Read about the Sacramento Local Music Scene at Playlist Research Bob Wills Bob Wills was a country artist credited as a pioneer in western swing music who performed regularly in Sacramento in the late 1940s. He was born in Kosse, Texas has and his band The Playboys began to make their mark at a Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station KVOO in 1937 with a regular show. By then they were signed to Vocalion Records. In 1940 the band was signed to OKeh Records, in which they began to show up on national charts. Some of their several #1 hits included "Smoke On The Water," "New Spanish Two Step" and "Sugar Moon." By 1945 the band was signed to Columbia. The group started touring the nation in 1944. Bob opened a night club calls Wills Point on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento in 1947. Bob's brother Jack led the house band and they were featured on KCRA TV from 1958 to 1959. The club had one of the largest dance halls in Northern California on six acres of land. Bob's shows at the venue were broadcast on KFBK radio. His band also did radio shows for KGO in San Francisco. Wills moved back to Oklahoma in 1949, the year he issued his first major label album on Columbia. His next album in 1951 was on MGM. By 1955 he was on Decca Records then Liberty in 1960 and Kapp in 1966. In the 1970s his music appeared on a variety of labels, such as Vocalion, MCA, Columbia, United Artists and Capitol. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1968 then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Texas Playboys in 1999. He also appeared in 19 films starting in the early 1940s. Bob died in 1975 at age 70.
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