Oklahoma Historical Society releases rare Bob Wills recordings

Some of the material donated to an effort to build the OKPOP Museum in Tulsa led to a side project that has now borne fruit: A vinyl album of rare recordings featuring Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

The Oklahoma Historical Society obtained some 500 songs recorded on 16-inch acetate discs.

It's believed they had passed from Wills' private collection, to his wife, to a former drummer for the band.

They were recorded during live radio broadcasts Wills did in California in the 1940s and possibly early 1950s.

Of the 500 or so songs, an expert told OHS roughly fifty could be digitized and cleaned up enough to release.

The album "Let's Play, Boys!" includes twelve of those tracks, taken from recordings made in 1949 for a radio program sponsored by the Crosley Automobile Company.

The songs are:

• I Thank You Mr. Moon Intro/ I Thank You Mr. Moon
• Draggin' the Bow
• Sittin' On Top of the World
• Take Me Back to Tulsa
• Little Coquette
• Ida Red
• Bob Talks
• Blues for Dixie
• There'll Be Some Changes Made
• Jesse Polka
• Sugar Blues
• A Little Bird Told Me
• Bring It On Down to My House, Honey  

Click here to visit the OHS website and order the LP.