Bob Wills
Songwriter
James Robert “Bob” Wills was the co-founder of Western swing and the bandleader who called himself “the King of Western Swing.” A fiddler and bandleader more than a writer per se, Wills nevertheless penned or co-credited many of the standards his Texas Playboys made famous, including “San Antonio Rose,” “Faded Love,” and “Maiden’s Prayer” — a body of work that cross-pollinated freely with bluegrass and traditional country.
- Born March 6, 1905, in Kosse, Texas, into a fiddle-playing family; learned the instrument from his father and grandfather.
- Formed the Texas Playboys in 1934 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, broadcasting noon shows over the 50,000-watt KVOO from Cain’s Ballroom.
- “San Antonio Rose,” introduced as an instrumental in 1938, was rewritten with lyrics by the band and recorded as “New San Antonio Rose” on April 16, 1940. The vocal version sold a million copies and remained the band’s theme for the next four decades.
- Other Wills compositions or co-credits include “Faded Love,” “Maiden’s Prayer,” “Stay a Little Longer,” and “Take Me Back to Tulsa.”
- Synthesized fiddle string-band music, Tin Pan Alley, jazz, blues, and Mexican-American sounds into what he called “Texas fiddle music” and the world later named Western swing.
- Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1968 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
- Suffered a series of strokes beginning in 1969; died May 13, 1975, in Fort Worth, Texas.