Bob Wills - The King of Swing

Bob Wills is considered the King of Western Swing and a man who melded many different musical genres together in the 30's and 40's to create something quite different and entertaining.

The sound is sometimes so mixed and eclectic that it is almost hard to wrap your head around what they were doing! Early country is mixed with hillbilly/bluegrass, mixed with jazz/boogie-woogie mixed with Tin Pan Alley pop! Frankly, I like it best when he stays a little more traditional with swinging bluegrass-inspired country, though it is all interesting and I do like the groundbreaking concepts that still sound odd to this day.

There's plenty of variety here, from almost barbershop quartet-sounding harmonies and super slick, commercial sounding pop, to fiddle workouts, to uptempo, early rock'n'roll rhythms that wouldn't sound out of place for Bill Hailey.

Again, I am just learning about many of these early country pioneers and my tastes may evolve as I listen more, but, while not one of my new faves, I certainly appreciate the inventiveness!