History

This section of the website will contain a detailed description of the historical timeline of Bob Wills personal and professional life, original articles and interactive presentations on the historical events of his life and the Western Swing era, and a historical timeline of other bands and bandleaders of the era.

 

 

Click photo to watch Bob Wills
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

 

 

 

Chronology of Bob Wills’ Life
By Dwight Adair

This chronology was created to provide an outline for a narrative screenplay on Bob Wills’ life and, though it was compiled from the biography San Antonio Rose written by Dr. Charles Townsend, it does not approach the depth of the scholarly research of Dr. Townsend’s definitive work. It is intended to provide a summary of Bob Wills' life for entertainment purposes only and we greatly encourage the truly interested devotee to read
Dr. Townsend book.

March 6, 1905 Bob Wills born first child of ten children to John and Emma on farm near Kosse, Texas.

1915 First public performance with fiddle at ranch dance

1922 Jumps freight train and leaves farm; has religious experience

1923 Radio debut in Amarillo; first marriage, to Edna

1927 Bob Wills barbers in New Mexico

1929 Bob Wills and Edna move to Ft. Worth, have first child.
Bob Wills works in “blackface” medicine show with guitarist.
First recording, Brunswick, Bessie Smith tune

1930 “Bob Wills Fiddle Band” formed and performs on Bob Wills’ first real radio show (KBAP); Milton Brown joins band as singer; Audition with KFJZ, Al Stricklin, manager; “Bob Wills Fiddle Band” wins fiddler’s contest in front of seven thousand on radio broadcast, Ft. Worth; Bob Wills’ band hired as “Alladin Laddies” company band and popularity spreads beyond Texas to Southwest; Bob Wills begins playing dances at “Crystal Springs” Swimming Pool and Dancehall

1931 “Lightcrust Doughboys” formed at Burris Mill; touring with
W. Lee O’Daniel, President of Burris Mill

1932 “Lightcrust Doughboys” record for O’Daniel; Milton Brown quits
Tommy Duncan auditions for Bob Wills in Ft. Worth

1933 Battle of bands between Bob Wills’ “Playboys” and Brown’s “Brownies”; O’Daniel sues Bob Wills for quitting “Lightcrust Doughboys”; Bob Wills leaves Waco for Oklahoma City with new manager Mayo and announcer Stover; Bob Wills’ band now seven members

1934 Bob Wills gets radio show on WKY billed as “Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys”; O’Daniel, whose Burris Mill is main advertiser, has Bob Wills fired after five broadcasts; Bob Wills moves band to Tulsa; Radio show on KVOO; Cain’s Academy dances with 2000 regulars in attendance

1935 O’Daniel defeated in attempt to get Bob Wills fired; O’Daniel loses court case against Bob Wills; O’Daniel loses position at Burris Mill and tries to become partners with Bob Wills; Bob Wills negotiates deal with General Mills for radio show and Playboy products; Leon McAuliffe joins Playboys on steel guitar; Al Stricklin joins Playboys on piano; Saxophonist, trombonist, drummer added to Playboys; Famous “Underwear” recording session in Dallas with thirteen men and one woman in Playboys

1936 “Steel Guitar Rag” and “Trouble in Mind” recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in Chicago for Brunswick; Bob Wills sells more records on Brunswick’s label than any other recording artist; Bob Wills buys father’s farm in West Texas; Bob Wills marries Ruth McMaster and divorces her in three months

1937 Recording session in Dallas for Brunswick; BobWills dating Milton Brown’s widow, Mary Helen

1938 Recording sessions for Columbia; Instrumental “San Antonio Rose” recorded; Bob Wills and Playboys rehearse and live in “Big House” in Tulsa through 1939; Judge McNally holds “court” there; Bob Wills and Playboys buy horses, make rodeo appearances; Bob Wills’ band comparable to other swing bands in size and repertoire; Bob Wills marries Mary Helen, then they divorce soon after.

1939 Bob Wills marries very young Mary Louise Parker; Bob Wills plays for Inaugural Ball of Governor of Oklahoma; Bob Wills and Playboys know 3600 tunes; Bob Wills starts Johnnie Lee Bob Wills Band in Tulsa because of excess of musicians and play dates; Bob Wills excessive drinking and depression begins; Bob Wills and manager Mayo begin “Bob Wills Stampede”

1940 Bob Wills’ music closest to Big Band Swing; Plays University of Oklahoma dances; “Take Me Back To Oklahoma” Monogram Picture with Tex Ritter

1941 Bob Wills’ courtroom appearance with Mary Lou; Bob Wills and Mary Lou divorce; “San Antonio Rose” recorded with lyrics by Bob Wills and also Bing Crosby; Bob Wills and Playboys advertise as “Best Selling Columbia Record Band”; “go West Young Lady movie made by Bob Wills; Bob Wills meets Betty Anderson and dates for fifteen months; Pearl Harbor occurs and WW2 breaks up Bob Wills original band

1942 Bob Wills marries Betty Anderson on August 10th; Bob Wills gets eight-picture contract with Columbia; Bob Wills joins US Army

1943 Bob Wills gets medical discharge from Army; Playboys move to California and begin broadcasting on KLAC; Bob Wills music “catches on” in America

1944 Largest Bob Wills band, with twenty-three members; First national tour, for MCA

1945 Bob Wills reported making $340,00 year in Time magazine; Bob Wills’ dances outdraw Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman; Bob Wills lives in Santa Monica and Fresno; Bob Wills and Betty have son, Jim

1946 Bob Wills’ have daughter; Bob Wills’ drinking problems erupt; MCA national touring

1947 Bob Wills leaves Triple B Ranch in San Joaquin Valley to Bob Wills Point in Sacramento

1948 Tommy Duncan leaves Bob Wills and forms his own band; Not one member of Playboys an original member

1949 Bob Wills leaves California and moves back to Oklahoma City; Recording session with Duncan

1950 MGM recording session with “Faded Love” cut; Movie made for MGM; Bob Wills’ have second daughter; Bob Wills moves to Dallas and opens “Bob Wills Ranch House”; Lawyers and accountants rip-off Bob Wills

1951 Bob Wills closes the Ranch House and goes on tour to pay debts as a result of the rip-off

1952 Bob Wills moves to Houston; Old Man John, Bob Wills’ father, dies

1953-55 Bob Wills moves back and forth from California to Texas trying to gain financial stability; TV show airs in Los Angeles; Bob Wills’ have third daughter

1956 Bob Wills records in Nashville; Wills Point burns to the ground

1957 Bob Wills and Johnnie Lee Wills play together in Tulsa

1958 Bob Wills plays Las Vegas

1959 Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan reunion in Las Vegas; the two record together again

1962 Bob Wills’ first heart attack, in Texas

1963 Bob Wills has fifteen in band, recording in Hollywood again; Bob Wills moves to Ft. Worth, sells band for $10,000

1964 Bob Wills has second heart attack

1967 Tommy Duncan dies of heart attack

1968 Bob Wills voted into Country Music Hall of Fame and Liftetime Achievement Award, Cowboy Hall of Fame; Bob Wills touring still

1969 Rough tour schedule for Bob Wills results in a stroke on May 31st,
Ft. Worth

1970 Bob Wills benefit show, Ft. Worth

1971 Merle Haggard reunites Bob Wills and the Playboys

1973 Bob Wills given special citation by ASCAP; Haggard causes “For the Last Time” recording session of Bob Wills and the Playboys

May 13, 1975 Bob Wills dies after 18 month coma; 58 years of show business, 44 years recording music

 

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