull, often driving around Pasadena collecting discards based on tips on where to find them. Gilley's staged everything from Dolly Parton look-alike contests to tricycle races, with cowboys often falling off of the trikes to the amusement of the crowd.


Closure

Cryer managed the club's operations until he and Gilley had a falling out in 1989. Gilley felt that Cryer was neither properly maintaining the facility nor booking the high-profile musicians the club was famous for, and wanted to disassociate with the club by removing his famous name. Gilley's closed and litigation between the two partners began. Cryer did not want to lose control of Gilley's and attempted to produce documentation showing the partnership was still valid. Gilley won the court case, and Cryer was ordered to pay Gilley $17 million. The dispute permanently closed Gilley's, ending an 18-year run that saw country music become mainstream in large part due to the club's widespread fame. On July 5, 1990, a fire quickly spread throughout the main building, destroying the club. Gilley and several others in Pasadena suspected that Cryer had the club burned in retaliation over the court decision, but Cryer denied the allegation. Cryer filed for bankruptcy after the court battle with Gilley.


Death

Cryer died on August 13, 2009, at the age of 81.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, Sherwood People from Pasadena, Texas 1927 births 2009 deaths People from Angelina County, Texas