Singer
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 co-founder of Western swing, he was widely known as the King of Western Swing (although Spade Cooley self-promoted the moniker "King Of Western Swing" from 1942 to 1969). 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. 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", "New 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, frequently moving. In 1950, he 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, but continued to perform frequently despite the decline in popularity of his earlier music as rock and roll took over. Wills had a heart attack in 1962 and a second one the next year, which forced him to disband the Playboys although 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 was recording an album with fan Merle Haggard in 1973 when a stroke left him comatose until his death in 1975. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1999. See more [+]

Deep Water |||||

It's - restless in this Deep Water I'm lost between right an...

Roly Poly |||||

ROLY POLY, eatin' corn n' taters Hungry ev'ry minute of the ...

San Antonio Rose 1944 |||||

Deep within my heart lies a melody A song of old San Antone ...

South Of The Border |||||

For our tomorrow never (G came. VERSE THREE ...

Time Changes Everything |||||

There Was a time when I thought of no other and we sang our ...

Corrine Corrina |||||

I love Corrina; tell the world I do I love Corrina; tell th...

Maidens Prayer |||||

Ev'ry word revealed her empty broken heart Broken by fate th...

Faded Love |||||

As I look at the letters that you wrote to me It's you that ...

Milk Cow Blues |||||

Well I (G) tried everything baby to (G) get along with you ....

Smoke On The Water |||||

CHORUS (A) There'll be Smoke On The Water ...

The Spanish Fandango |||||

(nc) SPOKEN: My Senorita You are the One. BOB WILLS/THE TIFF...

Cherokee Maiden |||||

One night when the moon was bright on a moonlit plain That i...

Ida Red |||||

Light the pilot fire in the grate Clock on the mantle says i...

My Window Faces The South |||||

My window faces the South, and I'm almost halfway to heaven ...

Right Or Wrong |||||

Right or Wrong, I'll always love you. Though you're gone, I ...

Back Home Again In Indiana |||||

Back home again in Indiana and it seems that I can see That ...

Heart To Heart Talk |||||

How Foolish Can You Be To Be Ruled By Jealousy Could You Thr...

Oklahoma Gals |||||

Jaybird sittin' on a piece of tin I picked up a rock and hit...

San Antonio Rose |||||

Deep within my heart lies a mel - o - dy, A song of old San ...

Oklahoma Hills |||||

Many months have come and gone, since I wandered from my hom...

I Ain't Got Nobody |||||

Now, I ain't got no-bod- y, and nobody cares for me! VERSE O...

Take Me Back To Tulsa |||||

Where's that girl with the red dress on? Some folks calls he...

Bubbles In My Beer |||||

While scenes from the past, rise be-{G} fore me (Note. Same ...

Tumbling Tumbleweeds |||||

see them tumbling down, pledging their love to the ground,...

Hang Your Head In Shame |||||

DON'T YOUR CONCIENCE EVER BOTHER YOU EVERY TIME YOU HEAR MY ...

Home In San Antone |||||

Travelled o'er the country, on my merry way Been in crowds a...

Ida Red |||||

Curtains on the window, snowy white, Chorus E Ida Red, Ida R...

My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You |||||

I must say that i don't care Hold my head up in the air Even...

Depp Water |||||

I'm - drifting into Deep Water I'm starting to care for you ...

I Cant Go On This Way |||||

Moanin' low, moanin' high - hair is turnin' gray Don't care ...

Bring It On Down To My Place |||||

Bring it on down to my house honey, there ain?t nobody home ...

Devil Aint Lazy |||||

The devil ain’t lazy (no sirree) The devil ain’t...

You're From Texas |||||

Pardon me stranger i hope there's no danger You'll think i'm...

A Maidens Prayer |||||

Twilight falls evening shadows find There neath the stars a ...

Across The Alley From The Alamo |||||

Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and a Nav...

After All |||||

Last night I dreamed a dream that I dreamed too much of Of y...

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