San Antonio Rose

The Life and Music of Bob Wills
Author: Charles R. Townsend
Discography and filmusicography by Bob Pinson
It don't matter who's in Austin, Bob Wills is still the king
Paper – $39.5
978-0-252-01362-1
Publication Date
Paperback: 01/01/1986
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About the Book

"Until Hank Williams came along, it was just Bob Wills," says Willie Nelson. "He was it." And indeed he was, especially for the thousands in the Southwest who knew and loved the King of Western Swing. The colorful band leader-composer-fiddler from Turkey, Texas, lassoed the emotions of country-and-western fans nationwide. In the early 1940s, his records outsold those of any other recording artist. He was voted not only into the Country Music Hall of Fame but also into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the only performer other than Gene Autry to be so honored.

Affectionately written by a Texan who responded to the legendary fiddler's style, San Antonio Rose captures Wills's magnetism and the musical excitement he created. Charles R. Townsend traces Wills's dynamic life from his birth into a family of frontier fiddlers through his career and stardom and on to the poignant last recording session in 1973 and his death two years later. Townsend shows how Wills brought black and white music together and examines the tremendous impact he had on both popular and country music through the more than 550 selections he recorded and the forty years he and his Texas Playboys performed in dance halls and on radio.

About the Author

Charles R. Townsend is a professor emeritus of history at West Texas A&M University. He won a Grammy Award in 1975 for his brochure notes accompanying For the Last Time, the last recording session of Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys.

Reviews

"One can only stand in awe at the kind of work that went into Townsend's book. . . . San Antonio Rose must be recognized as a major advance in the study of American music. It is a masterpiece of layout and design, rich with photos and well-done illustrations, [and] should be in the library of anyone interested in American music."--Charles Wolfe, Journal of Country Music

"A warm and honest portrait of the man who brought the music of 'country folks' to town, who merged the spontaneity of country fiddling with the Big Band Sound, giving birth to Western Swing."--Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A landmark in country music scholarship."--Michael Mendelson, Western Folklore