Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys took the fiddle-country-cawing influences of Wills’s Kosse youth and infused them with the popular music of the time—swing—for a combination that would inspire generations. Despite the band’s numerous albums over the years, it’s The Tiffany Transcriptions (Collectors’ Choice), a loose set of radio recordings made from 1946 to 1947, that many consider to be Wills’ seminal work. The 150 songs were recorded on the fly at the end of grueling tours (when the musicians could nail the material’s complex harmonies in their sleep), and the sessions, made without the time or financial constraints of 78 rpm label recordings, were sent out on sixteen-inch discs. Because of this, they captured the magic of the Playboys on the bandstand. This ten-CD set essentially collects ten previous single-disc Transcription reissues (Kaleidoscope and Rhino), missing the chance to assemble the sessions chronologically and give them further historical relevance. The liner notes are a bit skimpy too. But the music—which includes the first recording of “Faded Love”— is an absolute Texas treasure.
