Bob Wills
Induction Year: 1970
Birth Name: James Robert Wills
Birth Date: May 06, 1905
Place of Birth: Limestone County, TX
Deceased: May 13, 1975
Place of Death: Fort Worth, TX
Biography
Former Occupations:
- cotton field worker
- construction
- shoe shine
- insurance salesman
- carpenter
- barber
- farmer
- farm worker
- truck driver
Appeared in many western films
Known as "The King of Western Swing"; credited with originating western swing music
Recorded as the Original Texas Playboys in 1977
Attended barber college
Discography / Career Highlights
1915 - first public performance on fiddle at a ranch dance
1923 - radio performance debut on KGRS and WDAG (Amarillo)
1927-1928 -first song written, "Spanish Two Step" (in the 1930s, song was rearranged and retitled "San Antonio Rose")
1929 - first time traveling with a medicine show
1929 - formed his own band, the Wills Fiddle Band (later became the Light Crust Doughboys)
1929 - first recording session (cut two sides) with the Brunswick Record Corporation on November 1
1930 - landed radio show job at KTAT (Fort Worth) which made him decide to stay in the music business
1931 - went on the airwaves with the Light Crust Doughboys on station KFJZ in January; became one of the most popular radio shows in the history of the medium in the Southwest and was broadcast until the mid 1950s
1932 - recorded for Victor Records with the Light Crust Doughboys
1933 - left the Light Crust Doughboys; formed new band
1934 - 1958--performed on his own radio show on Tulsa's KVOO
1934 - Wills' band first billed as The Texas Playboys; performed as Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
1935 - brought steel guitar player into The Texas Playboys (credited with being the first string band at the time to do so; also incorporated brass, drums and reed instruments)
1935 - signed record contract with Brunswick Record Corporation
1935 - recorded 20 sides with Brunswick from September 21-24
1938 - recorded "San Antonio Rose" (instrumental version)
1940 - signed first publishing contract with Irving Berlin, Inc., for "San Antonio Rose"
1940 - made first feature film ("Take Me Back to Oklahoma") with the Texas Playboys for Monogram Pictures
1944 - signed booking contract with MCA
1955 - first recording session with Decca
1956 - first major recording session in Nashville, TN 1968 - Country Music Hall of Fame induction
1969 - final recording session for Kapp Records in Nashville from February 19-21
1969 - last public appearance on May 30 before stroke, at tribute by Governor Preston Smith and the State of Texas
1971 - reunited at recording session with 10 former Texas Playboys at Merle Haggard's ranch in California
1972 - first public appearance on March 6, after stroke in Fort Worth to celebrate his 67th birthday
1988 - song "Faded Love" adopted by the Oklahoma State Legislature as the state's official country and western song
"Stay a Little Longer" (The Hoe Down Fiddle Song) - Co-writer: Tommy Duncan
Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Dean
"San Antonio Rose" - Co-writer: Leon McAuliffe, Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1938), Floyd Cramer, Ray Price, Asleep at the Wheel, Patsy Cline, John Denver, Pee Wee King, Mills Brothers, Jim Nabors, Willie Nelson, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Ricky Skaggs, Tanya Tucker, Tex Williams
"New San Antonio Rose" - Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1944), Bing Crosby, Ventures, Asleep at the Wheel, Commander Cody, Merle Haggard,
"Faded Love" - Co-writer: J. Wills, Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Patsy Cline, Leon McAuliff, Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, Willie Nelson & Ray Price, Gary Burton, Mickey Gilley, Loretta Lynn, Elvis Presley, Johnny Rodriguez
"Take Me Back to Tulsa" - Co-writer: Tommy Duncan, Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
"Bubbles in My Beer" - Co-writer: Tommy Duncan, Cindy Walker, Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1948)
"My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" - Co-writer: Lee Ross
"Cotton-Eyed Joe" - Co-writer: Tommy Duncan
"Big Beaver" - Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Ray Pennington & Buddy Emmons
"You Can't Break a Heart" - Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
"Spanish Two-Step" - Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1935)
"New Spanish Two-Step" - Artists: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (1946)
"Texas Two-Step" - Artists: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys