Name: Riding Your Way—The Lost Transcriptions for Tiffany Music, 1946-1947
Brand: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

CD-RGM-0244

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2020-05-08

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Redeye

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

848064002444

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2 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

Genre US

Country 

Label US

Real Gone Music

50 tracks over 2 CDs give you the chance to own some of the most revered—and rare—recordings in the history of American music. In 1946 and 1947, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys cut nearly 400 full songs for Tiffany Music, Inc., recordings that came to be known as the Tiffany Transcriptions. These recordings were distributed only to radio stations on 16-inch transcription discs, and were intended for airplay as part of a syndicated radio show featuring Wills and the Playboys. However, the transcriptions proved to be a financial failure, and Tiffany Music, Inc. folded by the end of the ‘40s, seemingly relegating the Tiffany Transcriptions to obscurity (and leaving over 200 songs in the can). 

But that was not the end of the story. The Tiffany Transcriptions were unlike anything else in the King of Western Swing’s discography. Typically recorded on a Monday in between tours, they usually consisted of on-the-spot arrangements of everything from Wills hits to western swing standards to sentimental ballads to blues and hot swing instrumentals, and the 16”, 33 1/3 rpm recording format allowed some of the songs to be longer than the normal, three-minute limitation of the 10-inch, 78 rpm commercial records of the day. This meant that Wills and his incredible band— with the great Tommy Duncan on vocals—had a chance to stretch out and have fun with the material. The result: the Tiffany Transcriptions are generally regarded as the best recordings Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys ever made. For decades, the Tiffany Transcriptions were more legend than fact. Finally, in the early ‘80s, Kaleidoscope Records began releasing a series of vinyl volumes of the Tiffany Transcriptions, followed by a CD release on Kaleidoscope and Rhino Records in the ‘90s. To date, however, less than half of the songs recorded by Wills and the Playboys have seen the light of day since the original transcription pressings of the ‘40s.

Now, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: Riding Your Way—The Lost Transcriptions for Tiffany Music, 1946-1947 presents 50 of those long-lost transcription sides—20 of them never released even on transcription disc— inside a package worthy of the material, a 6-panel DVD-style digipak featuring photos and memorabilia from the collection of Kaleidoscope Records co- founder Tom Diamant. The 20-page, DVD-sized booklet includes notes featuring quotes from the original Playboys by Western Swing expert Cary Ginell and a complete discography of the Tiany recordings. The recordings are mastered by Bob Fisher from recently discovered tapes to preserve their vintage sonic vibrancy while eliminating excess background surface noise. It’s a treasure trove from one of the most compelling and unique bandleaders—and bands—in the history of American music.

Riding Your Way—The Lost Transcriptions for Tiffany Music, 1946-1947

Music US