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Showing posts with the label Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys

September 2: Happy Birthday, Johnnie Lee Wills

Perhaps once when you were enjoying the swinging dance music of Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, you wondered "how did one get to be a Playboy?" Well, being Bob's brother was the way Johnnie Lee Wills chose. The banjoist joined his brother on the road and in the studio, where the band hosted a show on Tulsa's KVOO.  Brother Bob set his compass for Hollywood, the band became " Johnnie Lee Wills and His Boys " and the show went on. Were they no longer playboys? Had they turned a new leaf and started practicing temperance? Probably not. In any event, the show ran exactly a quarter of a decade on KVOO, and did syndicated broadcasts after that. He also took the boys on the road. He and his family also ran a store that sold Western clothing. So let's salute a great musician and long-time radio host, born on this day in 1912.