Country Music’s All-time Ten Biggest Bands (2/10): Tex Williams: Artistry in Western Swing

Country Music’s All-time Ten Biggest Bands (2/10): Tex Williams: Artistry in Western Swing Along with the orchestra led by his former boss, Spade Cooley, smooth-toned vocalist Tex Williams and his band The Western Caravan were one of the most popular western swing bands on the hopping California music scene in the 1940s. Although not as well-known as figures like Bob Wills and Hank Thompson, Tex was an important player in the development of the genre. Like the aforementioned musicians, Tex helped transform country music from its rural, acoustic origins to a more danceable, refined swing-style with a much wider popular appeal. Tex Williams was born on August 23, 1917 in Ramsey, Illinois. During his teen years, he sang on a local station and joined a band under the name of Jack Williams before moving west to Los Angeles, California in 1942, just in time for western swing fever that was sweeping the state. One of the groups which played at the Venice Pier Ballroom in Venice, California was led by Jimmy Wakely with Spade Cooley on fiddle. Hundreds of people would turn out on Saturday night to swing and hop. The masses of people and dancers loved Cooley. When Wakely got a movie contract at Universal, Spade replaced him as the bandleader. To capitalize on the success of the Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan paring, Cooley hired vocalist Tex Williams. Ultimately, the orchestra’s success led to the dissolution of its most popular lineup. By 1946, Williams, the vocalist on all of the …