Got My Dancin' Boots On

Click on any of the following song titles to read a description of the song and to hear a brief sample.

1. Goin’ To The Barn Dance 2:46 2. Somebody’s Been Using That Thing 2:53 3. That Brown Skin Gal 1:59 4. Solita 3:28 5. Who Walks In When I Walk Out 2:59 6. Oh Baby Blues 3:33 7. Corn Shucks 2:25 8. Some Of These Days 2:34 9. Tunes From Home Schottische 2:19 10. The Painting 2:28 11. Jessie Polka 2:19 12. Mineola Rag 2:15 13. Going Back To My Texas Home 3:04 14. Draggin’ The Bow 1:53 15. Everybody’s Tryin’ To Be My Baby 2:15 16. Don’t Let The Deal Go Down 2:15 17. Beaumont Rag 2:00 18. Barnacle Bill The Sailor 2:18 19. Harvest Hop-Charles L. Johnson’s Barn Dance 3:16 20. Ragged Edges 3:25 21. Blessed Be The Name 2:31

Pat Ireland—fiddle Harvey Heidbreder—bass, back-up vocals Steve Philpott—dobro Kevin Sanders: guitar, vocals, banjo-guitar, piano, harmonica

Kevin Sanders P.O. Box 209 Bonner Springs, KS 66012-0209 www.sandersmusic.com ©2003 by Kevin Sanders Ragged But Right Records RBR101

Western Swing is a style of music that developed in the Southwest, initially in Fort Worth, Texas, during the 1930s, then spread throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and California before becoming a nation-wide phenomena. Although Western Swing has its roots in the rural string band tradition, many different styles were mixed with traditional fiddle tunes (hoedowns, waltzes, schottisches, etc.), including Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, Tin-Pan-Alley Pop, Cowboy and various types of ethnic music, such as Mexican, German, Hawaiian and Cajun, reflecting the diverse cultures of the Southwest. Before the term Western Swing was coined in 1946, string bands playing in a jazzy style were referred to by such names as “Hot String Bands,” or “Hot Fiddle Bands,” among others. Western Swing bands used radio and records, including records on juke boxes, to obtain popularity and made their living playing dances.

The most notable development in Western Swing occurred when fiddler Bob Wills and singer Milton Brown, teamed up with guitarist Herman Arnspiger in Fort Worth, Texas, to form the Alladin Laddies, which later became the Light Crust Doughboys. This band performed live on the radio and both names reflected the companies who sponsored them. Even though none of the members of the Doughboys at this time could play a Jazz solo, or “take-off” chorus, both Brown and Wills would soon form their own bands that included many highly competent Jazz musicians, as would future incarnations of the Doughboys.

A big boost to the popularity of Western Swing came in 1940 when Bing Crosby recorded Bob Wills’ New San Antonio Rose and it became a huge hit. This helped Wills’ popularity to soar, rivaling the popular big swing bands of Chicago and New York, such as Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey. During the early to mid 1940s, Wills was out drawing and selling more records than the big swing bands. He also appeared in several western movies. “Bob Wills towers over Western Swing like an oil derrick over the flat Texas plains” (Morthland). Bob Wills made fiddle music popular and respectable. Instrumentally, Western Swing is based on the instrumentation of the hillbilly string bands of the 1920s including a fiddle lead, guitar, banjo (although tenor rather than 5-string) and sometimes mandolin. Amplified Hawaiian, or steel guitar was added early on. Just prior to World War II drums and horns were added, although the fiddle lead was retained. Bob Wills added a full horn section of excellent musicians, making his band, the Texas Playboys, capable of holding their own with any of the popular big swing bands.