Texas Musicians: Bob Wills
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (65390)
United States
July 20, 2024 10:42am CST
Well, howdy, y’all! That’s a Texas greeting, isn’t it! I’m not at a restaurant for a change…I’m meeting friends for lunch to celebrate their anniversary a little later. But you’ll get your daily dose of Texas musicians, fear not. Here’s today’s Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
Bob Wills
Yes, Rock and Roll. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were inducted in 1999 in the “early influence” category. Wills was one of the earliest pioneers in using drums in a country band. The basic concept of his music: he took the jazz/swing that was popular music in the 30s and put a country twang to it.
The results were amazing. Imagine a square dance with jazz. There’s a lot of jazz elements in Wills’ music. (I didn’t notice that as a kid, but reading things that Chet Atkins said about country music and Western swing opened my eyes and ears.) Plus, where else are you going to hear clarinets and saxophones in country music????
He wasn’t the first. Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies had come and gone before Wills was on the radar. But, as Waylon Jennings sang, he was — and still is — the king.
Bob Wills
Born James Robert Wills
March 6, 1905, Kosse
Died May 13, 1975, Fort Worth (pneumonia/complications of a stroke) (age 70)
HALLS OF FAME: Country Music, Rock and Roll, Nashville Songwriters, Texas Country Music, Western Music Association, Texas Cowboy
Linda? NO!!!!!!!!! For everyone else, here’s a get-up-and-dance song featuring fiddles, steel guitars, clarinets, and saxophones:
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9 people like this
7 responses
@crossbones27 (49050)
• Mojave, California
20 Jul
Howdy partner, did I ever tell you my Yee Haw stories in the Marines. They were more famous than even me remembers. I know this because if did it in front of my roommates they would go now I remember. ![](/Content/images/emotes/rofl.gif)
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3 people like this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
20 Jul
I’ve heard plenty of them, so let’s hear yours.
3 people like this
@crossbones27 (49050)
• Mojave, California
1 Aug
@FourWalls Its made us shut down karaoke night. Don't break my mic. ![](/Content/images/emotes/rofl.gif)
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1 person likes this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Jul
Sounds pretty danceable! Or dancable. Both are wrong, but you know what I mean. I actually got to sing a Bob Wills nonsense song with the Diablo Rhythm Wranglers. I wonder if I've posted the video here. Probably. Let me go dig it up. Bob Wills is fun but I never got deep into the whole Western Swing thing.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
20 Jul
Most square dance songs are nonsense. You’ll hear “chicken in the bread pan, pecking out dough, granny does your dog bite, no child no” in every one of them. It’s even in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Jul
@FourWalls Here's our version of Take Me Back to Tulsa. You've probably heard it.
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@RasmaSandra (77609)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
21 Jul
Now the Texas Playboys I know
2 people like this
@FourWalls (65390)
• United States
21 Jul
You needed this for your country and western line dance last week. ![](/Content/images/emotes/lol.gif)
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2 people like this
@LindaOHio (170715)
• United States
21 Jul
They scared me away with that album cover! Have a good day.
2 people like this
@xander6464 (42308)
• Wapello, Iowa
1 Aug
Nice. Culture with a side order of grits.
1 person likes this
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