Wow, that 1973. He was in a coma for two years after that!
I love this story from Al Stricklin, who only became a Texas Playboy much, much later - long after this happened:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/fstbx.html
"In 1930 Al Stricklin was the assistant program director at radio station KFJZ in Fort Worth. A frightened secretary cried out one morning: "Mr. Stricklin, will you please come in here a moment."
He rushed into the reception room and saw "three guys standing there, and they were hungry looking, and they needed a shave. One of them had something in a flour sack; the other one had a guitar strapped across his back, hanging over his back like he carrying a rifle or something."
Stricklin was almost as startled as the secretary. "It was Mr. Bob Wills," he said, "with his fiddle in a flour sack." Wills asked Stricklin for an audition. Wills and his band then performed on KFJZ. "They called two days later from the post office and said there was so much mail for the station one man couldn't carry it, better bring a pickup or something."
Bob was dying as they recorded "For The Last Time" -- everybody in the band knew it. They carried him in and out of the studio. In fact, he was too sick to attend some of the sessions, so other members of the band stood in for him -- doing his bits on the fiddle or hollering.
Nonetheless, there is so much life, so much energy and vitality in those recordings, it is simply amazing.
In "My Years With Bob Wills", Stricklin also tells a wonderful story about the band arriving in San Antonio for the first time after the release of "The New San Antonio Rose". They had played San Angelo the night before and picked up WOAI on the bus radio on the way to San Antone -- discovering that their scheduled appearance was the biggest thing that had happened in town since the Alamo.
The downtown streets were crowded just to welcome their bus. They could hardly make their way into the lobby of the Menger (I believe it was)...and it took them over an hour to work their way back through the crowds to the auditorium.
Once they began playing, the crowd made it clear they were there to hear one song...and they wanted it NOW! When Bob acquiesced and kicked off New San Antonio Rose, the crowd went berserk.
They played it through three encores...then the crowd rushed the stage...and the concert was over. Every man for himself!
And we thought rock concerts were unruly...