Tex Williams

Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) was an American Western swing musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held the number one position on the Billboard chart for sixteen weeks in 1947. "Smoke" was the No. 5 song on Billboard's Top 100 list for 1947, and was No. 1 on the country chart that year. It can be heard during the opening credits of the 2006 movie, Thank You for Smoking.

Birth and Death Data: Born August 23, 1917 (Illinois), Died October 11, 1985 (California)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1947 - 1955

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, songwriter

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 52 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor D7VB-0592 10-in. 7/7/1947 Smoke, smoke, smoke (that cigarette) Phil Harris ; Phil Harris Orchestra Male vocal solo, with male vocal group and jazz/dance band songwriter  
Victor D7VB-1384 10" 10/16/1947 Tell a woman Riders of the Rio Grande ; Johnny Tyler Male vocal solo, with string band songwriter  
Victor D9VB-0910 10-in. 2/18/1949 A letter asking for my broken heart Elmer Newman ; Sleepy Hollow Gang Male vocal solo, with string band songwriter  
Decca L 7067 3/2/1953 Changeable Tex Williams Orchestra vocalist  
Decca L 7068 3/2/1953 The big, big lie Tex Williams Orchestra vocalist  
Decca L 7169 4/29/1953 Don't call my name Roberta Lee ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7170 4/29/1953 Hey, Mr. Cotton Picker Roberta Lee ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7587 3/1/1954 Money Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7588 3/1/1954 That's the good Lord sayin' good mornin' Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7589 3/1/1954 River of no return Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7633 4/16/1954 Down in the meadow Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7634 4/16/1954 They were doing the mambo Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7780 8/3/1954 This ole house Rex Allen ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7782 8/3/1954 Two Texas boys Rex Allen ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7793 8/17/1954 Elmer's tune Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7794 8/17/1954 Take the A train Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7795 8/17/1954 Perdido Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7796 8/17/1954 That's what I like about the West Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7821 8/24/1954 San Antonio rose Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7822 8/24/1954 Rancho boogie Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7823 8/24/1954 Lone star rag Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7824 8/24/1954 The leaf of love Tex Williams and his String Band vocalist  
Decca L 7898 9/15/1954 Sidetracked Tex Williams Orchestra ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7899 9/15/1954 Can I say the same about you Tex Williams Orchestra ; Tex Williams vocalist  
Decca L 7900 9/15/1954 Roses and revolvers Tex Williams Orchestra ; Tex Williams vocalist  
(Results 1-25 of 52 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Williams, Tex," accessed February 6, 2023, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/351065.

Williams, Tex. (2023). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/351065.

"Williams, Tex." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2023. Web. 6 February 2023.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/351065

External Sources

Wikipedia: Tex Williams

Discogs: Tex Williams

Allmusic: Tex Williams

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Williams, Tex - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82096234

Wikidata: Tex Williams - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q321178

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/23487754

MusicBrainz: Tex Williams - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/52889ea9-1c52-487e-95a4-8c53f8322ca2

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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