Johnnie Wills Lee - Band's A-Rockin': Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight [CD]

Welcome to a new edition of Bear Family's popular series "Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight," this time featuring none other than Johnnie Lee Wills!

Johnnie was the younger brother of Bob Wills, for whom he played tenor banjo during the early years of Bob's success. In 1940 Bob Wills decided to split up the Texas Playboys to meet the ever-growing demand for live appearances nationwide. To keep radio work and dances in their home base, Tulsa, steady, Bob entitled Johnnie Lee to remain in Oklahoma and form his own group - Johnnie Lee Wills and All the Boys.

This compilation offers many interesting sides issued on Decca, Bullet Records, and RCA Victor. The Decca and Bullet sides have long been unavailable on CD.

Johnnie Lee Wills did not record as much as his brother, but he had two major hits that helped define the genre and spur many cover versions: Rag Mop and Milk Cow Blues. Johnnie Lee Wills was quintessentially Western Swing and a great band leader, employing quality sidemen.

Deeply rooted in the rhythms and styles of the 1930s, Johnnie kept his arrangements tight, simple, and danceable. Thus, Johnnie Lee Wills and All the Boys were hugely successful with dancers, swinging and rocking Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa until disbanding in 1964! They also remained a radio fixture on KVOO, Tulsa, until 1958.

Rare, hot, and swinging - let's all ball with Johnnie Lee Wills and his Boys: Best on Bear Family Recordsr!

• Outstanding western swing from Bob Wills' younger brother Johnnie Lee in the long-running 'Gonna Shake This Shack' series on Bear Family Recordsr.
• Recordings for Decca, Bullet Records and RCA Victor from 1941 to 1953, including classics such as Rag Mop, Milk Cow Blues and Square Dance Boogie - some on CD for the first time in years.
• Carefully remastered from the best available sources.
• Liner notes by our expert Roland Heinrich Rumtreiber in the full-color illustrated booklet.

The Band's A-Rockin': Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight / Johnnie Lee Wills