Information: The first column shows data points from Wills, Bob, 1905-1975 in red. The third column shows data points from Bob Wills in blue. Any data they share in common is displayed as purple boxes in the middle "Shared" column.
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.
Wikipedia contributors. "Bob Wills." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Nov. 2023. Web. 8 Nov. 2023.
<p>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.<p>
<p>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".<p>
<p>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.<p>
<p>The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Wills in 1968 and the Texas State Legislature honored him for his contribution to American music.<p>
<p>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.<p>
Includes correspondence, financial material, legal materials, printed material, and photographs concerning Townsend's collections. Bulks (1911-1970) with photographs and scrapbook material on Colorado. Of particular interest are Southwestern fundamentalists religious tracts and camp songs.
Oral history interview with Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, 1997 September 7.
Montgomery, Marvin. Oral history interview with Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, 1997 September 7.
Title:
Oral history interview with Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, 1997 September 7.
Interview with Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, musician, concerning his experiences as a member of the "Light Crust Doughboys" western swing band, 1935-42. Early musical career as a banjo player in a traveling tent show; employment with the 'Wanderers"; comments about Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel; work with Gene Autry and Republic Pictures; acquiring the nicknames "Junior" and later "Smokey"; "Doughboy recording sessions; comments about Bob Willis; comments about individual members of the "Doughboys" band; World War II and its effects on the "Doughboys"; employment making naval shells for Crown Machine and Tool in Fort Worth; relations between Bob Wills and 'Pappy' O'Daniel; moonlighting on the honky tonk circuit with the "Southern Selectors"; the "Doughboys" record sales; jamming with African-American musicians; performing with the "Duncan Coffee Grinders" during World War II; his return to the "Doughboys" after World War II; performances with the "Texo Hired Hands"; performing with the "Levee Singers" in the Levee Club in Dallas during th the 1960s; comments about rockabilly performer Ronnie Dawson; comments about the record business; his career as a music arranger; operation of the Sumet-Bernet Recording Studios in Fort Worth; employment as music director for the "Big D Jamboree," 1941-60; his song writing career; experiences with "Lefty" Frizzell, Roy Orbison, Ray Prince, Webb pierce, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ernest Tubb, Elvis Presley, and the 'Rolling Stones"; comments about "Doughboys" emcees Truett Kimsey, "Pappy" O'Daniel, Eddie Dunn, Larry Rowell, Parker Wilson, Mel Cox, Jimmy Jeffries, Ted Gouldey, comments about "Doughboy" members "Zeke" Campbell, "Knocky" Parker, "Snub" Dearman, Kenneth Pitts, Clifford Gross, Dick Reinhart, Bert Dodson, Cecil Brower, Leon McAuliffe; his personal funeral arrangements; miscellaneous vignettes. Includes a photocopy of Gayle Whitney and her orchestra announcing a quarter-hour of musical programming for KTAT [1] leaf.
ArchivalResource:
385, [2] leaves : ill., facsim. ; 29 cm.
Montgomery, Marvin. Oral history interview with Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, 1997 September 7.
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Papers, 1933.
Papers, 1933.
Title:
Papers, 1933.
A collection of recipes (1930s), a handmade cookbook (1933), and an embroidered handtowel. Recipes in cookbook are mounted on wallpaper and were collected during the Depression. One set of recipes is a collection of the favorite recipes of the Western Swing band, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, taken from a magazine. All items are from the kitchen of Trudie Flanagan Hildebrand, a woman of Cherokee descent born in Watova, Oklahoma.
Consisting of correspondence, photographs, printed material, creative works, legal and financial documents, diagrams, scrapbook material, and audio recordings, the Townsend Miller Collection, 1952-1983, documents Miller's journalism career and involvement in the country music industry.
Commercially recorded transcription discs documenting a wide array of radio programs and individual performers from the early 1940s through the late 1960s. Performers represented include: Eddy Arnold; Chet Atkins; Gene Autry; Johnny Bond and His Red River Valley Boys; June Carter (June Carter Cash); the Cass County Boys; Spade Cooley; Eddie Dean and the Pals of the Golden West; Jimmy Dean; Johnny Desmond; Duke Ellington; Tennessee Ernie Ford; the Harmoneers; Hawkshaw Hawkins; Ferlin Husky; Hank Keene and His Gang; Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys; Texas Jim Lewis and His Lone Star Cowboys; Hank Penny and His California Cowhands; the Prairie Ramblers; Riders of the Purple Sage; Carson Robison and His Buckaroos; Carl Smith; the Sons of the Pioneers; Uncle Henry's Original Kentucky Mountaineers; Kitty Wells; Tex Williams; Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys; and many more. Radio programs represented include: Old Fashioned Revival Hour; Music by the Baptist Hour Choir; and The Human Adventure: Story of Ballads. Genres documented include country music, Hawaiian music, jazz, and western swing.
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975. Wills, Bob, music collection, 1944-1948.
Title:
Wills, Bob, music collection, 1944-1948.
Radio broadcast transcripts, printed and promotional material, sheet music, a photograph, a poster and sound recordings relate to the career of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Included are 27 recordings of the band's radio performances.
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975. Wills, Bob, music collection, 1944-1948.
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005
Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005
Title:
Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005
The materials in this collection were compiled from various sources by Southern Folklife Collection staff, with the goal of creating a reference resource to aid in research. Artist name files contain correspondence, booklets, obituaries, press releases, discographies, promotional materials, and other items relating to many of the artists whose work is relevant to the Southern Folklife Collection as a whole.
ArchivalResource:
Items: About 3,200; Linear Feet: 21.0
Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection 1991-1992
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection, 1991-1992
Title:
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection 1991-1992
Photographs, costumes, posters, awards, clippings dating from 1930s-1990s and featuring members of the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame comprise the bulk of this collection. Items of note include Bob Wills’ hat and a fiddle he reportedly played, and Laura Lee McBride’s fringed leather costume.
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection, 1991-1992
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Oral history interview with Joe Frank Ferguson, 1996 November 9.
Ferguson, Joe Frank, 1914-. Oral history interview with Joe Frank Ferguson, 1996 November 9.
Title:
Oral history interview with Joe Frank Ferguson, 1996 November 9.
Interview with Joe Frank Ferguson, musician and vocalist, concerning his experiences as a musician/vocalist with Bob Will's "Texas playboys" and the "Light Crust Doughboys" western swing bands, 1936-42; comments about Bob Willis and band members Marvin Montgomery, Kenneth Pitts, Al Stricklin, "Smokey" Dacus, "Knocky" Parker, Leon McAuliffe, Eldon, Shamblin; forming his own groups and playing the Fort Worth, Texas, night club circuit, 1950-70; comments about western swing, big band, and pop music.
Ferguson, Joe Frank, 1914-. Oral history interview with Joe Frank Ferguson, 1996 November 9.
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Papers, 1936-1939.
Ferguson, Joe. Papers, 1936-1939.
Title:
Papers, 1936-1939.
Consists of a scrapbook containing newsclippings, snapshots, and other memorabilia on Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and personal material on Ferguson.
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection, 1930-1990.
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection, 1930-1990.
Title:
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame Collection, 1930-1990.
Photographs, costumes, posters, awards, clippings dating from 1930s-1990s and featuring members of the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame comprise the bulk of this collection. Items of note include Bob Wills' hat and fiddle he reportedly played, and Laura Lee McBride's fringed leather costume.
Southern Folklife Collection song folios, circa 1882-1983.
Southern Folklife Collection song folios, circa 1882-1983.
Title:
Southern Folklife Collection song folios, circa 1882-1983.
Song folios from the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, circa 1882-1983. Some folios were published by radio stations, including WSM in Nashville, Tenn., and WWVA in Wheeling, W. Va. Musical genres and song styles represented include calypso, comedy songs, country songs, cowboy songs, gospel songs, Hawaiian songs, hobo songs, hymns, Irish reels, labor songs, Latin-American songs, minstrel songs, Mormon songs, novelty songs, parodies, popular songs, spirituals, songs of the Industrial Workers of the World, traditional songs, union songs, vaudeville, western songs, and World War II songs. Significant persons and groups are listed below.
Southern Folklife Collection artist name files, 1940-2005 (artists R-Z).
0
Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
referencedIn
Jesse Austin Morris Collection
Jesse Austin Morris Collection
Title:
Jesse Austin Morris Collection
Research materials collected by Jesse Morris to use for his publication of The Western Swing
Journal and other related projects. The manuscript papers consist of handwritten notes,
newspaper clippings, articles photocopied from books, journals, newspapers, magazines,
correspondence, photographs and webpage printouts. The materials are organized by the artist,
location or event they entail.
Also included in the collection are books, trade catalogs, serials, performance documents, and
sound recordings related to the subjects of western swing, country music, and some early jazz.
There are sound recordings, video recordings, artifacts, original sheet music, sheet music
photocopies, photographs and postcards in the collection.
ArchivalResource:
22 linear feet of manuscript material including 8 linear feet of Wills Brothers manuscript materials 21 linear feet of manuscript audio/visual materials, 6 linear feet of photographs, including
Consisting of correspondence,photographs, printed material, creative works, legal and financial documents,diagrams, scrapbook material, and audio recordings, the Townsend Miller Collection,1952-1983, documents Miller’s journalism career and involvement in the country musicindustry.
Scholar and folklorist, Ed Kahn (1938-2004) spent much of his life devoted to the study of American folk songs and early country music, conducting extensive field research and writing at length about both Merle Travis and the Carter Family. Kahn was was involved in the creation of the John Edwards Memorial Foundation (JEMF), along with Archie Green, D. K. Wilgus, Fred Hoeptner, and Eugene Earle. He was initially appointed Executive Secretary of the JEMF and was instrumental in starting the newsletter. JEMF Quarterly The collection consists of papers, photographs, and audiovisual materials relating to Kahn's research documenting American folk songs, Mexican border radio, and early country music and recording history. The bulk of the materials focus on Merle Travis and the Carter Family. Carter Family research materials include personal and professional correspondence; research files related to Kahn's dissertation on the Carter Family; transcripts from interviews with members of the Carter Family and people associated with them; letters to and from members of the Carter Family and their friends, family, and business associates; and handwritten songs found in a cabin where Sara Carter stayed after divorcing A. P. Carter. Merle Travis research materials include personal and professional correspondence; research files relating to Kahn's planned biography of Travis, including interview transcripts, discographies, sheet music, and song titles; chapter layouts and drafts for the biography; and articles and liner notes on Travis and American folk songs. Photographs chiefly represent the Carter Family, including publicity shots of the Carter children; the Carter Family performing with other artists, such as Mainer's Mountaineers, James Carson, Jimmie Rodgers, and Chet Atkins; individual images of Sara Carter, Maybelle Carter, and A. P. Carter; snapshots of the Carter Family at various points during their career; and images of friends and family. Other photographs include a publicity shot of Merle Travis and an image of Ray DeAutremont, who was involved in a 1923 train robbery. Audiovisual materials include Kahn's collection of commercially recorded transcription discs, non-commercial field recordings on open reel tape, and commercial and non-commercial audiocassettes and videocassettes. Transcription discs include recordings of Mexican border radio programs featuring the Carter Family, Patsy Montana, Cowboy Slim, the Pickard Family, and others. Open reel tapes chiefly include field recordings of early country and folk musicians, including Charlie Bowman, Mose Rager, Doc Hopkins, Ernest V. Stoneman, Clayton McMichen, the Blue Sky Boys, the Stanley Brothers, and others. Audiocassettes and videotapes chiefly record the Carter Family and Merle Travis.
Country Music Hall of Fame http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65291mz
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The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Wills in 1968.
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Constellation Relation
Country Music Hall of Fame
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Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
associatedWith
Duncan, Tommy
Duncan, Tommy http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cq2gbh
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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.
Citation
Constellation Relation
Duncan, Tommy
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Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
associatedWith
Ferguson, Joe Frank, 1914-
Ferguson, Joe Frank, 1914- http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v70drt
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associatedWith
Citation
Constellation Relation
Ferguson, Joe Frank, 1914-
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Wills, Bob, 1905-1975
associatedWith
McAuliffe, Leon, 1917-1988
McAuliffe, Leon, 1917-1988 http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63j3b5s
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associatedWith
The band played regularly on Tulsa, Oklahoma, radio station KVOO and added Leon McAuliffe on steel guitar.
Wills soon settled the renamed Texas Playboys in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began broadcasting noon shows over the 50,000-watt KVOO radio station, from the stage of Cain's Ballroom.
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