Monday, April 27, 2009

Song Of The Day #027

Bill Boyd (1910-1977) was born on a ranch near Ladonia, TX, and grew up as a working cowboy, which may be why he stuck to straight western swing without the horns and other adornments used by some of his contemporaries. Bill and his younger brother Jim made their debut in 1926 on radio station KFPM in Greenville, Texas. The first incarnation of the Cowboy Ramblers was in 1932 on WRR. Bill and his band moved to San Antonio in 1934 and cut their first sides for Bluebird. They would eventually record 229 singles. Boyd retired from the music business in the early 50's and was poshumously inducted into the Texas Westerm Swing Hall of Fame.

Today's selection is the 1935 tune "Thousand Mile Blues" by Bill Boyd & The Cowboy Ramblers. There's several collections of Boyd's music, such as Saturday Night Rag: 1934-1936 and Lone Star Rag: 1937-1949, Vol. 2. Or, you can go to Western Swing On 78 and download from the original 78s.


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