Bob Wills Legends of Country Music 4-CD boxed set

[Edward]

Although small in comparison to either of the two Bear Family sets, this four-disc set from Columbia appears to provide a good overview of Bob Will's entire career. I picked up two copies of this box (one for me and one for a friend for Christmas) at a price of $19.97 each (50% off!) at Amazon.com. My shipment just arrived in the mail today, and I am looking forward to listening to some great country swing this weekend.

The 50% markdown is odd considering that the set was only released earlier this year, but at $19.97 (with no state sales tax and free shipping if your order reaches $25.00) I am not asking many questions.

Those interested may find the links below useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Legends-Country-Musi...TF8&s=music

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:w1ae4jo78wal

[chris olivarez]

I may have to pick this up at some time. I've always dug Bob.

[Big Beat Steve]

Looks like this was compiled from his 30s and early 40s recordings so should be a great alternative to the Bear Family set (unless you are a completist, of course).

If you want to explore the man further, don't overlook the Tiffany Transcriptions series. Vastly superior to much of his MGM and other post-war stuff (such as the Liberty remakes and the dull Kapp material)! Time they repackaged this in a comprehensive box set at a price to match

Edited November 8, 2006 by Big Beat Steve

[paul secor]

A second on the Tiffany Transcriptions - essential recordings for a Bob Wills collection.

[WD45]

Too many shouts of "A-Haaaaa" for these ears. Just can't hang. A one-disc comp is enough for me!

At least Keith Jarrett varies his vocalizations...

[Quincy]

Too many shouts of "A-Haaaaa" for these ears. Just can't hang. A one-disc comp is enough for me!

OUCH!

It's an aquired taste I suppose so I understand. It might help if you A-Haaaaa right back with him.

At least Keith Jarrett varies his vocalizations...

Oh yeah, a third or fourth it for the Tiffanys.

[Hot Ptah]

Bob's "hollers" are one of the charms of his music. There is a song, "What Makes Bob Holler?", on his last recording session. Bob sings the answer in a halting way--he had a stroke and could barely speak at the time. The gist of his answer is that when he saw an attractive woman while playing, he let out with his "holler."

Edited November 8, 2006 by Hot Ptah

[Spontooneous]

For comical effect, my father will let out an "Ahh-hah!" when music is playing. Just about any music. Bob Wills, Stravinsky, Coltrane.

Well, it's funny the first few times.

[Hot Ptah]

For comical effect, my father will let out an "Ahh-hah!" when music is playing. Just about any music. Bob Wills, Stravinsky, Coltrane.

Well, it's funny the first few times.

I think that some well placed "Ahh-hahs!" might have made "Ascension" or "Om" easier to take in.

[paul secor]

Bob's "hollers" are one of the charms of his music. There is a song, "What Makes Bob Holler?", on his last recording session. Bob sings the answer in a halting way--he had a stroke and could barely speak at the time. The gist of his answer is that when he saw an attractive woman while playing, he let out with his "holler."

That last recording session, For the Last Time, is another very fine one. I've had it since it came out in the mid-seventies, and still enjoy it whenever I play it.

[WD45]

Too many shouts of "A-Haaaaa" for these ears. Just can't hang. A one-disc comp is enough for me!

OUCH!

It's an aquired taste I suppose so I understand. It might help if you A-Haaaaa right back with him.

Kinda like Flavor Flav's "yeeeah boyyyyy" thing, maybe. :bwallace2:

[Neal Pomea]

It's not just the Ah ha's. At least on the Tiffany Transcriptions, he makes comments sort of like Popeye muttered under his breath, and sometimes they are hilarious! You can hear Tommy Duncan laugh on some of them while trying to sing.

[Hot Ptah]

It's not just the Ah ha's. At least on the Tiffany Transcriptions, he makes comments sort of like Popeye muttered under his breath, and sometimes they are hilarious! You can hear Tommy Duncan laugh on some of them while trying to sing.

There are some good ones on the studio version of "Bubbles in My Beer", too. I have always found it compelling in a strange way to consider his little, high pitched voice coming out of such a large, vigorous person.

[Big Beat Steve]

There are some good ones on the studio version of "Bubbles in My Beer", too. I have always found it compelling in a strange way to consider his little, high pitched voice coming out of such a large, vigorous person.

Ehhh .. large??

You are not confusing Bob Wills with his brothers Johnnie Lee or Luke or with Tommy Duncan, are you?

They certainly were "large" but next to them and others on the bandstand Bob Wills looked neither very large nor very tall, just average.

[Kalo]

Too many shouts of "A-Haaaaa" for these ears. Just can't hang. A one-disc comp is enough for me!

Though I have a hard time with it myself, Bob Wills's signature "A-Haaaaa" thing made a lot of sense back in the 78 rpm days when bands would release a new disc to the jukebox trade every few weeks or so. Whenever they heard that identifying cry, listeners realized that they were hearing the new Bob Wills. But on a CD (not to mention LP) what was a canny week-to-week branding thing in its day becomes a major annoyance when repeated ad infinitum track after track.

However, I can imagine such "signatures" coming back in the current musical climate, as the kids today have a "single" or "track" orientation in this downloading age. Individual rappers's trademark cameos on different tracks are a harbinger of this...

[Hot Ptah]

There are some good ones on the studio version of "Bubbles in My Beer", too. I have always found it compelling in a strange way to consider his little, high pitched voice coming out of such a large, vigorous person.

Ehhh .. large??

You are not confusing Bob Wills with his brothers Johnnie Lee or Luke or with Tommy Duncan, are you?

They certainly were "large" but next to them and others on the bandstand Bob Wills looked neither very large nor very tall, just average.

I may be wrong--I was just going off of photos and film footage of the band in concert. I never saw them live.

[Big Beat Steve]

Neither did I, of course.

But looking at period photographs, it is striking how his vocalist Tommy Duncan towered next to him on quite a few pics - same with his brother Johnnie Lee and a few other front-line band members. They were... well ... a bit portly, you might say (more than Bob was, anyway). But what does it matter in the end ....

[WD45]

Too many shouts of "A-Haaaaa" for these ears. Just can't hang. A one-disc comp is enough for me!

Though I have a hard time with it myself, Bob Wills's signature "A-Haaaaa" thing made a lot of sense back in the 78 rpm days when bands would release a new disc to the jukebox trade every few weeks or so. Whenever they heard that identifying cry, listeners realized that they were hearing the new Bob Wills. But on a CD (not to mention LP) what was a canny week-to-week branding thing in its day becomes a major annoyance when repeated ad infinitum track after track.

However, I can imagine such "signatures" coming back in the current musical climate, as the kids today have a "single" or "track" orientation in this downloading age. Individual rappers's trademark cameos on different tracks are a harbinger of this...

Rapper Mike Jones is a master of this. You know it is Mike Jones because in every song he appears on he says "Mike Jooooooones." Make no mistake.

[king ubu]

Bumping this up... got both of Wills' JSP sets cheaply this weekend (covering 1935-1940 and 1940-1947, respectively), enjyoing the first one now!

Lengthy write-up on Wills here:

http://www.rousefamily.com/rock_roots/?p=3652

Edited February 6, 2012 by king ubu

[Big Beat Steve]

Bumping this up... got both of Wills' JSP sets cheaply this weekend (covering 1935-1940 and 1940-1947, respectively), enjyoing the first one now!

Lengthy write-up on Wills here:

http://www.rousefamily.com/rock_roots/?p=3652

Since a quick search on Amazon didn't yield too many details, just a quick question regarding the SECOND (1940-47) of your JSP sets: Does this also included cloumbia/Okeh STUDIO recordings only (making them redundant with the Bear Family box set which includes a total of some 257 tracks from Bob Wills' Columbia/Okeh studio years)? Or are there other sources (transcriptions etc.) that have been incorporated into this second set?

Edited February 6, 2012 by Big Beat Steve

[AllenLowe]

just an aside - those "Ahhhs" are minstrel things - same thing Emmett Miller used to do; you can hear them on some Al Bernard records, and even on one version of Marion Harris singing "After You've Gone."

[king ubu]

Bumping this up... got both of Wills' JSP sets cheaply this weekend (covering 1935-1940 and 1940-1947, respectively), enjyoing the first one now!

Lengthy write-up on Wills here:

http://www.rousefamily.com/rock_roots/?p=3652

Since a quick search on Amazon didn't yield too many details, just a quick question regarding the SECOND (1940-47) of your JSP sets: Does this also included cloumbia/Okeh STUDIO recordings only (making them redundant with the Bear Family box set which includes a total of some 257 tracks from Bob Wills' Columbia/Okeh studio years)? Or are there other sources (transcriptions etc.) that have been incorporated into this second set?

Tracklists are all that's around, I think... haven't yet started with Vol. 2, but here's the dates given for the 1940-47 sessions:

Vol. 1 CD4 ends with eight tracks from Saginaw, TX - 1940-04-15

Then the 1940-47 set contains:

CD1:

Saginaw, TX - 1940-04-15 (ctd, 3 tracks)

Saginaw, TX - 1940-04-16 (3)

Fort Worth, TX - 1941-02-24 (3)

Fort Worth, TX - 1941-02-25 (3)

Fort Worth, TX - 1941-02-26 (2)

Hollywood, CA - 1941-07-23 (5)

Hollywood, CA - 1941-07-24 (5 + prob. #1 from disc 2, "My Life's Been a Pleasure" - copy/paste mistake in booklet there)

CD2:

Hollywood, CA - 1942-07-14 (5)

Hollywood, CA - 1942-07-15 (5)

Hollywood, CA - 1942-07-16 (2)

Hollywood, CA - 1945-01-26 (6)

Hollywood, CA - 1945-01-28 (2)

Hollywood, CA - 1945-04-20 (3)

Hollywood, CA - 1945-10-03 (1)

CD3:

Hollywood, CA - 1945-10-03 (ctd.) (3)

Hollywood, CA - 1946-09-04 (3)

Hollywood, CA - 1946-09-05 (5)

Hollywood, CA - 1946-09-06 (4)

Chicago, IL - 1947-10-15 (6)

Chicago, IL - 1947-10-16 (4)

CD4:

Chicago, IL - 1947-10-16 (ctd) (2)

Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA - 1947-10-30 (10)

Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA - 1947-10-31 (5)

Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA - 1947-11-10 (4)

Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA - 1947-11-12 (4)

Tracklist can be found here:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/texas-hollywood-and-chicago-1940-1947-r2141389

Not sure if this helps... haven't checked the booklets about any label information...

[Big Beat Steve]

Thanks very much, King Ubu. Looks like that 2nd set has all the Columbia/Okehs from that period (minus the originally unissued ones that Bear Family DID include in their set) and then the Radio Recorders 1947 sessions on CD 4 are MGM masters (that duplicate the Bear Family "Papas Jumpin" vinyl box set and likely other CD reissues that have been released in the meantime).

Pity ... None of the 1944 AFRS radio transcriptions (but I guess that would have been wishful thinking with this kind of box sets ).

But nice enough anyway (and affordable) for those who so far have none of the early Bob Wills records.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Big Beat Steve

[king ubu]

Honestly, I'd never have bought any Bob Wills if not for these offers (got each of them for under 10€, would have payed twice as much or more, as well). Anyway, for the time being, I guess Wills' final album ("For the Last Time") is next up on the shopping list, and that will leave me covered at least for some time.

[Afric Pepperbird]

While I love Bob Wills to death, there's really no better homage/cover/whatever-you-call-it than the very excellent Pine Valley Cosmonauts salute to him. It's a 5-star gem of an album.

http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/salute-majesty-bob-wills