LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Bob Wills
built 650 days ago
"The King of Western Swing," Bob Wills became but one of the many hillbilly and country & western recording artists to be corralled by B-Western producers who counted on the genre's popularity in the South and Midwest. Accompanied by his band, the Texas Playboys, Wills found his way into Take Me Back to Oklahoma (1940), a Tex Ritter oater which, when premiering in the band's home base of Tulsa, was advertised as starring Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, "with Tex Ritter." More propitious than this weak Ritter entry was a series of Columbia Westerns starring former Hopalong Cassidy juvenile Russell Hayden. Although rather neglected by the powers that be, the little sagebrush thrillers have stood the test of time rather well and are a great deal more enjoyable today than some of their more high-profile competitors. And unlike most of his colleagues, Wills did more than merely perform his best-selling songs. In one memorable sequence in A Tornado in the Saddle (1942), for example, the bandleader engaged in a wild donnybrook with leading man Hayden, and although he was most likely doubled by Ted Mapes in part of the fight -- which came complete with Columbia's bruising sound effects -- Wills more than held his own in the close-ups.
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One of the original genre-benders, Bob Wills paid absolutely no attention to the supposed lines between styles and appropriate instrumentation, and mixed both his entire celebrated career. Some of the guitar solos on this set by Leon McAuliffe are the first electric lead guitar tracks ever recorded, according to the fantastic booklet attached. Sure they're rough, but they're smoking! (Just think about it, it had never been done!)
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In the 1930's Bob Wills etched his way into America's heart with his whoops and hollers with his Texas Playboys there to back him up. Here they perform the song 'Sittin' on Top of the World'.
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Bob Wills was honored as the first inductee into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame at its inaugural gala on April 13, 2007. Rosetta Wills accepted the commemorative plaque on behalf of her late father, one of the most influential fiddlers of all time.
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The set includes a duet with the late Joe Strummer on Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," and collaborations with Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, Carl Perkins and Glen Campbell. Cash tackles two Neil Young songs, "Heart of Gold" and "Pocahontas," as well as material by Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Steve Earle, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry and Willie Nelson.
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The oldest, most experienced school-program run byleasing veteran Bob Baker, CLP; perhaps the most successfulto date. He, and his staff, continue to help all students after they graduate, making recommendations and helping their business grow.
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Bob Wills