Have you ever wished you could have lived in another era? While I don’t wish to have lived during another time, there are happenings I wish I could have experienced from the past.
A few years back my wife and I and another couple were spending some time in the hill country of west Texas; a very pretty area. One day found us in Gruene, Texas. The oldest continuous dance hall is in Gruene, and we got to experience a bit of that history. It is said that dances began at this hall dating back to the 1890s’ and are still going on today.
I wish just once I could have been at that hall on some Saturday night in say the 1940s’when the great popularity of the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills, and his band would have been playing. It would have been special to hear his music and see those real cowboys dance their girls around the floor.
I have tried to acquaint our six grand kids to a lot of different types of music. This past week our sixteen year granddaughter (now eighteen) (Sloan) made my day when I was driving her to music camp here in Nashville. She said, “Pop Pop play some music by that guy from Texas, the guy that talks while his band is playing and often you hear him go “Ah Ha.” Immediately I knew who she meant, Bob Wills.
Where you tip your hats to the ladies and the rose of San Antone
I grew up on music that we called Western Swing
It don’t matter who’s in Austin, Bob Wills is still the king
Lord I can still remember, the way things were back then
In spite of all the hard times, I’d live them all again
To hear the Texas Playboys and Tommy Duncan sing
Makes me proud to be from Texas where Bob Wills is still the king
You can hear the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville Tennessee
It’s the home of country music, on that we all agree
But when you cross that ol’ Red River hoss that just don’t mean a thing
‘Cause once you down in Texas, Bob Wills is still the king
Well if you ain’t never been there then I guess you ain’t been told
That you just can’t live in Texas unless you got a lot of soul
It’s the home of Willie Nelson, the home of Western Swing
He’ll be the first to tell you, Bob Wills is still the king
“Once you cross that old Red River, Bob Willis is still the King.”
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May 13, 2014
Keep on,
Larry Adamson