BCB Band sings Cherokee Maiden
by Bob Wills.

Info Continued:
Wills and Duncan relocated to
Waco, TX, and formed the
Playboys, which featured Wills
on fiddle, Duncan on piano and
vocals, rhythm guitarist June
Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie
Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin,
who played steel guitar and
bass. For the next year
more

BCB Band sings Cherokee Maiden
by Bob Wills.

Info Continued:
Wills and Duncan relocated to
Waco, TX, and formed the
Playboys, which featured Wills
on fiddle, Duncan on piano and
vocals, rhythm guitarist June
Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie
Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin,
who played steel guitar and
bass. For the next year, the
Playboys moved through a
number of radio stations, as
O'Daniel tried to force them
off the air. Finally, the
group settled in Tulsa, where
they had a job at KVOO.

Tulsa is where Wills and His
Texas Playboys began to refine
their sound. Wills added an
18-year-old electric steel
guitarist called Leon
McAuliffe, pianist Al
Stricklin, drummer Smokey
Dacus, and a horn section to
the band's lineup. Soon, the
Texas Playboys were the most
popular band in Oklahoma and
Texas. The band made their
first record in 1935 for the
American Recording Company,
which would later become part
of Columbia Records. At ARC,
they were produced by Uncle
Art Satherley, who would wind
up as Wills' producer for the
next 12 years. The bandleader
had his way and they cut a
number of tracks that were
released on a series of 78s.
The singles were successful
enough that Wills could demand
that McAuliffe -- who wasn't
on the first sessions due to
ARC's abundance of steel
players under contract -- was
featured on the Playboys' next
record, 1936's 'Steel Guitar
Rag.' The song became a
standard for steel guitar.
Also released from that
session was 'Right or Wrong,'
which featured Duncan on lead
vocals.

Toward the end of the decade,
big bands were dominating
popular music and Wills wanted
a band capable of playing
complex, jazz-inspired
arrangements. To help him
achieve his sound, he hired
arranger and guitarist Eldon
Shamblin, who wrote charts
that fused country with big
band music for the Texas
Playboys. By 1940, he had
replaced some of the weaker
musicians in the lineup,
winding up with a full
18-piece band. The Texas
Playboys were breaking concert
attendance records across the
country, filling out venues
from Tulsa to California, and
they also had their first
genuine national hit with 'New
San Antonio Rose,' which
climbed to number 11 in 1940.
Throughout 1941 and 1942,
Wills and His Texas Playboys
continued to record and
perform and they were one of
the most popular bands in the
country. However, their
popularity was quickly
derailed by the arrival of
World War II. Duncan enlisted
in the Army after Pearl Harbor
and Stricklin became a defense
plant worker. Late in 1942,
McAuliffe and Shamblin both
left the group. Wills enlisted
in the Army late in 1942, but
he was discharged as being
unfit for service in the
summer of 1943, primarily
because he was out of shape
and disagreeable. Duncan was
discharged around the same
time and the pair moved to
California by the end of 1943.
Wills revamped the sound of
the Texas Playboys after World
War II, cutting out the horn
section and relying on
amplified string instruments.

Category Music

Tags BCB, Band, Oklahoma, City, Bob, Wills