Amazon.com

The Essential Bob Wills might more accurately be called The Essential Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. While Wills was certainly the charismatic stage presence, talent scout, songwriter, and Western-swing mastermind, the Playboys--one of the best bands to ever grace this earth--most shine on these early sides. From horn-heavy, big-band-inspired recordings such as "Osage Stomp" and "Right or Wrong" to fiddle-driven, closer-to-country classics such as "Take Me Back to Tulsa" and "Stay a Little Longer," it was primarily the incomparable playing of pianist Al Stricklin, steel legend Leon McAuliffe, and the other Playboys, not to mention the smoother-than-smooth vocals of the great Tommy Duncan, that made this band the Southwest's flagship two-steppin' outfit and that make these 20 tracks truly "essential." --David Cantwell

Product description

THE ESSENTIAL BOB WILLIS 1935-1947 contains 6 previously unreleased tracks and includes track annotations and rare photos. Personnel includes: Bob Wills (fiddle); Tommy Duncan, Danny Alguire (vocals); Salatheil, Leon Huff, Jimmy Wyble, Cameron Hill, Junior Barnard (guitar); Noel Boggs, Herb Remington (steel guitar); Johnnie Lee Wills, Jimmy Widener, Ocie Stockard (banjo); Tiny Moore (electric mandolin); Louis Tierney (fiddle, saxophone); Jessie Ashlock, Joe Holley (fiddle); Ray DeGreer (tenor saxophone); Joe Ferguson (saxophone, bass); Zeb McNally, Tiny Mott, (saxophone); Everett Stover, Alex Brashear (trumpet); Art Haines (trombone); Al Stricklin (piano); Darrell Jones, Ted Adams, Billy Jack Wills (bass); Smokey Dacus, Gene Tomlins (drums). Producer: Art Satherley. Compilation producer: Bob Irwin. Includes liner notes by Rich Kienzle. Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini (1992, Sony Music Studios, New York). This is part of the Columbia Country Classics series. THE COMPLETE PUBLISHED SIDES VOLUME 1: 1935-1940 is one of the British budget reissue label JSP Records' trademark 4-disc, 100-track box sets, and it shows why this label has become one of the leading lights of the reissue scene. As the title indicates, THE COMPLETE PUBLISHED SIDES VOLUME 1: 1935-1940 features both sides of all 50 singles Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys released in their first five years. It's the birth of Western swing in precise chronological order, from Wills's first trademark "Ah-haaa!" yelp on "Sunbonnet Sue" to the band's swinging take on the ballad standard "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" a half-decade later. The remastering job is more than serviceable, as are the liner notes and packaging., ISBN13: B00000288D ISBN10: B00000288D Material Type: audioCD