Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent is interred in the Eternal Valley Memorial Park, Newhall, California. In 1940 "San Antonio Rose" sold a million records and became the signature song of The Texas Playboys. By the 1960s, Vincent's career had mostly ended in the US, though he maintained an audience in Europe, especially England and France. With its jazz sophistication and blues influence, plus improvised scats and wisecrack commentary by Wills, the band became the first superstars of the genre. Vincent also became one of the first rock stars to star in a film, The Girl Can't Help It. The addition of steel guitar wiz Leon McAuliffe provided the final ingredient to the development of western swing. The group's only other hit was "Lotta Lovin'" (1957). By 1935 Wills had added horn and reed players to the Playboys and the band numbered 13.

After "Be-Bop-A-Lula" became a huge hit in 1956, Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps were unable to follow it up with mainstream success in spite of critically acclaimed songs like "Bluejean Bop" and "Race with the Devil". After relocating the band to Waco, then Oklahoma City, Wills eventually settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began broadcasting noontime shows over the 50,000 watt KVOO radio station. He signed at Capitol Records with his backing band The Blue Caps. The band split up though, with Wills going on to form The Texas Playboys with new singer Tommy Duncan while Milton Brown formed his own band, Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies. He started playing in various country bands in Norfolk, Virginia after leaving the Navy with a permanent leg injury. Brown added twin fiddles, tenor banjo and slap bass, pointing the music in the direction of swing. Gene Vincent, real name Eugene Vincent Craddock (February 11, 1935 - October 12, 1971) was an American rockabilly musician, best known for his hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula". In 1930 Milton Brown joined the group as lead vocalist and brought a sense of innovation and experimentation to the band, now called the Light Crust Doughboys due to radio sponsorship by the makers of Light Crust Flower.

In Fort Worth Wills met Herman Arnspinger and formed The Wills Fiddle Band. He headed to Fort Worth to pursue a career in music. He regularly entered fiddle contests in West Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma and soon the fiddle had replaced the scissors in the young Wills' imagination. In his 20s 'Bob' attended barber school, got married, and moved to Turkey, Texas, to be a barber.

He was born near Kosse, Texas; his father was a fiddle player who taught the young Wills to play the fiddle and the mandolin. James Robert (Bob) Wills (March 6, 1905 - May 13, 1975) was an American comedian and country musician.