Texana Thursday: Bob Wills and A Song of Ole San Antone

Texas has no shortage of songs written about it. Among the most famous is “San Antonio Rose,” written and performed by James Robert “Bob” Wills. In addition to his singing, he became a music pioneer, helping to develop a genre of music that became known Western Swing.

There were, in fact, two versions of the San Antonio Rose song. The first was an instrumental, released in 1938. Willis wrote lyrics and rereleased it in 1940, calling it the “New San Antonio Rose.”

Listen to the original song here

Listen to the song, with lyrics, here

Wills was born in 1905 in Kosse, Texas, 44 miles southeast of Waco. His family moved to a ranch between Memphis and Estelline, Texas, approximately 130 miles northeast of Lubbock. He grew up in nearby Turkey, Texas. He learned to play the violin, but held a number of jobs before venturing into music.

A publicity photograph of Bob Wills

He moved to Fort Worth, where the Western Swing started to become popular. The music drew from blues and jazz, both of which reached new heights of popularity in the 1920s.

Wills joined a band, the Light Crust Doughboys, and had a contentious relationship with the band’s organizer and leader, Wilbert Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel. The Light Crust Doughboys became part of Texas folklore, as O’Daniel parlayed the band’s popularity into a successful bid for the Texas governorship in 1938. O’Daniel later served as a U.S. senator.

After leaving the Light Crust Doughboys, Wills moved to Oklahoma and formed his own band, which became known as Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. In those days a band would be headquartered in a given city, playing its music live on the radio.

After serving in the Army during World War II, Wills and the Texas Playboys resumed their performing career. They toured, cut records, and Wills even performed in some movies. The band remained popular and successful, even as tastes changed and the Western Swing found less radio airtime.

In 1968, Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. After suffering a series of health setbacks, he died in 1975. Wills was buried in Tulsa, where he and his Texas Playboys enjoyed some of their greatest success.

Texas still claims Wills as one of its own. His hometown, Turkey, hosts a Bob Wills Day each April. Turkey is also home to the Bob Wills Museum, where visitors can learn about the man and his music.

As for the San Antonio Rose song, many musicians have covered it over the years, including such luminaries as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and George Strait.