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Sollie Paul “Tex” Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985)^[1] was an American Western swing singer and musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)“, which held the number-one position on the Hot Country Songs chart for 16 weeks in 1947. “Smoke” was the number-five song on Billboard’s Top 100 list for 1947, and was number one on the country chart that year.^[2]

Williams was born as “Sollis Williams” in 1917. He Ramsey, Illinois. He was the youngest of 11 children; his father “Bud” Williams wa a fiddler who operated a sawmill and blacksmith shop in Ramsey. He learned folk and traditional music from his father and older brother. He began performing on a local radion station at age 13^[3] and moved to Decatur, Illinois, where he perfomred on radio station WJBL (later known as WSOY).^[4]

Williams moved to Texas in 1938. He settled in Denison, Texas, and adopted the nickname “Tex”. He played guitar, banjo and harmonica.^[4] He played with several bands, including Peggy West and her Rocky Mountaineers, Cliff Goddard and His Reno Racketeers, and Walt Schrum’s Colorad Hiblillies.^[3]

Williams moved to Los Angeles in 1942.^[5] He eventually became a vocalist for Western swing band leader Spade Cooley.^[4] Williams moved to the San Fernando Valley in Southern California where Cooley’s band was based.^[1] Williams was the featured singer on the song “Shame on You” which was released in January 1945, became a No. 1 hit, and spent 31 weeks on the charts.

In 1946, Capitol Records offered Williams a contract as a solo artist. After learning of Williams’ plans, Cooley fired him in June 1946. Several of Cooley’s musicians left with Williams and became part of Williams’ band, the Western Caravan.^[5]

Williams and his band originally recorded polkas for Capitol Records.^[5] They had their first hit record with “The California Polka” which reached No. 4 on the Billboard folk chart. Williams’ other polka releases included “Banjo Polka“, “Roundup Polka”, “Big Bass Polka”, “Cowboy Polka”, “Happy Birthday Polka”, “Big Hat Polka”, and “Johnstown Polka”.^[6]

In July 1947, Williams and his band released the novelty song “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” written by Williams and Merle Travis.^[5] “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!” became one of the biggest country hits of all time,^[5] reaching No. 1 on the pop chart and spending 16 weeks at No. 1 on the folk chart.^[7]

Williams followed up with two additional hits in 1947 (“That’s What I Like About the West” and “Never Trust a Woman“),^[7] and Williams’ band placed eighth on the Billboard ranking of the top bands on the nation’s juke boxes in 1947.^[8]

Williams’ success continued in 1948 with six Top 10 hits on the folk/country chart, including “Don’t Telephone – Don’t Telegraph (Tell a Woman)“, “Suspicion“, “Banjo Polka“, and “Life Gits Tee-Jus, Don’t It?“^[7]

Williams also appeared in approximately 25 short movies,^[3] including Tex Williams & Orchestra in Western Whoopee (1948), Cheyenne Cowboy (1949),^[9] Coyote Canyon (1949), and The Pecos Pistol (1949).

Williams’ success slowed after 1948; he did not have another Top 10 song, but reached the Top 20 with “(There’s a) Bluebird On Your Windowsill” (1949) and “Bottom of a Mountain” (1966). He continued releasing new music into the 1970s and had his final chart success in 1971 with “The Night Miss Nancy Ann’s Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down”.^[7]

Williams also hosted the “Tex Williams Show”, a live remote television show broadcast on local television from 1952 to 1957 from the Riverside Rancho in Los Angeles (3213 Riverside Drive).^[10]

Williams lived in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California, for the last 27 years of his life.^[11] He operated Tex Williams Village, a nightclub at 23755 N. San Fernando Road in Newhall.^[12] His nightclub opened in 1959, featured a large ballroom, a smaller “rumpus room”, two bars, square dancing, and live music by Williams and other artists.^[13]

Williams died in 1985 at age 68 at the Newhall Community Hospital.^[1][14][3] Having gained fame for his song about the addictive power of cigarettes, Williams smoked two packs a day; his cancer began in his bladder and spread to his liver, and he ultimately died from kidney failure.^[3]

• “The Night Miss Nancy Ann’s Hotel for Single Girls Burned Down” peaked at No. 27 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

• Kienzle, Rich. Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz. New York: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-94102-4
• Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1

• Tex Williams at IMDb
• Tex Williams at Allmusic