1940-1947 Texas, Hollywood and Chicago

We ended our earlier collection of Bob Wills's recordings (JSP7770) with eight tracks from a Playboys' April 1940 session. This second collection begins with the remaining three titles from that date. Things were about to take off for Wills and company. San Antonio Rose had come to the attention of the Irving Berlin Incorporated Company. Here's the 1940 line-up - numbering seventeen - more than a match for big bands like those of Goodman, Miller and the Dorseys. And here's the amazingly successful San Antonio Rose and Big Beaver showing that Bob could compete with the best on any level. These tracks - some recorded during Bob's successful stay in Hollywood - show how he established himself as one of the era's leading entertainers and how he stayed there.