Oklahoma Seven - Text
Recorded by Professor Rena Cook, 2004. Edited Paul Meier 8.31.04. Running time 00:04:58
TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH
Well, Bob an’ five others, my Dad Johnny Lee Wills included, came up from Texas to, uh, Oklahoma in 1934. N’ there were six original Texas Playboys—you know—ya hear—that—a lot of the bands goin’ around now—or at least one—claimin’, uh, “Come hear the original Texas Playboys.” Well, I guess that some of those are original an’ not nearly all of ‘em are, but, uh, they’re original I guess in—in the fact that one time or other they maybe played on stage with Bob, but, uh, didn’t really travel with him, or on the payroll, you might say, but had the distinction of bein’ on—on stage with him n’ performin’ with him, whe—whether it be a—just a one night deal or maybe a tou—a little short tour, whatever. But, uh, and there are still few of those, like Curly Lewis, that are still alive, you know, uh, but they came here in ’34—the six of them—as the quote-unquote “original Texas Playboys,” ‘cause, you—only the first ones, in my opinion, can be original, you know, and, uh, Bob stayed here in Tulsa,uh, for eight years and in 1942 he left here and went to California—he went int’ th’ service. And, uh, Dad remained here all the rest of his life an’ kinda what you might say “picked up the torch” for Western swing in the Tulsa area and all aroun’ here, but Bob was on the coasts, while, uh, Dad was pretty much stationed ri—right here and played, you know, uh, not only in Tulsa but a lot o’ surrounding places around here that, uh, kinda hadda, oh, a little, uh, itinerary that they did, you know, kinda on a monthly basis at various places and give s—n’ take, you know, few along the way—they had some (unclear)—[Interviewer: Were they in the armed service musical (unclear)?] You know, I really don’t know, I think perhaps whuh—Bob I don’t think was in there, uh, like a full four years—so I think he did play some and, uh, I—I don’t know if he somehow, uh, medic’lly got a early discharge or whatever, but, uh, uh, that would again be information included in some of these books. But, uh, Dad he stayed here and, uhm, uh, gave up the tenor banjo—now he came up playin’ tenor banjo as one of the ‘riginal Texas Playboys, n’ when Bob left, he cashed in his tenor banjo n’ took up the fiddle n’ fronted the band—uh, from then on it’s called Johnny Lee Wills and All the Boys. And, uh, he fronted the, the band with his fiddle n’ put aside his banjo and he, uh, played every day at noon on KVOO Radio just as Bob had done when they came up, so he kinda picked that up an’ kept it goin’ and, uhm, I think 1958 was the last, uh, broadcast an’ at that time, uh, he had the longest running live radio program on radio in the country . . .
UNSCRIPTED SPEECH TRANSCRIBED BY SANDRA LINDBERG 22 APRIL, 2008.