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.
Faded Love
Bob Wills Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's you that I am thinking of
As I read the lines that to me were so sweet
I remember our faded love
I'll miss you, darling, more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat, I still think of you
I think of the past and all the pleasures we had
As I watch the mating of the dove
It was in the springtime that you said goodbye
I remember our faded love
I miss you, darling, more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat, I still think of you
And remember our faded love
And remember our faded love
The lyrics to Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' "Faded Love" depict the nostalgia and longing for a lost love. With each reading of the sweet letters sent by the lover, the singer thinks of their faded love. The singer misses their lover more every day, and thinks of them with every heartbeat. The lyrics suggest that even though the love may have faded away, it is still remembered with deep affection.
The second verse brings up the past pleasures shared with the lover during the springtime- a time of new beginnings and new life. The singer thinks of their lost love as they watch the mating of the doves, a symbol of love, loyalty and devotion. The singer recalls back to the time when the lover said goodbye, and the love that once was has now turned into a faded memory. The final repetition of the chorus reminds us that the singer still fondly remembers their faded love.
Overall, the song portrays a sense of longing and loss for a love that was once pure and strong, but has now faded away. The lyrics are beautifully written and evoke strong emotions in the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
As I look at the letters that you wrote to me
As I read the words that you wrote to me
It's you that I am thinking of
It's only you that occupies my thoughts
As I read the lines that to me were so sweet
As I remember the tender words you once said
I remember our faded love
I recall the love that has now lost its glow
I'll miss you, darling, more and more every day
The ache in my heart grows deeper each day that I'm away from you, my sweet love
As heaven would miss the stars above
My longing for you is as intense as the universe's need for its celestial bodies
With every heartbeat, I still think of you
My love for you beats as strong as my heart, and consumes my every thought
I think of the past and all the pleasures we had
I reflect on the joyous and wonderful moments we shared
As I watch the mating of the dove
As I observe the tender love between two doves
It was in the springtime that you said goodbye
You left me in the season of new beginnings, when life and love are supposed to flourish
And remember our faded love
And cherish the memory of the love that has now disappeared
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bob Wills, John Wills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jimmymiller77
Listen up folk's. Wonder what real music sounds like ?? Just listen to these guys. No Autotune, Just real talent. God bless you all, Jim
@tanashryack140
We played Faded Love at my mothers graveside funeral a few years back! She was a huge Bob Wills fan and even drove miles every year to attend the Wills Turkey Festival and wore that Tshirt to her death. Thank you for the memories❤
@jimgrosso6492
Doesn't matter who's in Nashville, Bob Wills in still the King.
@TheDsmithemtp
“It doesn’t matter who’s in Austin. Bob Wills is still the king”
@twinkiepie1625
Doesn’t matter who’s in Mamou, Bob Wills is still the king
@lizfranchinil6963
The last of the Texas Playboys, my dad Lloyd Taylor Frankini just passed away early this morning. He is back playing his guitar and singing with Bob! RiP Daddy! I love you!
💙✝️🙏🏻🎶🎸
@mikwayh1
It's the home of Willie Nelson, the home of western swing, and he'll be the first to tell you Bob Wills is still the king.
@mikwayh1
It's the home of Willie Nelson, the home of western swing, and he'll be the first to tell you Bob Wills is still the king.
@marvingoodman7381
For a 78 year old born and raised Texas boy it just doesn't get any better than this!!! Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys will ALWAYS have a special spot deep in the heart of Texas......
@nickinportland
I’m 19 and love me some Bob Wills. Hope for our generation! Unfortunately in Oregon but a Texan till the end.