The David Box Story

Harold David Box was born August 11, 1943 in Sulphur Springs, Texas. David 

moved with our parents, Virginia and Harold Box, to Lubbock, Texas in 1946. 

Daddy was a self-taught Western Swing fiddle musician. He and two other 

musician friends with their families wanted to stay just long enough in 

Lubbock to earn extra money for the remaining journey to Las Vegas, Nevada 

where they expected to become professional entertainers. Unfortunately, they 

stayed in Lubbock too long, so the dream of moving West grew faint, while 

their roots grew deeper into the West Texas soil.

Daddy and his friends played at public performances whenever they could, and 

working various day jobs to pay the bills. It's only natural that David 

inherited the gift of music, and began his singing career at the age of 3. 

David clearly possessed the ingredients of becoming a performance artist.  

I was born April 18, 1948 in Lubbock and David liked being my big brother. 

Western music was always in the air around our house. As kids, David and I 

enjoyed watching daddy play and sing; he had a good tenor voice and knew how 

to make the fiddle bow dance across the strings! Music was a common 

occurrence, and the unspoken idea was everybody can do this and they live 

like we do. Sometimes, Saturday evenings would be spent with daddy and his 

friends practicing music, while the ladies made coffee and cooked dinner. 

Sunday afternoons might offer a time for us as a family to sing hymns, and a 

few times, we sang at College Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock. 

Christmas time was spent with the grandparents who lived in Commerce, Texas 

and farm land near Sulphur Springs, Texas. Driving there would be done at 

night, so that more daytime could be spent with the relatives. While stopping 

for the traffic lights in those little East Texas towns, we would role down 

our car windows and sing Christmas carols. Daddy would sing in the lower 

range, mother would sing alto, while David and I sang the high pitched 

melody. As we grew older, David's voice became the one to hear, and I 

adjusted my soprano voice to harmonize with him whenever possible.  

David loved music! He had an unending appetite for it, and was delighted when 

our father bought him a guitar, showed him the basic cords, and left the rest 

for David to discover for himself. Did he ever! David took off like a comet 

on fire. I remember seeing the painful calluses on the tips of his fingers 

from their press on the guitar strings. He spent a lot of his time inventing, 

perfecting cords with rhythm combinations, and singing.  Then, came Buddy 

Holly of Lubbock, and David's new music influence took a dramatic hold on 

him! David enjoyed playing music with school friends, and planning his future 

in the recording industry. Eventually, David would have another giant serving 

of rock n' roll in his life, Roy Orbison. I remember David becoming more 

serious about his direction in music, and in a way, it became his daily 

bread.   

David possessed a vast amount of talent. He loved to draw and sketched with 

pencil, pen and ink. Mother saved just about every crayola picture from his 

elementary school days. Junior high and high school art classes in those days 

were not very directive for his interest. He was happy to express his work at 

home the best way that he could, especially focused on illustrative art. 

Special paper and other related materials usually cost too much, so he would 

frequently use scrap pieces of cardboard or whatever was handy. He used a 

piece of lumber to paint a contemporary abstract portrait. David could draw 

just about anything without having to look at the object. A few times, I 

would join David at the kitchen table to draw, and of course, he was the 

teacher. Once, we bought paint by numbers sets, and thought that might be 

helpful with the learning process. We were both hungry for visual art. One 

summer, we walked from our house at 2313-47th Street to a retail furniture 

and accessory business named Design Today, located on 2313-34th Street, to 

see everything in the store; we thought that it was like a museum! We would 

talk about what we saw as we walked along, and how beauty and design was 

wrapped all together. With the passage of time, David knew that commercial 

art would be waiting for him to pursue in the event that his music career did 

not materialize. 

David matured into a strong singer, songwriter and guitarist. I observed his 

amazing transformation as someone very much ahead of his time. We talked a 

lot and his hopes and dreams were grand, so I wanted to be apart of them, 

too. He was looking higher above the horizon line than most people his age, 

and working to achieve his goals. Ego was never a factor with him. I think 

that is what drew people to him. I also think that is what drew more of 

SPIRIT that fed his heart and soul which resulted in his music. There is a 

message in the music of DAVID BOX. Do your best, whatever it is, and don't 

let the negative of people, places and things take one ounce of it away from 

you. You Are Worthy. The gift you possess is yours and yours alone. Let it 

fill every part of you. Shine brightly! The extra light may be just enough 

for someone to find their way on the path and connect with their destiny. I 

know personally that it did for me.

Enjoy the music and detailed booklet of THE DAVID BOX STORY CD, and know that 

he gave his best with the time he had to the early 1960's rock n' roll music 

history. His sudden and tragic death was in a small plane crash on October 

23, 1964. However, his voice and guitar lives on to say, "I'll Sing 

Throughout Eternity".