Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975), better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western swing, he was universally known as the King of Western Swing.
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 Read Full BioJames Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975), better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western swing, he was universally known as the King of Western Swing.
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 a Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station, 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 ten 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.[4] 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.
He was born near Kosse, Texas; his father was a fiddle player who along with his grandfather, taught the young Wills to play the fiddle and the mandolin. After several years of drifting, "Jim Rob," then in his 20s, attended barber school, got married, and moved first to Roy, New Mexico then to Turkey, Texas (now considered his home town) to be a barber. He alternated barbering and fiddling even when he moved to Fort Worth to pursue a career in music. It was there that while performing in a medicine show, where he learned comic timing and some of the famous "patter" he later delivered on his records, the show's owner gave him the nickname "Bob."
In Fort Worth, Wills met Herman Arnspinger and formed The Wills Fiddle Band. In 1930 Milton Brown joined the group as lead vocalist and brought a sense of innovation and experimentation to the band, now called the Light Crust Doughboys due to radio sponsorship by the makers of Light Crust Flour. Brown left the band in 1932 to form the Musical Brownies, the first true Western swing band. Brown added twin fiddles, tenor banjo and slap bass, pointing the music in the direction of swing, which they played on local radio and at dancehalls.
Wills remained with the Doughboys and replaced Brown with new singer Tommy Duncan in 1932. He found himself unnable to get along with future Texas Governor W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, the authoritarian host of the Light Crust Doughboy radio show. O'Daniel had parlayed the show's popularity into growing power within Light Crust Flour's parent company, Burrus Mill and Elevator Company and wound up as General Manager, though he despised what he considered "hillbilly music." Wills and Duncan left the Doughboys in 1933 after Wills had missed one show too many due to his sporadic drinking.
After forming a new band, "The Playboys" and relocating to Waco, Wills found enough popularity there to decide on a bigger market. They left Waco in January of 1934 for Oklahoma City. Wills soon settled the renamed "Texas Playboys" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began broadcasting noontime shows over the 50,000 watt KVOO radio station. Their 12:30-1:15 Monday-Friday broadcasts became a veritable institution in the region. Nearly all of the daily (except Sunday) shows originated from the stage of Cain's Ballroom. In addition, they played dances in the evenings, including regular ones at the ballroom on Thursdays and Saturdays. By 1935 Wills had added horn, reed players and drums to the Playboys. The addition of steel guitar whiz Leon McAuliffe in March, 1935 added not only a formidable instrumentalist but a second engaging vocalist. Wills himself largely sang blues and sentimental ballads.
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 Read Full BioJames Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975), better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader of Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western swing, he was universally known as the King of Western Swing.
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 a Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station, 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 ten 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.[4] 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.
He was born near Kosse, Texas; his father was a fiddle player who along with his grandfather, taught the young Wills to play the fiddle and the mandolin. After several years of drifting, "Jim Rob," then in his 20s, attended barber school, got married, and moved first to Roy, New Mexico then to Turkey, Texas (now considered his home town) to be a barber. He alternated barbering and fiddling even when he moved to Fort Worth to pursue a career in music. It was there that while performing in a medicine show, where he learned comic timing and some of the famous "patter" he later delivered on his records, the show's owner gave him the nickname "Bob."
In Fort Worth, Wills met Herman Arnspinger and formed The Wills Fiddle Band. In 1930 Milton Brown joined the group as lead vocalist and brought a sense of innovation and experimentation to the band, now called the Light Crust Doughboys due to radio sponsorship by the makers of Light Crust Flour. Brown left the band in 1932 to form the Musical Brownies, the first true Western swing band. Brown added twin fiddles, tenor banjo and slap bass, pointing the music in the direction of swing, which they played on local radio and at dancehalls.
Wills remained with the Doughboys and replaced Brown with new singer Tommy Duncan in 1932. He found himself unnable to get along with future Texas Governor W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, the authoritarian host of the Light Crust Doughboy radio show. O'Daniel had parlayed the show's popularity into growing power within Light Crust Flour's parent company, Burrus Mill and Elevator Company and wound up as General Manager, though he despised what he considered "hillbilly music." Wills and Duncan left the Doughboys in 1933 after Wills had missed one show too many due to his sporadic drinking.
After forming a new band, "The Playboys" and relocating to Waco, Wills found enough popularity there to decide on a bigger market. They left Waco in January of 1934 for Oklahoma City. Wills soon settled the renamed "Texas Playboys" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began broadcasting noontime shows over the 50,000 watt KVOO radio station. Their 12:30-1:15 Monday-Friday broadcasts became a veritable institution in the region. Nearly all of the daily (except Sunday) shows originated from the stage of Cain's Ballroom. In addition, they played dances in the evenings, including regular ones at the ballroom on Thursdays and Saturdays. By 1935 Wills had added horn, reed players and drums to the Playboys. The addition of steel guitar whiz Leon McAuliffe in March, 1935 added not only a formidable instrumentalist but a second engaging vocalist. Wills himself largely sang blues and sentimental ballads.
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Take Me Back to Tulsa
Bob Wills Lyrics
Where's that gal with the red dress on? Some folks called her Dinah
Stole my heart away from me, way down in Louisiana
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Aw, here comes Mr. Sprinkler, now
Aw, that's right, yes, yes
Come on, now
Take us back to Tulsa, man
Yeah, look out, Tommy
Little bee sucks the blossom, big bee gets the honey
Darkie raises the cotton, white man gets the money
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Aw, look out, man!
Mr. Louis Tierney, now
Aw, turn it on, boy, turn it on
Walk and talk, Suzie, walk and talk, Suzie
Walk and talk, Suzie, walk and talk, Suzie
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Aw, now, now
Yes sir, Mr. Leon
We always wear this great big smile, never do look sour
Travel all over the country, playing by the hour
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to wed thee
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Bob Wills, Tommy Duncan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Matthew Wood
Where's that gal with the red dress on? Some folks called her Dinah
Stole my heart away from me, way down in Louisiana
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Little bee sucks the blossom, big bee gets the honey
Darkie raises the cotton, white man gets the money
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Walk and talk, Suzie, walk and talk, Suzie
Walk and talk, Suzie, walk and talk, Suzie
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
We always wear this great big smile, never do look sour
Travel all over the country, playing by the hour
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry
Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to wed thee
Nicholas Grube
River Boat version of this song:
Well He don't plant taters,
No, He don't plant cotton,
but it's Them that plants 'em,
that is soon forgotten.
Ol' Man River's Rollin'
Ol' Man River's Rollin'
Ol' Man River's Rollin'
Yeah, Ol' Man River's Rollin'
Melissa Cervantes
My grandmother had Alzheimer's ...she didn't talk much but sometimes she would sing "whos that girl with the red dress on some folks call her Dina" that was when I was 12 I'm 29 now. Today I finally remembered the lyrics she sang!!! I found the song !! How awesome is this
Andy Trullinger
It’s very awesome, Melissa! God bless you and Crystal. 🕊🙏🏻🎹
Danny Payne
This song popped in my head this morning and I whistled it for a bit before I remembered enough to YouTube it. I’m 72 now and my memory of the old songs are a treasure.
Crystal Price
My mom had Alzheimer’s. She absolutely loved Bob Wills and his Playboys. Thank you for sharing your lovely story 💗
P. Turtle
As a kid growing up in Toronto in the early 70's I'd play my Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple records but I'd also spin my Bob Wills and Hank Williams records. My friends would say, "what the f@#k is that? I love Bob Wills! What an amazing talent.
George Loyie
I was raised with this kind of music playing in our house. I still love it today!
Chuck Bradley
Bob Wills the King of Western Swing. This is what fiddle music is supposed to sound like. Makes you want to twirl a pretty girl around the dance floor.
manoel teixeira
Um clássico interpretado por muitos artistas e cantores do estilo. maneco - Brasil.
conchfritters01
I agree
hobestobe
this absolutely slays