Previously Unreleased Recording of Bob Wills Discovered

A previously unreleased and unknown recording of Bob Wills has been discovered by a fan and former musician is available for purchase on bobwills.com.

From takecountryback.com:

An unknown recording of Western Swing legend Bob Wills has been discovered that has never been released to the public. Austin resident Dwight Adair, owner of www.bobwills.com learned of the recording’s existence through an email message sent to him by a Bob Wills fan and former musician Gary Frietag of Florida. Mr. Frietag revealed to Mr. Adair that the recording was made on a reel-to-reel tape deck by a musician friend, Ray Riggs, also of Florida. Mr. Riggs made the recording in a hotel in Fresno, California, in 1949/50 when Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were appearing there. Mr. Riggs has kept the tape recording, for all these years, hoping to find the appropriate person(s) or organization to which he could entrust the recording for posterity.

Mr. Riggs states, “I tried to contact the Wills estate but never heard back from them. So I just kept it, hoping that someday it would see the light of day.”

It’s been over fifty years since the recording was made.

“I was dumbfounded when I learned of the recording,” Mr. Adair says. “To think this recording has existed all these years and has never been released is absolutely amazing.”