Tex Williams

American singer-songwriter (1917–1985)

Tex Williams

Williams in 1967

Background information
Birth name| Sollie Paul Williams
Born| (1917-08-23)August 23, 1917
Origin| Ramsey, Illinois, United States
Died| October 11, 1985(1985-10-11) (aged 68)
Newhall, California, United States
Genres|

* Western swing
* country

Occupation| Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)| vocals, guitar, Harmonica
Years active| 1946–1978

Musical artist

Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985)[1] was an American Western swing singer and musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held the number-one position on the Billboard chart for 16 weeks in 1947. "Smoke" was the number-five song on Billboard's Top 100 list for 1947, and was number one on the country chart that year.[2]

## Life and career

[edit]

He was born in Ramsey, Illinois, United States.[1] Williams started out in the early 1940s as vocalist for the band of Western swing king Spade Cooley, based in Venice, California.[1]

Williams' backing band, the Western Caravan, numbered about a dozen members. They originally played polkas for Capitol Records, and later had success with "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke", written in large part by Merle Travis.[3]

In April 1956, Williams appeared on the Chrysler-sponsored CBS TV broadcast, Shower of Stars.[4]

Williams died of pancreatic cancer on October 11, 1985.[1][5]

## Filmography

[edit]

Williams and the Western Caravan appeared in these films:

* Tex Williams and His Western Caravan (1947)
* Tex Williams and Orchestra in Western Whoopee (1948)
* The Pecos Pistol (1949)
* Tex Williams' Western Varieties (1951)

## Discography

[edit]

### Albums

[edit]

Williams collection album cover Year  | Album  | US Country | Label

|
|
|

1955  | Country and Western Dance-O-Rama No. 5 |  | Decca
1960  | Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! |  | Capitol
1962  | Country Music Time |  | Decca
1963  | Voice of Authority |  | Imperial
1963  | Tex Williams in Las Vegas |  | Liberty
1966  | Two Sides of Tex Williams | 26  | Boone
1971  | A Man Called Tex | 38  | Monument
1974  | Those Lazy, Hazy Days |  | Granite
1977  | The Legendary Tex Williams: Then... Now |  | Corral
1996  | Vintage Collections: Tex Williams & His Western Caravan |  | Capitol

### Singles

[edit]

Year  | Single  | Chart Positions  | Album

|
|
|

US Country | US
1946  | "The California Polka"  | 4  |  | singles only
1947  | "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)"  | 1  | 1
"That's What I Like About the West"  | 4  |
"Never Trust a Woman"  | 8  |
1948  | "Don't Telephone – Don't Telegraph (Tell a Woman)"  | 2  |
"Suspicion"  | 4  |
"Banjo Polka"  | 5  |
"Who? Me?"  | 6  |
"Foolish Tears"  | 15  |
"Talking Boogie"  | 6  |
"Just a Pair of Blue Eyes"  | 13  |
"Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don't It?"  | 5  | 27
1949  | "(There's a) Bluebird On Your Windowsill"  | 11  |
1965  | "Too Many Tigers"  | 26  |  | Two Sides of Tex Williams
"Big Tennessee"  | 30  |
1966  | "Bottom of a Mountain"  | 18  |
"First Step Down"  |  |  | singles only
"Another Day, Another Dollar in the Hole"  | 44  |
1967  | "Crazy Life"  |  |
"Black Jack County"  | 57  |
"She's Somebody Else's Heartache Now"  |  |
1968  | "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke – '68"  | 32  |
"Here's to You and Me"  | 45  |
"Tail's Been Waggin' the Dog"  |  |
1970  | "Big Oscar"  |  |  | A Man Called Tex
"It Ain't No Big Thing"  | 50  |
1971  | "The Night Miss Nancy Ann's Hotel
for Single Girls Burned Down"A | 29  |
1972  | "Everywhere I Go (He's Already Been There)"  | 67  |
"Glamour of the Night Life (Is Calling Me Again)"  |  |  | singles only
"Tennessee Travelin'"  |  |
"Cynthia Ann"  |  |
1974  | "Is This All You Hear (When a Heart Breaks)"  |  |  | Those Lazy, Hazy Days
"Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer"  | 70  |
"Bum Bum Bum"  |  |
1978  | "Make It Pretty for Me Baby"  |  |  | single only

* A"The Night Miss Nancy Ann's Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down" peaked at No. 27 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 454\. ISBN 0-85112-726-6.
2. ^ "Tex Williams | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
3. ^ "Tex Williams : Biography". CMT. Archived from the original on April 17, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
4. ^ Disk Talent Feature of 'Stars' Show. Billboard, April 14, 1956. p. 36
5. ^ Kienzle, Southwest Shuffle, p. 99: "In 1985, he died of pancreatic cancer (not lung cancer, as was widely reported)."

## References

[edit]

* Kienzle, Rich. Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz. New York: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-94102-4
* Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1

## External links

[edit]

* Tex Williams at IMDb
* Tex Williams at Allmusic

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* Finland

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* Discography of American Historical Recordings

People|

* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC