WILLS, BOB

WILLS, BOB (b. Kosse, Tex., March 6, 1905–May he was often introduced by Wills’s high falsetto shout 13, 1975) of “Take it away, Leon!” Duncan blended a main- Wills was the father of modern WESTERN SWING,a stream sensibility with an affinity for the blues of JIM- hybrid music that combined old-time country fiddling MIE RODGERS. The band also featured the fine boogie- and songs with jazz, blues, boogie-woogie, and even influenced piano playing of Al Stricklin, and a loping Mexican-American sounds to form a musical dialect bass-and-drum rhythm section that predicted the shuf- that is still strongly identifiable. Although only a mod- fle beat of later country boogie outfits. By the end of erately talented musician, Wills single-handedly the 1930s the grouphad grown to include a large brass shaped the most important band in this style, The Texas section, rivaling the big bands of the day in size and Playboys, and his characteristic “Ah-ha” interjections sound. and introduction of the various instrumentalists made World War II spelled the end of the big bands of their recordings immediately recognizable and vastly the 1930s, and Wills turned to working with a smaller successful. outfit in his new home, southern California, where he Wills was the son of an old-time fiddler/cotton moved to appear in a number of forgettable D-grade farmer who introduced his son to the traditional FIDDLE Hollywood Westerns. Singer Tommy Duncan was ex- tunes of the Southwest. Wills also could remember pelled from the ranks in 1948, and was replaced by a hearing black field hands singing alongside him in the series of lead vocalists, male and female, who were cotton fields, and so his youth was equally influenced by the traditional hollers and blues that they performed, similarly modern in their approach. The new Wills as well as the jazz newly introduced on records and band featured the swing-influenced fiddles of JOHNNY on radio. By 1932 Wills, a passable old-time fiddler, GIMBLE, Louis Tierney, and Joe Holley; steel guitarists HERB REMINGTON and Noel Boggs; electric guitarist was a member of THE LIGHT CRUST DOUGHBOYS, based in Fort Worth, a band sponsored by Burrus Mills, mak- Eldon Shamblin, and electric mandolinist “TINY” ers of Light Crust dough, with MILTON BROWN, the MOORE. The pared-down Wills band made an excellent other seminal name in Western Swing, as vocalist. By series of recordings for MGM in the late 1940s and 1934 wills had his own band, The Texas Playboys, early 1950s that in many ways were more exciting than based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a year later they signed his big-band sides of the late 1930s. a recording contract with Brunswick Records. Wills continued to work and record sporadically Wills’s new band was defined by two distinctive through the 1950s and 1960s, most notably recording elements: the newly introduced electric “steel” GUITAR two reunion LPs with singer Tommy Duncan in and the smooth vocalizing of singer TOMMY DUNCAN. 1961–1962. Championed by country performer MERLE Steel guitarist LEON MCAULIFFE was responsible for HAGGARD, who made a tribute LP to Wills in 1970, the group’s big hit, “Steel Guitar Rag”; his burbling he came out of semiretirement to supervise one last solos were a trademark of Wills’s early recordings, and session, just before his stroke in 1973 and his death two years later. Different Texas Playboys continued to perform in the 1970s and 1980s, one band led by Leon McAuliffe and another by Wills’s brother, Johnnie Lee (Septem- ber 2, 1912–October 25, 1984), who recorded the orig- inal version of “Rag Mop” in 1950 (later a hit for The Mills Brothers). Another brother, Billy Jack (February 26, 1926–March 2, 1991), was a drummer, bassist, and vocalist for Bob’s band until 1949, when he and mandolinist “Tiny” Moore formed the groupBilly Jack Wills and the Western Swing Band. They had the most progressive sound of any of the Western Swing bands, with a jazz and R&B beat that was rarely heard in Western Swing; the groupfolded in 1954 when its members rejoined Bob Wills’s ensemble. Wills was also a talented songwriter; his most nota- ble composition was “San Antonio Rose.” He also Bob Wills (to the right of the microphone, holding fiddle) and transformed several traditional fiddle tunes (“Liza an early version of the Texas Playboys. Photo University of North Carolina, Southern Historical Collection, Southern Fol- Jane,” “Ida Red,” and others) into swinging, pop con- klife Collection, University Archives fections.

15 WILLS, BOB

Select Discography ore fan; the sisters specialized in saccharine chanting in the 1950s mode. Originally reissued on LP/cas- Anthology: 1935–1973, Rhino 70744. Two-CD set sette by Kaleidoscope Records. spanning Wills’s entire recording career. Boot Heel Drag: The MGM Years, Uptown/Universal The Essential, Columbia/Legacy 48958. Prewar re- 170206. Fifty tracks recorded in 1947–1954 for cordings by Wills and his biggest bands. MGM in Hollywood, with a great small band. The Take Me Back to Tulsa, Rounder 11145. Compilation 1947–1948 tracks feature vocalist Tommy Duncan. of his Columbia recordings, similar to The Essential. For the Last Time, Capitol 28331. Reissue of 1974 San Antonio Rose, Bear Family 15933. Complete United Artists album (LA216). Wills was present at 1935–1947 recordings, 303 cuts in all. the session but was confined to a wheelchair, and Tiffany Transcriptions, Vols. 1–9, Rhino could do little more than shout encouragement. Still, 71469–71479. Wonderful 1946–1947 recordings a good recording by alumni of the various bands. made for radio, with a tight combo featuring Herb The Longhorn Recordings, Bear Family 15689. Remington on steel guitar and vocalist Tommy Dun- Twenty-three recordings cut by Wills in 1964, in- can. Start with volume 2, “The Best of . . .” Volume cluding twelve wonderful solo old-time fiddle tunes 10, with the McKinney Sisters, is only for the hardc- played by Wills himself!

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