This new 2-CD, 50-track set from Real Gone Music offers folks a
chance to own some of the most revered and rare s in the
history of American music. In 1946 and 1947, Bob Wills and His
Texas Playboys cut nearly 400 full songs for Tiffany Music, Inc.,
s that came to be known as the Tiffany Transcriptions.
These s were distributed only to radio stations on
16-inch transcription discs, and were intended for airplay as
part of a syndicated radio show featuring Wills and the Playboys.
However, the transcriptions proved to be a financial failure, and
Tiffany Music, Inc. folded by the end of the 40s, seemingly
relegating the Tiffany Transcriptions to obscurity (and leaving
over 200 songs in the can). But that was not the end of the
story. The Tiffany Transcriptions were unlike anything else in
the King of Western Swing s discography. Typically recorded on a
Monday in between tours, they usually consisted of on-the-spot
arrangements of everything from Wills hits to western swing
standards to sentimental ballads to blues and hot swing
instrumentals, and the 16 , 33 1/3 rpm format allowed
some of the songs to be longer than the normal, three-minute
limitation of the 10-inch, 78 rpm commercial records of the day.
This meant that Wills and his incredible band with the great
Tommy Duncan on vocals had a chance to stretch out and have fun
with the material. The result: the Tiffany Transcriptions are
generally regarded as the best s Bob Wills and His Texas
Playboys ever made. For decades, the Tiffany Transcriptions were
more legend than fact. Collectors passed copies of them around on
poorly recorded reel-to-reel tapes and, later, cassettes.
Finally, in the early 80s, Kaleido Records began releasing a
series of vinyl volumes of the Tiffany Transcriptions, followed
by a CD release on Kaleido and Rhino Records in the 90s. To
date, however, less than half of the songs recorded by Wills and
the Playboys have seen the light of day since the original
transcription pressings of the 40s. Flash forward 60 years. One
day, Warner/Rhino tape vault honcho Mike Johnson spies the master
tape reels for the Kaleido Records releases on the shelf but
what s on those 49 other tape reels right next to them?! That s
right: only the biggest discovery in American popular music this
millennium, all the missing s Wills and his band made
for Tiffany, both released and unreleased. Now, Bob Wills and His
Texas Playboys: Riding Your Way The Lost Transcriptions for
Tiffany Music, 1946-1947 presents 50 of those long-lost
transcription sides--20 of them never released even on
transcription disc--inside a package worthy of the material, a
6-panel DVD-style digipak featuring photos and memorabilia from
the collection of Kaleido Records co-founder Tom Diamant.
The 20-page, DVD-sized booklet includes notes featuring quotes
from the original Playboys by Western Swing expert Cary Ginell,
plus a foreword from Johnson (who co-pr Disc 1 1. PUT ANOTHER
CHAIR AT THE TABLE 2. MAKE ROOM IN YOUR HEART FOR A FRIEND 3. I
CAN’T BEGIN TO TELL YOU 4. NO LETTER TODAY 5. THE COVERED WAGON
ROLLED RIGHT ALONG 6. BRUSHY FORK (Instrumental) 7. YELLOW ROSE
OF TEXAS 8. COLUMBUS STOCKADE BLUES (Version 1) 9. PARADISE ISLE
(Instrumental) 10. I WONDER IF YOU FEEL THE WAY I DO 11. A YEAR
AGO TONIGHT 12. BROWN SKIN GAL (Instrumental) 13. RIDE ON! (MY
PRAIRIE PINTO) 14. TRAVELIN’ BLUES 15. DEAR OLD SOUTHERN HOME 16.
LIBERTY (Instrumental) 17. WE MIGHT AS WELL FORGET IT 18.
GOODNIGHT LITTLE SWEETHEART 19. ON THE ALAMO (Instrumental) 20.
TOO LATE 21. SIXTEEN DAYS IN GEORGIA (Instrumental) 22. EL RANCHO
GRANDE 23. UNDER THE DOUBLE EAGLE (Instrumental) 24. IT MAKES NO
DIFFERENCE NOW 25. RAGTIME ANNIE (Instrumental) Disc 2 1. SALLY
JOHNSON (Instrumental) 2. SILVER DEW ON THE BLUE GRASS TONIGHT 3.
NO WONDER (THAT I LOVE YOU) 4. I KNEW THE MOMENT I LOST YOU 5.
I’M THINKING TONIGHT OF MY BLUE EYES 6. LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND
7. RIVER STAY ’WAY FROM MY DOOR 8. SOLDIER’S JOY (Instrumental)
(Version 2) 9. HAVE I STAYED AWAY TOO LONG 10. MARGIE 11. MY WILD
IRISH ROSE 12. TAKE ME BACK TO MY BOOTS AND SADDLE 13. YOU ARE MY
SUNSHINE 14. SHE’S KILLING ME 15. DETOUR 16. BUBBLES IN MY
17. DON’T BE ASHAMED OF YOUR AGE 18. BE HONEST WITH ME 19. DON’T
FENCE ME IN (Take 2) 20. I’M AN OLD COWHAND (Take 2) 21. DON’T
YOU HEAR JERUSALM MOAN (Take 2) 22. MY LITTLE BUCKAROO (Take 3)
23. EACH MINUTE SEEMS LIKE A MILLION YEARS 24. SHE’S GONE 25.
STILL WATER RUNS THE DEEPEST