Bob Wills Monument, (sculpture).

Bob Wills Monument, (sculpture).

Willis, Bill, sculptor.

Bob Wills Monument, (sculpture).

Commissioned 1975.

Sculpture: granite, aluminum; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 26 ft. x 96 in. x 96 in.

(On first side of granite monument:) JAMES ROBERT (BOB) WILLS/BORN MARCH 6 1905/GROSEBECK TEXAS/FIRST BORN CHILD OF/JOHN T. AND EMMA FOLEY WILLS/BROTHERS AND SISTERS/RUBY-ELOISE-JOHNNY LEE/OLGA-LUTHER J.-HELEN-LORENE/BILLY JACK-JESSIE WAYNE/HOME DOWN BETWEEN THE RIVERS/NEAR TURKEY TEXAS/PASSED FROM THIS LIFE/MAY 13, 1975/IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS/LAID TO REST/IN TULSA OKLAHOMA (On second side of granite monument:) BOB SERVED IN THE IN-/FANTRY DURING WORLD/WAR II./STATIONED AT CAMP HOWZE,/GAINSVILLE, TEXAS (On third side of granite monument:) IN THE EARLY PART OF/BOB'S CAREER HE ORIG-/INATED THE "LIGHT CRUST/DOUGHBOYS". LATER HE/SETTLED IN TULSA, OKLA./AND ORGANIZED WHAT/WAS TO BECOME THE GREAT-/EST WESTERN SWING BAND/OF ALL TIMES, "THE TEXAS/PLAYBOYS".

(On fourth side of granite monument:) HOLLYWOOD YEARS/BOB WENT TO HOLLYWOOD IN/1940. DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL/YEARS HE AND THE TEXAS/PLAYBOYS APPEARED IN MANY/MOTION PICTURES. (On fifth side of granite monument:) AMONG THE MANY SONGS/THAT BOB WROTE AND RE-/CORDED WITH THE TEXAS/PLAYBOYS, SEVERAL ARE/CONSIDERED AMERICAN CLASSICS. THESE INCLUDE:/SAN ANTONIO ROSE/SPANISH TWO STEP/MAIDEN'S PRAYER/FADED LOVE/TAKE ME BACK TO TULSA/TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING/MISERY/IDA RED/BEAUMONT RAG/OSAGE STOMP/MY CONFESSION/SALLY GOODIN/SILVER LAKE BLUES/BIG BEAVER (On sixth side of granite monument:) DURING BOB'S CAREER, HE/RECEIVED MANY HONORS./THE OUTSTANDING ARE:--/MEMBER OF AMERICAN SOCIETY/OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND/PUBLISHERS-1957/COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME -/1968/NATIONAL COWBOY HALL OF/FAME - 1968/INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF/COUNTRY AND WESTERN HALL/OF FAME - 1969/HONORED BY GOVERNOR AND/LEGISLATURE OF TEXAS - 1969/NASHVILLE SONG WRITERS HALL/OF FAME - 1970 (On seventh side of granite monument:) BOB WILLS (On eighth side of granite monument:) KING OF/WESTERN SWING

Two silver fiddles, back-to-back, stand atop a tall rotating aluminum shaft, mounted on an octagonal granite base incised with pictures and text commemorating country music legend Bob Willis. On the fiddles, bows are positioned across the strings of each fiddle. Seven of the eight sides of the granite base are etched with a portrait of Bob Wills. He is depicted in uniform as a World War II infantryman; as a young musician wearing a business suit and tie; as a Hollywood musician in cowboy shirt and hat; in suit jacket, scarf and cowboy hat; in a suit with cowboy hat, cigar in his mouth and holding a fiddle and bow in his proper left hand; and two full-length portraits in full suit, cowboy boots and hat with cigar and fiddle. The eighth side of the monument depicts a ranch scene with buildings on the right, a windmill on the left, a pointer dog in the nearest left corner and a figure on horseback in the right corner. Below the etched ranch scene is a map locating Will's Farm. The granite monument sits on a flat concrete base.

Portrait male -- Wills, Bob -- Full length

Portrait male -- Wills, Bob -- Waist length

Performing Arts -- Music -- Violin

Performing Arts -- Music -- Composer

Object -- Musical Instrument -- Violin

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Landscape -- Farm

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Turkey

Administered by Bob Wills Foundation, Lyles & 6th Street, Turkey, Texas 79261

Located West end of Turkey (Texas), Highway 86, Turkey, Texas

The sculpture was commissioned by the town to honor Wills. The sculpture was engineered and cut in Granite, Oklahoma.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1994.

Ruff, Ann, "Amazing Texas Monuments and Museums", Houston: Lone Star Books, 1984, pg. 55.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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