For the Last Time

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For the Last Time
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  1. Audio CD: Release Date 1994-04-19
  2. Publisher: Capitol
  3. Artist: Bob Wills
  4. Sales Rank in Music: #31356

Product Review

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In 1973, 40 years after founding the Texas Playboys, Bob Wills gathered many of his Playboy stars from the past in a Dallas studio for a final hurrah. On December 2 the Playboy alumni enjoyed a homecoming meal at the Wills house, and the following day they entered the studio as Wills guided the session from his wheelchair (put there by a debilitating stroke in 1969). Among the musicians were three vital contributors to the very first Playboy session in Dallas in 1935--pianist Al Stricklin, drummer Smokey Dacus, and steel player Leon McAuliffe--as well as guitar great Eldon Shamblin (who joined in 1937) and disciple Merle Haggard, who'd waxed his own Wills tribute in 1970. With Wills mustering only the meekest of hollers, the Playboys joyously rolled through an assortment of Wills favorites, not knowing they would never see their leader again. Tired from the session, Wills left after only six songs and was unable to return for the next day's session. With Hoyle Nix filling in for Wills, the musicians completed the record with tears in their eyes. Wills had a second stroke the next day, lapsed into a coma, and never regained consciousness, perhaps content in his final long sleep for having heard his distinctive music one last time. --Marc Greilsamer
Title Tracks for For the Last Time

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I wonder why I dont listen to it all the time!, June 16, 2003
Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: For the Last Time (Audio CD)
I have hundreds of CDs, and more tapes. If I had to have one, this would be it. This is a masterwork. In fact, thinking about it, I wonder why I dont listen to it all the time!
Wills is joined by the best of the survivors (although I would have preferred having Joe Holly there along with Johnnie and Keith), along with Tommy Allsup (bass player in Johnnie Lee Will's band and in the second edition of Buddy Holly's Crickets) Haggard, Jody and Hoyle Nix (whose band Wills performed with after the Playboys disbanded). Smokey Montgomery the virtuoso tenor banjo player of the Light Crust Dough Boys ran the control boards. Wills suffered a stroke the second day of the session and never recovered full consciousness.
The work is superb. Even though all of these men had worked with Wills in the 30s and 1940s, it's all up to date. I think a lot of it invokes some of the advances in Western Swing represented by Leon McAuliffe's Western Swing Band, particularly the jazzy and quirky...Read more


12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking Final Farewell From a Living Legend, January 3, 2006
James Morris (Jackson Heights, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: For the Last Time (Audio CD)
There is pure magic in this album, which has been one of my favorites for years. I have often named Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys as my favorite band. Although I am very fond of his 1930's and 1940's recordings, this album is special.

As others have noted, Bob only participated in a quarter of the songs that appear on this album. The next day, he had his final stroke and entered a coma from which he did not regain consciousness, and died about a year later. An oft-told story is how the Playboys did San Antonio Rose with tears streaming down their faces, as they knew they would never see their beloved leader again.

Bob Wills left a legacy of hundreds of wonderful recordings, and if you like this one, I urge to check out his classic records from the 1930's and 1940's (his 1950's and 1960's sessions aren't bad, either).

There are two comments here that I would like to correct - the original vinyl album contained every track on this CD; nothing is...Read more


11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars "The Last Time" brings it full circle, July 4, 1999
cwjaj@aol.com (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: For the Last Time (Audio CD)
Bob Wills bucked the odds and and played his own brand of ecclectic Western/Swing (he pretty much invented the genre) much to the raised eyebrows of "legite" musicians of his day. Unwittingly, he created a monster. This album was concieved and recorded by those who loved him and helped create the Legend of Bob Wills, The Texas Playboys. Knowing his days were numbered, they gathered in Dallas TX in 1973 and made these cuts with their old master (wheelchair bound) and paid homage. Bob made it through the first day's session and managed a few "Ah haas!" to the delight of the old guard. He suffered a stroke and fell into a coma the following night. The Playboys completed the session the next day without his watchful eye. The music is sweet, poignant and necessary for every seeker of a slice of western music. Bob's last few strained hollers in these cuts mark the end of a voice that will haunt generations of music lovers come. A must for your collection of...Read more

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