Tex Williams
Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! ", which held the number one position on the Billboard charts for sixteen weeks in 1947. "Smoke" was the No. 5 song on Billboard's Top 100 list for 1947, and was No. 1 on the country chart that year. It can be heard during the opening credits of the 2006 movie Thank You for Smoking.
Life and career
Williams started out in the early 1940s as vocalist for the band of Western Swing king Spade Cooley, based in Venice, California.Williams' backing band The Western Caravan numbered about a dozen members. They originally played polkas for Capitol Records, and later saw success with "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke" written in large part by Merle Travis.
In April 1956 Williams appeared on the Chrysler-sponsored CBS TV broadcast Shower of Stars.
Williams died of pancreatic cancer on October 11, 1985.
Filmography
Williams and the Western Caravan appeared in the following films:- Tex Williams and His Western Caravan
- Tex Williams & Orchestra in Western Whoopee
- Tex Williams' Western Varieties
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
| 1955 | Country and Western Dance-O-Rama 5 | Decca | |
| 1960 | Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! | Capitol | |
| 1962 | Country Music Time | Decca | |
| 1963 | Live in Las Vegas | Liberty | |
| 1966 | A Voice of Authority | Imperial | |
| 1966 | Two Sides of Tex Williams | 26 | Boone |
| 1971 | A Man Called Tex | 38 | Monument |
| 1974 | Those Lazy, Hazy Days | Granite |
Singles
- 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.