| "Bob Wills Is Still the King" | |
|---|---|
 One of flipside labels of the U.S. vinyl release | |
| Song by Waylon Jennings | |
| from the album Dreaming My Dreams | |
| A-side | "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" |
| Released | August 1975 |
| Recorded | September 27, 1974 |
| Genre | Country |
| Length | 3:29 |
| Label | RCA Nashville |
| Songwriter(s) | Waylon Jennings |
| Producer(s) | Waylon Jennings Ray Pennington |
"Bob Wills Is Still the King" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, as a tribute of sorts to the Western swing icon Bob Wills.
It is known in two forms. A live recording of the song was released in June 1975 as the concluding track on the album Dreaming My Dreams, and then appeared in August 1975 as the B-side of "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way", the second single from the album. By early November, the A-side had risen to number one on the country singles chart, but the B-side gained considerable airplay as well, enough so that Billboard listed it as a two-sided hit[1] whereas Cashbox showed it with just the A-side listed.[2] A studio version of the song was released in March 1976 on the Mackintosh & T.J. film soundtrack album.
The exact meaning of the song, which also alludes to Jennings' fellow outlaw country star Willie Nelson, has been the subject of considerable commentary. Nonetheless "Bob Wills Is Still the King" continues to be a staple at classic country radio stations and the satellite radio channel Willie's Roadhouse, for example, plays both versions of the song. The live version is included in Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection, a multi-volume set of recordings released by the Smithsonian Institution in 1990 that contains 100 tracks deemed to be significantly important to the history of country music.[3]
- ^ "Top 20 country singles". The Times-Standard. Eureka, California. United Press International. November 9, 1975. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Top 10 Recordings: Country-Western". Waco Tribune-Herald. November 9, 1975. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Malone, Bill C. (1990). Classic Country Music. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 68. For personnel, see also various editions of Waylon Live back album cover and liner notes.