James E. Akenson
In various pieces I’ve mentioned that a song gets in my head and stays for longer than I would expect. Well, it’s happened again. For some reason Bob Will Is Still The King has been rattlin’ around my cage for quite a while. I guess you could say “Well why not?” on several levels.
First, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys represents Western Swing to most people. Wills didn’t single handedly invent Western Swing back in the 1940s, but he became it’s most visible symbol even today. Wills and others combined traditional string band Country Music with jazz and ragtime elements. Once again African Americans made an impact on Country Music.
In fact, some folks find it hard to believe the African American impact on Country Music. The partner of a former Country Music grad class student found it hard to believe that the banjo was of African origin.
There are standards that folks know and love even today. You can’t go wrong with Take Me Back To Tulsa, Faded Love, or my favorite (New) San Antonio Rose. Just check out YouTube for loads of covers of San Antonio Rose by the likes of Merle Haggard, George Strait, Patsy Cline, Asleep At The Wheel, and June Carter Cash.
Second, the recent rattlin’ around in my cage of Bob Wills Is Still The King happened thanks to some English folks. Yes. None other than The Rolling Stones paid homage to Bob Wills in a Texas performance. Just like some of the Beatles….Ringo Starr grew up listening to Buck Owens and just released a Country Music album…some of the Rolling Stones grew up listening to Country Music. No wonder that in 2005 in Arlington, Texas The Rolling Stones performed Bob Wills Is Still The King.
The Rolling Stones version shows their love of Country Music. I shared it with a colleague and Country Music lover, at Tennessee Tech University. I needed his help with a problem in my online graduate course. After he told me the simple solution, I mentioned that The Rolling Stones performance of Bob Wills Is Still The King keeps going through my mind. I also sent him the link to the YouTube performance. He loved it.
Third, it prompted memories of the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival in Meridian, Mississippi. I got to do a short talk prior to a Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival performance that mentioned some of Jimmie Rodgers current family members. Right before, I was told to keep it short since the featured artist was backstage, ready to go, and shouldn’t be kept waiting. Guess what. The artist was Waylon Jennings. Yes. Waylon wrote Bob Wills Is Still The King.
I think I wore a brown suit with vest, white shirt, brown tie, and brown boots. Afterward, I learned that Waylon wasn’t antsy or irritated at waiting to start his performance. I did speed up the comments about the Rodgers family, though. I can’t remember if Miss Elise McWilliams…Jimmie’s sister in law…was still alive or not. Kind of think she might have been.
I also stumbled across Tasha Jackson on YouTube. All things considered folks tend to think of Country Music as just for white folks. Truth is that Country Music in all its styles reflects the tremendous influence of African Americans. You don’t have to be a fan of the Carolina Chocolate Drops to know that Country Music wouldn’t be what it is without the African American influence. That means that Tasha Jackson’s YouTube programs featuring traditional Country Music shouldn’t be surprising.
Tasha Jackson really enjoys Bob Wills Is Still The King. Just like she enjoys Ernest Tubb. Come to think of it, Ernest Tubb appeared at the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festival numerous times. Tubb loved Jimmie Rodgers. Tubb, like Bob Wills, grew up in Texas..
Besides memories of Waylon Jennings and The Rolling Stones the Jimmie Rodgers Memorial Festivals conjures up other memories from the early years of the International Country Music Conference. Cary Ginell presented about Western Swing. I learned the term “polygenetic.” Ginell believed that Bob Wills received too much emphasis in the development of Western Swing. There were lots of other bands that contributed to its development.
Milton Brown and his Music Brownies particularly deserved credit. Brown died in a 1936 car crash so he is rather easy to forget. Then again, this Texas Standard link shows Milton Brown ‘s memory is being kept alive. Ginell turned his Milton Brown passion into a book titled Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing.
Yet another unexpected turn of events is the Bob Wills Facebook pages. The Bob Wills Heritage Foundation Facebook page continually posts items to my Facebook page. In turn, almost daily I post some of their items on the International Country Music Conference Facebook page at least every week. I’ve also learned about the Bob Wills Day in his home town of Turkey, Texas. I must say that a former Administrative Associate in our department grew up in Turkey Texas. Yes, indeed, we talked about Bob Wills as well.
Western Swing and Bob Wills keeps coming into my life in form of the definitive Western Swing band Asleep At The Wheel. The origins of Asleep at the Wheel in Paw Paw, West Virginia don’t meet with the image of Bob Wills and Turkey Texas. But, Asleep At The Wheel has been Texas based since 1974. I’ve seen Asleep at The Wheel on the telly from time to time. And yes, they do Bob Wills Is Still The King. And, yes again, they did a Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys album. Of course, Asleep at The Wheel does some great Bob Wills covers such as New San Antonio Rose.
The major Asleep At The Wheel song that sticks with me deals with an iconic highway Route 66. Route 66 runs from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It’s been historically significant for westward migration, particularly in the Great Depression. I’ve had various students in my teaching methods class develop lesson plans about Route 66. I’ve played Asleep At The Wheel’s version of Get Your Kicks on Route 66 for my class. Take a look at the great work by an Elementary Education major who dealt with Route 66. Pretty impressive!
I also enjoyed seeing the origins of Route 66 in Chicago. LP (Life Partner) Mickie, daughter Ashley, and I flew to Chicago one Thanksgiving to see a Leonard Cohen concert. We visited the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue. Adams Street ends at Michigan Avenue at the Art Institute of Chicago. It has to end at Michigan Avenue otherwise it would go into Lake Michigan. It just so happens that the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Adams Street is the start of Route 66.
The Lions of the Art Institute of Chicago stand facing and watching the start of Route 66. You can see the Sears Tower…or what used to be called the Sears Tower… on Adams Street. Of course, Leonard Cohen recorded in Nashville and does a fine Tennessee Waltz cover. Take a look and listen. I like this Leonard Cohen Tennessee Waltz cover because it’s from Poland. In the introduction Leonard Cohen mentions a Polish Country Music Association.
Finally, there are indeed books about Bob Wills. Early on in my country Music odyssey I heard about Charles Townsend’s San Antonio Rose: The Life and Music of Bob Wills. Have I read it? No. Do I need to read it? Yes. But it’s very existence cued me into Bob Wills and Western Swing. Yes, there are other Bob Wills books which I’ve not read. At least I know I’ve read something about Bob Wills in books such as Bill C. Malone’s iconic Country Music U.S.A. I know that one way or another I’ll be reading about Bob Wills and Western Swing in various ways in the future.
Well, there you have it. Almost, that is. I just shared a Bob Wills post and pic by Cary Ginell that appeared on the Western Swing Facebook page. Take a look at the pic. We started with Bob Wills Is Still The King rattlin’ around in my brain. Songs have power. There is scientific evidence of the power of music. Bob Wills Is Still The King doesn’t just happen to be stored in my memory and pop up for several days. Manfred Clynes would refer to it as the “Pure Pulse of Musical Genius.” That’s the first bit of science and music I encountered. We won’t cite any more.
Bob Wills is still important. His music lives. No doubt Bob Wills is Still The King will pop up in my brain again sometime soon.
