
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade Cooley self-promoted the moniker "King of Western Swing" from 1942 to 1969). Wills formed several bands and played radio stations around the South and West until he formed the Texas Playboys in 1934 with Wills on fiddle, Tommy Duncan on piano and vocals, rhythm guitarist June Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin, who played steel guitar and bass. The band played regularly on Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station KVOO and added Leon McAuliffe on steel guitar, pianist Al Stricklin, drummer Smokey Dacus, and a horn section that expanded the band's sound. Wills favored jazz-like arrangements and the band found national popularity into the 1940s with such hits as "Steel Guitar Rag", "New San Antonio Rose", "Smoke On The Water", "Stars And Stripes On Iwo Jima", and "New Spanish Two Step". Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded with several publishers and companies, including Vocalion, Okeh, Columbia, and MGM, frequently moving. In 1950, he had two top 10 hits, "Ida Red Likes the Boogie" and "Faded Love", which were his last hits for a decade. Throughout the 1950s, he struggled with poor health and tenuous finances, but continued to perform frequently despite the decline in popularity of his earlier music as rock and roll took over. Wills had a heart attack in 1962 and a second one the next year, which forced him to disband the Playboys, although Wills continued to perform solo. The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Wills in 1968 and the Texas State Legislature honored him for his contribution to American music. In 1972, Wills accepted a citation from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in Nashville. He was recording an album with fan Merle Haggard in 1973 when a stroke left him comatose until his death in 1975. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1999. |
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Birth and Death Data: Born March 6th, 1905 (Limestone County), Died May 13th, 1975 (Fort Worth)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1932 - 1957
Roles Represented in DAHR: violin, leader, composer, vocalist, lyricist
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 46 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BVE-70670 | 10-in. | 2/9/1932 | Sunbonnet Sue | Light Crust Doughboys | Male vocal solo, with fiddle (violin) and 2 guitars | instrumentalist, violin | |
Victor | BVE-70671 | 10-in. | 2/9/1932 | Nancy Jane | Light Crust Doughboys | Male vocal ensemble, with fiddle (violin) and 2 guitars | instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Victor | BS-063739 | 10-in. | 4/10/1941 | San Antonio Rose | Tito Guizar | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | composer, lyricist | |
Decca | 88703 | 9/29/1955 | Roll your own | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | instrumentalist, violin | |||
Decca | 88704 | 9/29/1955 | My shoes keep walking back to you | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | instrumentalist, violin | |||
Decca | 88705 | 9/29/1955 | I wonder if you feel the way | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | instrumentalist, violin | |||
Decca | L 8132 | 1/24/1955 | New Osage stomp | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8133 | 1/24/1955 | Carnations for the memory | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8134 | 1/24/1955 | Too much mambo | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8135 | 1/24/1955 | Echo yodel | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8136 | 1/24/1955 | New dreamy eyed waltz | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8137 | 1/24/1955 | Black and blue rag | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8138 | 1/24/1955 | Sincerely | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8139 | 1/24/1955 | Cornball rag | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8140 | 1/25/1955 | Beaumont rag | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8141 | 1/25/1955 | Don't let the deal go down | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8142 | 1/25/1955 | I'll follow wherever you go | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8143 | 1/25/1955 | Four or five times | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8144 | 1/25/1955 | San Antonio Rose | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8145 | 1/25/1955 | Spanish two step | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8146 | 1/25/1955 | Lone star rag | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8147 | 1/25/1955 | The Boston fancy | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8148 | 1/25/1955 | Hoopaw rag | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8149 | 1/25/1955 | Don't keep it a secret | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader | |||
Decca | L 8939 | 1/23/1956 | Sugar baby | Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills | instrumentalist, violin, leader |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wills, Bob," accessed January 16, 2021, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103732.
Wills, Bob. (2021). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103732.
"Wills, Bob." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2021. Web. 16 January 2021.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Wills, Bob, 1905-1975 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82096228
Wikidata: Bob Wills - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q888326
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/10035134/
MusicBrainz: Wills, Bob, 1905-1975 - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c727f585-54e0-4e0d-b8ad-05f216f99244
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