Tom Huckabee (2 September 1955 – 28 January 2022) was an American film director, producer, fine artist,[1] and screenwriter. Huckabee was also a musician and songwriter in the early US hard punk music scene of the 70s and 80s, primarily through his Austin Texas band known as the Huns,[2][3] and then later via the band Re*Cords (Reversible Cords),[4] a group once called, "an anarchic quartet, given to street performances and occasional scrapes with the law".[5]
Tom Huckabee is best known for his longtime association with US actor Bill Paxton, both in personal and professional capacities, most notably from Huckabee's "third phase" collaboration with Paxton's first film, the 1983 science fiction movie Taking Tiger Mountain.[6][7]
Tom Huckabee once stated that he and Bill Paxton together, as filmmakers, "climbed the ladder one rung at a time."[8] Tom Huckabee also said of Paxton, "He was the funniest person I ever knew."[9]
Career
Death of a Rock Star
One of Tom Huckabee's early films, Death of a Rock Star,[10] was loosely based on The Doors singer Jim Morrison.[11] The movie was well-received,[12][13] and featured a scene with Steve Bridgewater, an Austin police officer who would later become the same law enforcement that led the much-published "bust" of Huckabee's Huns band.[14][15]
Huns
As it goes, Tom Huckabee was founding member and drummer of the 1978 punk band, Huns. Huckabee referred to the work of the Huns as, "more anthropological than artistic."[16] When a September 1978 Huns show made news from inciting a major police raid at Austin's Raul's,[17][18] Huckabee said of his band, "We sounded like the Sex Pistols, with Sid on every instrument."[19]
Re*Cords, aka Reversible Cords
Tom Huckabee co-created and provided percussion for the late 70s Austin punk band Re*Cords, aka Reversible Cords. Huckabee's band was a well-known contributor to the Texas punk scene, often to sellout crowds at the venerable Raul's Nightclub.[20] Described as "Avant-punk,"[21] "art rock," and "Cajun-punk,"[22] the Re*Cords broke ground and focused on ironic social statements, gaining a reputation as, "one of the most important bands in Austin."[23] In 1979, the Re*Cords did a Raul's backup session with psychedelic rock pioneer Roky Erickson, most especially on the song "Creature With the Atom Brain." The dual collision was called, "...like the 13th Floor Elevators jamming with Devo."[24] The Austin fanzineSluggo! reviewed the show as, "the most electric nite at Raul's ever."[25] In 1980, Huckabee was said to be the Re*Cords band member, "who makes a considerable virtue out of sheer unpredictability" with his cymbal solo "that's amazing for its utter incomprehensibility."[26]
1973
A deep and nearly lifelong friendship with Bill Paxton pushed Tom Huckabee in many directions. Together Huckabee and Paxton made "Avant-garde/guerrilla" Super 8 films, starting 1973.[27]
Taking Tiger Mountain
As Tom Huckabee and Bill Paxton collaborated on multiple levels, their first official and distributed 1983 film was Taking Tiger Mountain.[28] In 1974 Kent Smith began as the original director. Huckabee came into the project later, first seeing Smith's footage in 1975. In 1979 Huckabee transformed the movie into a different telling of the tale,[29] with a direction change[30] and reflections of William S. Burroughs.[31][32] After the film's San Francisco premiere in March 1983, perhaps the first serious review of the film came from Judy Stone of San Francisco Chronicle, who said Smith and Huckabee were, "remarkably successful in evoking an ominous vision of the future."[33] In a 2012 interview, Huckabee was asked about the 1983 premiere, and if the original co-director Kent Smith was happy with the outcome: "I don’t know if he was ever totally happy with the film. None of us were, really. It was a true experimental film. And a lot of things were done kind of ass-backwards."[34]
James Cameron psychedelics
Tom Huckabee later shot and edited a 1980s documentary regarding psychedelics, starring James Cameron.[35] In the footage, never officially released, Cameron talks extensively under Huckabee's direction about his many positive and risky experiences with psilocybin and LSD, among other deeply cerebral substances.[36]
Martini Ranch: Reach
Also for director James Cameron, Tom Huckabee and Bill Paxton co-wrote a script called Lonesome Cowgirls: Amazon Women of the West. Jim adapted and modified the script into an all-star 1988 music video known as Martini Ranch, the namesake of Paxton's former band Martini Ranch. The music video, also called "Reach," was shot in Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch[37] and starred Kathryn Bigelow, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Bud Cort, with others.[38][39]
Traveller and Lone Star Film Festival
In 1997, Tom Huckabe was associate producer and music supervisor on Bill Paxton's Traveller.[40] With help from Paxton in later years,[41] Tom Huckabee became inaugural founder and artistic director of The Lone Star Film Festival in 2007.[42] Huckabee was remembered for his festival works with a major tribute in Dallas Film & Creative Industries' 2022 event.[43]
Arthur C. Clarke: Beyond 2001
In 2001, Tom Huckabee produced and directed a major live event, "Arthur C. Clarke: Beyond 2001".[44] Held at the Playboy Mansion, the "gala" featured James Cameron, Patrick Stewart, Morgan Freeman, and Buzz Aldrin. Huckabee spent many hours communicating with Clarke, often between Los Angeles and Sri Lanka, over lighting and design ideas. As of 2024 the event's program still appears on collector and auction sites.[45]
Frailty
Tom Huckabee was involved with Bill Paxton's 2001 directorial debut movie Frailty, starring Bill and Matthew McConaughey. Huckabee was credited as Executive Producer. However, in a lengthy 2019 interview Huckabee states, "...my contribution was mostly as a catalyst. I'm credited as executive producer, which may make people think I had something to do with financing, which I didn't. Besides 'finding' the property and foisting it on Bill, I may have made small contributions to the script in the final stages of development, but I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the sole author, Brent Hanley, nor chief producers Paxton, David Kirschner, and Corey Sienega..."[46]
Carried Away
In 2009, Tom Huckabee wrote and directed the feature film Carried Away.[47][48] The movie premiered 9 April 2010,[49] and was produced by James Johnston,[50] starring Juli Erickson, Gabriel Horn (who also co-produced),[51] Morgana Shaw,[52] and others. Tom Huckabee said of his Carried Away, "It's semi-autobiographical...a lot of the family dysfunction stuff is pretty accurate."[53] An early review of Carried Away stated, "...the film asks serious questions about Alzheimer’s and dementia."[54]
White Rabbit Red Rabbit
Tom Huckabee personally secured talent for two of the five March 2017 experimental theatrical performances of Fort Worth's"White Rabbit Red Rabbit". Huckabee was Consulting Producer for Amphibian Stage Productions (part of National New Play Network), who mounted the play.[55] The well-reviewed event featured actors Xander Berkeley and his wife Sarah Clarke,[56] both connected to Huckabee through professional association.[57]
Tom Huckabee married prolific Hollywood casting director Barbara Cohen on 8 October 1983. They were married until 27 May 2006, when Cohen died from breast cancer in their Hollywood Hills home.[59]
Death
Tom Huckabee died 28 January 2022, from pancreatic cancer.[60] Huckabee was considered "a mainstay of Fort Worth's film scene".[61]
