Alaska 2010 – May 18: Turkey, TX - Bob Wills and Texas Swing music

For all you fans of Bob Wills and Texas Swing music, here’s a moment dedicated to Bob Wills’ hometown of Turkey, TX. It is just east of Quitaquay, TX, and Caprock Canyons State Park.

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were famous for popularizing Texas Swing music. His influence on later music is clear and unwavering. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, our favorite group is “Asleep At The Wheel” which is heavily influenced by Bob Wills’ style. In fact, the group performs “A Last Ride With Bill…”, a musical salute to Bill Wills and his music. Given this link through Asleep At The Wheel, we HAD to visit Turkey, TX, and the Bob Wills Museum.

The museum is housed in a multi-function building, as you can see by the photo below. You’ll get help no matter what you need!!!

Below is the interior, which includes the lovely curator, Lorene.

We thoroughly enjoyed our late lunch at the Hotel Turkey. (Visit this link to learn more about Turkey and to hear a clip of Bob Wills’ music.)

Our delicious lunch was served by Albert, a man with a colorful life history. Not all of his achievements have been legal, he’s paid his time, and now has become the manager of the Hotel Turkey restaurant with his son Rene. The specialty is BBQ. A repeat visit is in order because the food was SO good! The hotel is actually owned by Cody Bell, the local Justice of the Peace. Turkey’s finer days were linked to the arrival of the Fort Worth & Denver Railway in 1927. Ranchers and farmers here on the prairie now had a means to get their goods to market. Once the town was no longer a railroad stop, things quieted down. At one point the town had 1000 residents.

A traveler here senses what Turkey used to be, the hustle and bustle, the sounds of the trains, the sounds of wagons laden with goods coming to the station, ready to be filled with new goods to carry elsewhere. For now, it rests quietly, waiting for a reason to reawaken. Its main claim is being the home of Bob Wills and the Museum.

And that’s very, very important to those of us who are die-hard admirers and fans.