Tex Williams

Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) 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 Hot Country Songs 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.

Early years Williams was born as "Sollis Williams" in 1917, in Ramsey, Illinois. He was the youngest of 11 children; his father "Bud" Williams was a fiddler who operated a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Ramsey. He learned folk and traditional music from his father and older brother. He began performing on a local radion station at age 13

Williams moved to Texas in 1938. He settled in Denison, Texas, and adopted the nickname "Tex". He played guitar, banjo and harmonica.

In July 1947, Williams and his band released the novelty song "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" written by Williams and Merle Travis. "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!" became one of the biggest country hits of all time,

Williams followed up with two additional hits in 1947 ("That's What I Like About the West" and "Never Trust a Woman"),

Williams' success continued in 1948 with six Top 10 hits on the folk/country chart, including "Don't Telephone – Don't Telegraph (Tell a Woman)", "Suspicion", "Banjo Polka", and "Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don't It?" Coyote Canyon (1949), and The Pecos Pistol (1949).

Later years Williams' success slowed after 1948; he did not have another Top 10 song, but reached the Top 20 with "(There's a) Bluebird On Your Windowsill" (1949) and "Bottom of a Mountain" (1966). He continued releasing new music into the 1970s and had his final chart success in 1971 with "The Night Miss Nancy Ann's Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down".

Williams lived in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, for the last 27 years of his life. He operated Tex Williams Village, a nightclub at 23755 N. San Fernando Road in Newhall. His nightclub opened in 1959, featured a large ballroom, a smaller "rumpus room", two bars, square dancing, and live music by Williams and other artists.

Williams died in 1985 at age 68 at the Newhall Community Hospital. Having gained fame for his song about the addictive power of cigarettes, Williams smoked two packs a day; his cancer began in his bladder and spread to his liver, and he ultimately died from kidney failure.

Discography Albums

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 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 Hotelfor 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

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