Fantastic article, Zachariah! What I would've given to be in that studio then! 😉
I've been a Bob Wills fan for almost my entire life. I can heartily recommend Professor Charles R. Townsend's biography of Bob, "San Antonio Rose; the Life and Music of Bob Wills." There are so many great stories and details therein! And whenever you find yourself in central Texas, stop by the old Rainbow Courts in Rockdale where you can stay in the Bob Wills Cottage!
Asleep at the Wheel introduced me to Bob Wills in the late 1970s, and their "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" collections are another big gift to all of country music.
Is it too much to say Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were as important as someone like Louis Armstrong when it comes to American music? My daddy loved them and passed on some of his old 78’s on to me. He saw them, probably late 40’s or early 50’s, in the small northwestern Tennessee town of Paris. He paid 50 cents. Years later in Austin, I met Johnny Gimble and told him that. He laughed and asked me, “Did he ask for his money back?” I said he didn’t, and he replied, “Well I guess we did all right then!”
Phenomenal article. Merle's tribute album is what turned me on to Bob Wills.
A related side story: At the time of Meat Loaf's death, his band, the Neverland Express, was touring, witn American Idol winner Caleb Johnson fronting for Meat Loaf. His passing devastated the band, many of whom had been witn Meat since the beginning. They didn't take a night off.
In his will, Meat insisted that the show must go on, and the band honored it. Once the tour ended, they went into the studio and cut Paradise Found, a complete re-recording of Bat Out of Hell. It's the perfected version of those songs, recorded by the band that had been playing them for fifty years, and fronted by a man who grew up on Meat Loaf's music. It is a triumph.
Fantastic article, Zachariah! What I would've given to be in that studio then! 😉
I've been a Bob Wills fan for almost my entire life. I can heartily recommend Professor Charles R. Townsend's biography of Bob, "San Antonio Rose; the Life and Music of Bob Wills." There are so many great stories and details therein! And whenever you find yourself in central Texas, stop by the old Rainbow Courts in Rockdale where you can stay in the Bob Wills Cottage!
Great post and as Waylon Jennings sang “don’t matter who’s in Austin, bob wills is still the king”.
Asleep at the Wheel introduced me to Bob Wills in the late 1970s, and their "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" collections are another big gift to all of country music.
You damn well made a tear happen. First one I read was about Waylon Jennings and what drove him. Thank you sir, thank you.
Thanks for this, Zach.
Another picker here, also fascinated by country (& western) music history.
Ahhh, Leon!
Is it too much to say Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were as important as someone like Louis Armstrong when it comes to American music? My daddy loved them and passed on some of his old 78’s on to me. He saw them, probably late 40’s or early 50’s, in the small northwestern Tennessee town of Paris. He paid 50 cents. Years later in Austin, I met Johnny Gimble and told him that. He laughed and asked me, “Did he ask for his money back?” I said he didn’t, and he replied, “Well I guess we did all right then!”
Phenomenal article. Merle's tribute album is what turned me on to Bob Wills.
A related side story: At the time of Meat Loaf's death, his band, the Neverland Express, was touring, witn American Idol winner Caleb Johnson fronting for Meat Loaf. His passing devastated the band, many of whom had been witn Meat since the beginning. They didn't take a night off.
In his will, Meat insisted that the show must go on, and the band honored it. Once the tour ended, they went into the studio and cut Paradise Found, a complete re-recording of Bat Out of Hell. It's the perfected version of those songs, recorded by the band that had been playing them for fifty years, and fronted by a man who grew up on Meat Loaf's music. It is a triumph.
Excellent article. America is about to celebrate our 250th birthday and it's good to remember the spirit that changed the world.