Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band [Paperback]

Frankie McWhorter (Author), Lanny Fiel (Introduction), John R. Erickson (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Frankie McWhorter grew up in Bob Wills Country (the Texas Panhandle) and bought his first fiddle with his cowboy wages in 1950. McWhorter later played with Clyde Chesser and the Texas Village Boys and the Miller Brothers Band before being asked to join Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys -- a band that had a tremendous impact on the country-western music field. McWhorter tells stories of touring with these bands and of his hours spent listening to Wills tell his stories. McWhorter, who began cowboying in 1948, also reveals his adventures and misadventures with horses, cattle and other cowboys on the JA and other ranches, including managing a seventeen-section ranch in the Panhandle. Cowboy Fiddler In Bob Wills' Band is part memoir and part country-western music history, and very entertaining reading. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574410253
• ISBN-13: 978-1574410259
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,100,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars precious memories, October 29, 2000

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no longer a customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band (Paperback)

Heart-warming memoir by an old-style Texas Fiddler and Cowboy. The reader can count on some candid remembrances of life on the road with Bob Wills. Excellent book; but if you're Old School Texas, as this South Texan reviewer is, be prepared to sigh every time you turn a page. They just don't make'em like Mr.McWhorter anymore, and we are all the poorer for it...

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Real" Cowboy Fiddler, September 5, 2010

By 

Roderick R. Taylor (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band (Paperback)

This book is written about a man who not only talks the talk, he walks the walk as well! A well written little book about a living, breathing, piece of our modern music history, a fiddler in Bob Wills' band. WOW!

As a young man, McWhorter broke horses for a living and dreamed of playing fiddle for Bob Wills. Later on he played fiddle for Wills and dreamed of going back to the ranch ridin' broncs! Sometimes it's a little hard to tell which was the wilder life, busting broncs, or being out on the road riding with Wills! For any young dreamer who ever had visions of the bright lights and everything that goes with it, this book is an absolute must!

4.0 out of 5 stars Yarn spinnin' ahorseback . . ., May 19, 2005

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band (Paperback)

Writing biography is hard work, says the author of this book, John Erickson, who's written fine books about his own cowboying and ranching experiences, as well as a series of hilarious children's books "Hank the Cowdog." In this book, he lets his subject Frankie McWhorter talk in his own voice, and what we get is a transcription of more or less free-association anecdotes from the Texas cowboy fiddler who once played in Bob Wills' famous western swing band.

The result is rough around the edges and freewheeling in a kind of one-darn-thing-after-another way. And it captures maybe as well as you can in the printed word the cowboy culture of Panhandle Texas - its values, preoccupations, and down-to-earth points of view. What you miss, of course, are the visual and oral dimensions of this kind of storytelling. And because McWhorter was a fiddler who counted himself among Bob Wills' most trusted band members, you also yearn to hear the music that he's talking about.

Laboring a bit under these disadvantages, the book is a worthy introduction to a colorful and talented cowboy who has never lost his roots in the soil of Hall County, Texas. There are 35+ great black and white photos of McWhorter as both fiddler and cowboy. But to get to know the full dimension of the man, the best thing is to go directly to the music section of amazon and order yourself a McWhorter CD.

Meanwhile, readers hoping to know more about the career of Bob Wills will find that McWhorter came along after the peak of Wills' success. The big band leader is beginning to age here, and not gracefully, relying over much on the bottle to get him through the days on the road. There are, however, some entertaining and informative Wills stories, including examples of the firm hand he took with band members and an explanation of how the classic "San Antonio Rose" began as a "mistake" and then, thanks to Irving Berlin, needed to be rechristened "New San Antonio Rose."