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 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). He was also noted for punctuating his music with his trademark "ah-haa" calls. 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. Oklahoma guitar player Eldon Shamblin joined the band in 1937 bringing jazzy influence and arrangements. 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", "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. In 1950, Wills 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. He continued to perform frequently despite a decline in the popularity of his earlier hit songs, and the growing popularity of rock and roll. Wills had a heart attack in 1962, and a second one the next year, which forced him to disband the Texas Playboys. 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 recorded an album with fan Merle Haggard in 1973. Wills suffered two strokes that left him partially paralyzed, and unable to communicate. He was comatose the last two months of his life, and died in a Fort Worth nursing home in 1975. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1999. |
Birth and Death Data: Born March 6, 1905 (Limestone County), Died May 13, 1975 (Fort Worth)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1932 - 1957
Roles Represented in DAHR: leader, violin, composer, songwriter, vocalist, lyricist, harmony vocal, arranger, speaker
Notes: Bob Wills is known for his "hollers" - spoken interjections during most of his records.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 51-75 of 185 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | C1481 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | Trouble in mind | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | C1482 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | What's the matter with the mill? | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solos | leader, instrumentalist, violin, vocalist | |
Columbia | C1483 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | Sugar blues | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | vocalist, leader | |
Columbia | C1484 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | Basin Street blues | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | C1485 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | Red hot gal of mine | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | C1487 | 10-in. | 9/29/1936 | Too busy! | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Columbia | C1493 | 10-in. | 9/30/1936 | Fan it | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Columbia | C1495 | 10-in. | 9/30/1936 | Mean mama blues | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | C1500 | 10-in. | 9/30/1936 | Bring it on down to my house | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solos | vocalist, leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | C1503 | 10-in. | 9/30/1936 | Right or wrong | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | C1504 | 10-in. | 9/30/1936 | Swing blues no.1 | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, vocalist | |
Columbia | H1551 | 10-in. | 10/3/1945 | Empty chair at the Christmas table | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, songwriter | |
Columbia | H1552 | 10-in. | 10/3/1945 | I'm feelin' bad | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, songwriter | |
Columbia | H1553 | 10-in. | 10/3/1945 | White cross on Okinawa | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, songwriter, instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | H1554 | 10-in. | 10/3/1945 | This is southland | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band | composer, leader | |
Columbia | HCO2004 | 10-in. | 9/4/1946 | Cotton eyed Joe | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | Male vocal solo, with string band | instrumentalist, violin, leader, arranger | |
Columbia | HCO2005 | 10-in. | 9/4/1946 | Staccato waltz | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | Mixed vocal trio, with string band | leader | |
Columbia | HCO2006 | 10-in. | 9/4/1946 | Punkin' stomp | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band | composer, leader | |
Columbia | HCO2007 | 10-in. | 9/5/1946 | Sugar moon | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, songwriter, instrumentalist, violin | |
Columbia | HCO2008 | 10-in. | 9/5/1946 | Rose of old Pawnee | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with female vocal duet | leader | |
Columbia | HCO2009 | 10-in. | 9/4/1946 | How can it be wrong | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | songwriter, leader | |
Columbia | HCO2010 | 10-in. | 9/5/1946 | Brain cloudy blues | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band, with male vocal solo | leader, songwriter | |
Columbia | HCO2011 | 10-in. | 9/5/1946 | Bob Wills boogie | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | String band | composer, leader | |
Columbia | HCO2012 | 10-in. | 9/6/1946 | There's a big rock in the road | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | Male vocal solo, with string band | leader | |
Columbia | HCO2016 | 10-in. | 9/6/1946 | I'm gonna be boss from now on | Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys | Male vocal solo, with string band | leader, songwriter |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wills, Bob," accessed November 1, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103732.
Wills, Bob. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103732.
"Wills, Bob." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 1 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Bob Wills
Discogs: Bob Wills
Allmusic: Bob Wills
Grove: Bob Wills
IMDb: Bob Wills
Britannica: Bob Wills
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: http://viaf.org/viaf/10035134
MusicBrainz: Bob Wills - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c727f585-54e0-4e0d-b8ad-05f216f99244
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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