Bob Wills pioneered “western swing,” an upbeat style of country music that had a lasting impact on the industry. Wills, who grew up in the cotton fields of northern Texas during the World War I era, combined the blues of black sharecroppers with southern “hillbilly” music. In the mid-1930s, Wills formed the Texas Playboys, a band using experienced swing and Dixieland jazz musicians, who toured throughout the southwest to packed houses. Western swing became a national phenomenon after their 1940 hit “New San Antonio Rose,” and Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1968.

Bob would have been 100 years old today.  He passed away on May 13, 1975. 

Jeffrey W. Coker

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